If I'm right there's an article about a business selecting soccerplayers for colleges and universities from the Netherlands etc. for scholarships in the States. From what I read about it these colleges/unis arenot leisurely going about it. They really want value for money. It was iirc in this weeks Voetbal International, but my memory sometimes forgets where I read something.
Pretty much any halfway decent college soccer program fields quite a few foreign student-athletes these days. My son plays at a two-year college, and they've got a Scot, a Brit, and an Irishman all in the starting 11. They had a French player from the Nice academy last year. There are Central American and African players on the roster as well.
There are 104 home grown players in MLS according to Wikipedia, of which 56 have been signed since 2016. I know they're not all academy players and some joined from pay to play academies but it's a sign of progress wouldn't you agree? England has a pro/rel environment but that rarely happens thanks to EPPP.
Actually early in the 70ies a guy at the Erasmus university who had done that, asked me why I didnot go to the USA for a couple of years on such a scholarship. He told me I was far better than he was as a player, so it wouldnot be a problem. To be honest I didnot trust it at all. I wondered why on earth would a university spend money=scholarship on me for soccer.
October 11th, 2017 the day after. And guess what the sun rose, the world went on and on October 14th I woke up at 3am to go to an almost full bar at 4:30 to watch a 0-0 game, and none of that was impacted by the US screwing up in Trinidad. If someone wants to argue that the CURRENT USMNT team is underachieving I am not sure you'd get much argument. And if you want to extend it our development system i'd be happy to listen, but if someone wants to claim that Soccer in the US is somehow doomed because of this, well you haven't been following the sport very long. Because the reality is the sport is as strong as it's ever been in this country (at least since WW2). And while not qualifying might create a blip it's not terminal by any stretch. And oh yeah there is a place to discuss pro/rel let's take that discussion there.
Do you understand how the sale of rights work in Concacaf? Each confederation controls their own home rights. BEIN overpays for other FA's rights because they can't get US and Mexico's. This isn't a matter of prioritizing or a slap in the face to the sport, the simple reality is the T&T FA made a financial decision that suited them. Now ESPN or Fox could have bought those rights, but outside of the US and Mexico games they are basically worthless. BEIN was willing to pay, ESPN and Fox weren't. And all of this is completely out of the hands of MLS and USSF.
I don't know of a single team in England that was created because of pro/rel. No, I'll go further and state that not a single team in England was created because of pro/rel. Someone prove me wrong.
FC United of Manchester? I would think that it would be fair to say that if pro/rel hadn't existed the people that protested the Glazers' purchase of ManU would not have been able to create a club and to have it survive as long as it has survived.
Would it be fair to say though? These are fans that stepped away not only because of the Glazer purchase but in many cases, because of the commercialisation of top clubs. If you ever get the chance to watch the movie "Finding Eric" (I loved it but I'm not sure how much a non-Man United fan would enjoy it), there's a scene where FCUM are debated and the point is raised that certain groups of fans have been priced out of attending games at Old Trafford regularly. I have opinions on FCUM and the Glazer situation that could serve an entire thread, so I won't go into that here. However, one motivation for the formation of FCUM was a bid to start a club that represented a simpler ethos, where it's not about spending hundreds of millions on international players, or extending the brand, or even the relative standard of play. Therefore, I'm not sure that the need to scale the pyramid was a major factor in this case. Indeed, if a group of fans wanted to do something similar here, they could even start the team at a level appropriate to their resources, rather than spending multiple years watching formalities as they ride roughshod over teams that can't compete with their fan base.
why soccer is underachieving is because hype is gone now you got to ring fans to stadiums to tv with great play on field. but most of mls teams play kick and rush no skill no tactics no dribbling no beautiful passing with a purpose
It of course depends on the liking of the fans. What kind of soccer is it they like to see from the stands? It can differ from city to city.
That's what I've been saying: MLS owners are happy with their current economic status. They won't hire top players from European clubs, nor invest heavily to develop world class players. Again, this isn't about pro/rel, but about interests.
Yes, but in 2015 they changed their policy on selling players to give the clubs a significant incentive to sell rather than let players go on free transfers. Before 2015, the club just got allocation money up to a maximum of $150k. Since 2015, the club keeps two-thirds of the transfer fee, or three-quarters if the player is a Homegrown.
Those kids only look good because they're playing against matador defense. Any decent amateur player could show up at those street games and look good, because no one's really making much of an effort to stop them. I know because I did with my D3 college teammates, and even our goalkeepers looked like Ronaldinho there.
[QUOTE="persianfootball, post: 34608432, member]another reason USA/canada are not that good is because they are descendants of anglos.[/QUOTE] This has to be the most ridiculous statement ever in this forum. Like there is something genetic that prevents "anglos" from being good at soccer! LOL. Are you Persian, as your name may suggest? What have Persians done football - wise to allow them to lay claim to having good football genes? Where is your Harry Kane? LOL.
Wrong again. You're on a roll! Germans are not less technical than your beloved Brazil, Spain, etc. I would let you get away with saying they are less FANCY. There are some stylistic differences. German style generally less ornate, but in a technical sense is often more efficient. I like the beauty of German soccer more than the irritating over - emphasis of possession of Spanish soccer ( tiki taka = possession for possession ' s sake) and the often undisciplined, unstructured but florid and impressive Brazilian soccer.
I still say that a primary reason for this that MLS is nurturing other CONCACAF nation's player pools as much or more than our own.
Sure. Except for a handful of elite national teams, there is always a chance that any national team will not make the WC. Anyone with any significant knowledge about US Soccer knew that there were problems with the federation.