Welcome back to the Thursday Q&A series, where we focus on one particular topic – today's being young players in MLS – and ask you to react, share, and discuss in the comments section. However, feel free to ask about anything game-related (MLS, USL, NASL, USMNT, CanMNT, etc.) over the next several hours.
Our annual 24 Under 24 list is complete. We will show you the results in a few weeks.
This list generally elicits three types of responses. The first is "Did Player X from insert favorite team make it? No? You're all idiots. The list is not worth the digital ink it's printed on."
The second is "OMG 24 isn't a prospect anymore this list is stuuuuuuupid! MLS doesn't play enough young players!"
Then the third is the group – I like to think of them as the silent majority – that looks at the list and says "Neat, this is fun." And then procedes to argue (or at least ponder) the voting criteria and the way, in general, each player is or should be rated.
And to all groups I say this: Thank you for reading.
But my attention for now is on the second group, which is loud and proud and certain that everything in American and Canadian soccer is wrong because we do, on occasion, see 23-year-olds more as "prospects" than "finished products." It is a feature rather than a bug of the college system, something that marks us as true outliers on the world stage.
However, let me list six names: Benny Feilhaber, Lee Nguyen, Ethan Finlay, Kei Kamara, Gyasi Zardes and Chris Wondolowski. Each of them took vastly different, yet surprisingly similar paths to MLS stardom, and each of them was still far more "prospect" than "finished product" at age 23. It took the right situation, the right coaches, the right scheme for each to hit their current heights.
And while you can find similar stories in other places (just look at Rickie Lambert's career), those stories are notable because they are exceptional. For US, Canadian and other kids who come through the college system, those stories are far closer to being par for the course because until recently, we lacked the systemic infrastructure to identify and nurture talent from U-10 all the way to the first team.
This is not a good thing, and the issues I'm talking around aren't yet completely fixed. It is, however, a simple reality – one that is acknowledged by including players 23-and-under on the list instead of limiting it to 21-and-under.
"But Matt," you're saying. "Doesn't this mean that MLS is giving fewer minutes to truly young players, and failing to develop the best of our region's youth?"
By the numbers: No.
Nicholas Murray, the associate director of communications for USL, did some digging through WhoScored databases yesterday and turned up some illustrative results when comparing MLS to the top leagues in the world. I'm just going to copy + paste his email here:
- Major League Soccer, 2015 – 38 players under the age of 21, eight currently with more than 1,000 minutes of action, three more with more than 900, and therefore a chance to reach plateau.
- Premier League, 2014-15 – 43 players under the age of 21, seven with more than 1,000 minutes of action.
- La Liga, 2014-15 – 41 players under the age of 21, eight with more than 1,000 minutes of action.
- Bundesliga, 2014-15 – 45 players under the age of 21, 10 with more than 1,000 minutes of action.
- Serie A, 2014-15 – 65 players under the age of 21, eight with more than 1,000 minutes of action.
Marky Delgado, Eric Ayuk and Zach Pfeffer are the three 20-and-unders who are over 900 but under 1000. Delgado will likely cross the threshhold this weekend, while Ayuk may take a week or two. Pfeffer's a bigger question mark due to injury and the fact that he seems to have fallen down the pecking order a bit.
And bear in mind that MLS plays fewer regular season games than three of the four "big" leagues, so hitting the 1000-minute mark is marginally more difficult.
So barring injury, this season in MLS is likely to have as many 20-and-under regulars as the Bundesliga, and more than the Premier League, La Liga or Serie A. Even with the frustrations and inefficiencies inherent to the current youth development system, it's hard to look at that and not see real progress.
But if you want the above highlighted, underlined and bolded, here are some more numbers provided by Mr. Murray:
- United Soccer League, 2015 – Currently 128 players under the age of 21, 27 with more than 1,000 minutes of action, with another nine above 900 minutes and the potential to reach the threshold.
The system is, in other words, changing for the better. Just look at someone like Anatole Abang, the 18-year-old RBNY striker who won't hit 1000 minutes in MLS, but used his USL minutes to propel him into what is still a significant role for the the first team. Justen Glad has taken some lumps on the back line for RSL, but he's given a bunch as well for both the first team and Real Monarchs. Marco Bustos and Kianz Froese are regulars for Whitecaps 2, and both should expect to see significant MLS minutes next season.
Even with all this we're not ending the era of 22- and 23-year-old prospects. As long as college is a viable option – and if you think it's not, I'd like to point out how quickly guys like Cyle Larin, Matt Polster, Fatai Alashe, Amadou Dia and Miguel Aguilar have adjusted – MLS will have its share of "older" diamonds in the rough.
Now, though, we're seeing plenty of younger prospects as well.
Ok folks, thanks for helping me kill a few hours. Let's do it again next week!