Anton Peterlin (3rd from left), kicking it with Rodwell and Phil Neville to good reviews...
“With players like Lichaj, Peterlin, Duka, Gil and Sebastian Lletget (EU passport – CAP HIM NOW before he pulls a Vieri!) emerging to mix with the younger members of our first team squad (Dempsey, Donovan, Feilhaber, Torres, Holden, Edu, Bradley, Altidore, Davies, Spector and maybe Onyewu if he drinks the AC Milan water) and the young players who have started to get into the mix this cycle (Bedoya, McCarty, Gonzalez, Orozco, etc…) the next couple World Cup cycles are going to be sweet.
This summer we have the potential to do really well – quarter-finalists again is definitely realistic – but the next World Cup we could be a semifinalist and who knows what happens then. We could just really use a few more defenders as promising as our young attackers.
While we’re getting excited about the 2010 World Cup, we also need to be concerned with what happens next with a program that might be ready to take a leap into being a contender. Perhaps we should develop a fan’s manifesto for US soccer or something. Not that anyone could actually agree on what it says.”
- Tuesday…
Begin….manifesto:
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Posted by GeorgeCross on 2010/03/11 at 9:33 AM
Now you just need a top-notch coach to get the best out of that talent.
Posted by i like tuesday on 2010/03/11 at 10:01 AM
Exactly what I was thinking. Thanks for writing our manifesto George!
Posted by GeorgeCross on 2010/03/11 at 9:39 AM
Could somebody explain to me the structure of US Football – how does the U16s – U21s feed into the senior team? Does Bradley have a say? Do they play the same system in the 21s so they’re ready to step up to the Seniors?
FYI, Stuart Pearce, one of England’s assistant coaches, is the U21 manager. So there is definitely a ‘top down’ approach.
Posted by i like tuesday on 2010/03/11 at 10:13 AM
Nope, our U-20s play a completely different style from the senior side – more a dutch style 4-3-3. Thomas Rongen is not involved with the senior side, as far as I know.
The U-18s are for players transitioning from U-17 to U-20.
For the U-17s, there is a full-time residency program consisting of 40 of the country’s top players.
US Soccer sez:
“Since its inception, 170 players have been through the full-time Residency Program, and more than 40 of those players have moved on to Major League Soccer, or the professional leagues in Europe. Twelve players have also registered at least one cap with the full MNT: Freddy Adu, DaMarcus Beasley, Michael Bradley, Bobby Convey, Landon Donovan, Eddie Gaven, Eddie Johnson, Chad Marshall, Oguchi Onyewu, Heath Pearce, Santino Quaranta and Jonathan Spector.”
Posted by Evan on 2010/03/11 at 11:39 AM
Kyle Beckerman, Justin Mapp, Clint Dempsey. I read somewhere that like almost 60% of USA’s current team came from Bradenton
Posted by Nick on 2010/03/11 at 1:09 PM
I don’t believe Dempsey went through BRadenton, he was practically in college before being noticed by the USSF and I know he went to college, something most Bradenton grads do not do.
Posted by i like tuesday on 2010/03/11 at 1:10 PM
The quote is direct from US Soccer so I imagine they’d have their facts right.
Posted by Evan on 2010/03/11 at 10:54 PM
Dempsey never went there but he did play for the U-20s in a world cup
Posted by i like tuesday on 2010/03/11 at 12:54 PM
If US Soccer is going to take the lead in youth development, I would think we need 4 tuition-based regional academy faculties modeled on Bradenton – Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, West. Admission should be highly competitive and the tuition model should be along “pay what you can afford” lines. The funding for the 40 player residency program should be converted into full and partial scholarships available at each facilities. As any of these players are drafted into MLS or signed to pro contracts, US Soccer should get a “development fee” for each player. This goes into the endowment which continues to fund the scholarships.
But wait, will there still be an MLS?
Posted by Kevin on 2010/03/11 at 5:34 PM
And there wouldn’t be MLS why???
Posted by i like tuesday on 2010/03/12 at 8:29 AM
Just my way of saying that a strike seems like not such a good idea given past history.
Posted by Marcos on 2010/03/11 at 4:46 PM
Personaly i was really impressed by John McInerney and i hope we get to see alot from him with the philadelphia union. I defenetly see him as a future player for the US and i think that he chose right on staying in the MLS to polish his skills so that later on he is ready to make a successful leap across the pond
Posted by patrickhattrick on 2010/03/11 at 9:20 PM
Just figure out a way to steal more athletes from other sports instead of them stealing from us. It happens a lot. We need to keep the great guys we already have. Obviously, this doesn’t happen at the older levels, more 7th and 8th grade. Other stuff we can do to make a supersystem dynasty are making more teams for schools, especially in inner cities. They’re all at the club level, which many people can’t afford. So, we get teams at schools, more kids are exposed, more kids fall in love with the game, it works better than basketball because you don’t need a hoop, you see pickup games becoming common place, and a real soccer culture starts. Plus, with everyone worried about child obesity, we could cancel all of those federal programs and just put in this. Then, we have some nice Jr USMNT Squad scouts checking out these players and offering them scolarships for Bradenton and residency programs and the current system. Plus, you’d have MLS Academies competing for the talent, and some people in Europe wanting in too. With the relatively low price of MLS Tix right now, the potential for the Yanks to dominate next summer, and the potential of a basketball/football lockout in 2011, what better time to start putting all of this in place than now?
Posted by GeorgeCross on 2010/03/12 at 7:33 AM
It’s sort of the inverse in America – football (soocer) seems to be a (white?) middle-class sport, with the surburban soccer Moms and their mini-vans. In England, football is almost exclusively working class – where kids get scouted by teams, whereas American has the college system….
Posted by cfig on 2010/03/12 at 3:48 PM
I’ve said before that while I can’t wait for this summer I’m really excited for what our squad can do in 2014. Our younger guys that are just starting to come into their own for the USMNT and in Europe (in particular Holden, Davies, Altidore, Bradley, Edu, and Spector) along with our up and comers (Bedoya, Torres, McCarty, Gonzalez, and all the U20s) are going to form a pretty formidable lineup in 3 years. I can see a starting lineup of all European-based players who are logging significant minutes across the pond.
And we’d hate to see him go but I’d love to see Dominic Kinnear as the next USMNT coach. What he’s done in Houston is nothing short of amazing, especially if the Dynamo contend again this season.