Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:DCU’s academy pathway to pro is suffering by not having an MLS Next Pro team.
Why does dcu not have a team in mlsn pro?
The reason DCU doesn't have a mlsnp team is complicated but it essentially comes down to what plagues the entire club and slows its progress in everything it does from the first team to the academy - MONEY.
DCUs situation in terms of a satellite club is unique. 27 of MLS's 29 clubs own and operate teams in MLS Next Pro, which is classified by U.S. Soccer as a third-division league. D.C. and CF Montréal are the two exceptions, with the Canadian side running an under-23 side in Ligue1 Québec.
DCUs situation is more complicated: The club launched Loudoun United as a USL Championship side in 2018, a period in which MLS satellites were being placed in that league and USL League One depending on the parent organization's preferences.
MLS later announced MLS Next Pro, which Loudoun did not join because the USL wanted to compete with the MLS. That club remains in the USL Championship, though DCU sold their controlling stake in Loudoun to Attain Sports in order to be able to make a move on a mlsnp team.
The owner of DCU has signaled that they have every intention of creating a team and this signal came two years ago. But nothing since. This delay is in large part due to the fact that in order to have the team, the MLS is strongly suggesting that the team build a soccer specific stadium that is of course smaller than Audi field to help foster connections with the local community and build the fan base further. Some MLS clubs operate their mlsnp team out of their first team stadiums but MLS is trying to get away from this model to penetrate new areas of the country and bring in more fans.
For DCU this means Baltimore is the target area for expansion. Because they feel like Baltimore is close enough to Philly for Philly to make consistent attempts to take those local players but also because it has been a traditionally strong area for talent in the DMV. The problem is that the stadium will cost 200m+ and DCU doesn't want to pay that and they are trying to find ways to offset that cost but all efforts have failed. Why we are here today with no mlsnp team.
DCU is one of two teams in all of the MLS to not have a full pathway to the pro team. Why it is almost impossible to reach pro soccer from DCU unless your player is ready at 17 or 18, which most players are not. So, the PP saying DCU is a dead end for pro soccer is absolutely right for this reason alone. If you couple that with how bad the academy is, the chances are even less.
Is it correct that now Loudoun Utd is going to be fully owned by Revolution and the GM is a known extramarital home wrecker?
Loudoun United and Virginia Revolution merged last Spring which was actually a really savvy play. If you really think about it and are paying attention, this merger places this entity in a much stronger position than DCU in terms of potential growth and development of youth players. They have and own the facilities (DCU borrows their facilities, including Raventek fields and Segra), they have a youth setup and a professional pathway in house, they have a strong hold on the NVA talent base and they start the youth pipeline young at the grassroots level (something DCU fails to do). If they can get the coaching and the methodology right and build some partnerships with outside clubs in Europe or abroad, it could be very a very powerful alternative professional pathway for our kids in the DMV. The USL pathway is totally slept on. It is a legit pathway in this country.
DCU just has the MLS badge and that does carry weight because MLS is the highest level of football in this country. But without that badge, DCU would literally be FAR inferior to what Loudoun and Va revolution have and will continue to create.
Can't opine on the GM.. I genuinely don't know and don't care.
https://www.uslchampionship.com/news_article/show/1336909#:~:text=LEESBURG%2C%20Va.,soccer%20in%20the%20United%20States.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:DCU’s academy pathway to pro is suffering by not having an MLS Next Pro team.
Why does dcu not have a team in mlsn pro?
The reason DCU doesn't have a mlsnp team is complicated but it essentially comes down to what plagues the entire club and slows its progress in everything it does from the first team to the academy - MONEY.
DCUs situation in terms of a satellite club is unique. 27 of MLS's 29 clubs own and operate teams in MLS Next Pro, which is classified by U.S. Soccer as a third-division league. D.C. and CF Montréal are the two exceptions, with the Canadian side running an under-23 side in Ligue1 Québec.
DCUs situation is more complicated: The club launched Loudoun United as a USL Championship side in 2018, a period in which MLS satellites were being placed in that league and USL League One depending on the parent organization's preferences.
MLS later announced MLS Next Pro, which Loudoun did not join because the USL wanted to compete with the MLS. That club remains in the USL Championship, though DCU sold their controlling stake in Loudoun to Attain Sports in order to be able to make a move on a mlsnp team.
