I have been very outspoken in the past in reference to Major League Soccer really dropping the ball in reference to player development by doing away with its Reserve Division.
Andrea Canales from Goal.com wrote an excellent article about not only how the absence of the Reserve Division is stunting the development of the young American professional player, but also negatively affecting our United States Under-20 National team.
Though some MLS coaches (notably former U.S. national team coach Bruce Arena, who complained recently about the difficulty of bringing back recovering players like Edson Buddle to game speed without reserve league games to help the process) have waxed nostalgic for the reserve program for some time, it's important to realize that the whole venture was in many ways a complete disaster.
First instituted in 2005 and killed off at the end of the '08 season, the MLS reserve league was underfunded, badly organized and capricious with its rules. Publicity-wise, it hurt the league to have the painfully low salaries of the bottom-tier developmental players publicized, although many were still eager to work other jobs in return for getting a shot at a professional career. Guest players were often signed at the last minute to field complete teams, with some clubs pressing administrative staff into service. The reserve games never made any money as most of the matches were free to the public.
Pretty much the only thing that could be worse than the MLS reserve league would be to have none at all.
Of course, that's the direction the short-sighted MLS leaders took. On the surface, it was a smart cost-cutting move that streamlined the league. Beneath that money-centric shallowness, however, the entire premise of MLS -- to develop the game in North America -- was being undercut in a cynical gesture.
Andrea Canales from Goal.com wrote an excellent article about not only how the absence of the Reserve Division is stunting the development of the young American professional player, but also negatively affecting our United States Under-20 National team.
Though some MLS coaches (notably former U.S. national team coach Bruce Arena, who complained recently about the difficulty of bringing back recovering players like Edson Buddle to game speed without reserve league games to help the process) have waxed nostalgic for the reserve program for some time, it's important to realize that the whole venture was in many ways a complete disaster.
First instituted in 2005 and killed off at the end of the '08 season, the MLS reserve league was underfunded, badly organized and capricious with its rules. Publicity-wise, it hurt the league to have the painfully low salaries of the bottom-tier developmental players publicized, although many were still eager to work other jobs in return for getting a shot at a professional career. Guest players were often signed at the last minute to field complete teams, with some clubs pressing administrative staff into service. The reserve games never made any money as most of the matches were free to the public.
Pretty much the only thing that could be worse than the MLS reserve league would be to have none at all.
Of course, that's the direction the short-sighted MLS leaders took. On the surface, it was a smart cost-cutting move that streamlined the league. Beneath that money-centric shallowness, however, the entire premise of MLS -- to develop the game in North America -- was being undercut in a cynical gesture.
Hopefully the league will look at developing academies as a major step in helping develop young players for the first team, but will realise that the only true way to develop our young professional is by reviving its Reserve Division.
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