(09-06-2017 07:33 AM)BearcatMan Wrote:  

(09-06-2017 06:53 AM)DexterDevil Wrote:  

(09-06-2017 06:23 AM)FastTheo Wrote:  

(09-06-2017 03:59 AM)DexterDevil Wrote:  

(09-05-2017 07:50 PM)GrayBeard Wrote:  Good grief guy, he did start in a hole. Not an Arena fan, but not throwing this mess Soley on him. Maybe you can blame this on Ruffin too.

I blame our MLS lackey federation, Sunil and Garber are going to ruin what soccer should and could be in this country.

I don't watch MLS...in a nutshell, what's being done to ruin it?

It's highly anti-competitive, doesn't allow for much interest beyond the MLS clubs themselves which in turn doesn't allow for a soccer culture to grow. Soccer culture would bolster academies and eventually make them either affordable or free so soccer isn't pay to play as it is now. When only rich kids, that also have parents that are into soccer instead of football or baseball, are able to attend these academies it is highly restrictive to the potential our national team could have.

That is by far the biggest thing that's holding our country back soccer-wise. When I was in grade school through high school I played on one area club team (Pacesetter FC) which was about $300/season and we won two Ohio North State cups against $1000 teams pretty easily, including the Crew's "Academy" team that was basically for rich kids to tell their friends about (hell 6 of us ended up playing in college BECAUSE of the team we were on and the opportunity a few of them had which otherwise wouldn't have been there). Back then there were already families who couldn't afford that...now the same club is $1500/season with tournaments that need additional pay. That doesn't even include the crazy upper level clubs that are around $2000-$3000/season. In Europe, clubs/academies are FREE...here the organizations try to profit off of it all...oddly enough, the organizations and federations that allow greater access tend to toast us in open competition.

The saddest thing is, the athletic potential and overall population of this country SHOULD make us one of the better sides in the world, however, the way the MLS is set up (pay for access, limited support sides, far too many general barriers for entry, and far too few good coaches who care about developing players over W/L record at ages 8-13), we'll never get there. It would require a complete shift in the entire mentality of the Federation from the ground up...and they're making too much money to do that. The only thing that would make soccer better is if USSF were run as a non-profit like most of the other federations are.

I agree with the expense issue; however, the college system is also, IMO, holding back US soccer. While 14+ year old prospects in other nations are joining academies, US players are deciding which college to attend. Not saying that's terrible, but it's not great for US soccer development.