The owner of DCU has signaled that they have every intention of creating a team and this signal came two years ago. But nothing since. This delay is in large part due to the fact that in order to have the team, the MLS is strongly suggesting that the team build a soccer specific stadium that is of course smaller than Audi field to help foster connections with the local community and build the fan base further. Some MLS clubs operate their mlsnp team out of their first team stadiums but MLS is trying to get away from this model to penetrate new areas of the country and bring in more fans.
For DCU this means Baltimore is the target area for expansion. Because they feel like Baltimore is close enough to Philly for Philly to make consistent attempts to take those local players but also because it has been a traditionally strong area for talent in the DMV. The problem is that the stadium will cost 200m+ and DCU doesn't want to pay that and they are trying to find ways to offset that cost but all efforts have failed. Why we are here today with no mlsnp team.
DCU is one of two teams in all of the MLS to not have a full pathway to the pro team. Why it is almost impossible to reach pro soccer from DCU unless your player is ready at 17 or 18, which most players are not. So, the PP saying DCU is a dead end for pro soccer is absolutely right for this reason alone. If you couple that with how bad the academy is, the chances are even less.
Is it correct that now Loudoun Utd is going to be fully owned by Revolution and the GM is a known extramarital home wrecker?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:DCU’s academy pathway to pro is suffering by not having an MLS Next Pro team.
Why does dcu not have a team in mlsn pro?
The reason DCU doesn't have a mlsnp team is complicated but it essentially comes down to what plagues the entire club and slows its progress in everything it does from the first team to the academy - MONEY.
DCUs situation in terms of a satellite club is unique. 27 of MLS's 29 clubs own and operate teams in MLS Next Pro, which is classified by U.S. Soccer as a third-division league. D.C. and CF Montréal are the two exceptions, with the Canadian side running an under-23 side in Ligue1 Québec.
DCUs situation is more complicated: The club launched Loudoun United as a USL Championship side in 2018, a period in which MLS satellites were being placed in that league and USL League One depending on the parent organization's preferences.
MLS later announced MLS Next Pro, which Loudoun did not join because the USL wanted to compete with the MLS. That club remains in the USL Championship, though DCU sold their controlling stake in Loudoun to Attain Sports in order to be able to make a move on a mlsnp team.
The owner of DCU has signaled that they have every intention of creating a team and this signal came two years ago. But nothing since. This delay is in large part due to the fact that in order to have the team, the MLS is strongly suggesting that the team build a soccer specific stadium that is of course smaller than Audi field to help foster connections with the local community and build the fan base further. Some MLS clubs operate their mlsnp team out of their first team stadiums but MLS is trying to get away from this model to penetrate new areas of the country and bring in more fans.
For DCU this means Baltimore is the target area for expansion. Because they feel like Baltimore is close enough to Philly for Philly to make consistent attempts to take those local players but also because it has been a traditionally strong area for talent in the DMV. The problem is that the stadium will cost 200m+ and DCU doesn't want to pay that and they are trying to find ways to offset that cost but all efforts have failed. Why we are here today with no mlsnp team.
DCU is one of two teams in all of the MLS to not have a full pathway to the pro team. Why it is almost impossible to reach pro soccer from DCU unless your player is ready at 17 or 18, which most players are not. So, the PP saying DCU is a dead end for pro soccer is absolutely right for this reason alone. If you couple that with how bad the academy is, the chances are even less.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:DCU’s academy pathway to pro is suffering by not having an MLS Next Pro team.
Why does dcu not have a team in mlsn pro?
Anonymous wrote:DCU’s academy pathway to pro is suffering by not having an MLS Next Pro team.
Anonymous wrote:I dont see u15s on the mlsnext website for scores. Are the u15s playing up with u16s?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Since I don't pretend to have expertise about soccer at pro academy levels, I used Google AI and Chatgbt to ask two questions coming from statements made on here
Can scouts and coaches accurately predict which youth players are going to become successful professionals?
List professional players who were rejected or looked over as youth players by club academies?
Based on the responses, the best scouts and coaches and academies in the world not only can't predict, they admit they can't predict.
So I'll take these comments here on that topic as light toilet reading
Pretty dumb questions to ask as the answers are obvious. If anyone could predict those things why have academies?? There are scouts and coaches that have a better eye and a better track record than others. DCU does t have either. Nice try...so many better uses of chatgpt tha to fuel a ridiculous argument.
