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En Route: MLS Draft - Where Youth Is Not Served
Enough U-17s, it is time to stop the jump.
Jan 19, 2010 11:00:00 PM
By J.R. Eskilson
Nik Besagno, Alex Nimo, Blake Wagner, Quavas Kirk, Jozy Altidore, Faud Ibrahim, Brek Shea, and Josh Lambo. What do these names have in common?
Since Generation adidas was introduced in 2005, there have been eight United States U-17 players taken in the MLS SuperDraft (not including the two taken this year). That is a large group to illustrate the failures of the league in developing young players. Taking Altidore out of the equation, only three of the seven players appeared in an MLS game last season. That means that the failure rate of a youth national in Major League Soccer is over 50%. It is a shockingly accurate stat about the lack of development in the top league in America. This is the same league that allows four developmental spots on the roster not to count against the salary cap, and still these players barely lasted long enough for a cup of coffee.
So what is the problem? It is easy to argue that players mature at different rates and those who were great when they were 17 does not mean much in professional soccer. That is a fair assessment; however, MLS is not a league that waits on talent and carries a project on the roster for more than a few seasons. There is no reason an MLS coach would draft a player as a project given that sort of information. (Right?) It would be more beneficial for a club to look at a proven college player to take a chance on. Yet every year (except 2009) at least one U-17 player is drafted with little success to show and there is no end in sight.
The logistics of the circumstances are questionable at best. How is any player supposed to develop in an environment where only results matter? Coaches are so worried about job security that they can hardly think about throwing a raw player out during a game. There is no reserve league for the player to pick up minutes, and he is very likely to spend two seasons toiling away on a bench. The whole idea is poorly thought-out given the results over the last five years.
Altidore is the lone example to overcome the adversaries and turn in an impressive professional career. He seems to be the exception to the rule at this point. He did not project that high entering the draft and fell to the second round. However, Altidore is a once in a generation player, so it is hard to actually believe he should be the poster boy for continuing this farce. Altidore’s technical development with New York in his first season was minimal at best anyway. His first year in the league: seven games played, three goals, 330 minutes. It would be tough to argue that Altidore would be further behind in development if he went to a top university.
The solution for MLS is to follow NBA’s example and force youth players to spend one year in college. Sure, it would put MLS clubs at a disadvantage when attempting to keep our youngsters stateside, but there is no evidence to suggest any of the players selected in the draft so far would have been better off in Europe. It would almost be a favor to the player to let them gauge their actual talent level before they jumped into the deep end without floaties on.
If MLS forced a player to spend a year at school, it would at least give scouts a better idea of how the player would handle older competition and would give the player a better idea of life on his own - outside of the rigorous structure of Bradenton. It is a win-win situation. Of course, there will be exemptions to the rule, but more than likely those players are meant to try their hands at Europe where reserve leagues and youth academies exist. On top of all that, MLS clubs would lose some of the responsibility of developing talent or taking a chance on a fresh player.
Just to give some perspective to the benefit of using college as a testing ground, take an inauspicious, average side in Oregon State. They have produced Ryan Johnson, Robbie Findley, Alan Gordon, and now Danny Mwanga over roughly the same period as Generation adidas has been around. It makes more sense for a college to take on these projects and test them against better opposition. For argument’s sake, Oregon State’s head coach over that period with those four players went to the NCAA tourney twice in ten years. Less pressure to win games at the college level means that teams spend more time on player development. Don’t scoff at the statement. College games might not be the most attractive soccer, but there is a certain emphasis on player development that is unrivaled in this country.
The facts are there to back it up. Charlie Davies, Oguchi Onyewu, Clint Dempsey, and Ricardo Clark all went to college before turning professional. Ask them how that worked out.
J.R. Eskilson is the youth soccer editor at Goal.com.
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com's MLS page
Nik Besagno, Alex Nimo, Blake Wagner, Quavas Kirk, Jozy Altidore, Faud Ibrahim, Brek Shea, and Josh Lambo. What do these names have in common?
Since Generation adidas was introduced in 2005, there have been eight United States U-17 players taken in the MLS SuperDraft (not including the two taken this year). That is a large group to illustrate the failures of the league in developing young players. Taking Altidore out of the equation, only three of the seven players appeared in an MLS game last season. That means that the failure rate of a youth national in Major League Soccer is over 50%. It is a shockingly accurate stat about the lack of development in the top league in America. This is the same league that allows four developmental spots on the roster not to count against the salary cap, and still these players barely lasted long enough for a cup of coffee.
So what is the problem? It is easy to argue that players mature at different rates and those who were great when they were 17 does not mean much in professional soccer. That is a fair assessment; however, MLS is not a league that waits on talent and carries a project on the roster for more than a few seasons. There is no reason an MLS coach would draft a player as a project given that sort of information. (Right?) It would be more beneficial for a club to look at a proven college player to take a chance on. Yet every year (except 2009) at least one U-17 player is drafted with little success to show and there is no end in sight.
The logistics of the circumstances are questionable at best. How is any player supposed to develop in an environment where only results matter? Coaches are so worried about job security that they can hardly think about throwing a raw player out during a game. There is no reserve league for the player to pick up minutes, and he is very likely to spend two seasons toiling away on a bench. The whole idea is poorly thought-out given the results over the last five years.
Altidore is the lone example to overcome the adversaries and turn in an impressive professional career. He seems to be the exception to the rule at this point. He did not project that high entering the draft and fell to the second round. However, Altidore is a once in a generation player, so it is hard to actually believe he should be the poster boy for continuing this farce. Altidore’s technical development with New York in his first season was minimal at best anyway. His first year in the league: seven games played, three goals, 330 minutes. It would be tough to argue that Altidore would be further behind in development if he went to a top university.
The solution for MLS is to follow NBA’s example and force youth players to spend one year in college. Sure, it would put MLS clubs at a disadvantage when attempting to keep our youngsters stateside, but there is no evidence to suggest any of the players selected in the draft so far would have been better off in Europe. It would almost be a favor to the player to let them gauge their actual talent level before they jumped into the deep end without floaties on.
If MLS forced a player to spend a year at school, it would at least give scouts a better idea of how the player would handle older competition and would give the player a better idea of life on his own - outside of the rigorous structure of Bradenton. It is a win-win situation. Of course, there will be exemptions to the rule, but more than likely those players are meant to try their hands at Europe where reserve leagues and youth academies exist. On top of all that, MLS clubs would lose some of the responsibility of developing talent or taking a chance on a fresh player.
Just to give some perspective to the benefit of using college as a testing ground, take an inauspicious, average side in Oregon State. They have produced Ryan Johnson, Robbie Findley, Alan Gordon, and now Danny Mwanga over roughly the same period as Generation adidas has been around. It makes more sense for a college to take on these projects and test them against better opposition. For argument’s sake, Oregon State’s head coach over that period with those four players went to the NCAA tourney twice in ten years. Less pressure to win games at the college level means that teams spend more time on player development. Don’t scoff at the statement. College games might not be the most attractive soccer, but there is a certain emphasis on player development that is unrivaled in this country.
The facts are there to back it up. Charlie Davies, Oguchi Onyewu, Clint Dempsey, and Ricardo Clark all went to college before turning professional. Ask them how that worked out.
J.R. Eskilson is the youth soccer editor at Goal.com.
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com's MLS page
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