The current state of our youth national teams

It's true that some people are hyperbolic in their criticism of things in the USSF or in US soccer in general.

In arguing that point, this is not a battle I would choose.

There's really no way to spin this. It's true that the YNTs don't play a major role in player development. It's irrelevant to this discussion, though. It's the USSF's job to run the YNTs and it simply isn't happening.

 

The YNT are a way to see as many players as possible. They are also a way for kids, especially dual-nats to build rapport with their teammates and the USA. Dest doesn't choose us if he had never played for the U-17s and U-20s. Mendez, Llanez, Ledezma, are all probable because of the time they've spent with the youth teams and their US teammates who are now their friends.

As @Balerion said, it's the very definition of the job for the fed to run this and the complete abdication of responsibility resides with Earnie and Jay. There's no positive way to spin it or excuse it. They should all be immediately fired and an entire new group brought in, with one of the first jobs being to hire YNT coaches full time.

 

How are they not running the youth teams right now? Just because there are no permanent head coaches doesn't mean camps and events are not being held. It's not ideal, but there is no real pressing need for head coaches for these teams right now.

To say that USSF is rebuilding right now would be an understatement. They have been bailing water for two years now, and the organization has been completely restructured -- what we are seeing with the youth team staffs is a reflection of that.

 

So, more vacancies (at positions that have not only just been filled, but just created) is the solution?

This was never going to be an immediate fix, and there is plenty of time before head coaches for these teams are crucial.

Ernie, or whoever, made an impressive hire in Wicky. Let's see who else they are able to bring in before we demand that this new regime, which has hardly had a chance to get it's feet wet during an incredibly turbulent time in just about every sense, has to go.

 

Yeah, I generally think some people overrate the impact of YNTs on player development, but I agree that they're important for provisionally cap-tying dual nats and making them feel like part of the program.

I also think they're important for putting players in the shop window. This might not be as important as it once was, since it seems like Euro scouts are aware of prospects at least in the top MLS academies, but I'd wager that Sargent isn't at Werder Bremen now if not for his performances with the YNTs, and Mendez isn't at Ajax without his.

 

I don’t think anyone who follows football thinks any NT, youth or full team develops players.

What the YNTs should play a role in, is developing a culture of playing for your country. It should instill a sense of pride and serve as a place to test yourself against the best in your age in the country.

While I certainly agree with the fact that a player will get little footballing development in a two week camp, I also think YNTs can be a huge opportunity to develop confidence and have the potential to further develop a players love for the game.

I would love to see a list of how many camps were held across each age groups for different countries in 2019. Anyone know if that info is out there?

 

https://www.worldfootball.net/teams/tschechien-u16-h-team/2019/3/

Here is a site that is more up to date for European teams. It doesnt list camps but games. You can get a sense of how many times they gather for games. This is the Czech u16 team as an example.

 

Some of these vacancies have been over a year. How long does it take to hire a U-14 coach? U-15, U-16, etc. That's part of the overall point, someone in the organization needs to hire people, but for some reason (many reasons I'm sure) they aren't doing so. Demanding everyone be in Chicago full time doesn't help either.

Nothing getting done seems to be the m.o. Even worse though is when things are done, they're done terribly, see the USMNT player selection and results.

 

The better question is how important is it to have U14, U16, etc. coaches? The only teams that even really need coaches are U15 (debatable), U17, and U20. The other age groups are important for a variety of reasons, but good luck finding a quality head coach for something like the U18 team. Camps and competitions need to be held for those ages, for sure, but who runs them is less important.

We can debate player selection for the senior team all we want, but the facts are that pool is still very limited and evolving quickly, we are still a long way from any meaningful games, and those selections have next to nothing to do with USSF and this youth coaching staff situation.

 

The ynt’s are very important for player evaluation. Without them we don’t know how prospects rank amongst each other outside of pure speculation from DA games. Not having them means those players are not able to play at the highest level that their age group offers which is a problem for their development as some may be at clubs who not not move their youth players up. Kids not in MLS academies are very negatively affected by not having ynt’s because that is how they are seen by other clubs and there is no higher level for them to play at if they don’t have a pro team. Yes, not having the ynt’s is very detrimental for ussoccer. The MLS academies will continue to produce but without ynt’s we will be affected still.