So someone claims DC academy doesn't have any youth players that can become professional here or Europe
Someone points to clear evidence that not even the best scouts and coaches at youth level in the world can make such predictions
Another or same as first person agrees, the best scouts and coaches can't predict, but DCU can't predict either, so nanny nanny boo boo
*since Americans aren't becoming professionals through MLS academies in general, seems the hat fits everyone
Unless there are secret files of players going to Europe in significant numbers to top division clubs
Please stop. This line of "reasoning" has already been dismissed. Bukayo Saka and I had the same number of goals in the Premier League this weekend - zero. That doesn't mean I'm as good as Saka or that you can't evaluate and come to the conclusion that he's better than me. (he is, by a whisker)
You're also a world class International player on a Division One senior team in England or Europe?
Your analogy would be crazy in a mental hospital much less outside
I know you have trouble with logic, and I'm sorry. It must be a struggle. You spend so much time on here doing nothing more than trying to cast doubt on the myriad reasons DC United does not compare favorably to other academies. The end result of your efforts is more and more evidence that it is in inferior academy. No one on here WANTS that to be true. It is true. That needs to be admitted in order for it to improve. The Philly Union article linked above, which I doubt you read, is more than a little cheerlead-y but provides a great overview of what the cost and benefits of their approach is. It's working from a development and financial standpoint.
I suspect it is defensive parents who are defending their parental decision to send their kids to a free academy. I understand, you love your kid. You can love your kid, be proud of them and still acknowledge the state of the DCU Academy. I think you need to understand the statement above in bold. We want change. We want the academy to be better. THE FIRST step to that is acknowledging that the DCU academy is far below the standards and that is language in their own press releases. The status of the academy MAY or MAY NOT include their evaluation of your kid. We don't know that piece and you have to be a grown-up and get over that. We do know the DCU Academy system sucks and we deserve better for our area.
Disingenuous, hypocrisy and intellectual dishonesty ar its best on display
Why would a parent who's kid is at the professional academy and both the kid and parent are happy need to defend the choice to others?
Make that make sense
This isn't objective analysis nor is it based on anything more than mainly feelings and conjecture
None of us know what is in the minds of each family, so who are we to judge?
Who is the "we" that deserve better when none of us have kids involved with the academy?
If you want to scream and act emotionally over the Senior team where you pay your money to watch, that is understandable.
No one is asking you to defend your choices. We are just pointing out that your choices are dumb as sh#t. And if you're happy at DCU with what it is offering your son, then you have bigger problems than soccer.
If the person with a kid at the MLS club academy is dumb for doing so, what about the thousands of us spending lots of money at regular clubs? Are we imbeciles 😄
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Since I don't pretend to have expertise about soccer at pro academy levels, I used Google AI and Chatgbt to ask two questions coming from statements made on here
Can scouts and coaches accurately predict which youth players are going to become successful professionals?
List professional players who were rejected or looked over as youth players by club academies?
Based on the responses, the best scouts and coaches and academies in the world not only can't predict, they admit they can't predict.
So I'll take these comments here on that topic as light toilet reading
Pretty dumb questions to ask as the answers are obvious. If anyone could predict those things why have academies?? There are scouts and coaches that have a better eye and a better track record than others. DCU does t have either. Nice try...so many better uses of chatgpt tha to fuel a ridiculous argument.
So someone claims DC academy doesn't have any youth players that can become professional here or Europe
Someone points to clear evidence that not even the best scouts and coaches at youth level in the world can make such predictions
Another or same as first person agrees, the best scouts and coaches can't predict, but DCU can't predict either, so nanny nanny boo boo
*since Americans aren't becoming professionals through MLS academies in general, seems the hat fits everyone
Unless there are secret files of players going to Europe in significant numbers to top division clubs
Please stop. This line of "reasoning" has already been dismissed. Bukayo Saka and I had the same number of goals in the Premier League this weekend - zero. That doesn't mean I'm as good as Saka or that you can't evaluate and come to the conclusion that he's better than me. (he is, by a whisker)
You're also a world class International player on a Division One senior team in England or Europe?
Your analogy would be crazy in a mental hospital much less outside
I know you have trouble with logic, and I'm sorry. It must be a struggle. You spend so much time on here doing nothing more than trying to cast doubt on the myriad reasons DC United does not compare favorably to other academies. The end result of your efforts is more and more evidence that it is in inferior academy. No one on here WANTS that to be true. It is true. That needs to be admitted in order for it to improve. The Philly Union article linked above, which I doubt you read, is more than a little cheerlead-y but provides a great overview of what the cost and benefits of their approach is. It's working from a development and financial standpoint.
