I can't blame him. The country's best athletes don’t play soccer, by and large, and the expectations are extremely high. People want a Michelin meal with McDonald's ingredients.
there aren't enough professional clubs (because MLS does everything it can to prevent lower levels from growing to maintain its grip on US soccer) that can pull the best local players in and train them for little to nothing, right now only MLS clubs and a handful of USL Championship clubs can afford to do this at multiple age groups.
Now consider that the 29 MLS teams take players from across the country. There are that many professional teams in London alone, pulling kids in to train them and sell them on if they pan out.
My kid's team has some of the most talented players in our city, and every single one of them would be in a professional academy at some level in the pyramid if we had infrastructure at the level of several european nations.
edit: add to this that there are multiple competing top level leagues, each of which has it's own championships. the youth system in the US is an absolute mess. I probably pay around $7-10k a year between club fees (the cheap part, tbh) and travel because of the level they play at.
I can't blame him. The country's best athletes don’t play soccer, by and large, and the expectations are extremely high. People want a Michelin meal with McDonald's ingredients.
The problem is that soccer is 50x more expensive here than it is in Europe and a lot of the best soccer players in the world come from poverty
Why is it more expensive here?
Because it costs more money.
shit-eating grin
Oh you bastard, haha
there aren't enough professional clubs (because MLS does everything it can to prevent lower levels from growing to maintain its grip on US soccer) that can pull the best local players in and train them for little to nothing, right now only MLS clubs and a handful of USL Championship clubs can afford to do this at multiple age groups.
Now consider that the 29 MLS teams take players from across the country. There are that many professional teams in London alone, pulling kids in to train them and sell them on if they pan out.
My kid's team has some of the most talented players in our city, and every single one of them would be in a professional academy at some level in the pyramid if we had infrastructure at the level of several european nations.
edit: add to this that there are multiple competing top level leagues, each of which has it's own championships. the youth system in the US is an absolute mess. I probably pay around $7-10k a year between club fees (the cheap part, tbh) and travel because of the level they play at.
Thanks, much appreciated for the answer
I think the US will always be middle of the pack in international soccer
Always? Man we aren't even in the middle of the pack now. Middle of the pack teams don't lose to Panama at home.
There's been times we were okay.