Comments for Soccer Development Through Education http://blog.3four3.com Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:12:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 Comment on Visualizing Youth Coaching Experience with 3four3 Analytics by Jaime http://blog.3four3.com/2012/02/22/visualizing-youth-coaching-experience-with-3four3-analytics/comment-page-1/#comment-20902 Jaime Thu, 23 Feb 2012 01:12:43 +0000 http://blog.3four3.com/?p=4798#comment-20902 Gary, Will you be incorporating SCDSL data as well? A lot of top players/coaches seem to disappear from the charts last season when they moved to the Gary,

Will you be incorporating SCDSL data as well? A lot of top players/coaches seem to disappear from the charts last season when they moved to the

]]> Comment on The Grand Conceit of American Soccer by Ken S. http://blog.3four3.com/2012/02/13/the-grand-conceit-of-american-soccer/comment-page-1/#comment-20899 Ken S. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:41:10 +0000 http://blog.3four3.com/?p=4764#comment-20899 Good questions and points. I'll try to clarify. My hope is that the 1-2% (?) of kids that find their way into a DA (I believe this figure was roughly what was mentioned in an SA piece) do not have to pay a dime for their training, so pay-to-play at that level HAS to end. DA obviously needs to be good training, and I would again bring up the monitoring and enforcement ideas. If we do a better job of invitation/scouting of clubs (and select individuals that don't have access to DAs), and improve the training of those kids, the numbers we get should be plenty for improvement of our domestic league and national teams. Now, what to do with the other 98%? They still have club ball, they still have HS ball. I completely acknowledge that we can't remove HS and college from the landscape, but to me anyone who begs out of a DA opportunity because of the social (or other) aspects of HS/college ball isn't someone who is willing to put everything they have into soccer as a career. Sound mercenary? Of course, but part-time soccer players taking a HS and college path (what we have now) have never (and I believe WILL never) seriously challenge for a WC title or help make up a domestic league that will rival the best. And that's fine, they will continue to enjoy the benefits that do indeed exist with that alternate path. The US is plenty big enough to take the top 1-2% of our youth players and produce the same numbers in our talent pool that other quality nations have. However, we can't lament those who bypass HS/College under that system; they choose it knowingly. They have bigger goals in mind, and playing soccer for a (good, not MLS level) living is what they want to do. We need to make that opportunity available for them. We're under the illusion, because all our other sports have such a big school component to them, that this will work for soccer. It hasn't. Do we really believe that most guys that play football or basketball in college are in it for the education? They're using college because that's the only way to the pro's. If there was another path (DA-like) for those sports, they would be every bit as mercenary. For non-DA clubs, they would have a choice to make, as would their members. Should a club keep charging for a non-DA club program, and do parents want to pay? Should they reduce fees? Go under? I don't really know. Undoubtedly some clubs would fold. Would I be upset? Frankly, no, seeing as so much of the focus is on money, rather than training. Youth club soccer is a dirty, political little world, and some of them just need to disappear. What I would suggest to any club that wants to remain is this: keep improving, doing things the way US Soccer has suggested, do it for the kids because they deserve it, and maybe one day you'll be given DA status. Or, alternatively, non-DA clubs that exist in areas with DA's might work out an arrangement of being a feeder club. Hopefully enough money comes into the process (we already know the money exists) to be used appropriately, perhaps as a partial funding downstream, to be used at the DA clubs discretion for providing talent upstream. Again, these are very rough, top-of-my-head thoughts. MLS needs to start becoming a selling league, immediately. LA keeping Donovan is a massive mistake in my opinion, as I stated. He could have be sold outright, and the money put right back into their academy (if MLS would allow such a sale of a standout player, and didn't take a cut....) I want to see those 19 other LD's out there, but the money streams that are available to other leagues are not being realized here. I do think that needs to change. The Fire wanted to charge the girls Fire Juniors program extra to fund the DA on the boy's side. That's an indication that there are money issues with funding the DA (not sure if they exist in other MLS DA's), and that they're trying to solve them in some very unseemly ways. It's probably the main reason that the Fire (as of right now) intend to de-affiliate with the Fire Juniors. Luckily we're no longer there (as of very recently) so we won't have to deal with the fallout. Obviously not all DA's are MLS supported (I think there's 70+, only 19 have MLS ties.) So US Soccer needs to directly fund the rest. That's why effective monitoring needs to happen to make sure only "deserving" clubs get chosen. And again, perhaps the Fed "over-funds" some in more populated areas but stipulates some $ has to go down to 1-2 additional clubs to feed the DA in that area at the older ages. On your idea of what happens in rural areas ("paid-to-play") this is a tough one. But kids around the world are paid to play. They are moved to different countries, different cities. It sounds forboding and foreign, but it is done all the time. Something on a much smaller scale would need to happen here for isolated areas/clubs/individuals. The Fed, imo, if they see someone they absolutely want or believe in, should have some mechanism by which they show that family their interest level and work with them. Stipends, whatever. It's obviously a tough call. Ultimately, more kids will probably be left out of the mix than we want, but I think all of these things would still produce a much bigger talent pool than we have now. Your idea of tiers of DAs is interesting. I'm not sure I'd promote or relegate them, but maybe we rank them based on # of players produced, and teams get a staggered bonus and as you mentioned, coaches get a higher salary (or again, a bonus). All DA's should be fully funded regardless (if US Soccer chose them, they did so for a reason) but the actual production needs to be measured and rewarded. Not a bad idea. Good questions and points. I’ll try to clarify. My hope is that the 1-2% (?) of kids that find their way into a DA (I believe this figure was roughly what was mentioned in an SA piece) do not have to pay a dime for their training, so pay-to-play at that level HAS to end. DA obviously needs to be good training, and I would again bring up the monitoring and enforcement ideas. If we do a better job of invitation/scouting of clubs (and select individuals that don’t have access to DAs), and improve the training of those kids, the numbers we get should be plenty for improvement of our domestic league and national teams. Now, what to do with the other 98%? They still have club ball, they still have HS ball. I completely acknowledge that we can’t remove HS and college from the landscape, but to me anyone who begs out of a DA opportunity because of the social (or other) aspects of HS/college ball isn’t someone who is willing to put everything they have into soccer as a career. Sound mercenary? Of course, but part-time soccer players taking a HS and college path (what we have now) have never (and I believe WILL never) seriously challenge for a WC title or help make up a domestic league that will rival the best. And that’s fine, they will continue to enjoy the benefits that do indeed exist with that alternate path. The US is plenty big enough to take the top 1-2% of our youth players and produce the same numbers in our talent pool that other quality nations have. However, we can’t lament those who bypass HS/College under that system; they choose it knowingly. They have bigger goals in mind, and playing soccer for a (good, not MLS level) living is what they want to do. We need to make that opportunity available for them. We’re under the illusion, because all our other sports have such a big school component to them, that this will work for soccer. It hasn’t. Do we really believe that most guys that play football or basketball in college are in it for the education? They’re using college because that’s the only way to the pro’s. If there was another path (DA-like) for those sports, they would be every bit as mercenary.