I suspect it is defensive parents who are defending their parental decision to send their kids to a free academy. I understand, you love your kid. You can love your kid, be proud of them and still acknowledge the state of the DCU Academy. I think you need to understand the statement above in bold. We want change. We want the academy to be better. THE FIRST step to that is acknowledging that the DCU academy is far below the standards and that is language in their own press releases. The status of the academy MAY or MAY NOT include their evaluation of your kid. We don't know that piece and you have to be a grown-up and get over that. We do know the DCU Academy system sucks and we deserve better for our area.
Disingenuous, hypocrisy and intellectual dishonesty ar its best on display
Why would a parent who's kid is at the professional academy and both the kid and parent are happy need to defend the choice to others?
Make that make sense
This isn't objective analysis nor is it based on anything more than mainly feelings and conjecture
None of us know what is in the minds of each family, so who are we to judge?
Who is the "we" that deserve better when none of us have kids involved with the academy?
If you want to scream and act emotionally over the Senior team where you pay your money to watch, that is understandable.
No one is asking you to defend your choices. We are just pointing out that your choices are dumb as sh#t. And if you're happy at DCU with what it is offering your son, then you have bigger problems than soccer.
If the person with a kid at the MLS club academy is dumb for doing so, what about the thousands of us spending lots of money at regular clubs? Are we imbeciles 😄
If you actually have a plan to go pro via Europe, no, you are intelligent. Dozens of DMV kids taking this path. If they fail to go pro, many will return with a 2nd language, a D1 spot and a life-changing experience.
If you are at DCU because it is free, you are financially savvy but seriously uneducated if you have a kid with high aspirations. If your kid does not have high aspirations, you are smart to take advantage of the situation and the academy are imbeciles for bringing on that type of family. This reinforces our point.
If you can’t afford $10k in soccer fees annually in the DMV, get off DCUM and learn how to be more productive with your time. There are plenty of ways to make an extra $1k a month in the DMV.
Only an imbecile would ignore the owners own words and press releases about bringing the academy up to the modern league standards. They can’t fathom that someone like me could actually give DCU the Logan Roy treatment.
Soccer Peasants.
So going to PPA or Manassas or Paragon is a smart parent move because that is the route to get into a European club because European passport or legitimate residency is no longer required
What is you and your family's portfolio of soccer accomplishments, education and professional, financial successes so we can see which superior being this is looking down on the rest of us dumb failures
Anonymous wrote:I dont see u15s on the mlsnext website for scores. Are the u15s playing up with u16s?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Since I don't pretend to have expertise about soccer at pro academy levels, I used Google AI and Chatgbt to ask two questions coming from statements made on here
Can scouts and coaches accurately predict which youth players are going to become successful professionals?
List professional players who were rejected or looked over as youth players by club academies?
Based on the responses, the best scouts and coaches and academies in the world not only can't predict, they admit they can't predict.
So I'll take these comments here on that topic as light toilet reading
Pretty dumb questions to ask as the answers are obvious. If anyone could predict those things why have academies?? There are scouts and coaches that have a better eye and a better track record than others. DCU does t have either. Nice try...so many better uses of chatgpt tha to fuel a ridiculous argument.
So someone claims DC academy doesn't have any youth players that can become professional here or Europe
Someone points to clear evidence that not even the best scouts and coaches at youth level in the world can make such predictions
Another or same as first person agrees, the best scouts and coaches can't predict, but DCU can't predict either, so nanny nanny boo boo
*since Americans aren't becoming professionals through MLS academies in general, seems the hat fits everyone
Unless there are secret files of players going to Europe in significant numbers to top division clubs
Please stop. This line of "reasoning" has already been dismissed. Bukayo Saka and I had the same number of goals in the Premier League this weekend - zero. That doesn't mean I'm as good as Saka or that you can't evaluate and come to the conclusion that he's better than me. (he is, by a whisker)
You're also a world class International player on a Division One senior team in England or Europe?
Your analogy would be crazy in a mental hospital much less outside
I know you have trouble with logic, and I'm sorry. It must be a struggle. You spend so much time on here doing nothing more than trying to cast doubt on the myriad reasons DC United does not compare favorably to other academies. The end result of your efforts is more and more evidence that it is in inferior academy. No one on here WANTS that to be true. It is true. That needs to be admitted in order for it to improve. The Philly Union article linked above, which I doubt you read, is more than a little cheerlead-y but provides a great overview of what the cost and benefits of their approach is. It's working from a development and financial standpoint.
