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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Great Article, and indicates there is still hope for US Men's Soccer - just a few more years to go:

https://sports.yahoo.com/usmnt-doesnt-need-better-athletes-win-world-cup-060526124.html[/quote]

He's right that it's not about getting the "best athletes."   For anyone who thinks that - that's the best way to identify yourself as a complete noob.   This writer falls for the second best way though.  "Look how well the [U17, U20] team has done lately.  Success is right around the corner.  No need to panic.  We are making progress.  Just need to be patient and stay the course, ...."  That's a story line that has been written over and over and over again over the past 15-20 years, at least.  Just like "we beat Spain,"  "we made it out of the 'group of death'", all little meaningless blips that do nothing but hide the lack of real progress.

Are we better at developing soccer players than we were 10-15 years ago?  Sure.  More small sided games at the younger ages, more year-round training, the DA system, a slow but steady growth in the number of coaches teaching (and a few actually playing) a possession style for development's sake .... We've probably taken 5 steps forward on the development path.  The problem is the rest of the world has taken 10 steps forward in the same time frame.  We are getting better, but we are still falling farther and farther behind.

To date, the United States men's soccer development system has developed ONE player capable of making a meaningful contribution on a regular basis for a knock-stage caliber Champion's League team.

This is not due to lack of popularity, number of participants, best athletes, not recruiting players from "the hood", or from lack of money being invested in youth development.

It is because our system does not incentivize player development, and the system used by the rest of the world does.  Yes, the federation has a role to play (see Germany, Spain, Belgium), and yes, it helps when professional leagues work WITH the federation to do what's best for the country (see Germany vs England).  But the inescapable truth is that player development in the rest of the world is primarily driven by individual professional clubs competing in an open market.  The market is controlled by rules that are standardized world wide pursuant to FIFA regulations that the US is for some reason exempt from.

Individual Clubs not Single Entity (MLS)
Promotion and Relegation.  
Solidarity Payments.
Training Compensation (note - not the same thing).

Those are the steps forward.  Contrary to the author's assertion, we will never truly have a "level playing field" with the rest of the world until we start playing by the same rules.

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