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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Regarding the EDP thing, there is still quite a bit of travel with Div 1 and Div 2. You would still end up mostly in the DMV and occasionally PA and DE, which are still pretty big. This area NAL only includes NJ outside that list.

Some of the NAL teams are former ECNL.  So, in some ways, it is comparable to ECNL, with the big caveat being the top teams for a club play in ECNL, and the top teams for a NAL club are MLS Next.

Since it is a new league, there is no way to know what college pathway will exist, but pretty consistently, any competitive league (EDP, MLS Next, ECNL) can have players that will go further.

So far, I have only seen movement one way. That would be from MLS Next down to NAL, but this is the first year. I have seen moves from the second team to MLS Next previously at the same club, but this is a new league, so there is no way to know if it will keep happening.

If you are a marginal player and are on the MLS Next bench. You would hope to be a starter on NAL, but that is not always the case. So, the NAL player is exposed to players that were at one point seen to be talented enough for MLS Next. That means they are playing against quality players here and there on the field and in practice close to MLS Next quality. That will not always be the case at ECNL. Unless you are at a competitive ECNL club, the remaining clubs may not be very different from a Div 3 EDP team.

The benefits so far are okay. It seems like good training in an environment close to the MLS Next level. Every team, so far, has tried to play, have a style, and not just win the game by whatever means, which is good. In my experience, EDP and ECNL are a mixed bag on that front. The intensity and technique are a little lower, but not as much as you would think. There is also the internal competition aspect in that there should be players coming down from MLS Next every year and players coming in trying to get to MLS Next every year, which I think makes for good competition in playing for your spot. It is interesting to see which players keep playing or give up, seeing that a kid on the second team is starting over them. Which kind of flies in the face of being an MLS Next bench player is better than being on the field.

I would not consider it a way to get directly to MLS Next. That needs to be done outside any team dynamic. It would require being strong enough that any coach can see the talent. If you go that route, you should fight for a starting position, not the bench.[/quote]

NAL teams are both former ECNL and former EDP 
They are the same 2nd teams from last season. So I'm not sure what you're saying about training style/environment etc. 
They are doing what they've always been doing.

These individual clubs march to beat of their own drums. There is no established uniformed pathway. [/quote]

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