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Post by Soccerhouse on Dec 14, 2017 10:15:18 GMT -5
Deadspin sure knows how to get your attention with a headline... USMNT Starlet Josh Sargent Inadvertently Offers Scathing Indictment Of MLS deadspin.com/usmnt-starlet-josh-sargent-inadvertently-offers-scathin-1821274105This is the section I assume the are "flaming' MLS was definitely an option for me at first. It would have been nice. Everyone speaks English and it’s only three hours away. But I believe in life you have to do what is hard for you in order to build yourself as a person. When you look at MLS, you don’t see many young players getting minutes. But Weston and Christian are getting minutes. I don’t know how you can refuse that.
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Post by surgesoccer on Dec 14, 2017 11:16:54 GMT -5
Pulisic said pretty much the same thing. www.theplayerstribune.com/christian-pulisic-usmnt-world-cup/"It really does frustrate me, when I watch MLS, and I see our best U-17 players — who, again, are so talented and so capable — being rostered … but then not being put on the field much to actually play. I watch that, and I just think about how I was given a chance … a real chance … and it changed my life. Why then are we seemingly hesitant to allow these other talents to blossom?"
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Post by surgesoccer on Dec 14, 2017 11:18:44 GMT -5
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Post by soccerfan30 on Dec 15, 2017 12:26:14 GMT -5
You mean like Altidore and Bradley who left European teams for a cushy MLS paycheck?
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Post by gaprospects on Dec 15, 2017 18:09:25 GMT -5
Deadspin's coverage of anything soccer is usually awful and purposely inflammatory, as is most of what comes out of what's left of Gawker Media.
In cases of Pulisic and Sargent, both players who did not play DA for MLS clubs, it's hard to really quantify how they would have done getting playing time in MLS. McKennie came from FC Dallas, though, and realistically, it's difficult to see how a 19-year old McKennie on a homegrown contract would have displaced designated player Carlos Gruezo or US international Kellyn Acosta in their midfield.
I think a lot of the reason that MLS struggles to play its young talents is because the homegrown player rule intentionally suppresses the wages of the players that sign those contracts. McKennie would have probably been making 60-75k a year in Dallas. Gruezo makes 730k a year, Acosta makes 280k. It's difficult for any coach to bench a highly-paid player that the club has a lot invested in for someone making much less, and that's something you see around the world, not just in MLS. What makes MLS different, though, is the massive disparity between player salaries.
Furthermore, that wage supression drives super-talents like McKennie to Europe because, well, they're gonna get paid more there. McKennie signed a deal until 2022 with Schalke in September, after he'd only made a few first team appearances. That was all it took for them to commit to him long-term and probably give him a nice raise. If he were here, he could get a much larger second contract after his initial homegrown deal, but the team would have to significantly restructure their roster to fit his new number under the cap.
I think there's ways for MLS to get around these things and get young players on the field more, but these problems run pretty deep within the league's structure and will take some time to fix properly.
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Post by Soccerhouse on Dec 15, 2017 18:45:34 GMT -5
It will be interesting for sure to follow this current home grown class of youngsters, along with Sargent and kid like Juan Pablo Torres playing oversees. Great listnens on ESPNU today about making it to the NFL and how folks don't understand how great you have to be to trully play in the league for even just a year. I'm assuming the EPL is similar?
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Post by gaprospects on Dec 15, 2017 22:56:45 GMT -5
I don't think people understand, in general, how great you have to be and how much you have to devote your entire life and livelihood towards becoming a professional athlete to actually make it to the pros. Even in things most people wouldn't consider to be athletic like auto racing or golf.
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Post by rifle on Dec 16, 2017 10:03:09 GMT -5
I wouldn't dismiss Deadspin because it's a bit of a rogue state. It perspective is valuable because the writers don't fear retribution. The bombastic headlines are typically followed by valid narratives.
There are serious structural problems in US soccer, from the bottom to the top. IMHO Wynalda, described it well... US Soccer is "a tree" with many branches. While some trees may be shaped similar to a pyramid, many of the branches are dead ends. Meanwhile, a true open pyramid would allow the cream to rise to the top, on something called merit.
If the USSF election doesn't bring in new ideas and a willingness to turn the ship off of it's current course, nothing is gonna change. And that'll be a huge shame.
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