youllneverwalkalone Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 From the discussion in the two "MLS is Treating Canadians Badly" threads, there's a theme from the defenders of MLS that as soon as the Canadian academies are up and running we will have a huge competitive advantage and the number of Canadian MLS quality players will be so vast that MLS will have no choice but to complete whatever paperwork is necessary to treat both Canadians and Americans as domestic players. But where does this supposed competitive advantage come from? I don't have time to summarize the list, but current wikipedia MLS rosters are pretty good about indicating which players have signed "Home Grown" contracts. Look through the squads and see for yourself that clubs in the US are starting to produce a ton of MLS players through this route: FCD and Houston are certainly on par with TFC's 5-6 players; DC, Philly, RSL, Columbus, etc. are very competitive with the Caps three players (one of whom is American). The Caps have dumped a ton of cash, and emotional capital into the USSDA U18 and U16 competitions. Both sides are doing very well, but not to the extent that they're dominating, or showing anything to suggest their academy is vastly superior to their US counterparts. Some will argue that TFC and IMFC are ahead of the game because they compete at a "higher level." Higher in age and physical maturity for sure, but many of the USSDA kids are also playing a similar number of matches in PDL against similar competition. Intuitively, I still do believe that the metropolitan regions of Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal are football hotbeds and should be developing top MLS talent. The fact that all three academies, particularly Vancouver, are reaching beyond their city borders to attract players should lead to some additional good results. However, there are very interesting demographic factors working in Texas and Southern California as well where football is the #1 sport in many households. Ignoring all the other MLS cities, just these 4 will likely compete with the three Canadian MLS clubs for most players produced. I'm not saying we need to produce the most players in MLS for the academies to prove their worth; I just don't think we're as far along as we like to assume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 My argument has nothing to do with the strengths of academies in the U.S. in saying that we'll be so strong that they'll need to adopt Canucks as domestics. It comes from the fact that Canadian teams will have a competitive advantage roster wise if we're producing talent over just 3 academies (in a country where soccer is proportionally much more popular and growing) and we still get US roster spots? The only way they can make it equal is if they put in an allowmance for Canadian players in the USA (say maybe up to 2-3 Canadians that won't count as internationals). It's not going to be fair in the future when we are self sufficient and still have room for Americans and internationals. Ignore the fact that we have better academies, it's irrelevant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThiKu Posted March 15, 2012 Share Posted March 15, 2012 That will only apply, Keegan, if there are 5-6+ Canadian HG players on each of the three teams, on top of male Canadians they'd be signing (ie, De Guzman) anyway....but I get your point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lattes Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 With the introduction of 'Long Term Player Development' I know that the OSA and TSA are trying to adopt a more European approach in youth soccer and SEEM to be moving to the 'first/second/third/fourth...' team model where if you are a third team coach you aren't successful if you win a lot of games, you are successful if you get a lot of players promoted to the second team. They are saying straight out that their measure of success of OSA is going to be how many players make it into one of the three MLS academies. They have some serious kinks to work out (U8 teams aren't allowed to play friendlies this year... DUMB!!!) but I think the end goal is good. Anyway, this is the direction the entire CSA is apparently moving in and apparently are doing it with the input of TFC/VWFC/Impact and their coaches/youth directors so hopefully Canadians will be at a truly 'unfair advantage' in the next ten years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFC/ARSENAL Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Every MLS team seems to have an academy, with teams starting in the 12 to 13 age range. How does one judge their quality to be able to say that ours are better? Academies are such an obvious source of talent that I cannot believe that any MLS team will neglect them for long, if at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youllneverwalkalone Posted March 17, 2012 Author Share Posted March 17, 2012 Every MLS team seems to have an academy, with teams starting in the 12 to 13 age range. How does one judge their quality to be able to say that ours are better? Academies are such an obvious source of talent that I cannot believe that any MLS team will neglect them for long, if at all. Well, all the U18s save for Mtl and TFC, play in the USSDA system. Results at this age count for something, though not everything I concede. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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