I suspect it is defensive parents who are defending their parental decision to send their kids to a free academy. I understand, you love your kid. You can love your kid, be proud of them and still acknowledge the state of the DCU Academy. I think you need to understand the statement above in bold. We want change. We want the academy to be better. THE FIRST step to that is acknowledging that the DCU academy is far below the standards and that is language in their own press releases. The status of the academy MAY or MAY NOT include their evaluation of your kid. We don't know that piece and you have to be a grown-up and get over that. We do know the DCU Academy system sucks and we deserve better for our area.
Disingenuous, hypocrisy and intellectual dishonesty ar its best on display
Why would a parent who's kid is at the professional academy and both the kid and parent are happy need to defend the choice to others?
Make that make sense
This isn't objective analysis nor is it based on anything more than mainly feelings and conjecture
None of us know what is in the minds of each family, so who are we to judge?
Who is the "we" that deserve better when none of us have kids involved with the academy?
If you want to scream and act emotionally over the Senior team where you pay your money to watch, that is understandable.
No one is asking you to defend your choices. We are just pointing out that your choices are dumb as sh#t. And if you're happy at DCU with what it is offering your son, then you have bigger problems than soccer.
If the person with a kid at the MLS club academy is dumb for doing so, what about the thousands of us spending lots of money at regular clubs? Are we imbeciles 😄
If you actually have a plan to go pro via Europe, no, you are intelligent. Dozens of DMV kids taking this path. If they fail to go pro, many will return with a 2nd language, a D1 spot and a life-changing experience.
If you are at DCU because it is free, you are financially savvy but seriously uneducated if you have a kid with high aspirations. If your kid does not have high aspirations, you are smart to take advantage of the situation and the academy are imbeciles for bringing on that type of family. This reinforces our point.
If you can’t afford $10k in soccer fees annually in the DMV, get off DCUM and learn how to be more productive with your time. There are plenty of ways to make an extra $1k a month in the DMV.
Only an imbecile would ignore the owners own words and press releases about bringing the academy up to the modern league standards. They can’t fathom that someone like me could actually give DCU the Logan Roy treatment.
Soccer Peasants.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Since I don't pretend to have expertise about soccer at pro academy levels, I used Google AI and Chatgbt to ask two questions coming from statements made on here
Can scouts and coaches accurately predict which youth players are going to become successful professionals?
List professional players who were rejected or looked over as youth players by club academies?
Based on the responses, the best scouts and coaches and academies in the world not only can't predict, they admit they can't predict.
So I'll take these comments here on that topic as light toilet reading
Pretty dumb questions to ask as the answers are obvious. If anyone could predict those things why have academies?? There are scouts and coaches that have a better eye and a better track record than others. DCU does t have either. Nice try...so many better uses of chatgpt tha to fuel a ridiculous argument.
So someone claims DC academy doesn't have any youth players that can become professional here or Europe
Someone points to clear evidence that not even the best scouts and coaches at youth level in the world can make such predictions
Another or same as first person agrees, the best scouts and coaches can't predict, but DCU can't predict either, so nanny nanny boo boo
*since Americans aren't becoming professionals through MLS academies in general, seems the hat fits everyone
Unless there are secret files of players going to Europe in significant numbers to top division clubs
Please stop. This line of "reasoning" has already been dismissed. Bukayo Saka and I had the same number of goals in the Premier League this weekend - zero. That doesn't mean I'm as good as Saka or that you can't evaluate and come to the conclusion that he's better than me. (he is, by a whisker)
You're also a world class International player on a Division One senior team in England or Europe?
Your analogy would be crazy in a mental hospital much less outside
I know you have trouble with logic, and I'm sorry. It must be a struggle. You spend so much time on here doing nothing more than trying to cast doubt on the myriad reasons DC United does not compare favorably to other academies. The end result of your efforts is more and more evidence that it is in inferior academy. No one on here WANTS that to be true. It is true. That needs to be admitted in order for it to improve. The Philly Union article linked above, which I doubt you read, is more than a little cheerlead-y but provides a great overview of what the cost and benefits of their approach is. It's working from a development and financial standpoint.
