There were several lean years in the 2010's for Yanks in top divisions of Euro Leagues but this year looks to have perhaps the most Americans ever? plying their trade. Great to see the development and augurs well for the Nat future.
i think it's simply the recognizability of our younger guys in potentially breakout years Pulisic at Dortmund, Green at Munich, Gooch at Sunderland, Wood at Hamburg (though he's not so young), Miazga at Vitesse (an underrated move so far it seems)
The foundation for this has been laid for a few years now. Patience isn't common nowadays but patience is what's required waiting for these youngsters to mature and ultimately breakthrough. The 2018 cycle was and is when we were going to start to see those kids abroad filter thru into 1st teams. Pulisic is ahead of schedule, Hyndman is in the process as is Gooch. There's foreign raised kids like Green and CCV who are getting close. Green might start getting semi-regular Bund appearances for BM within the next month or two. There's also some real talent 1-3 years away, cats like De La Torre, Zelalem, Akale, Perez, Barbir, Haji, Sonora, Lennon, EPB and a number of others, including more German Americans like Tillman who projects to have a very high ceiling and Siebatcheu, out on loan in Ligue 2 but got some Ligue 1 time last year. And by the 2022 cycle(the cycle I believe our identity as a NT starts turning from hard workers/hustlers to actual technical footballers) I expect at least 80% of our top 23 in the NT to be in the top 5 leagues abroad. The more successes overseas leads to more confidence in our teens which leads to more scouts and more opportunity. And more money for the players if they ultimately succeed compared to staying here.
I'm not so sure that the transition from hustle to technique is going to pay the kind of dividends that you imply. There's something to be said for doing what you do better that the other team does what they do. While it was sometimes ugly to watch, we used to hustle our way to results (or close defeats) against clearly superior teams. It now seems that we look really good against overmatached teams, while looking terrible against clearly superior teams. Our results against teams at our own level are mixed at best. Where I believe the increase in technical ability could pay off is if enough of those players also have the fighting spirit and underdog mentality that guys like Hejduk, McBride, etc. had.
And we keep forgetting all the young YAs in Mexico. There's some good talent there as well. Hopefully we will see some real jewels develop and have a lot of fun watching soccer on TV for years to come!
I am being told Hapoel Beer Sheva offered SKC a 3 year deal & that SKC rejected the offer. Feilhaber wanted to come to Israel.— Raphael Gellar (@Raphael_Gellar) September 1, 2016 SKC source confirmed club received an offer for Feilhaber, said team "weren't willing to entertain" it. https://t.co/Tixdot9hsN— Sam Stejskal (@samstejskal) September 1, 2016