O.T. The Twellman doctrine for US Soccer
World Cup is over, Vive La France. I'm not the biggest soccer guy but I really get into it for World Cup, it's so cool to have the world come together for this event. To see the celebrations of wins, especially the upsets. Heck, of goals scored; does any sport celebrate scoring like soccer does? As I viewed this world stage of games, players, and fans in the back of my mind this quiet echo sounded, "we're not here". It was as if the USMNT didn't exist even on the sidelines. Even more disappointing was that we weren't even missed; no one even cared enough to make a GIF of us not being there.
The guys and gals that are involved in soccer feel the pain even more. One of them, Taylor Twellman, created a doctrine for US soccer, which he expounds upon in the following clip
http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=3566945
I don't know if you are a big Taylor fan but I really liked what he says. In 4 years I hope we can at least make the knockout round, in 8 years when Mexico, Canada, and the US co-host the World Cup it would be amazing if we could go further then that.
I really like soccer. The festival of it, the comraderie. I'd really like to have an MLS team in the state, preferably towards Ann Arbor or Detroit. What can we do to help the popularity of the sport? It's not much, but I bring this to the board. Honestly, this blog has some power in the world! Perhaps if we spread the word, it may provide some impetus for change. Thoughts?
Three words explain it all: PAY TO PLAY!
Go to any other country in the world and you'll see a definite pathway for the elite of the local youth leagues to progress into ever increasing coaching/competition with diminishing costs -- in fact, financially, the progression can actually become lucrative for the family. Although it's changing, the system in the United States is nearly the EXACT opposite.
Until that changes whole scale, the US will always be inferior on the international stage. However, if the leadership of the USSA get it right, we're in a very good position when the World Cup comes back in 2026.
Biggest road block is MLS. They operate the league like they want to get better. But it's at the cost of developing players. It is too insular. It's incredibly difficult for other leagues to purchase players from MLS. So players get good enough, but because it's obnoxious to deal with and MLS has inflated prices of players (because of DP rules, bringing Bradley and others back on a big price etc), some foreign leagues just don't even bother. We should be a stepping stone to Europe. We should have a ton of players leaving for Europe in their early 20s. Instead, we have players waiting too long and they don't take that next step in development. Love the progress they've made the last few years with academies, which is sorely needed, but US players seem to be moving to Europe right when they turn 18 or waiting til their contract is up. It's not going to work for the USMNT if it continues that way.