 

Nobody is talking about not having youth national teams.....

 

I would normally get pissed at your homeristic apologism but I am looking at this and listening to sweet soft Reggaeton:

 

I read it’s not happening, and I suspect the lack of coaches is exactly why.

 

This is false. There has been a significant decrease in the frequency of camps. This is true at the U20 level and especially true at the U19 and U18 levels.

I know it is tiring to constantly have to listen to negativity around something you enjoy. Seriously — I mean that.

I just don't think you should let your pushback against negativity swing the pendulum so far in the other direction such that it takes the form of lowering expectations to comically low levels.

 

I appreciate the level perspective and reasonable stance. Fewer camps is not a good thing.

I'm not worried about anybody killing my buzz with their negativity, but I can't respect people when they fly off the handle and start calling USSF dysfunctional and corrupt. At the same time, I'm not going to pretend like the organization doesn't have issues, but the over the top frustrated fan bullshit with no perspective is beyond tiresome and does nothing but contribute to an echo chamber of ignorance.

The fact that there are virtually no youth team head coaches is really far from an ideal set up, but it's hardly the end of the world. We will be completely fine as long as the hires are quality and made soon enough.

USSF is going through a massive transition, due to numerous factors. If we are expecting everything to be completely up to speed and humming along at this point, that's just unrealistic. That said, my expectations for US Soccer are extremely high, relative to where we currently stand. I believe that our rise will be pretty quick and dramatic over the next 2-4 years, but that is solely due to our player pool and how good our young players are and how the culture of the game is growing. It has little to do with USSF, which I feel does some good and some bad things and is neither dysfunctional, nor perfect.

 

I agree with everything you’ve said here, except...one doesn’t have to be flying off the handle to call USSF dysfunctional or corrupt. Mainly because, they are extremely dysfunctional and corrupt.

 

lol, touche. That's completely fine as long as there is a respectable perspective behind your opinion.

Still, you would have to be using extremely loose definitions of both dysfunctional and corrupt. Would a dysfunctional organization (one that is incapable of doing anything right) be able to land the 2026 World Cup in coordination with two other FAs? Would a corrupt organization (one that is driven by selfish and immoral motivations) only be overtaken by supposed nepotism only after giving basically all of its power to Juergen Klinsmann, giving him an extremely long leash, and then -- upon Juergen's release -- hiring the biggest American coach ever? Claims of "dysfunction" and "corruption" seem way too dramatic if you look at what has been going on much more broadly.

 

That completely dysfunctional Federation is also coming off back to back World Cup titles.

 

Forgive me, I just find this hilarious. Everything about the awarding of a WC is corrupt. Olympics, too, in many cases.

 

I have been giving Stewart some time to work things out but he is quickly running out of time. The U20's need a coach immediately and the other U's on both sides need coaches or there will be disfunction. If he names them in January like someone mentioned I'll let it go but if not it will be near crisis level. What are the responsibilities of Stewart? How many is he meeting?

 

By your Logic, a murderer is not a murderer because he save someone's life before?

 

It took me awhile to figure out what you were talking about.

Girls soccer doesn't count.

 

Have you watched the girls ynt’s at all in the last 5 years? The world has been gaining ground on the uswnt at a rapid rate now that they’re realizing that girls can actually play soccer. The girls need a huge revamp of everything they’re doing or they’ll get passed up in the 2020’s. They won’t be able to rely on the pure athleticism that won us the last 2 world cups. The other nations are starting to produce more technical players and were slumping on the girls side.

 

What exactly did Earnie Stewart do to make that happen? How has the lack of YNT camps and coaches been a factor in the success of the women? Does the fact the women are suing USSF kind of hint that maybe they succeeded despite USSF? Have we not seen with the men that dysfuntion in your youth pipeline does not effect the senior team for awhile.

Have you checked out the results of the YWNTs in the last few YWCs? Scary.

Unless you are a paid shill or have your job tied to current USSF leadership, there is no reason to be defending the un-defendable on these boards. Arguing Bradley has more in the tank is one thing. Arguing we don't need YNT teams or coaches or anything of the kind is showing your true colors in an Emperor's New Clothes kind of way.