The Systemic Problem: Part Two

Yesterday, we featured Part One of our Systemic Crisis in US Soccer article. It focused on some of the happenings in the youth game. Today’s focus will be on the professional setup, which is clearly showing to be as flawed as the youth setup. 2,000 words is hardly enough to touch upon the issues which are plaguing US Soccer(and Canadian soccer—Ya’ll got issues too), however it can serve as a starting point for an open discussion where anything and everything should be on the table as it pertains to soccer discussion.

When we look at the professional and semi-professional game in the United States, there is smashing good that has come out of the last twenty years off the field. Major League Soccer is maturing in terms of number of franchises, soccer stadiums, academies are (slowly) getting started. The USL has found its footing and is increasing its footprint every year. The NPSL and PDL are healthier than they have ever been and also will only continue to grow. The NASL and USL have both announced intentions to field third divisions in the coming years, adding to the soccer depth. There is a growing push for merit based promotion and relegation in US Soccer. We are talking about how academies can improve. All good things.

Then there is the bad. MLS is over 50% foreign. The NASL is struggling to keep teams, both in the league(Ottawa,Tampa,etc…) and afloat(Fort Lauderdale)and fans coming through the turnstiles. The headway made by the Cosmos with Raul and Senna has slowed to a halt, which is not good for the NASL. The NASL needs a strong New York Cosmos brand, a superstar or two on the roster, even if they’re Raul aged. The USL is packed full of MLS reserve sides, clogging the league and preventing independent markets from latching on and further expanding the footprint. Our national team missed two Olympics and a World Cup.

Where does one even begin? The good is the good. MLS is approaching 30 franchises. The USL is almost there as well. The NPSL is producing foreign pros. Good stuff. The bad? Well, let’s start with point one, the foreign player, for it may be the most important of all of them, outside of those concerned with pro\rel, and we begin in MLS.

With Major League Soccer having a push to be one of the “top leagues in the world” we have seen an influx of foreign talent into the league. Sure, foreigners have always been here. The difference, however, is now, if you look through the lists of national teams of direct CONCACAF rivals, our leagues are flooded with national team level talent. Some may say, “Why is that bad? They’re good players! Quality leagues need good players!” The rebuttal, from this perspective, is “Why should we bring in a Honduran player from a sub standard club that has poor weight rooms, no training facilities, poor medical facilities to nurse injuries, etc… and bring him into say, Columbus Crew, with access to endless resources in the USA when we should and could be focusing on a young American player from Gahanna or Youngstown or why should Montreal Impact sign him instead of focusing on young Quebecois from Trois Rivieres or Brossard?”

We have become our own worst enemy. We have given national team level talent from direct CONCACAF rivals, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, T&T and the rest everything that most clubs in their country could only ever dream of offering to their players. We provide steady, guaranteed pay; first class weight, health and medical facilities; proper training grounds in almost every MLS market; a high standard of living; all the creature comforts a player could now desire. We have given our opponents the edge over our own players, at every club in every pro league by signing large numbers of CONCACAF national teamers. Look up the opposition national teams on Wikipedia. Look where many of them play or have played. Right here in America and Canada. We have given them the better platform to perform on and they have taken full advantage of it at all levels.

Have we sent our better players to a better platform? Are they in Europe? Are they playing in the Premier League, Championship, Bundesliga, 2 Bundesliga, Serie A, Serie B? Are they even in Denmark? Holland? Belgium? Switzerland? Hell, are they in Greece? Croatia? Poland? Russia? Not lately. The bulk of our talent is playing at home in MLS. Our best players took massive paydays to come home in the middle of their prime, taking steps down in terms of opposition level. Many have never even thought of leaving MLS. If we are importing CONCACAF talent, we need to then send our players to higher levels abroad.

The base of the article is this: The easiest way to cut off our direct CONCACAF rivals is to simply do what Liga MX does: Not sign their players.

If you analyze the foreign contingent in Mexico, they are from CONMEBOL for the by and large. They are not doing Costa Rica any favors by signing their players. If this is deliberate or not, we will never know, but it seems to be working. They’re surrounding their players with higher skill foreigners from a region Mexico does not tackle until the World Cup. Combine that with their top shelf European talent, and they sat atop the Hex in relative ease. The United States? Our leagues are packed with CONCACAF talent. Our best players are almost exclusively in MLS on DP contracts. That superior talent level in our domestic league is not necessarily there across the board. Throw in that MLS pays, on average, less per player than Liga MX. We are sitting home.

USL has found a solid footing in many markets with dedicated ownership. The MLS partnership has been great for them, but the inclusion of MLS reserve sides in the league drastically hampers its ability to reach out into the soccer landscape. USL has successfully poached several NASL teams recently, namely Ottawa, San Antonio and Tampa Bay Rowdies. These are rock solid markets that with the USL marketing plan, should continue to grow. However, many USL sides also have a reliance on CONCACAF players. The Pittsburgh Riverhounds, in theory, could start up to 6 players who are national team pool players from the Caribbean, mostly from Jamaica. If they wanted to, they could feature an XI with only one spot for an American and 10 foreigners. They rarely feature such an XI, but the potential is there based on their current roster.

The NASL finds itself in an equally tricky situation. They are bleeding teams to the USL, struggling at the gate and may face further shifts of clubs in the off-season once again. Their teams have an equally global and foreign flavor to them. Yes, these leagues are trying to put their best foot forward talent wise and want to bring in some players with name recognition or a bit of a resume. All well and good, but we have done so in all of our leagues at the expense of American and Canadian talent, which is where our focus of development should be at all three leagues.

The NPSL and PDL may be sending players overseas faster than all of our professional sides combined. How much of that has to do with the fact that our professional league is clogged up with players from other countries, specifically CONCACAF rivals? Why do we not have space for young Sachem Wilson to develop at a USL or NASL club instead of in Slovenia? Why does Junior Lone Star send players off to Sweden and Finland? Shouldn’t we have a place for Anthony Allison here? I have watched plenty of soccer in my time, and these types of players are as good or better than any of the foreigners I have seen in USL.

The reliance on foreign born, non US or Canadian national team eligible talent has to be observed better. There is nothing wrong with a Panamanian or a Jamaican wanting to play at a higher level, have a better life, etc… However, with this current dilemma being right in front of our faces in US Soccer, it is time to think: Are we the place, from a soccer perspective? Yes, we are the greatest, most powerful, most free nation on earth, all are welcome in this place..Yet from a CONCACAF perspective…Do we want to give our direct rivals a leg up by having access to our setup, which is so clearly better financed and organized at the professional level than their own setup, thus giving them a competitive advantage? While we would like to see foreign born talent, maybe it is that we, like Mexico, should be signing Argentinians, Brazilians, Paraguayans, Chileans, Peruvians. Players we won’t see in World Cup Qualifying, but raise the bar instantly. More players from the Spanish Segunda. The Championship of England. Fringe Premier League players. More players from Legia Warsaw like Nemanja Nikolic. Perhaps that is the route we need to investigate for the US\Canadian setup, rather than giving our rival CONCACAF players a boost.

This may not be the answer, but it can be a part of the greater answer. The craziest part of the whole argument is this: It gets more complicated. This is the “easy” article to write. Pro\Rel? That’s a doozy… Academies? For another day. Coaching certification? Don’t start. We have to consider so many things in the USA and Canada right now, but this is the first. This series can continue, it probably will. Perhaps the focus inward for a few cycles can figure this out. Les Rouges and the Stars and Stripes need to figure it out. Sooner than later.