Poll: When will we hit a developmental level where our excess talent starts to take over MLS?

We are obviously improving in-terms of domestic output in MLS, but MLS is also increasing their level of play at a dramatic clip. I don't want to say that we will never get their, but the lure of Europe coupled with improving money in MLS will make it hard to get there.

 

Wouldn't improving money and quality of league lessen the allure of Europe for some players though? I expect we will see more and more Jesus Ferreiras to start, then we will see. Plus this is excess talent, so if MLS improves along with the pay then every league not the EPL, or top 4 teams in others won't be as desirable in any meaningful way.

 

Never happened in England or France, you can't even say it happened in Italy. And they have many more kids playing soccer than we ever will. It's just that Zlatans, Villas, and Chicharitos of the world will come here at 22-23 rather than 30-35.

 

We're a lot closer but still a few years out.

Here's our current status:

As usual Americans dominate the back line and GK spots. That has been a tradition since the first year of MLS.

What has changed drastically is the number and quality of Americans scoring. Multiple 9s and wingers have emerged and gone to Europe but many have stayed are challengers for the golden boot. Making Ferreira a DP at 21 will likely have an effect on the salaries of Vazquez and Ebobisse.

We are still lacking in the midfield but it's not so far from the top with Nagbe being one of the most influential players in the league. As you've stated we have multiple players trying out their luck in Europe and we also have Pomykal. The U20s have shown that for the next round of midfielders this might be a strength.

 

We have those players, but not that many attackers. That’s because the system we have discourages finesse and a disproportionate amount of finesse players don’t make it.

 

Shrug. We'll get there....................................

I will say its a weird thing to ask "when will we have our version of Diego Valeri?" That guy failed to make an impact in Portugal and Spain." Had to find a plan B.

People on these boards have such an inferiority complex about the American player. Are people watching Alan Velasco at FCD and thinking he's so superior to the players we're producing? I'm not. FCD paid a fortune for him because there was demand for his services in Europe. Ferreira, Arriola, and Pomykal are all better than Alan Velasco. Sorry for the reality check folks. Does that burst everybody's bubble?

Am I the only one watching Mihailovic racking up better stats last season than most of these Argentines people are slobbering over? Am I the only one watching Brandon Vasquez and Jeremy Ebobisse score a heck of a lot more goals than most of the foreign born #9s in the league?

So what's the issue here?

Was I the only one who watched Brenden Aaronson go over to Europe and look right at home in the knockout phase of the Champions League? I guess I was.

 

INSECURITY

 

Signed - The Average US Soccer Fan

 

Now watch the goalposts as they start moving,

 

We seem to be discouraging keepers sadly.

I hope the U20’s, or our young kids don’t read this thread.

 

Great, because they would all realize how bad they are! Whew!

It’s stunning to watch how far we have come and how fast.

It really is, but man do we suck, and have no hope for the future!

 

Yeah, but every league on planet earth has foreign born star players.
That's the name of the game.

Just like every other second tier league on planet Earth, the second that we develop those players..............Europe is going to scarf them up.

I think Brenden Aaronson is the equivalent of those players in terms of impact. He was sold.

This is going to be the trend from now on. All of Philly's current U20 stars will be sold in the next year and a half. So we won't have them in the league. We'll have to go down to Argentina and Uruguay to buy the Druissi types. That's the name of the game.

Same thing they do in Holland, Portugal, and Belgium.

There's a reason that those leagues are known for talent production, but keep falling farther and farther behind the big 5. The skilled "difference making" players that you're talking about leave.

News flash from the city. Jesus Ferreira and Paxton Pomykal will likely not be in MLS at this time next year either. Ferreira had Euro options in this past window and just stayed to get on a roll before the World Cup. Good plan so far.

Gues what? Driussi isn't going to be either. Just like Diego Rossi left. Just like Castellanos of NYCFC just left. The majority of those young South Americans are trying to use MLS as a stepping stone to bigger and better things. For some it works and for some it doesn't (Ezeqiel Barco for instance)

 

I had high hopes for Gilbert Fuentes, but those have been fading for a while now.... AC, too, of course. Are those casualties of the "stylistic difference" that you mentioned? Probably not.

Anyway, I think we are few years away. An exciting point for MLS will be when guys like Pulisic, McKennie, Reyna, etc. come back to play in the US at the end of their careers. The youth products should be at an even higher level then, which would hopefully lead to more Brendan Aaronson's running attacks as a teenager, too. Add in a couple of Lletget type of career paths, and I think we are looking at being a few years away.

 

I think we'll be there in about 5-10 years once the younger generations that are good start fail a little bit in Europe. A guy like Josef Martinez was good enough to play in Europe, tried, seemed to hate it, and now loves dominating here. We don't have guys that were good enough to try and old enough to fail yet.

That isn't necessarily exciting for me, though. While it's a cool thought in theory, realistically by the time comes, people will just complain about that era's Wondos/Zardes's. It'll always be the young kids breaking through that provide the excitement. But it will be nice to more and more American legends for people to relate to.

Like Don, though, I'm personally most excited for the day when our current young crop is old enough to all come back and play, especially if they make a point of coming back and playing for their hometown teams. How cool would it be to see this team in 10 years in MLS Cup Final against a Pulisic/Aaronson/Aaronson-led Philly team:


----------Ferreira-(31)-----Pepi-(29)---Pomykal-(32)----------
Gomez-(28)--Tessmann-(30)---McKennie-(33)---Cannon-(34)
----------Richards-(32)---Che-(28)---Reynolds-(31)----------
-----------------------Carrera-(28)--------------------------

With 37 year old Kellyn Acosta as the coach, of course, and whatever DFW 18 year old superstar winger they have coming off the bench.

I think we underrate how much talent is going to come back one day. The above isn't going to happen, but I don't see why a bunch won't come back at some point. Seems like the entire last generation did eventually. Won't Adams want to play for RBNY and Gio for NYCFC? Color me excited.

It's gonna be really cool for guys like us, and really positive for the league. When you get a bunch of guys coming back and giving all that knowledge they have on the field every day to the kids coming up in the academy, that's when the machine of youth development in this country will be unstoppable, especially at those clubs that are ahead now.

 

I don’t have a full list, but I see the discourse.

You are already showing the biases I suggest. Do you think in Argentina or Uruguay it’s starts with a players work rate or size or speed before discussing their attacking skills? No, it’s about attacking skills first. The other stuff is secondary, as it should be.

I’m not saying that other stuff is insignificant. It’s not, but there’s a reason why this country loves importing South Americans for attacking positions in its main domestic league and also has very few players plying their trade anywhere known for finesse areas like passing, ball control, soccer IQ, creativity. When Aaronson and Pulisic take set pieces for the National Team and can’t consistently clear the first man, the issue is right in front of us.