With the USMNT not qualifying last night for the World Cup for the first time since 1986, what changes need to be made in order to turn this thing around?
Take the entire u-17 squad plus Pulisic and Acosta. In fill with u-20s and ride that until '22 take your lumps along the way. Let Ramos coach em.
They will be 25 by the time it matters again.
Only everything. Take the entire u-17 squad plus Pulisic and Acosta. In fill with u-20s and ride that until '22 take your lumps along the way. Let Ramos coach em.
They will be 25 by the time it matters again. Bottom to top changes, not the other way around.
Also it's pretty obvious the National Team needs to separate itself from the MLS. The MLS is just not good enough.
A total tear down from top to bottom.
Now I know this is going to rankle some folks who worship at the alter of "elite" club soccer but US soccer should at least look into focusing more attention on High School Soccer as a means of facilitating large scale youth development. Heck, this pipeline has worked very well for football.
Look the nature of American child labor laws and contracts makes it tricky to have European style academy's. Let's face it, high school soccer has an infrastructure in place to build off of as it has already organized the kids into groups, provided a structure for extensive practice and game playing and added a bit of spice in representing your school and playing in front of your classmates under the lights. Elite club soccer rarely offers all these things.
If US soccer started providing grants to high schools to upgrade their fields and provide training for their coaches and special local camps over the summer for the players (I know they already do some of this but I'm talking seriously enhancing the effort) then you might be surprised at the results in ten years.
That's all great except the u-17s are doing just fine. None of them played HS.
I have an honest question. I am not trying to start an argument, but just providing this as a disclaimer because I know how this topic gets.
What is the correlation between promotion/relegation and an improved national team? Meaning, if every impediment to pro/rel was removed tomorrow, how does the USMNT improve by 2020?
What is the correlation between promotion/relegation and an improved national team? Meaning, if every impediment to pro/rel was removed tomorrow, how does the USMNT improve by 2020?
I have an honest question. I am not trying to start an argument, but just providing this as a disclaimer because I know how this topic gets.
What is the correlation between promotion/relegation and an improved national team? Meaning, if every impediment to pro/rel was removed tomorrow, how does the USMNT improve by 2020?
Don't see HS as part of the solution for USMNT. Unless it's IMG model.
I'm not saying it should be the only thing done nor am I saying that it would happen quickly. But if you could redirect more resources into HS soccer you might wake up in 20 years with a fairly robust structure to develop young talent.
It works for football and to a lesser extent baseball. My concern is that we will never be able to mimic what works in Europe due to the unique issues of soccer in the USA. Maybe it's time to look at what we already have - high school & college - as avenues for developing players and see if soccer can use these same infrastructures like Football, Baseball & Basketball do.
It works in football, baseball, and basketball because those sports mimic the same playing seasons as their college-to-pro systems. Soccer does not.I'm not saying it should be the only thing done nor am I saying that it would happen quickly. But if you could redirect more resources into HS soccer you might wake up in 20 years with a fairly robust structure to develop young talent.
It works for football and to a lesser extent baseball. My concern is that we will never be able to mimic what works in Europe due to the unique issues of soccer in the USA. Maybe it's time to look at what we already have - high school & college - as avenues for developing players and see if soccer can use these same infrastructures like Football, Baseball & Basketball do.
It works in football, baseball, and basketball because those sports mimic the same playing seasons as their college-to-pro systems. Soccer does not.
It won't either. Look at the fight against "specialization" that hits soccer more than any other sport. "You can't tell me I can't play other sports" hits so hard in soccer than ANYTHING else. But, at some point the athlete will have to choose and focus if they want to be superior.
Soccer is played roughly 2-3 months a season at the youth-to-college levels. Professional is 8-10 months. No other sport has THAT big of gaps in competitive season.
I'm not saying it should be the only thing done nor am I saying that it would happen quickly. But if you could redirect more resources into HS soccer you might wake up in 20 years with a fairly robust structure to develop young talent.
