McCarthy's Musings: A Long Rookie Road Ahead

By Kyle McCarthy

I had a interesting conversation with an observer at an invitation-only tryout held by New England on Monday night. He suggested to me that it might be harder for a rookie to break through this year than it had been in years past.

As I watched the players attempt to impress the Revolution coaching staff, I pondered his point. Then I agreed.

Changes instituted by MLS during the off-season will likely make it far more difficult for an unheralded rookie to earn a roster spot. Most of the mechanisms designed to funnel lower-profile players into the league have faded away. The Reserve League went kaput and took four developmental roster slots aimed at those players away with it. The Supplemental Draft is gone because there just aren't any spots available for drafted players.

In one sense, it's better this way. I argued for the demise of the Supplemental Draft in a column posted a couple of weeks ago because the mechanism tied long-shot players to specific teams rather than letting players choose a local team to cut down on costs or select a team that may offer a better on-field opportunity. More players will have more choices after next Thursday's SuperDraft.

From a more realistic point of view, those choices won't materialize because of the lack of open roster spots around the league and the preference to find more seasoned, game-ready players to fill them. Freedom doesn't mean much if there aren't any open slots to fill.

“I think they realize [the difficulty],” Revolution vice president of player personnel Mike Burns said. “MLS isn't for everyone. There is the USL for these guys who want to continue playing. There are other avenues.”

Those other avenues push the development away from MLS teams and towards other outlets. More of these players will end up sneaking off to a Scandinavian second division or summering in a USL1 or USL2 market near their home town. Others will join the ranks of student-athletes who go professional in some career outside of soccer.

Either way, MLS won't have to bear the burden of developing players who aren't particularly likely to turn into first-team players. Teams will ultimately benefit from the shift by saving financial resources and creating more competition for the reduced roster slots.

The primary problem with this theory is the player who slips through the cracks and finds success elsewhere. New England has signed three players out of its invitation-only tryouts during the past four years and has drafted players in lower rounds who might not have a spot under the new system. The loss of the occasional first-team player doesn't change the fact that the teams still come out ahead, according to Revs coach Steve Nicol.

“It's going to be more unfortunate for the players than for us,” Nicol said. “There's always that player [who slips through]. [New England striker Kheli] Dube's a great example. If these changes had happened last year, Dube more than likely wouldn't be in MLS. It's going to hurt the players more than it's going to hurt us. That's the way it is.”

Kyle McCarthy writes the Monday MLS Breakdown and frequently writes opinion pieces during the week for Goal.com. Contact him with your questions or comments at kylemccarthy@gmail.com.