http://www.si.com/soccer/planet-fut...-cup-champion-revolution-development-identity "All clubs in the top two divisions in Germany were required to build academies, while 121 national centers were established to help those ages 10-17 with technical practice."
I too believe that the creation of academies and more incentives for HGP are the path for success in this country. What we need to remember is what is our blessing is also our curse... our gargantuan size as a developed nation. Whereas as a nation like Belgium can easily scout and monitor its pipeline, it is more difficult for us because pretty much everywhere in the continental US, kids are playing soccer... But they are collectively not playing it well enough. It's much easier if we were the size of Maryland, and we said look, let's improve soccer in Baltimore. But the benefit is that these nations are as good as they're going to get. We aren't even close to our potential. I'd say that we have maybe hit 20% of our maximum potential... whereas Belgium is probably at 95%. Think about it... we have over 3 million kids playing soccer in this country... roughly larger than even some countries that have played in the World Cup. Also, we have historically been one of the most consistently athletic teams at the World Cup, so it is not a matter of if our best athletes played soccer. But where we are falling short is giving these kids the appropriate coaching to teach the necessary fundamentals to ultimately ensure the most effective development. Therefore, we need to continue to encourage the improvement of youth development and we will see the fruits of our labor.
A. More Turkish immigrants to the US. B. Move beyond the children of US servicemen and grab the very best soccer players.
I would have thought the top clubs in Germany already had academies. That being so, in America, it's very easy to envision some talent playing somewhere that US Soccer has no idea of and won't even get near the MLS.
Good post Eleven Bravo. Having lived in Belgium, I agree that they are much closer to realizing their full potential (based on size, efficiencies around scouting talent, etc.) than we are. I'd argue we still have a cultural transformation that will need to happen. Baseball, American Football and Basketball are so prevalent, and moving focus away from those sports to soccer won't (unfortunately) happen over night... I've argued (and taken heat) in some other posts that for American Soccer to grow, we'll need a few generations of talent to grow up in the game with a dedicated, more single-minded focus. Specifically, that they grow up with playing soccer as their main sport, versus growing up playing 2-3 sports (baseball, football, etc.) throughout the year. I'll probably take heat again, but the countries that generate sublime talent on a larger scale tend to be single minded on the sport. Given our current set-up, we'll continue to see guys like Clint that grew up playing multiple sports, but we won't reach a critical mass of talent that will propel us to the next rung internationally until soccer becomes a real cultural passion.
Clientele, I'm 100% in agreement with your post. As a Belgian-American the issue will always be one of soccer being the first choice for kids rather than football/basketball etc. It's slowly changing but the American Sports heroes are still NFL players NBA players. I think it's going to take either a super prodigy to establish himself as one of the best players in the world or the NT getting to the Semis/Finals before there will be the massive shift. It's happening gradually but the problem is most of America still looks at the World Cup as the Olympics meaning that they are enthralled while it's happening but they quickly move on to other things after it's over.
I think the main thing is for soccer to be played year round. Playing soccer just for a season like other sports,... Leaves us way behind. Definitely what we need is year round playing and improved quality in coaching. Also, more access to higher forms of competition. The kids who do play year round are often out of luck of finding enough kids with the same passion and enough talent to challenge them, and coaches who know how to get through to kids who know the game inside and out. When millenials start leading the coaching, I think we will see change. However, there are benefits of playing other sports... And I do believe there is also a significant benefit in strength training which I think isn't as appreciated in other countries.
Not much to disagree with here. I think the most important part is the millennials coaching. Once we get enough former players who have achieved a certain level of play and decide to get into coaching will we see the biggest difference. Still In some areas of the country, if you have a funny accent you must know something about soccer and they give you large piles of money to run a soccer program, regardless if you actually know the game.
The positive is that we are steadily moving in that direction. The negative is that it is still going to take time. That said, who would have believed in 2004 that MLS was expanding past 24 teams, starting to compete for some stars, developing youth academies, selling out bars, have the whole nation really get behind the team, etc...
The US simply needs to offer soccer opportunities to as many kids as possible, identify them and convince them to try for the incredibly low probability of great success, just as is the case for all professional sports. Genes provided the infrastructure; practice helps a lot, but never makes perfect. See HERE.
I agree. The size of this country is a disadvantage in terms of scouting. I know it's been mentioned on here before, but it might make sense to focus youth development in states with climates that allow for year-round play (certainly California could supply -- and has supplied -- a large percentage of players for the national team pool). There's the risk of missing kids from other states, but I think better coaching at younger ages is needed rather than trying to comb every inch of the country to possibly find an American Messi (who am I kidding... an American Mascherano would be amazing). I like what Germany did, supplementing the youth academies with national training centers where kids can get further coaching based on a unified model set by the national technical director. France does the same thing with its regional "centres de formation." In addition to playing for their academy teams, kids get to train with federation coaches. I think this aspect of development is lacking here. Imagine kids getting additional opportunities for focused training to refine their technique, rather than just relying on their club coaches.
I think getting the money is less problematic than putting a good plan in place and spending it wisely. We've had half-assed attempts funded by Nike, Adidas, and the US-Bradenton fiasco. Everyone knows that there is money to be made in the men's game and with US excellence. The problem is all the fiefdoms and the absolutely atrocious level of coaching in the US. We need to shed the MLS 1.0-style owners and their complacent acceptance of the aura of second-tier professional sport for orange slice minivan mama's and their kids (looking at Chicago, NE, DC in particular) and replace them with owners like we have in KC, SEA, PDX, LAG, etc who want to win and want to create atmospheres that get people invested in the teams. We need to add to that youth coaches with track records of producing talent (oh no, we might have to learn from icky foreigners!), replacing the laughable youth clubs and coaches that reward early maturity and outrunning.
