DC United Academy - aa strong academy or not
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
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That did not post correctly.
"Take team 1 and train on the side" |
Anonymous
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In reading all of this it makes me curious with the restructuring of DC United are there any positives at all about your kid joining. How would they be successful in this system?
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Anonymous
Thanks for continuing to post this because it is very true. The DCU Academy is broken - the lack of a true 2nd team is just absolutely unacceptable and I don't know how MLS let's them continue to get away with it. Knowing several players that have gone through the DCU Academy, none of them have had glowing reviews of the program and this is from players have just aged out, a younger MLS player and an established MLS player. It's a mess and will continue to be that way. |
Anonymous
RE 1: I hear you on PG. As someone who is old enough to have actually watched PG play, I can say this...He was a very fast player, with a great left foot and his game focused mainly on beating people 1v1 with pace. This was his entire game. Of course what he had got him to the highest levels in this country (remember 80s football is not 2026 football), but when he went overseas...no so great because he was one dimensional. On the plus side, he is one of the few people in the DMV that has actually played at higher levels and also has a relationship (albeit a bit old and dated now) with the USSF. He can break down the game at a higher level and definitely teach your kid something. Would never take that away from him and I do believe he has something to offer a young player (what that is depends on the player and their needs). That is a huge plus. On the flip side, his methodology is stuck in the 80s. The game has surpassed his training style and approach and modern training is just much more sophisticated and takes in many MANY more variables and technology. You can't train like you did in the 80s now because the volume and load is too much for the modern game and the amount that players play these days. Anyone who tells you differently, is lying for their own benefit. Building power and quickness needs to be done in different ways and with different exercises, not just the same thing over and over and over because your body breaks down much faster with the game schedule of the modern player. You never know what causes an ACL injury and I don't wish injuries on any player because it truly sucks for the player, the family...Everyone. So, I would never say PGs methods caused an injury to a player because that would be false and totally unfair. But what I will offer is this... If you build your game solely around power and speed and less around thinking and finding solutions with your brain, you are MUCH MUCH more susceptible to those types of injuries because you're just moving at a faster clip more often and you're making dynamic movements more often at those higher speeds. The best analogy I can think of is the rate of injury between a running back and a quarterback in American football. Running backs take more punishment and are injured FAR more. Power and pace players are also injured more because they put more toll on their body. You need balance in your training regime. The game requires baseline speed and quickness, without it you have no chance. But if it is your ONLY thing, its just a tough existence in the sport. Just like if you can only play one position (like striker). If you're not scoring goals, you're done. If you want to look at some research start here: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3787286/ There is alot of research out there. You just have to determine what you believe is best for your son or daughter and how their body responds to training. No one size fits all. Go to a doctor that specializes in this for advice (see several of them and land on a point of view) if you're serious. And there are many in our area. Sports doctors. But if you're building your game around thinking/ball mastery/speed of play instead of brute force, you're already on the right track. PGs trainings don't really do that if you look closely and study what is going on. Maybe 1v1 thinking and how to break player down (and that is valuable don't get me wrong), but situational thinking, game focused and tactical understanding of your position and how to outthink an opponent without using your pure force, WAY less. If you're a winger, PG is a good option because that is what he played. If you're a central mid, CDM, CAM, center back you need someone else to teach you how to break down those positions because they require fundamentally different skills and thought processes. Wing backs, PG could be good because those are the players wingers go up against so he will have relevant input on that. RE 2: It is a classic dilemma for a talented player. You're not alone. There are many MANY trains of thought on this. Here is where I stand...A lot this depends on the ages. If younger, go with the better coach. Here is why...Your son will gain confidence on the ball and be THE option early on in his career and this mindset carries. Plus, he will be learning how to play from someone that knows what they are talking about. This also carries. Your goal is to build a foundation of ability that will carry with him throughout his career and alot of it is mentality and confidence to be brave. Great mentality and swagger with the ball is something that is just really hard to teach later. You need to build this early. With a better team and weaker coach, he will be tested more, and maybe fail more, which is good actually, but he won't learn as much and in many instances, his confidence may decline as a result. Winning really doesn't matter. No one is saying look back and being like what a great u13 tournament we had! Just doesn't really happen. But if you're older, lets say u15 or older, I might have a different opinion. You need to be on a better team because your team won't be able to function normally because the people around you are that much weaker. The delta at the younger ages is smaller. At the older ages it can be massive. And this will bring you down. End of day, I usually side with a good coach over a good system/team. No professional club purchases teams. Only individuals. If you have this mindset, the answers to alot of questions about pathway become really clear. Being on a good youth team can have massive benefits if you have a good coach. If you have a crap coach, it can be more detrimental. You should always be looking to supplement any team environment with individualized training regardless. Hope this helps. |
