Major League Soccer is continuing to press ahead in an attempt to sign members of their club's Development Academies, in hopes of finding a way to solve their problems with developing young players.
As part of Major League Soccer's "Homegrown Initiative," players like Victor Pineda spent three years with the Chicago Fire Academy before being signed to the first team in August. Instead of playing dozens of games a month with various local clubs and travel teams, players who are part of MLS' homegrown program — done in conjunction with U.S. Soccer's Development Academy — spend more time training and play fewer, but more meaningful, games.
Nancy Armour of the Canadian Press writes of MLS' plan to continue to funnel the top Development Academy players into the league.
"For us to improve the overall quality of play and be competitive in this global sport, we had to get serious about player development," said Todd Durbin, MLS executive vice-president for player relations and competition. "There's been an emphasis on winning. When we emphasize winning at a young age, it comes at a detriment to player development. We want players to experiment. We want players to take risks. We want them to develop technically.
"The goal is not to win on Saturday," Durbin said. "The goal is to have a player that can be a vibrant and long-term professional."
"The starting point is placing more of our young, elite players in better soccer environments," Galaxy and former U.S. coach Bruce Arena said. "Ultimately, all this stuff, as it moves forward, will naturally create better players. It's a trickle-up effect."
No comments:
Post a Comment