I just got into Major League Soccer this year. I've been loving it, I feel like I've missed out not having soccer in my life all these years. Obviously the sport isn't complicated per se - just put the ball in the goal. But I'd like to know more about the basics. Like, I don't even really know all the positions or what these formations are. Or like, how to tell if a team is doing good/bad when they aren't scoring at rhat moment. Any videos or whatever is appreciated.

  • Dull_Juice [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I'd argue the academy's in the US are starting to change. MLS academy's are getting better. They're more frequently setup like the ones in europe. USL is also starting to get some academies. There's still a lot of talented folks falling through cracks and the US needs a way to capture it. No denying that.

    And frankly the European development model is also for profit in a lot of cases. It's just that the profits are deferred till the most talented players are sold on from the academy system.

    I think the US setup currently makes sense, develop players and sell on for a profit. Which is what pretty much what any league outside of the top 5 really has to do. There's definitely room for improvement in the US but I can't say the setup is inherently wrong. Some of the decisions like no pro/rel and others are also pragmatic decisions to keep at least MLS stable. USL isn't big enough yet.

    • JK1348 [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      The problem is their academies still charge, you can build US soccer to greatness on that alone (i am not a USMNT fan) but there is so much mediocrity that's enabled throughout the CONCACAF that it pisses me off, we have so much potential but corruption will keep us ALL down.

      Every aspect of professional sports is for profit, but I'm talking about academies being accessible to low income talent because that's why the game thrives in S America. That's the point of the academy to find incredible talent nurture it and sell for a high profit to a club in a higher league.

      I'm not even talk pro/rel i think the US can honestly survive without it, I'm talking the overall competitiveness of the entire CONCACAF as a region. Their focus is mainly selling US v Mex, which yes is a great rivalry but when you format all tournaments to cater to that you get a lot of corruption and mediocrity. It speaks for itself why CONCACAF "giants" fails at the world cup level. There's so much untapped potential here. MLS players and CONCACAF players should be good enough to play in Liga MX and that's far from the reality. Until then we aren't going anywhere