Anonymous
Agree with you 100 percent. |
Anonymous
Very few positives to be honest. Just go through this thread and you'll see what I mean. Success depends on your definition of success. If you want to be a pro, like a real pro, you cannot be successful at this in DCU's system. It is almost impossible. Impossible in a lot of environments, is what detractors will say, but even less possible in a crap environment like DCUs. You're starting your trajectory already behind. DCU is no different than a local pay to play club and pay to play clubs have better data and rate of college acceptances. It is what it is. |
Anonymous
Thanks for posting this and I am mostly in agreement with you. This probably should be it's own topic and not just buried in the DCU academy post. The history of Title 9 in the US absolutely drove the development of the college women's game in the US and that was the only game in town. UNC and Anson Dorrance embracing the women's game is a prime example. As you stated, it allowed the US to be first on the bus to start. The pro leagues in the US were very limited and not very successful and it wasn't a viable career to play pro women's soccer in the US until recently. And, I agree that there is so much more global talent being developed now and the fact there are no true women's academy programs in the US will be a problem as the clubs in England, France, Spain, Germany, etc start to embrace the women's game. You are starting to see that with some of the crowd's that are attending women's matches...people are caring about it much more than ever before. While I think that there will be much more parity in the women's game in coming years, I don't see the US completing falling out and it happening as quickly as you feel. Will Spain for example truly embrace women's soccer? While they have an incredibly talented team, there's been a lot of dysfunction within the program and the women's programs at Barca for example are dealing with funding issues since they are tied to the men's program. But, and this is my opinion based on my direct experience, there is a huge pool of players available in the women's game in the US because still for women, sports choices are fairly limited. Basketball and soccer are at the top and are drawing athletes. Now, as you said, developing those athletes into technical players is another thing How does that happen? The limited training time available for national team players at younger ages to meet is an issue. They are coming from many different environments as well with club, college and pro players being in the game group. Are their youth clubs up to the task? Probably not. Emma Hayes coming to the US women's side, IMO, has been the best thing that could have happened though. The approach that she is taking to increase the talent pool overall is critical. Not only on the senior team, but through the younger ages as well. With financial backing of the likes of Michele Kang, that has really expanded the number of players getting exposed to the national team environment. My local club has had more women's players going to actual youth NT camps than ever before. That's a huge thing to be able to bring back that experience to the local clubs. Seeing what that is like and then exposing your teammates to that level of play only can improve everyone overall. But, I don't think that's enough as you have said - no real academies are a problem long term. While there may be the player population, is there an interest level high enough to justify the costs of establishing academies that are tied to pro teams? Maybe, just as women's programs are developing outside this US, this could happen here as well. On the women's side, is the system perfect? No, far from it. College is still an end goal for most players. Professional options are still fairly limited, but becoming greater in both the US and abroad. Other countries are investing in their programs and I believe that the competition can only improve the US - that is if they are willing to embrace it and adapt. Thanks for your post. It's an interesting topic for me at least outside of the never ending DCU debate. |
Anonymous
The only thing I would love to see going along with this statement to add true value is actual real numbers for comparison between MLS academies I find a higher recruitment and acceptance to colleges from local pay-to-play over the professional academy a hard pill to swallow without proof Would add, its either impossible or not. Since there are players currently professional who are from DCU, then its obviously not impossible. Making exaggerated and unverifiable and untruthful comments ruin the value of the thread when you can simply provide what's real and true to support your argument |
Anonymous
Prove any if what has been said wrong ..we will wait for you. Keep trying to have your "verifiable truths" shield, It won't work. It's already failed so many times. Just give up. Like clockwork you show up and offer nothing of value. But you amuse me because I make you post. I own you. |
Anonymous
Well reasoned and thoughtful post. Agree with you. |
Anonymous
So in your mature way, you're responding to the PP request for any evidence to backup your allegations by saying you won the argument because you don't have any, but because they asked you for evidence you're a winner? |
Anonymous
