Article on Soccer Development in MLS

Gatorz wrote:

http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/1110/major-league-soccer/2012/09/20/3389585/seth-vertelney-major-league-soccer-reaches-a-crossroads-in-youth-


This is an intersting article on Soccer Development in the US for MLS squads and the problem of having too may younger/future prospects that do not get much first team game time. It argues there is a gap being created where the homegrown MLS Players wind up signing a contract but do not get many games as they are too young or not far enough along yet. The problem is there is no where to get good games.

The last part of the article states one of the pojected solutions that may affect us here in NTX is they will move DA to the younger ages (U13 or U14). The proposed reason is to get those kids in the system at a younger age so when they hit 17 or 18 they are more advanced and better players, that can then contribute to the First Team.

slampg wrote:

Gatorz wrote:

http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/1110/major-league-soccer/2012/09/20/3389585/seth-vertelney-major-league-soccer-reaches-a-crossroads-in-youth-


This is an intersting article on Soccer Development in the US for MLS squads and the problem of having too may younger/future prospects that do not get much first team game time. It argues there is a gap being created where the homegrown MLS Players wind up signing a contract but do not get many games as they are too young or not far enough along yet. The problem is there is no where to get good games.

The last part of the article states one of the pojected solutions that may affect us here in NTX is they will move DA to the younger ages (U13 or U14). The proposed reason is to get those kids in the system at a younger age so when they hit 17 or 18 they are more advanced and better players, that can then contribute to the First Team.

The problem is in identifing players. The players they have chosen to promote have dominated the younger ages with physical ability and athleticism . At 18-20 the field levels and they discover that the studs are " soccer stupid " they keep them on the reserves hoping that they will someday ( WAKE UP ) and develope the dynamic that they lack . IT SELDOM HAPPENS.. Dribbling with their heads down, poor decision making , lack of sound fundementals ,awful touch, an overall poor understanding of the game, playing with a me vs we concept.WE have no one to blame except the ones chosing who is selected and trained for the next level.

I read this too and was troubled by the direction Agoos is proposing. They might find "the diamond in the rough" at the younger ages but most likely they will identify those kids that physically mature more quickly. So... BFS's get more training and attention (a good thing) and smaller, less mature kids get left behind further widening the training gap that already exists (a really bad thing). To prove my point, in the younger age groups of D1 Classic league, the majority of kids on each roster are in the older age bracket (i.e. team X has only a few '01s on their U11 team; most of them are '00s).

I realize that Academy is age pure, but you run into the same problem (only in reverse) where the Jan - June kids end up being grossly over-represented. Not sure what the answer is, but it's not what they are moving towards.

plantit wrote:

slampg wrote:

Gatorz wrote:

http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/1110/major-league-soccer/2012/09/20/3389585/seth-vertelney-major-league-soccer-reaches-a-crossroads-in-youth-


This is an intersting article on Soccer Development in the US for MLS squads and the problem of having too may younger/future prospects that do not get much first team game time. It argues there is a gap being created where the homegrown MLS Players wind up signing a contract but do not get many games as they are too young or not far enough along yet. The problem is there is no where to get good games.

The last part of the article states one of the pojected solutions that may affect us here in NTX is they will move DA to the younger ages (U13 or U14). The proposed reason is to get those kids in the system at a younger age so when they hit 17 or 18 they are more advanced and better players, that can then contribute to the First Team.

The problem is in identifing players. The players they have chosen to promote have dominated the younger ages with physical ability and athleticism . At 18-20 the field levels and they discover that the studs are " soccer stupid " they keep them on the reserves hoping that they will someday ( WAKE UP ) and develope the dynamic that they lack . IT SELDOM HAPPENS.. Dribbling with their heads down, poor decision making , lack of sound fundementals ,awful touch, an overall poor understanding of the game, playing with a me vs we concept.WE have no one to blame except the ones chosing who is selected and trained for the next level.

I read this too and was troubled by the direction Agoos is proposing. They might find "the diamond in the rough" at the younger ages but most likely they will identify those kids that physically mature more quickly. So... BFS's get more training and attention (a good thing) and smaller, less mature kids get left behind further widening the training gap that already exists (a really bad thing). To prove my point, in the younger age groups of D1 Classic league, the majority of kids on each roster are in the older age bracket (i.e. team X has only a few '01s on their U11 team; most of them are '00s).

I realize that Academy is age pure, but you run into the same problem (only in reverse) where the Jan - June kids end up being grossly over-represented. Not sure what the answer is, but it's not what they are moving towards.