For non-DA clubs, they would have a choice to make, as would their members. Should a club keep charging for a non-DA club program, and do parents want to pay? Should they reduce fees? Go under? I don’t really know. Undoubtedly some clubs would fold. Would I be upset? Frankly, no, seeing as so much of the focus is on money, rather than training. Youth club soccer is a dirty, political little world, and some of them just need to disappear. What I would suggest to any club that wants to remain is this: keep improving, doing things the way US Soccer has suggested, do it for the kids because they deserve it, and maybe one day you’ll be given DA status. Or, alternatively, non-DA clubs that exist in areas with DA’s might work out an arrangement of being a feeder club. Hopefully enough money comes into the process (we already know the money exists) to be used appropriately, perhaps as a partial funding downstream, to be used at the DA clubs discretion for providing talent upstream.

Again, these are very rough, top-of-my-head thoughts.

MLS needs to start becoming a selling league, immediately. LA keeping Donovan is a massive mistake in my opinion, as I stated. He could have be sold outright, and the money put right back into their academy (if MLS would allow such a sale of a standout player, and didn’t take a cut….) I want to see those 19 other LD’s out there, but the money streams that are available to other leagues are not being realized here. I do think that needs to change. The Fire wanted to charge the girls Fire Juniors program extra to fund the DA on the boy’s side. That’s an indication that there are money issues with funding the DA (not sure if they exist in other MLS DA’s), and that they’re trying to solve them in some very unseemly ways. It’s probably the main reason that the Fire (as of right now) intend to de-affiliate with the Fire Juniors. Luckily we’re no longer there (as of very recently) so we won’t have to deal with the fallout.

