i think it is also a product of the team gets constantly refined further up the ladder. the players who may seem good at 15 may not make it to U-18 and instead are replaced by players who have grown into better players over the 2 year period ... remember these youth academy teams are "new" rosters every year meaning while the best prospects carry over from year to year the scouting process never ends and try outs happen each year and new blood comes into the team from the local talent pool. i imagine as more and more mls academy players get signed to rosters some of the "best" prospects from non-MLS youth clubs will more and more gravitate to the MLS academies. i still cannot for the life of me figure out why RSL still doesn't have USSDA teams and how on earth the Union did not have their academy and U-16/U-18 teams up and running in time to make it into USSDA ... i mean didn't current Union coach hackworth used to head it up and/or help create the whole new structure? it isn't as if their application would have been denied and they only added 2 teams for the 2010-11 season so 3 wouldn't have been a big deal.
USMNT U-18 TRAINING CAMP ROSTER (4/25--5/2) Roster By Position: GOALKEEPERS (2): Keith Cardona (NY Red Bulls Academy; Glen Rock N.J.), Jonathan Kempin (Kansas City Wizards Academy; Leawood, Kans.) DEFENDERS (8): Michael Ambrose (FC Dallas; Frisco, Texas), Anthony Carerras (BW Gottschee; Valley Stream, N.Y.), Marquez Fernandez (Baltimore Bays Chelsea; Baltimore, Md.), Andrew Jean-Baptiste (Albertson SC; Brentwood, N.Y.), Jordan McCrary (Concorde Fire; Marietta, Ga.), Patrick Mullins (Maryland; Metairie, La.), Boyd Okwuonu (FC Dallas Juniors; Edmund, Okla.), Eriq Zavaleta (FC Pride; Westfield, Ind.) MIDFIELDERS (10): Dustin Corea (Unattached; Portland, Ore.), Sean Davis (NY Red Bulls Academy; Holmdel, N.J.), Kyle Emerson (Wake Forest; Cypress, Texas), Daniel Garcia (FC Dallas Juniors; Dallas, Texas), Luis Gil (Real Salt Lake; Garden Grove, Calif.), Miguel Lopez (Lonestar Aztex Academy; Alton, Texas), Daniel Metzger (PDA; Holmdel, N.J.), Emilio Orozco (Real SoCal; Oxnard, Calif.), Nick Palodichuk (Washington Premier FC (SSFC Academy); Battleground, Wash.), Jonathan Top (FC Dallas Juniors; Ft. Worth, Texas) FORWARDS (4): Villyan Bijev (Cal Odyssey; Fresno, Calif.), Victor Chavez (Real So Cal; Fontana, Calif.), Stefan Jerome (West Pines United FC; Davie, Fla.), Sean Okoli (Washington Premier FC (SSFC Academy); Federal Way, Wash.) MLS (1): RSL (1) MLS ACADEMIES (9): FC Dallas Juniors (4), RBNY Academy (2), Washington Premier FC/SSFC Academy (2), KC Wizards Academy (1)
I'd imagine the Sounders team would have something to say about that. They are essentially taking the core of the WPFC U-18 team (the best kids on team are playing "up" and are going to nationals) and adding in two national camp invitees from Crossfire.
FYI - Below are the combined regular season numbers for the previous two seasons. Number at the far right lists the number of teams that year and the place MLS (or soon to be MLS clubs) placed. Code: 2007-2008 Club Name W L T Pts GF GA PPG PL (62) Columbus Crew 40 9 11 131 141 48 2.18 4 Chicago Fire 31 12 11 104 103 59 1.93 11 DC United 31 15 13 106 127 79 1.80 17 Red Bulls 28 15 16 100 115 75 1.69 19 Chivas USA 28 19 13 97 117 84 1.62 21 Colorado 14 33 10 52 90 130 0.91 52 Washington Prem 10 41 8 38 60 150 0.64 58 2008-2009 Club Name W L T Pts GF GA PPG Pl (74) FC Dallas 33 8 15 114 137 78 2.04 6 Chicago Fire 33 10 17 116 131 77 1.94 9 D.C. United 33 14 11 110 104 65 1.90 13 Columbus Crew 28 13 11 95 85 51 1.83 15 Red Bulls 32 16 10 106 95 70 1.83 16 Chivas USA 28 18 12 96 124 87 1.66 24 LA Galaxy 28 24 6 90 125 92 1.55 28 New England 21 27 12 75 89 103 1.25 46 Washington Prem 19 28 7 64 74 94 1.19 50 Colorado 12 38 10 46 62 131 0.77 69 Mustang SC 7 37 7 28 48 138 0.55 73 Washington Premier FC U-16/U-18 teams will become SSFC U-16/U-18 teams for the 2010-2011 US Soccer Development Academy season. Mustang SC U-16/U-18 teams will become SJ Earthquakes U-16/U-18 teams for the 2010-2011 US Soccer Development Academy season.
The more competitive the division you play in the lower your points per game are going to be since most of the games are within your division. Similarly non-league schedules are far from similar as well. That said I still think the table provides a reasonable idea of how teams are doing. I also believe Chivas and to a lesser extent Galaxy have lost some good players to Mexican based programs.
It appears everybody finished above-median both years except new academies, not-yet-affiliated teams, and Colorado.
Basically Colorado finished near the bottom both years while New England was slightly below average their first year. The rest of the MLS programs were all above the mean and the median each year. I've always wondered why Colorado was such an outlier. One would think that over time MLS teams would start converge near the top. To some extent this happened from year 1 to year 2. But does not seem to be happening in year 3.
The Galaxy is an interesting case....tough to know where they're really at with things. Chivas USA is crazy talented for their level.
Perhaps. The Revs are doing better this year, especially with the U16s. It's possible that the Northeast as a whole is a weaker region than, say, Texas or Southern California. I don't really know. There's also zero hype and very little commentary about the Revs' youth, so it's hard to get a read on how things are going and whether there are real pro prospects. Several guys have been called into U15 camps, but there hasn't been much of a breakthrough at older levels. We do have a former U18 international who is now at Akron, but I'm not sure how much developmental credit NE gets for him. But anyway, at least in New England, our teams are doing better in 09-10. The other thing to consider is that a mixed record can mean different things. It can signify a lack of talent, or it could mean that MLS academies are focusing on development over pure winning. Without watching most of the games, it's hard to tell. But if MLS clubs are going to lose, dammit, I hope they are losing the right way.
The problem is CUSA doesn't have a PDL or Reserved team like the Chicago Fire do. Therefore, CUSA has to let players go. In 08 Preki refused to sign Leopolo Morales a CUSA U18 because he was undocumented. Preki didn't want to use a international roster spot on him. This kid is in Mexico with Tigres and is close to moving with the first team. CUSA has a lot of former Academy players down south. Since 2006. Such as Carlos Borja who recently came back.