I'm neither posting for you nor calling for your reaction. Others people got no problems with my posts. You are severely logically challenged if you prefer it this way, and will be the first person ever on my ignore list.
So logically we should exclude players from the US team who use their grandparents to obtain passports to play in foreign countries?
I told you that I consider you logically challenged and not interested in any discussions with you. As you are a moderator I can't put you on ignore list which you fully deserve.
U18 Standouts in the DA: http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club...ent-academy:-u18-standouts-fall-2012_aid28270
If Arriola gets a Mexican passport and signs with Tijuana, that sounds to me like the Galaxy's problem. There's no reason to think he wouldn't continue to play for US youth teams. Why would the USSF be concerned if a player acquired a second passport to advance his goals in his club career if he was still with the US national team program? To call on the USSF to blackball him in this hypothetical situation is silly and could even be considered "logically challenged".
It has nothing to do with National team play. He is as an American player as there is. Its about MFL play where citizenship allows him access to the Mexican league as a domestic player. Alot of players get citizenship to not fill foreign roster spots.
Guys if it were not for passport issues there would literally be 100s and 100s of US players playing outside the USA because many of those clubs are a few years ahead of the USA in player developement. I do not fault any usa player for trying to get a foreign passport as it just flat out makes life a lot easiser in the soccer world. It gives you an option when it comes to negociations. I can not tell you how many clubs that looked at my son told me that if he had a euro passport it would be a no brainer to have him at their academy and those were some very top Euro clubs. It is very hard for our top talent here in the USA to go and play against top foreign players and know in their heart they are just as good and then a few months later see those same foreign players signing a good contract for a good foreign club. All of this has nothing to do with them not wanting to play for the US National team but rather giving them some options in their soccer career. The truth is that almost all young players you see signed by or playing with a foreign club have some sort of relative that allows them to usurp the restrictions on foreign players.
Honestly this feels like lazy reporting -- other than a few clubs in the NE, not sure this writer has watched any/many of these players, collected reports from USSF training centers around the country, or has even interviewed scouts who did. The list has 5 forwards, 6 midfielders, and two defenders, and many of them seem to have been picked based on goals scored, college commitments, NT appearances, starts and minutes played. Nothing wrong with that, but not exactly the pinnacle of journalism, IMHO. For example, there are no fullbacks on his list (likely because their quality cannot be judged from statistics), no reporting of players who have been training regularly with their MLS first/second teams, and so on.
I agree I have stopped looking at it on the web. Would love more from them but what should one expect?
Yup. It's no different than George John getting a Greek passport when he went looking for a job in Europe. People are just sensitive about it since it's Mexico.
Frankly, the HG rules seem very weighted towards MLS and the club rather than for the player, so good for Paul exploring options and getting as much leverage as possible before maknig a deal. That said, I'm having a very difficult time understanding how Galaxy has any claim on Paul as a HG player. I don't see how this could possibly be what the MLS had in mind with HG rules. I thought that if you weren't affliated with a club prior to residency, you could not be claimed as HG. Is this not correct? While I know that Galaxy are investing in Paul this season with the obvious objective of getting him as a HG player -- and frankly, Paul might prefer to sign with a club that is based in southern California -- they haven't done anything to develop him to the point of being an excellent, NT-level player.
I don't think we need to be that tough on them. With a growing sport, soccer journalism just doesn't have the budget to send these guys all over. And if its based on college commitment, NT appearances (which rely heavily on USSF scouting, etc. isn't it logically correlative that despite not being a comprehensive list does a good job of listing top prospects? I like these lists but realize their inherent limitations. They are part information, part entertainment, part journalism and definately not a complete list and shouldn't be taken as gospel. Unless scouts themselves write an article isn't it less than perfect.
Kinda like Flores with Portland, they'd figure it out. Paul would probably need to complete one year of service with the academy before actually being eligible to play for the first team. No problem. I understand the rule you are talking about. There used to be a rule on the books which stated that a player couldn't sign as a homegrown player if he was at Bradenton with the U17s prior to going to an MLS academy. We used to talk at length about this in cases like Stevie Rodriguez with Chivas, Mario Rodriguez with the Galaxy, and Andrew Oliver with the Fire. It's unclear whether that rule still exists. And it's complicated by the fact that these kids often played for youth clubs that weren't affiliated with an MLS club when they were there..............but are now.