I suspect it is defensive parents who are defending their parental decision to send their kids to a free academy. I understand, you love your kid. You can love your kid, be proud of them and still acknowledge the state of the DCU Academy. I think you need to understand the statement above in bold. We want change. We want the academy to be better. THE FIRST step to that is acknowledging that the DCU academy is far below the standards and that is language in their own press releases. The status of the academy MAY or MAY NOT include their evaluation of your kid. We don't know that piece and you have to be a grown-up and get over that. We do know the DCU Academy system sucks and we deserve better for our area.
Disingenuous, hypocrisy and intellectual dishonesty ar its best on display
Why would a parent who's kid is at the professional academy and both the kid and parent are happy need to defend the choice to others?
Make that make sense
This isn't objective analysis nor is it based on anything more than mainly feelings and conjecture
None of us know what is in the minds of each family, so who are we to judge?
Who is the "we" that deserve better when none of us have kids involved with the academy?
If you want to scream and act emotionally over the Senior team where you pay your money to watch, that is understandable.
No one is asking you to defend your choices. We are just pointing out that your choices are dumb as sh#t. And if you're happy at DCU with what it is offering your son, then you have bigger problems than soccer.
If the person with a kid at the MLS club academy is dumb for doing so, what about the thousands of us spending lots of money at regular clubs? Are we imbeciles 😄
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Since I don't pretend to have expertise about soccer at pro academy levels, I used Google AI and Chatgbt to ask two questions coming from statements made on here
Can scouts and coaches accurately predict which youth players are going to become successful professionals?
List professional players who were rejected or looked over as youth players by club academies?
Based on the responses, the best scouts and coaches and academies in the world not only can't predict, they admit they can't predict.
So I'll take these comments here on that topic as light toilet reading
Pretty dumb questions to ask as the answers are obvious. If anyone could predict those things why have academies?? There are scouts and coaches that have a better eye and a better track record than others. DCU does t have either. Nice try...so many better uses of chatgpt tha to fuel a ridiculous argument.
So someone claims DC academy doesn't have any youth players that can become professional here or Europe
Someone points to clear evidence that not even the best scouts and coaches at youth level in the world can make such predictions
Another or same as first person agrees, the best scouts and coaches can't predict, but DCU can't predict either, so nanny nanny boo boo
*since Americans aren't becoming professionals through MLS academies in general, seems the hat fits everyone
Unless there are secret files of players going to Europe in significant numbers to top division clubs
Please stop. This line of "reasoning" has already been dismissed. Bukayo Saka and I had the same number of goals in the Premier League this weekend - zero. That doesn't mean I'm as good as Saka or that you can't evaluate and come to the conclusion that he's better than me. (he is, by a whisker)
You're also a world class International player on a Division One senior team in England or Europe?
Your analogy would be crazy in a mental hospital much less outside
I know you have trouble with logic, and I'm sorry. It must be a struggle. You spend so much time on here doing nothing more than trying to cast doubt on the myriad reasons DC United does not compare favorably to other academies. The end result of your efforts is more and more evidence that it is in inferior academy. No one on here WANTS that to be true. It is true. That needs to be admitted in order for it to improve. The Philly Union article linked above, which I doubt you read, is more than a little cheerlead-y but provides a great overview of what the cost and benefits of their approach is. It's working from a development and financial standpoint.
I suspect it is defensive parents who are defending their parental decision to send their kids to a free academy. I understand, you love your kid. You can love your kid, be proud of them and still acknowledge the state of the DCU Academy. I think you need to understand the statement above in bold. We want change. We want the academy to be better. THE FIRST step to that is acknowledging that the DCU academy is far below the standards and that is language in their own press releases. The status of the academy MAY or MAY NOT include their evaluation of your kid. We don't know that piece and you have to be a grown-up and get over that. We do know the DCU Academy system sucks and we deserve better for our area.
Disingenuous, hypocrisy and intellectual dishonesty ar its best on display
Why would a parent who's kid is at the professional academy and both the kid and parent are happy need to defend the choice to others?
Make that make sense
This isn't objective analysis nor is it based on anything more than mainly feelings and conjecture
None of us know what is in the minds of each family, so who are we to judge?
Who is the "we" that deserve better when none of us have kids involved with the academy?
If you want to scream and act emotionally over the Senior team where you pay your money to watch, that is understandable.
No one is asking you to defend your choices. We are just pointing out that your choices are dumb as sh#t. And if you're happy at DCU with what it is offering your son, then you have bigger problems than soccer.