I agree with your sentiment and if this is the DCU intern I appreciate this new tone. I feel like we can actually be productive. To that end, DCU is not alone in their obfuscation. Other MLS academies have very little information as well. We simply happen to be close to two academies that do well in communicating and have several academy products in the USMNT and USYNT teams so that magnifies what DCU is not doing. Here is something that we need to change. There is no audited data and the MLS is not forthcoming with any data which I surmise is intentional at this point. So, in the absence of audited data or a double-blind study in information we share, we do have to rely on piecemeal information. It is not helpful to attack the information in the absence of some audited and verified info from the MLS. That has not stopped us parents from wanting more information amid numerous attempts to try to suppress it over 1.5 years and almost 300 pages of posts. The reason I trust the old man is because his anonymous, unverified information holds up to what I find in real life. Most of you have forgotten more about youth soccer than I have learned as a novice. However, sometimes a fresh look from an outsider helps. Here is the problem I learned on my first trip overseas. We are competitive at the younger ages but it tails off once we hit U15+. I saw it from the groups we went with. That’s when I began asking why? No international academy truly knows how to identify talent early but the US has a particular problem of being competitive early and then losing ground majorily after U15. Look at Cavan Sullivan versus any of the kids in Europe making an impact at 16-18 years of age at Liverpool, PSG, Arsenal and Bayern. From the people I have spoken with, the cause is an accumulation effect in the foundation phase. We don’t have enough problem solving. Problem solving involves mistakes and losses which is antithetical to our “Just win baby” club youth system. I was fortunate enough to start with a club people make fun of. Those coaches and the development methodology puts our current big club to shame but they don’t win because the kids give up cheap goals while learning. Back in the day, I imagine the coaching and talent was consolidated. Now, it is diluted and organizations chase wins which is actually antithetical to someone living it. The big clubs rely on their big names that were earned in an entirely different environment. What does this have to do with DCU? I know what is it like for people to look at you and expect you to spend money just because of perception. However, DCU has the power to control our youth scene without spending extra money. Since Patrick spent time at Clairefontaine, I imagine they have the answers within the walls and simply don’t care or don’t have the imagination. Here are a few ways DCU can completely change the landscape: RDS: I don’t really know what the actual numbers are but if you can run the program at cost versus profit, we all win. Cap the program at 20-30 kids per age group per location with 30-40% on scholarship and able to attend for free. The rest will subsidize the cost. I promise you, someone like me will pay for my kid to be in the building with the top 30 kids in MoCo (for example) if he is not in the top 10-12 based solely on merit. Heck, I might still fund because I need my kid to be with the most savage kids to bring out the best in him. You don’t get that behind paywalls in Loudoun County. Spend the extra money on a quality coach to run it. The current RDS coaches I am familiar with are 💩. I don’t know them all but there are better options if you don’t take a cost savings approach. I know one of the top kids an age group down from my son had to train 3 years up in RDS to get challenged. That family has not done the research I had done to know it is a waste of time but families are researching for answers in the foundation phase and DCU can lead the charge since you should have more information than just us parents. Heck, run an all RDS tournament with MoCo vs DC vs Alexandria, etc. Parents would thirst to be a part of that. The sponsorships would probably make it profitable. Local Futsal/Free Play: USSF and Target have done the heavy lifting in our area. I am not sure what is happening out in Loudoun, but there are probably 40+ futsal courts that are frequently unused inside and directly outside of the Beltway in Alexandria, Arlington, PG, DC and MoCo. There are also dozens of unused elementary and middle school gyms with parents craving for their kids to have an activity so they don’t have to pick them up. There are some incredible futsal coaches in the area who don’t have the talent. Most of the major futsal clubs are run by hacks that we tolerate because we have no other viable options. Run a futsal program like Philly but at cost with free play and clinics sponsored by local businesses in the jurisdictions. Kids stay local, get qualified instruction, learn how to develop creativity, which is sorely lacking from the American player. Kids will compete without scoreboards and other things that parents screw up. If DCU runs it, parents will fall in line. The scoreboards are what is screwing things up. Give coaches a bonus for kids accepted into the academy. Incentivize development versus wins. Right now, BSC has built a faculty, Arlington has built a 1/2 of a facility and Coppermine is building a real facility. There are another 2-3 organizations who have approached me about investing in development schools while retaining sell-on fees as compensation down the road. I have no idea how all of that works yet. The private market is so robust locally because DCU is not paying attention to the goldmine which is our local talent pool. There will be local wealthy kids who can make it. However, they can only achieve their maximum potential if they are pushed by a kid who does not attend Landon and has no AP classes in his future. The potential will be realized in this area whether it is via private means, whether DCU ownership wakes up from their slumber or sells to someone who recognizes the goldmine we are sitting on. I am not sure what is taking place at DCU post 15+ plus but they appear to be fleecing B-More out of a real estate deal (I would do the same thing) and if they actually have a pathway to a legit 2nd team, that would solve 95% of the development problems they experience because most kids are not ready at 18 to break into the first team. Beyond that, I am pretty sure Patrick and the new director have the knowledge IF the institution itself is amenable to change. I am giving you this blueprint, DCU intern, because I don’t think you have the chutzpah to execute on a solvable problem. I hope you prove me wrong for our kids sake. If not, the private market will fix it for you but we will still be more fragmented than if the emperor actually had clothes. |
Anonymous
Anyone have access to the abridged version of this rambling self-indulgent diatribe with all the self back patting? Saying you're a narcissist is putting it mildly |
Anonymous
I am genuinely curious to try to understand what it takes for a kid to have a chance at going pro? What makes this kid different from the other top talent in the region that you see him going pro? Talent? Athleticism? Game IQ? Work rate? |