I agree with some of what 11B (god love the infantry by the way) said - but "millenials" coaching is not the crux of the issue. Chad has nailed it above. Germany (like Belgium and Spain and Holland) is simply organized for success in soccer. The US is not. It is organized like the Dark Ages - fiefdoms and amateurs controlling each and every part. We have to dump pay for play (JK already said it) and shift into no fees for players and developmental academies focused on talent identification from the ground up. Professionals need to run the sport - not amateurs. I will use a local example from the DC area (the DC United team) - the DC United academy and MLS franchise should be controlling/managing all player development in the entire DC area (NCSL and the upper level teams) - from how it is run - how it is funded - how players are identified - team distribution (by community and county and locality) - competition etc. Not that all players lead to the top of the pyramid - but so it is run by professionals for the benefit of the players and the team - not for the benefit of the parent and for the college scholarships.
"We" need to replace MLS owners? Who is "we"? How does a hyperventilating BS poster (and his fellow travelers) have any basis to "shed" somebody who invested millions of dollar in professional soccer in the US? But fear not, there is a solution that doesn't involve Chad deciding who is worthy and who isn't. To the extent there is anything behind this stereotype-ridden diatribe, these clubs will fail and the owners lose money and wind up selling to owners who see the opportunity to make money by improving on the previous owners' choices. P.S. I am amused by the attack on DC United ownership since DCU is on top of the standings and appears to me to be actually good at developing home grown players, making it a strange target for attacking here unless the real reason is that the poster is upset about something else like the crowd having too many family-oriented people in it.
I have no idea why this is supposed to be a good idea. First, I am not sure that any professional clubs in other parts of the world work under a system where they control a specific geographic territory. I don't think Chelsea defers to Arsenal in London (though it should) and neither does West Ham or even lower division clubs. Player development is a free-for-all where clubs utilize different methods and the best (or best-funded) methods may prevail, but it is through competition. Second, any attempt to monopolize player development would be beyond highly questionable in a legal sense. Luckily, I don't think that anyone would seriously attempt to do this. What the USSF can do, if it has funding and chooses to spend its funding on development is to support those aspects of the system that work well, be that through supporting MLS or other professional club academies or development programs or paying for young players to play on traditional clubs that do a good job of developing players. When has the interests of the team and the players been the same? For example, for many players, even at the top of the "pyramid", a college scholarship is really in their best interests (not for the super elite, but for many just below that level). Luckily, developing a kid's soccer ability as much as possible is usually in everyone's interest, the club, the player, the parent and even the goal of a college scholarship.
Except, of course, for youth coaches who are judged on wins and not on developing individual players and how these players perform qua professionals and are valued on the international market. But you're worked up this morning, so I am sure this will just get you all the more frothy.
from the nytimes. if someone has a few billions lying around for youth dev, perhaps the German scheme can be copied. Back to reality, I like what the league and USSF are doing, coaching the coaches through the partnership with Clairefontaine and via the Dev Academy.
Our size is also an advantage in that we don't need to be the "only" sport to attract a great deal of potential talent. There is an "old guard" to youth soccer that needs dismantling. I don't think the professional teams can really exert the type of control mentioned in an earlier post, although I like the idea. But getting young players into very competitive situations, playing all year round with an emphasis on developing high level technical skills would be great. Can we incentivize MLS developing stronger academies?
What the Portugal 1st Div's Top Teams are doing is perhaps more relevant as they are working from a small population and more importantly a small resource base.
Actually yeh that is roughly how it works in England. Each club has a specific catchment area and can only bring in players from that area into their youth system. They don't control all youth development in the area but by definition their youth team is the top of the pyramid for area youth players. Now of course the big difference as everyone has pointed out is there are 92 clubs in the league and over 100 fully professional clubs for an area approx 1/2 the size of California. Why don't we just hire the guy who hired Jogi Low?
It is supposed to be a good idea to put professionals in charge - as opposed to amateurs - who are largely in it for the benefit of their own children ... or whoever is paying their salary. It is not about the geographic area per se (I used DCU as an example of how it could exercise organizational influence over NCSL) but about how professionals organize and train etc. to improve the skill set and talent pool. There is nothing wrong with many players playing at various levels in an organized framework - and then the identification within that pool - of the talent - for appropriate improved training and opportunities. My point is simply this - pay for play corrupts the system - and Klinsmann has correctly pointed it out. Can you tell me any soccer power in the world that uses pay to play at present? The scholarship point also gets to the heart of the matter - is the purpose of the amateur game in our country for the benefit of the player seeking a scholarship (which is nuts in my viewpoint), or for the enjoyment of the game for the player and the identification of the better players to move on? I know it is not an either/or situation - but at a certain level - many parents are focused on the scholarships and their own welfare. Contrast all of this with Ben Lederman (at LaMasia) or Emerson Hyndman (at Fulham) or John OBrien (when was at Ajax as a youth) focusing on taking their developmental ability to the next level - and NOT looking for a college scholarship. The resources for youth soccer development need to come from the professional clubs, non profits and from communities ... we need to get to a point where professionals run the show and the players can play for essentially "free". One would think that as wealthy a country as we are (think of the Friday Night Lights and the money west Texas puts into high school football) we can afford a better solution.