The current state of our youth national teams

That’s what he is hoping for. If they get a functioning academy system going they can elevate over several other CONCACAF teams.

 

It says he’s got a USSF “A” in the article. Lots of small college and club work. Lot of stuff to like in the resume even if he’s short on experience in top Academies.

 

I like how he lead starting up the USLPA (I assume, amongst some small group) -- that kind of work takes a lot effort, dedication and organizing ability.

May not speak to being a great Xs and Os coach, but I'd imagine there's a lot of transferrable skills.

 

I thought this was an interesting number. US budgeted 3 million for USYNTs in 2022. I'd be curious where that ranks amongst major federations. Of course the vague "federation operations" is 51 million.

Here are the budget numbers for the programs. pic.twitter.com/YhtPOuUlRK

— Meg Linehan (@itsmeglinehan) March 4, 2022

 

U-18 and U-19 programs returning in 2023.

Here is some detail on the USYNT schedule for 2022 pic.twitter.com/fVwPXjkZDd

— Paul Tenorio (@PaulTenorio) March 4, 2022

 

That's good news, but I really don't see why we can't have them return NOW.
But whatever................................

 

I guess spending on YNTs has a lot to do with tournaments.

In 2019 USSF spent $29,907,544 on YNTs and player development. In 2018 it was $27,352,300.

 

What’s your point?

Get used to it.

The whole world is doing it now. (Searching the US for dual citizens)

It’s part and parcel of not being a footballing backwater anymore.

Being a nation of immigrants makes it easy.

You can sit and complain endlessly if it makes you feel better but it won’t help.

No different than blaming the US Fed or coach for every little thing, even when it isn’t in their control, or is a marginal call.

You can be overtly negative, not healthy, or understand what is going on.

 

What is the USSF supposed to about it?
There's nothing they can do about it.

IIt doesn't take a rocket scientest to see they're investing heavily in the US market. They only have one game scheduled to be played in Mexico before the World Cup. [A Nations League match.] All of the others are in the United States. All friendlies are in the US....................

If they're going to have all their senior games here, of course they're going to have youth games here too.

 

I'm surprised we haven't heard more uproar from from Mexican fans from Mexico....It's one thing to supplement one's roster with US born players but to have all your Sr games and much of your youth games and all this recruiting would seem short sighted and incite a strong negative response from native fans.

 

And I still see people blame the USSF for not doing "enough" to try and keep dual nats. Many still blame it on "racism" as to why USSF isn't targeting Latinos. There is only so much USSF can do. It can't force any dual nat to stay with the program and see it as their only option. As MLS gets better more Federations will come to scout and try to take players. Oddly enough you still have a lot of fans from other NT say MLS is a retirement league and amateur yet their Federations have no problem preferring players developed by MLS.

At the end, space is limited. The goal of every player is a WC not some friendly games. They'll go to where they think they will have a better chance of playing. And as the USMNT gets better then their chances of playing for the USMNT get smaller.

 

I believe they need USSF sanction to have games in the US. I’d stop providing it. Especially since the money they make off those friendlies helps to fund their youth national team programs.

 

Even if Mexicans (from Mexico) were to complain there is nothing they can do about it. FMF won't stop from playing in the US. They'll lose too much money if they do so.

Plus FMF can play with a MNT composed of fringe players and play against Guatemala here in the US and they'll sell the entire stadium. I guess Mexico fans here don't really care who plays and against who they play they will always show up and FMF knows this. They won't do that in Mexico unless it's their "A" team and against a good opponent.

 

Eh. The FMF has a contract with SUM to host a certain number of friendlies every year in the states. I think that contract is ending after this WC, and we'll see if it continues. But anyway, SUM is the marketing arm of MLS. You think MLS owners are going to kill their cash cow?

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2022/04/13/Events-and-Attractions/El-Tri.aspx

The partnership between the city of Dallas and the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) “ends this year,” and while the Dallas-Fort Worth area has been described as a “home away from home for Mexico, there's no guarantee that will continue," according to Jon Arnold of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. The Mexican men's national soccer team will play the “last game included in the deal," a friendly against Nigeria, at AT&T Stadium on May 28. But there is "optimism" the relationship could “continue with a new agreement signed.” Leaders of the FMF, Soccer United Marketing, the Dallas Sports Commission, FC Dallas and the Cowboys have all said that the relationship is "mutually beneficial."

 

Mexico has had a deal with SUM to play most of their friendlies in the US since 2003.