Obviously not all DA’s are MLS supported (I think there’s 70+, only 19 have MLS ties.) So US Soccer needs to directly fund the rest. That’s why effective monitoring needs to happen to make sure only “deserving” clubs get chosen. And again, perhaps the Fed “over-funds” some in more populated areas but stipulates some $ has to go down to 1-2 additional clubs to feed the DA in that area at the older ages.

On your idea of what happens in rural areas (“paid-to-play”) this is a tough one. But kids around the world are paid to play. They are moved to different countries, different cities. It sounds forboding and foreign, but it is done all the time. Something on a much smaller scale would need to happen here for isolated areas/clubs/individuals. The Fed, imo, if they see someone they absolutely want or believe in, should have some mechanism by which they show that family their interest level and work with them. Stipends, whatever. It’s obviously a tough call. Ultimately, more kids will probably be left out of the mix than we want, but I think all of these things would still produce a much bigger talent pool than we have now.

Your idea of tiers of DAs is interesting. I’m not sure I’d promote or relegate them, but maybe we rank them based on # of players produced, and teams get a staggered bonus and as you mentioned, coaches get a higher salary (or again, a bonus). All DA’s should be fully funded regardless (if US Soccer chose them, they did so for a reason) but the actual production needs to be measured and rewarded. Not a bad idea.

]]> Comment on The Grand Conceit of American Soccer by Ken S. http://blog.3four3.com/2012/02/13/the-grand-conceit-of-american-soccer/comment-page-1/#comment-20898 Ken S. Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:52:31 +0000 http://blog.3four3.com/?p=4764#comment-20898 I really don't have to say much in response other than, I'm glad you like your Galaxy. I'm glad Keane dropped in your lap to make sure the Beckham experiment would be a success for your club and MLS, and I hope you enjoy Landon Donovan for another few years, seeing as a team in any other team would have moved him and invested the money in it's operations and academy. Unfortunately, because MLS takes part of the cut of any player, and because they can't possibly let someone of LD's stature go, you get to enjoy him a while longer. Good for you. Like I said: the league doesn't me, because they have you. I'm ok with that. I really don’t have to say much in response other than, I’m glad you like your Galaxy. I’m glad Keane dropped in your lap to make sure the Beckham experiment would be a success for your club and MLS, and I hope you enjoy Landon Donovan for another few years, seeing as a team in any other team would have moved him and invested the money in it’s operations and academy. Unfortunately, because MLS takes part of the cut of any player, and because they can’t possibly let someone of LD’s stature go, you get to enjoy him a while longer. Good for you. Like I said: the league doesn’t me, because they have you. I’m ok with that.

]]> Comment on The Grand Conceit of American Soccer by Rivelino http://blog.3four3.com/2012/02/13/the-grand-conceit-of-american-soccer/comment-page-1/#comment-20897 Rivelino Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:31:45 +0000 http://blog.3four3.com/?p=4764#comment-20897 I think your criticisms of the MLS model are entirely off base. NFL stadiums are about 70, 000 and the NFL is way more than 3 times as popular. German teams like Werder Bremen and Leverkusen have stadium sizes in the low 30s. MLS has a long way to go to reach BL popularity. Keeping a sustainable model for MLS that does not overshoot is very important, half empty 40k stadiums will not sell TV contracts. Also, as a new league is an era of significant capital investment relegation is a no go. What rich person would be dumb enough to put 50 million plus investmen (counting initial operating losses) in what could be a USL team the next year. And how is any USL team supposed to upgrade to MLS stadium and payroll. You are trying to impose an entire European soccer model without any of their infrastructure. You need to get out of your soccer bubble and figure out how popular soccer is in the real world and how much money and org a league takes to run. As to quality of soccer, the remarks are completely ignorant, my English friends support horrible local teams, have you ever watched the English Championship, not good soccer at all. See what happens if you go to Stoke and tell them you won't watch until they play like Barca- you won't walk out. But lots of fans like a local team regardless. Maybe your Chicago Fire just suck, but my Galaxy have been a great experience at games since I started watching in 97'. Cobi Jones, Cienfuegs, Pescadito, then the modern era with Donovan etc. Especially with all the UCLA and other local connections this a genuine local team with a mostly great fan experience in a fan friendly stadium. I'm sorry you are such a euro snob that you can't enjoy local soccer. My guess is that if you lived in a european city with a second tier team they would think you were a complete poser for sitting on your coach watching Barcelona instead of rooting the local team on in the stadium. -But your various development points are great, and I do hope that somebody comes along who can stylistically change MLS. I think your criticisms of the MLS model are entirely off base. NFL stadiums are about 70, 000 and the NFL is way more than 3 times as popular. German teams like Werder Bremen and Leverkusen have stadium sizes in the low 30s. MLS has a long way to go to reach BL popularity. Keeping a sustainable model for MLS that does not overshoot is very important, half empty 40k stadiums will not sell TV contracts. Also, as a new league is an era of significant capital investment relegation is a no go. What rich person would be dumb enough to put 50 million plus investmen (counting initial operating losses) in what could be a USL team the next year. And how is any USL team supposed to upgrade to MLS stadium and payroll. You are trying to impose an entire European soccer model without any of their infrastructure. You need to get out of your soccer bubble and figure out how popular soccer is in the real world and how much money and org a league takes to run.

