YNT-eligible MLS players: 2020 In-season thread

i forget does us soccer have any financial relationship with mls? foh lalas

 

Whether or not that is true, but I can't see how it would hurt in that regard. In addition, however, I do believe there are many different possible benefits to a tournament leading into the season.

 

Yes, thank you! I meant Bocanegra. I don’t know why I said Berhalter.

 

Come on, David...

Friends don't let friends follow Alexi Lalas on social media.

I'm here to help!

 

Someone retweeted it and it showed up on my timeline and it ruined my day

 

Ebobisse and McKenzie make the team of the match day. Lewis makes the bench.

Round 3's best! 👏 @Audi / #GoalsDriveProgress pic.twitter.com/tV5421AEed

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) July 24, 2020

 

Shrug. I understand the point Lalas is making. He's seems quite libertarian in his viewpoints. It should be up to the clubs to figure out their mission statements and business models. If we're being all "anti-single entity" then that means doing away with all of the rules requiring clubs to operate in certain ways. Even the ones we think are obviously beneficial to the clubs and league.

I'd think each club would independently come to the same conclusion that youth and player development is worth the investment. But you never know. There have been signs in MLS that it isn't. Lots of signs. And that's because folks seem to think that every difference making young player should be allowed to walk away for free to Europe at 18. Or the second that they start impacting games that they should be sold to Europe. Hello?

 

Mls has a monopoly on first division soccer in the us and a financial relationship with us soccer. Go libertarian and eliminate mls I guess and then we can discussions about franchise lasseiz faire approaches

 

A lot of MLS teams given the opportunity would scrap their academies. I think around 33-50% would

 

The USSF subsidizes MLS via the arrangement with SUM in which MLS TV rights are packaged with USMNT rights, which increases the TV revenue for MLS.

I’m fine with this, but if MLS clubs are going to benefit from this arrangement, they need to put forth a strong effort toward their academy as part of the deal.

 

1287087993338109954 is not a valid tweet id

 

For me, he’s been the best young American performer in this tournament, by a long way.

 

I’d say he’s been one of the best, you might be forgetting Akinola, although it’s difficult to compare a CB and CF.

He looks like a completely different player compared to how I saw him last season. It’s as if his vision, passing, and technical ability went way up.

 

Yeah. Akinola totally slipped my mind.

 

If MLS is not a single-entity, I agree with this opinion. In MLS system, a MLS club cannot do many things purely based on market, such as trading! So the guy talking about youth academy based on market is just a double standard jerk.

 

The first Round of 16 match is tonight at 8 eastern on ESPN2/Deportes.

Dezart, Loera, Perea, Michel, Patino, and Dike are on the bench for Orland.

 

This you John Pranjić?

 

Perea and Dike played 15 minutes and DeZart played 7.

Dike had a couple of chances the score but couldn't convert. I wasn't watching that closely, but I thought DeZart looked decent in possession as Orlando looked to kill the game off. Perea also picked up the deep in his own half and carried it out to start a counter.

 

Philly faces New England at 10:30 eastern on ESPN2/ESPN Deportes.

Aaronson and McKenzie start for Philadelphia. Real, Fontana, and De Vries are on the bench.

Kessler, Angking, Jones, Rivera, and Rennicks are on the bench for New England.

 

Dike looked horrible in his 15 mins.

 

The difference is that I have no problem with single-entity of MLS. Because it's single entity, MLS should force every team build with academy. That's why Lalas' viewpoint is nonsense.

 

dike looked like he couldn’t make a run without fouling someone

 

Aaronson play okay? TV spoiled the score for me so I jumped around until I got to the goal.

Santos with a solo effort, converting from a tight angle with Aaronson nearby.

 

Keita has put himself right in competition for the US U23 CONCACAF Championships (if such a tournament exists). McKenzie, Miles Robinson, Justen Glad, etc. Quite a domestic group. If you asked me a few years ago, I would have told you Glad was in the driver's seat. Not anymore. Then there's the versatile DC/DM James Sands, who is criminally overlooked in most of these discussions.

To be honest, I think European clubs would too.
I mean, Manchester City spends a ton of money on their academy. Why? I guess so that once every 10 years they can bring Phil Foden to the first team. In all European leagues we find clubs that put a lot of focus on their academy and others that don't. Watch Wolves today against Chelsea and tell me what "homegrown players" they use. I think they have one first regular that you'd consider a homegrown player. Their U23 squad is the United Nations as well. In England, a club like Everton seems to make the development/advancement of academy players a key part of their business model. Everton also never wins anything. Southampton never wins squat. West Ham never wins squat. Its big clubs spending big money that win trophies, and winning trophies is the point. Its a miracle when a club like Leicester wins.

The teams that focus on academy development in MLS haven't won squat recently. FCD squeeked into the playoffs last season. Philadelphia, RSL haven't lifted a trophy since they focused on development. LAFC won the Supporter's Shield last season with zero academy presence (obviously). A punching bag on this thread, Atlanta United, won the USOC (after winning MLS Cup the previous year). Seattle won MLS Cup with very little academy presence (hopefully more this season). The era of NYRB and FCD winning SS with the lowest payrolls has slammed shut. Hard.

I'm 100% on board with academy and youth development initiatives in MLS, however lets be naive. FC Dallas would be MUCH, MUCH, MUCH better off if the Hunts opened the bank account and signed their version of Carlos Vela or Chicharito. More butts in seats, more jersey sales, better results on the field. And when you talk to FCD fans, the majority of them don't give a damn about youth development. They want their version of Carlos Vela or Miguel Almiron to lift MLS Cup. They want to be Atlanta.

So what everybody should want is to figure out how to reward clubs that focus on youth development. It certainly isn't the attitude I see on these boards of folks wanting elite young players to leave for free transfers at 18. That's cutting off your nose to spite your face.

 

I thought Aaronson was mediocre, as was most of the team. Lots of effort, not much precision.