Mexico based fans get a nice trip to the US out of it.

 

It is interesting that the USSF gets heat for playing too much in Ohio. Imagine if all of our games were in England....

The vast majority of the Mexico fans attending games in the US live in the US. These games are a huge party, and their fans sacrifice a ton of time, energy, and money to go to them. It's not so much about the game; it's more so about celebrating heritage with others and doing something that connects them to a proud culture.

We wonder what it will take for the Mexican-American masses to follow MLS and the USMNT, but the key is that it's not so much about the game that creates the following -- it's the cultural ties, and the sport itself does not capture that enough. The fact that we finally have a latino supporters group is awesome. I hope that grows quickly and begins to have a good presence at games.

 

It is interesting that a poster suggests USSF do something and the defense is, "well SUM and MLS would disagree". This only makes sense because of the ridiculous amount of influence those two entities have over USSF.

But in the end, the USSF will always take the money and not worry about the sporting implications, even if they weren't in bed with SUM and MLS. During WCQ'ing, when you would think it would be no holds barred, they routinely let Ocho opponents have practice games in our country. The only money they left on the table for sporting reasons was probably allowing Berhalter to play where he wanted and not play Mexico in the Rose Bowl. Pretty sure the bean counters would have been all for it haha.

 

Short sighted and short term thirst for money can be a long term issue. Over time if Mexico loses any significant portion of its domestic fanbase that could signal the beginning of a slow decline which I think they're already in. Declining ratings, attendances, popularity, lower youth numbers, less revenue to invest in the domestic game. Unless you think its a good idea to have Mexico run its federation and develop programs as a satellite country predominately located and controlled in the US. They lose control, they lose domestic excitement, growth, revenue. Mexico vs Guatemala in Orlando drew 37K in a 65K stadium. Far from a sellout. I think you may be in a slight delusion if you think this is a good long term decision making plan for Mexico to regain it popularity and become better than they are which is quite mediocre.

 

37k for a B team isn't bad. We can't get that for our A team.

 

I think you make a good point with regards to the cultural aspect and I think that plays a huge part in the decision making process of young dual nationals. For many, they have discussed how they feel equally American and Mexican (or Italian, Guatemalan, etc) but they speak about how they grew up watching Mexican soccer (Liga Mx) and rooting for the Mexican National team with their family. I hadn't really thought about it before, but the growth and improvement of MLS proides a cultural tie to US soccer that hadn't really existed until recently and is only really gaining momentum right now. Of course there will still be many that support a local MLS team and root for the Mexican National team but MLS provides one more cultural connection to US soccer that didn't exist before. As teams build on that connection, 10 years from now, 20 years from now, there will be a "history" that is and has been missing in MLS, and that history may help retain at least some dual citizens.

 

I'm not someone that thinks it's such a terrible thing for American soccer, but I would think that they could put a stop to this type of thing if they really wanted. Do you think if the USA started holding youth camps in Mexico for the group of Mexican-American players that play in Mexico that LigaMX and the FMF wouldn't find a way to stop it?

Years back Monterrey didn't let Jonathan Gonzalez attend a USMNT camp, while they let his club teammates attend a Mexican National Team camp. They also lied to him about it, which I think played a part in his eventual decision to play for Mexico. The LigaMX club of DeMarcus Beasley didn't release him for a USMNT-Mexico game during a non-FIFA date, while all the Mexican National Team players selected during that window were released by their LigaMX clubs.

I do not think they would allow our program to hold these camps on their territory. I think we could find a way to make sure that these camps are not held for Mexico (or any country) in the USA. USSF can't even fill out a full allotment of YNT's, so I don't think this is a big worry for them. They are very reactive, and rarely make proactive decisions.

 

You seem surprised that businesses are interested in making money. These FMF games are big money. Probably a lot more lucrative than most USMNT matches in cities like Dallas. Read that article I posted above about the games in Dallas. These things go beyond soccer.

The USSF has ceased its relationship with SUM, by the way.
https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-...-marketing-parting-ways-after-nearly-20-years

None of this really has to do with the FMF holding youth camps in the US. If they want to do it, they'll do it. If for some reason they can't hold them in the states, they'll just hold them in Mexico and invite the same players. So whatever...................

As a reminder, I once saw FMF scouts at a U14 girls' OPD tryout in Dallas. I was at the Dallas Cup a month ago, and there were FMF scouts everywhere.