As to quality of soccer, the remarks are completely ignorant, my English friends support horrible local teams, have you ever watched the English Championship, not good soccer at all. See what happens if you go to Stoke and tell them you won’t watch until they play like Barca- you won’t walk out. But lots of fans like a local team regardless. Maybe your Chicago Fire just suck, but my Galaxy have been a great experience at games since I started watching in 97′. Cobi Jones, Cienfuegs, Pescadito, then the modern era with Donovan etc. Especially with all the UCLA and other local connections this a genuine local team with a mostly great fan experience in a fan friendly stadium.

I’m sorry you are such a euro snob that you can’t enjoy local soccer. My guess is that if you lived in a european city with a second tier team they would think you were a complete poser for sitting on your coach watching Barcelona instead of rooting the local team on in the stadium.

-But your various development points are great, and I do hope that somebody comes along who can stylistically change MLS.

]]> Comment on Visualizing Youth Coaching Experience with 3four3 Analytics by coach juggles http://blog.3four3.com/2012/02/22/visualizing-youth-coaching-experience-with-3four3-analytics/comment-page-1/#comment-20896 coach juggles Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:00:33 +0000 http://blog.3four3.com/?p=4798#comment-20896 Hey Gary, Not sure if you follow any of the soccer america newsletters. Here is a recent one with some insight into the pay-to-play situation and the academy http://www.socceramerica.com/article/45734/not-every-kid-wants-to-play-high-school-qa-lei.html Hey Gary,
Not sure if you follow any of the soccer america newsletters. Here is a recent one with some insight into the pay-to-play situation and the academy
http://www.socceramerica.com/article/45734/not-every-kid-wants-to-play-high-school-qa-lei.html

]]> Comment on Youth Teams Playing Up: The Pre-teen Years by Joe http://blog.3four3.com/2011/12/16/playing-up-in-youth-soccer/comment-page-1/#comment-20895 Joe Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:39:41 +0000 http://blog.3four3.com/?p=4498#comment-20895 Thanks, I heard that in some professional soccer leagues, they are starting to keep records of the players, similar to basketball, baseball or football leagues, such as complete passes, assists, recovers, etc. on pre-teen teams, if you can have the luxury to keep tabs, beside the one who scores the goals, which ones do you think will make sense to track the true potential and development of the player. and how much weigth will you give to each one? Thanks, I heard that in some professional soccer leagues, they are starting to keep records of the players, similar to basketball, baseball or football leagues, such as complete passes, assists, recovers, etc. on pre-teen teams, if you can have the luxury to keep tabs, beside the one who scores the goals, which ones do you think will make sense to track the true potential and development of the player. and how much weigth will you give to each one?

]]> Comment on Youth Teams Playing Up: The Pre-teen Years by Gary Kleiban http://blog.3four3.com/2011/12/16/playing-up-in-youth-soccer/comment-page-1/#comment-20893 Gary Kleiban Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:34:52 +0000 http://blog.3four3.com/?p=4498#comment-20893 All the components of the team are important. Having the praise be "overly" biased to the goal-scorer is a problem. All the components of the team are important. Having the praise be “overly” biased to the goal-scorer is a problem.