It works for football and to a lesser extent baseball. My concern is that we will never be able to mimic what works in Europe due to the unique issues of soccer in the USA. Maybe it's time to look at what we already have - high school & college - as avenues for developing players and see if soccer can use these same infrastructures like Football, Baseball & Basketball do.
Only everything. Take the entire u-17 squad plus Pulisic and Acosta. In fill with u-20s and ride that until '22 take your lumps along the way. Let Ramos coach em.
They will be 25 by the time it matters again. Bottom to top changes, not the other way around.
Also it's pretty obvious the National Team needs to separate itself from the MLS. The MLS is just not good enough.
every HS coach will gladly take an exchange student or immigrant and put them on their team immediately to winAND college coaches gladly fill close to half of their college roster with kids from overseas in order to win
I'm not saying it should be the only thing done nor am I saying that it would happen quickly. But if you could redirect more resources into HS soccer you might wake up in 20 years with a fairly robust structure to develop young talent.
It works for football and to a lesser extent baseball. My concern is that we will never be able to mimic what works in Europe due to the unique issues of soccer in the USA. Maybe it's time to look at what we already have - high school & college - as avenues for developing players and see if soccer can use these same infrastructures like Football, Baseball & Basketball do.
Some great feedback to my suggestion of focusing on HS as a way to develop US soccer talent. Here's my responses to some of the points made:
Steelboot you bring up the most critical issue and I would view Junior/Senior High School soccer as a bridge between youth & pro/college. Jr/Sr HS soccer would cover ages 12 - 18 and of course you would need improved training & coaching and a stronger commitment to U12 and younger soccer to ensure the development of foundational soccer skills. Jr/Sr HS would be where players developed team skills and progressed into an advanced level of soccer.
Happygilucky football skill positions involve more then the QB. Receivers, TE's, RB's and defensive backs are all skill heavy positions. Nor should you shortchange the offensive & defensive lines. While these positions involve large men they require extensive skills training in the hand & foot movement involved in effective blocking and shedding a block. It is far more than brute force.
The reason HS football can be a pipeline to the NFL is that it's very popular so benefits from a large number of teenagers wanting to play the game and willing to put in the time and effort to excel AND the coaching at the HS level is outstanding in teaching the kids the fundamentals of the game.
And this is the attraction to me of focusing on HS soccer as a primary (not the only) player development model. So here's what you need to do and much of it is cultural:
* Move the HS soccer season for the entire country to the SPRING (like they do in the SW). Those states that have fall soccer are going up against football for popularity and will lose every time. In this way soccer can become the most popular spring sport in HS.
* Provide the incentives neccesary to convince AD's to feature soccer in the spring like they feature football in the fall and basketball in the winter. that means creating the FRIDAY NIGHT SOCCER mystique. Play your games on Tuesday and Friday nights with the Friday night games pulling out all the stops including cheer leaders and a marching band! This will lead to an increase in popularity of soccer in HS which will in turn lead to more high level athletes choosing to play soccer in HS. I also believe that there would be synergistic crossover between soccer & football like you see in the American southwest. The NFL. MLB & NBA are full of players who competed in the other "big" American sports when in HS.
If you think I'm crazy here I've been to some afternoon HS playoff games that featured huge crowds. There is a potential student & community market out there for FRIDAY NIGHT soccer. At the very least you would be creating legions of soccer fans for MLS & the US men's team.
I guess I'm just asking for people to think out of the box on this. The infrastructure for high school soccer is already here. And unlike most clubs parents are conditioned that Jr/Sr HS sports involves a six day effort of practices & games during the season. Where else can you get such focused participation in soccer outside of an academy?
:clap:* Move the HS soccer season for the entire country to the SPRING (like they do in the SW). Those states that have fall soccer are going up against football for popularity and will lose every time. In this way soccer can become the most popular spring sport in HS.