It’s probably not likely for any individual player because creating world class players is hard. But it’s what we need to raise our ceiling and the bigger issue is we don’t have enough guys who have that potential. Because most won’t hit that level but the more potentials you have the more the likelihood some will hit it. Mbappe seems to have been the guy from very young but a lot of these articles on Haaland that have been written in the last couple of weeks people didn’t expect this from his as a youth player. His coaches have been quoted that at 17 no one thought he was going to turn into this and he wasn’t perceived as the top prospect in his age group. The thing is Pulisic is a success story development wise. But it just looked like a second he might hit a world class level. Clearly that didn’t happen and injuries played a factor but as a program for us to take the next step we need a player like him to hit the 99 percentile outcome. The thing with Reyna whatever one thinks about how highly he was regarded, he very clearly is never going to hit his potential. A lot of that is due to injuries but I think as a program he’s the sort of guy who could have been a ceiling raiser and is just never going to hit that. And more generally he and Pulisic are the only guys we have who had that potential. Someone like Cavan Sullivan being the next in line on that front. That’s fair and we have guys who are often late bloomers because of the way our system works. But a lot of what’s happening development wise is we keep raising the floor but not the ceiling. We’re consistently in the top 16 or so in the world along with teams like Japan and Mexico and others. But we haven’t quite figured out how to get in that next tier (and there’s another tier past that with the France and Spains of the world).
Paul Caligiuri's goal in 1989 helped end 40 years wiithout qualifying. We also needed Mexico to be banned despite being an emergency replacement host in 1986. We have qualified all but one time since and have made the knockout 6 out of 9 times. Just reminding the new fans.
Based on the shadows on the field, the sun was in the gk eyes, causing his late reaction.. Whoever picked the side to defend in the first half deserves a lot of credit.. It also explains why Paul chipped the shot so it came out of the sun.
True story: had a parent email a few months ago. They were moving in from out of state. The dad wrote, after establishing that they were moving to the area and investigating clubs: "I just have one question: do you allow your players to play other sports." Answered yes, there are no restrictions on that. Dad response? "That's what I thought. We'll be playing for another club then."
That's nuts. How old was the kid? Dad has insane expectations for how far he can go. That kind of attitude tells the kid, "This is your job. You're not playing because you enjoy it. You're playing because I think you could get a scholarship."
Substack article which supports my hypothesis - that Italian youth talent are spreading themselves into other sports. https://profchadwick.substack.com/p/from-football-to-ferrari-italian
So, in general terms, players should play often and for fun until at least 12 years old. Once they are teens then we can talk about elite academies. The issue is, of course, that clubs are doing pay for play for the good of their wallet and not development. The other issue is that in some communities there is not much density of talent in the school or neighborhood. The solution? More local fields. More community driven programs. Maybe after school programs are a possible avenue of development but mostly those are run by clubs for money and the usually move the kids to academy settings as fast as they can convince them.
One quote from the article: ESPN examined the system that produced the defending World Cup champions and found that it is rife with exploitation. Thousands of vulnerable children -- unpaid, separated from their families, warehoused in unregulated dorms -- face, at one extreme, sexual predation, but also extortion, hunger and neglect, according to our investigation, which was based on over 100 interviews, a review of thousands of documents and on-site visits to a dozen pensiones. https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_...mpions-soccer-futbol-youth-development-system
Yea for sure…I get that question. Just watch it bro. Rape is one of the takeaways. I could elaborate.
What I remember most was the pre-game dismissive attitude of the Mexican fans. Afterwards, I searched outside the stadium for any Mexican fans. They had all vanished. No kits, flags, banners, sombreros. Pre-game, I remember walking up the hill to the stadium behind a U.S. military band playing The Stars and Stripes Forever. After, I remember fans wearing their Italia jerseys inside out. One told me, “I went into the stadium an Italy fan. I came out a USA fan.” I remember the U.S. team bus crawling through thousands of USA fans in the street outside the stadium. The looks on the faces of the players. Perhaps we missed an opportunity with the backstory, similar to the rumored “MTV Cops” sign that supposedly led to Miami Vice. Considering how much reality TV there is, could there have been a Survivor/American Idol/Love Island/etc. for each Olympics encompassing the U.S. Team? Challenges? Immunity? Voting?
Is all that worth the glory of a World Cup?It explains the batshit lunacy of several players who have survived this system (which makes Canadian junior hockey look utopian) and gone on to compete for the Albiceleste.
I had never heard of any of this - shocking. An enterprising reporter should ask Messi about this story and what he thinks of it.
If it works out for you in the end, sure. I wonder what those that were chewed up by the system on the way there would think.
I am going to make a declarative opinion statement. No it is simply not. The minute society cannot protect the most vulnerable (as a required core premise) is the minute society is simply not functional from a law and order standpoint. If this is what it takes for the US to compete to win the WC - I don't want it. Ironic that the previous Pope was from Argentina. Did he make this cause #1 to expose and focus constant attention on? This story helps to explain why some of the Albiceleste are just crazy. Abuse can certainly make you become that way.
So the end makes the means acceptable? No I don't think so. Those for who "it worked out" are still victims of abuse. There is no justification for abuse - none. It is simply societal failure. For the top 1% that made it - they were also the victims of abuse - and I wonder why they also feel that all the adulation and money was worth the abuse they suffered or suffering they observed - the other 99% suffered abuse and never made it to the top level in soccer. Whether I like it or not - at least NIL is an attempt to compensate athletes for their athletic work (they are employees) as opposed to simply patting them on the head while the advertisers, networks, and universities made a whole bunch of money. In Argentina this just purely and simply seems like child abuse.
He was a U13! I always tell people: I haven't coached at the absolute highest levels, but I have coached for 15+ years, and I have coached across every level. I've coached a lot of rec players and a lot of travel players. I've coached kids who just play for fun, and kids genuinely relying on soccer skill to provide college scholarships. The most naturally gifted player I have ever coached is a multi-sport athlete who only plays soccer in the Fall. He wrestles in the winter and plays lacrosse in the Spring. And as a generalism: I find soccer players who also play lacrosse are almost always the best athletes on the field, and have a comparably more developed sense of movement and positioning than many of the pure soccer players on the same field.
Seems to me he is making a specific point about incentives in youth development. I don’t see the claim (about no improvement at all) that you are responding to.
Mauricio Pochettino said he'll make a decision on whether he returns to coach the #USMNT 'next week.'https://t.co/Z7T2WoCUwK— Paul Tenorio (@PaulTenorio) July 17, 2026