]]> Comment on Youth Teams Playing Up: The Pre-teen Years by Joe http://blog.3four3.com/2011/12/16/playing-up-in-youth-soccer/comment-page-1/#comment-20891 Joe Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:37:00 +0000 http://blog.3four3.com/?p=4498#comment-20891 My nephew plays on a very competitive BU12 team, He is a mid fielder attacker, He has an awesome coach that is very passionate about soccer and has teach the Team to play possession of the ball style, Team can very easily connect 5, 10, 15 passes every game they play, Usually on the first practice after the Team wins a Tournament which by the way they do very often, The coach talks to the boys and congratulate them on their accomplishments, giving almost all the credit of the win(s) on the player that scores the most goals on the tournament as He, the coach, keeps record of who scores on every single game. Questions that I have, If the Team plays possession of the ball style, Do you think this is correct? if 1 point is giving for each goal a player scores, How many points should be giving to the one who assist the goal? Or to the one who created the play? Or the one who defended an avoided a goal? Do you think that recognizing (keeping tabs) only on the player who kicks the ball in the net is good for player/team development/motivation? Do you think Coach way to recognize the one who kicks the ball on the net conflicts with the possession of the ball style ? My nephew plays on a very competitive BU12 team, He is a mid fielder attacker, He has an awesome coach that is very passionate about soccer and has teach the Team to play possession of the ball style, Team can very easily connect 5, 10, 15 passes every game they play, Usually on the first practice after the Team wins a Tournament which by the way they do very often, The coach talks to the boys and congratulate them on their accomplishments, giving almost all the credit of the win(s) on the player that scores the most goals on the tournament as He, the coach, keeps record of who scores on every single game. Questions that I have, If the Team plays possession of the ball style, Do you think this is correct? if 1 point is giving for each goal a player scores, How many points should be giving to the one who assist the goal? Or to the one who created the play? Or the one who defended an avoided a goal? Do you think that recognizing (keeping tabs) only on the player who kicks the ball in the net is good for player/team development/motivation? Do you think Coach way to recognize the one who kicks the ball on the net conflicts with the possession of the ball style ?

]]> Comment on The Grand Conceit of American Soccer by John Pranjic http://blog.3four3.com/2012/02/13/the-grand-conceit-of-american-soccer/comment-page-1/#comment-20831 John Pranjic Sun, 19 Feb 2012 01:33:53 +0000 http://blog.3four3.com/?p=4764#comment-20831 I'm not sure if I'm catching onto this correctly. If we lose the pay-to-play method for our entire youth system then wouldn't we lose coaches? I think most teams that opt out of paying for training end up using moms and dads. Then, we're back to square one. I know that's probably not what you're trying to say, but it could be viewed that way. I think you're trying to say that MLS teams should foot the bill for players, facilities, training, traveling, etc. for their own Development Academies so that kids don't have to worry about the price tag. If they''re good... they just play. Right? I like that idea a lot. But what about the kids in North Dakota? Or Oklahoma? Or all of the other areas where it would be virtually impossible for kids to join DA teams that would be spearheaded by MLS? If a family is too poor to pay a monthly fee then they would most likely be too poor to pay for gas to travel hours and hours each week to practices and games. Do the teams then provide them with gas money? At what point does that become being paid-to-play? Do you think it would be feasible for US Soccer to put out a recommendation on what clubs should charge players to play? What clubs should pay coaches? Or even go as far as what referees should be paid? I know that a lot of the money we spend at my college club goes straight to the officials. Kind of bogus if you ask me. That's a different animal, though. Don't get me wrong, I think that MLS teams should definitely dump as much money into their DA programs as possible. I just don't think that completely scrapping the pay-to-play system would benefit us much either. I think setting guidelines to ensure people aren't getting ripped off with hack training would be better, but I don't have the slightest clue as to how that could be done. Also, having scholarship programs that teams could apply for in order to accommodate players that can't make the financial commitments would be nice, too. Again, that would take some sort of guidelines because different teams charge different prices... but what if there was a universal pay table? Probably impossible, but damn wouldn't it be nice? I like the idea of rewarding clubs that produce good players. What if the DA teams were set up in a relegation/reward format? Teams in the top flight receive a certain amount of funding from US Soccer, MLS, or a different sponsor. Teams in the bottom division would be rewarded for advancing. Coaches would then make a certain salary based off of their teams performance. Too many ideas... must stop :) I’m not sure if I’m catching onto this correctly. If we lose the pay-to-play method for our entire youth system then wouldn’t we lose coaches? I think most teams that opt out of paying for training end up using moms and dads. Then, we’re back to square one. I know that’s probably not what you’re trying to say, but it could be viewed that way.