Thanks for the update. I can understand the logic of bending the rule with Rubin & Portland. The logic is that he would've played for a Timbers affiliate it had existed at the time, and Portland is making the investment with these types of clubs today. But the Arriola/Galaxy situation seems completely different. They were there but he didn't play for them...until he was an obvious MLS-quality talent. It feels like they're swooping in late, making a single year's investment, and claiming HG at the expense of the other MLS clubs. As someone who understands the investment that FC Dallas makes, I would expect that you'd object as well. By allowing HG for these types of players so late in the development process, the MLS isn't encouraging a larger investment in developing youth players with the goal of uncovering pro talent.
Oh, I totally agree. Raise your hand if you are a "premium subscriber" of TDS -- I am actually one, believe it or not. It's tough. Soccer journalism in the US has it difficult, covering youth soccer even more so. The only trouble here is that some objectivity is lost, and they risk being taken less seriously than their efforts are worth.
Its just a consolidated list of some of the 20 players that have made USSF all league teams, gotten called into national camps, gotten top pro or college offers, sprinkled with some first hand accounts by a few of their guys. I'm suprised where they do send some of their writers. I personally don't think their objectiveity is lost because its their subjective list not ours. I can understand your point but think its a little harsh. To each his own. Fair minded people can disagree.
Make that two premium subscribers, but I agree with both of you. I want TDS to succeed -- hence my financial support -- but I have to share the concern that their reporting is very basic, too frequently biased, and in the end, disappointing. I feel like TDS misses RZ's frequent contributions; not as impressed with JR & TC.
I am one also will not be going forward sorry they try but it really is garbage . I see some of the players they speak about and just do not get it. I will gt better then I will be back.
I agree that we need to support TDS as much as we can. We all realize that their task is a huge one and the more we support them hopefully the more money and more reporters they will have to cover the non pro game. I have watched their lists and reports and I think that they do a good job. Of course they will use lists and National teams and ODP reports from other sources to gather information. I know that they have watched my son play on various occasions so they do get out there and watch games. As always most of the glory goes to the guys scoring goals. The other thing I noticed is that their Top 150 list almost exclusively starts the top 30 with guys down at bradenton when there are a lot of 95 born players that are just as good if not better on the 2014 age group. They just happen to be born in the fall of 95. Anyway I still think we should support them as much as we can for giving some publicity to these young players.
I really think that we contribute to the problem by giving them a pass. We all understand that resources are limited and it is virtually impossible for them to truly provide an accurate scouting report for hundreds of youth players. My issue is when there is a big event, such as the friendlies, and the reporting it totally different than the actual game. And, certain players are always mentioned as if they had a good game or was the difference maker, etc. regardless of how they actually played. It's players that are not stat grabbers that will never make their top 25 list if they are not part of a National Team set up and that's unfortunate. It is very difficult to be everywhere but if you are there is it asking too much to report the facts and not your biases?
That is a good point although when they go to the friendlies they are trying to watch at least two maybe more games at a time. I dont think these guys are talent scouts and nor should they be considered as such. Now that is a little different when they go attend a regular game where they sit down and watch the whole thing end to end. It would be great to hear about who controled the mid field and who was creating havoc not just the guy who scores and who got the assist. We all know soccer is a team sport sometimes the guy that taps in the goal was the least important component in that goal. But we should also appreciate the effort that they put in to get out to all these events and give some coverage.
Love this line from the article. If your failing to produce go down to the B team for a few weeks and get your head screwed on straight. “To put Brek Shea in line doesn’t exist at Dallas. He’s the poster boy and he has to play and instead of saying, ‘Brek, you’re not consistent enough. Tomorrow, you’re going to play in the Under-23s,’ which would be the right thing to do for his development and for his age, basically. But we do not have that.”