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US Collapses: Is MLS to Blame?

Started by The Gaffer · 10 months ago

Freddy Adu did not develop well in MLS
We’re constantly hammered with one side of the coin including Sunday at the conclusion of the US-Netherlands match on NBC by Marcelo Balboa: we hear constantly that Major League Soccer is responsible for the US being more competitive in ... Continue reading »

8 comments

  • Mark

    10 months ago

    Good read, thanks.
    reply
  • J Harris

    10 months ago

    A good read for sure. Some valid points here
    reply
  • Joe L

    10 months ago

    Talk about one side of the coin. Adu and Bradley, having been in Europe for quite some time, made two of the most naive, egregious, and costly mistakes in that match. Take a step off of your soapbox, dude.
    reply
  • Max

    10 months ago

    Until we send our U-20 kids over the South America or Europe for a year to emerse themselves in a footballing culture this will keep happening. Ever hear of no end in sight?
    reply
  • Joe L

    10 months ago

    Let's add Michael Orozco to the list of NON-MLS players committing infantile mistakes that cost the US the tournament. Nice try on the article though. Really.
    reply
  • evegoe

    10 months ago

    Player development is like a flop of texas hold 'em... it's easy to look at the flop see what could happen and maybe you can even compute the odds, but you can't be certain how it'll end up at the end.

    I think you might be onto something about how the MLS lacks the emphasis on possession and individual ball skills, but to make an argument that the MLS is treading on the success of Sam's Army is a stretch. The opportunity to play professionally has expanded the number of players who have the opportunity to develop. Even Portugal's golden generation of stars couldn't deliver in the big tournaments--they had to wait for the second generation.
    reply
  • Ned

    10 months ago

    The MLS may have stunk up a few careers, but going abroad has been a disaster for some young players. Kamani Hill? Lee Nguyen? Robbie Rogers - who only found his feet when he came back home (even if he still had a poor showing at the Olympics)? Eddie Johnson looks doomed for that road too (though he may never have been good enough). There's a lot more reward in going abroad, but a whole lot of risk as well.

    I think that the case of Benny Feilhaber sums up the issue of playing abroad for US players. He rose well at Hamburg, getting some Champions League appearances and settling into the US lineup; his high point came with a beautiful volley at the 2007 Gold Cup. So, in that case, playing abroad worked well for him. But then he made a disastrous career move in going to Derby County. Now, he's even considering moving to Maccabi Tel Aviv to get first team football, and, meanwhile, he's lost his place in the US team. In that case, playing abroad hurt.
    reply
  • bocia

    10 months ago

    i think more to blame are obvious holes in us youth development. here (in us) everybody plays, but at a lesser level than overseas. we have talent, but more "late bloomers" because they don't get scooped up at age 12 by major clubs like overseas. it'll take time, but our huge numbers will compensate as youth development itself gets developed... eventually.
    reply

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