I think you’re trying to say that MLS teams should foot the bill for players, facilities, training, traveling, etc. for their own Development Academies so that kids don’t have to worry about the price tag. If they”re good… they just play. Right? I like that idea a lot. But what about the kids in North Dakota? Or Oklahoma? Or all of the other areas where it would be virtually impossible for kids to join DA teams that would be spearheaded by MLS? If a family is too poor to pay a monthly fee then they would most likely be too poor to pay for gas to travel hours and hours each week to practices and games. Do the teams then provide them with gas money? At what point does that become being paid-to-play?

Do you think it would be feasible for US Soccer to put out a recommendation on what clubs should charge players to play? What clubs should pay coaches? Or even go as far as what referees should be paid? I know that a lot of the money we spend at my college club goes straight to the officials. Kind of bogus if you ask me. That’s a different animal, though.

Don’t get me wrong, I think that MLS teams should definitely dump as much money into their DA programs as possible. I just don’t think that completely scrapping the pay-to-play system would benefit us much either. I think setting guidelines to ensure people aren’t getting ripped off with hack training would be better, but I don’t have the slightest clue as to how that could be done. Also, having scholarship programs that teams could apply for in order to accommodate players that can’t make the financial commitments would be nice, too. Again, that would take some sort of guidelines because different teams charge different prices… but what if there was a universal pay table? Probably impossible, but damn wouldn’t it be nice?

I like the idea of rewarding clubs that produce good players. What if the DA teams were set up in a relegation/reward format? Teams in the top flight receive a certain amount of funding from US Soccer, MLS, or a different sponsor. Teams in the bottom division would be rewarded for advancing. Coaches would then make a certain salary based off of their teams performance.

Too many ideas… must stop :)

]]> Comment on Requirement For Mass Player Development by Ken S. http://blog.3four3.com/2011/03/05/requirement-for-mass-soccer-player-development/comment-page-1/#comment-20800 Ken S. Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:51:20 +0000 http://blog.3four3.com/?p=2355#comment-20800 Totally agree jesran. American parents don't fully understand what the "highest level" of soccer really is. They "know" it's the World Cup, but functionally they have no clue. For most of them it stops at college. And now MLS steps in and says (falsely) that THEY are the highest level, and they convince just enough people of this to help sustain their league and nothing more. You're absolutely correct: we need to educate Americans on what the real path is for soccer so they'll understand that it's not only just OK that one of our own has gotten to another level, but that this should be the goal. Then we keep on that path and bring along even more players that can do the same thing to fill in behind them. Suddenly the pipeline is full. When we've done that , MLS will have to accomodate the influx of talent with appropriate compensation or lose out entirely. Your comment "The infra-structure that developed the (American La Masia) kid doesn’t move with him" is correct, but right now that type of player in my opinion is more "self-produced" in the US and they excel almost in spite of the infrastructure. Maybe the kid's club is truly unique (I haven't revisited the story so it might be), but there are a lot of clubs out there that have that one kid who just gets in done on their own, with their (knowledgable) parents' help. We've got to do a much better job making sure the clubs are actually PRODUCING players like this. And that does start with what your overall point is: not crying foul when one of these kids flies the coop, but instead trying to create the next one, and the one after that. Totally agree jesran. American parents don’t fully understand what the “highest level” of soccer really is. They “know” it’s the World Cup, but functionally they have no clue. For most of them it stops at college. And now MLS steps in and says (falsely) that THEY are the highest level, and they convince just enough people of this to help sustain their league and nothing more. You’re absolutely correct: we need to educate Americans on what the real path is for soccer so they’ll understand that it’s not only just OK that one of our own has gotten to another level, but that this should be the goal. Then we keep on that path and bring along even more players that can do the same thing to fill in behind them. Suddenly the pipeline is full. When we’ve done that , MLS will have to accomodate the influx of talent with appropriate compensation or lose out entirely. Your comment “The infra-structure that developed the (American La Masia) kid doesn’t move with him” is correct, but right now that type of player in my opinion is more “self-produced” in the US and they excel almost in spite of the infrastructure. Maybe the kid’s club is truly unique (I haven’t revisited the story so it might be), but there are a lot of clubs out there that have that one kid who just gets in done on their own, with their (knowledgable) parents’ help. We’ve got to do a much better job making sure the clubs are actually PRODUCING players like this. And that does start with what your overall point is: not crying foul when one of these kids flies the coop, but instead trying to create the next one, and the one after that.

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