You're saying how can he develop being a on a pro team and then saying he'd be better off playing in college......... College would be a safer choice long term but it would hinder his development at the same time
Are you trying to tell me there are young players around the planet who don't go to college, play limited minutes as a youngster and still develop? Surely that is not possible. C'mon, Torres was player of the year...TWICE!
I wouldn't worry about Diego's post-playing future too much - given the current state of NCAA soccer, "former MLS player" is enough to get a college coaching job practically handed to you. Even Joey Franchino is an assistant at a DIII school right now. Plus, he's banking $55k+/year while presumably still living with his parents and paying zero expenses. He'll have a lot of fall-back money saved up, and his playing salary will surely increase into six figures at some point.
I'm saying that he can't develop as a player from the bench and if hes not getting a lot of minutes then he's a practice player. In college, he could get the minutes and come out ready to play... providing he went to a first class program like Akron or Creighton. If it didnt work out, he could have the degree to fall back on. This is a common story across different sports. Young players banking on a pro career and maybe play college sports but not graduating or taking basket weaving. Then they get hurt or cant make it in the Pros. It doesn't end up good for most. The Rev signed the older Beasley brother to a pro contract right out of HS and it was a disaster for him. Was on his own at a very young age and started running with some of the Patriots. Got in all kinds of financial trouble. Hung on here for a few years here then started bouncing around, trying to catch on somewhere. I guess hes been able to earn some kind of living doing this but it hasnt been too good for him. I'd really hate to see the same thing happen to a young guy like Diego. If he doesnt even have a green card and gets hurt or cant make it? Whats he going to do?
Why not loan him to an NASL team so he can (hopefully) receive consistent minutes and develop? That's not a rhetorical question; can anyone explain why more teams don't do this for young players?
For Diego, I suspect it's in part because of marketing. People in the area who know little about the team know we've got a teenager with a mohawk who's not half-bad. We need to have the possibility of his presence in a game. I'm sure everyone noticed he made a cameo in his bobblehead night. (It worked out fairly well, as it turned out, but I wonder if the sub wasn't at least in part for the fans.) By the same token, if Diego really is the future, do you risk him getting injured playing against the Puerto Rico Islanders? Yes, that's how it's done in Europe, but European teams also have deeper benches and farm systems than we do.
You're missing the point. He's saying that it doesn't make sense for Diego or the Revs to loan him out to a NASL side, since he's still trying to get his high school diploma.
Playing with a professional team year round and receiving occasional playing time is way better than going to college and playing like 2 months a year. The college system is one of the main reasons the USA barely has any top players despite our massive population.
I really don't agree that practicing with a pro team is better than playing in a top Div 1 college program. The Revs have a couple of development teams that so far have only developed Diego. One would think more would have come through their system if the playing with a professional team worked. I do personally know one player on the Revs U18 team and he's going nowhere with the Revs. He is however playing college soccer next fall so I guess some good has come of it Dempsey played some college ball.
The college season is ridiculously short, that's the main problem. Training with pros year round as well as playing in reserve and sometimes first team games is unquestionably better for a players development. Going so many months after the college season without playing at all or at least at a high level is an absolute cancer for young players.
It doesn't apply to Diego, since he is still attending high school, he can't be playing college ball right now. Besides, he's already stated that he has no intentions of going to college. Supposedly the Generation adidas contracts are supposed to provide money for college if the soccer career doesn't pan out (not sure if Diego is GA, but many home growns are). Revs academy product Scott Caldwell will be a senior at Akron this fall. It will be interesting to see if the Revs sign him next year. Though I would think he'd be playing with the Revs reserves this summer if they were interested.
The actual step from being an amateur youth player to a professional player is far more complicated than the wave of the hand you are giving it. First the player needs to be identified. Then he needs to be developed. Then he needs to be identified as a pro prospect. The player must want to turn pro. Then he needs to be signed......There are a number of steps along the process. Just because some players come up through a youth system doesn't mean anything if the identification of talent and the execution isn't there to sign him. The Revs low number of developed players says far more about their scouting and player identification than it does about the system on the whole. Ok, so because Clint Dempsey played some college ball it must be the right path for development.
Worked for him and hes the best we have playing right now. I don't know why you cannot see that actually making it as a pro soccer player, no matter what path you take is very low percentage gamble and that it doesn't hurt to chose a path that gives you alternatives if it doesn't work out. Back to Diego. What is he going to do if he's cut loose after a few years or tears up his knee on the turf? With no college and no green card.... it's not a bright future. He could end up running a weed whacker on somebody's lawn someplace. If he really is good enough than 4 years in a good school will not stop him from achieving his dream.
You do realize that it's possible for people to go back to school, right? If Diego tears his knee up and is out of the league in four years then he can go back to school and become a 21 year old freshman. It's really not the end of the world. Diego is pursuing a professional soccer career, and took the best possible route, by playing for a professional team. If you want to be a professional and are receiving interest from professional teams, you realize your goal and accept their offer. There is no benefit from delaying your goal and playing at a lower level, especially one as unprofessional and ass-backwards as collegiate soccer.
Yeah Clint Dempsey, as good as he is, is the best player we have right now. That should tell you all you need to know about the overall development of the American player through the college system. Also, since when can a professional athlete not earn his degree while playing for his professional team? It happens all the time. Also, signing with a professional team doesn't exclude fim from being able to go back to school after his professional career is over either. Hell, he will be in better financial shape to be able to go to college after his professional career than most college students and their families. So what is your point?
All you need to know is how exponentially better Clint Dempsey has gotten each year since he left collegiate soccer. He's a guy who is still developing and greatly improving as a player at the age of 29. Who knows what he truly could have become had he been given the opportunity to play professionally at a younger age and forgo college soccer altogether.
Last two points kill off any doubt of which side wins this debate, he's making over 50k a year this year alone and will have plenty of money to go back and get his degree if his career ends unexpectedly short.
Both great points -- repped. There's no question in my mind that an organized club system will develop players more fully than our college system. Clint was always a player with ball skills, speed and desire. Since his move to the EPL, he's devloped a tactical sense that he never would have come close to in College (or MLS for that matter).