The title is a deliberate attempt to avoid the way this conversation typically goes: mostly me yelling about how much MLS sucks. It doesn't, entirely. But it is a part of the player development puzzle, so it's gonna come up.
For too long, MLS has insisted on targeting and paying money for "big name stars" - most of whom have been either over the hill or or downright decrepit. But there is a way to import big name foreign talent (and sell the product) while benefiting the NT greatly: spend that money on more Martino's. Give Laurent Blanc a blank check (ok, not really blank). See if Frank de Boer wants to spend a year in sunshine and warm weather before he goes back to Europe for a higher profile job. See if Louis van Gaal can be coaxed into making his semi-retirement a working one.
Make the coaches lodestones for the league, and they can teach - and raise the level of play - for the clubs that hire them. And its harder to see when a coach has lost his fastball, whereas Steven Gerrard's concrete boots are so obvious that it drags the product down.
So... spend your money on big name coaches MLS. Please.
Next, comes an apprenticeship program and improved licensing training program. This would provide the needed youth/reserve team coaches for MLS's development machine to work. Hire a bunch of big name coaches, place a bunch of eager young coaches on their staff in a "watch and say nothing" role, and provide a generation of young coaches with invaluable exposure to the best training methods/styles in the world. Simultaneously, roll out a new youth level coaching/training program aimed at winning the World Cup in 2030. Blatantly copy Germany's program. Hire @Schnerres and a bunch like him for men's and women's youth programs.
Increasing the number of quality coaches is key, so use MLS's need to sell their product by using their money to buy a generation of potential coaches. who will then work for and make MLS programs (youth and senior) successful. Which will lead to better players, etc.
Oh, and do a bunch of the stuff TB suggested here, particularly the 100% of transfer proceeds. Players should be encouraged to spend their prime years playing for Dortmund, Tottenham, Man U, Real Madrid, Juventus, and the like. Not many will be talented enough to do that but many will be good enough to play for Schalke, Everton, Roma, Valencia, and the like - borderline Champions League qualifiers and Europa contenders. MLS isn't going to develop into a league that can compete with the quality of Europe's top two tiers, but being two or three clear steps ahead of the English Championship by the next WC is doable, I think. When it no longer makes sense for borderline talents like Eric Lichaj to spend their entire careers in the English second division, that's when MLS will have improved their own quality of play. Until then, accept who you are and encourage the best talent to seek out the best competition so they can be the best players possible (for the NT).
One thing (among many) I learned recently (maybe again?) is that Atlanta's MLS team hired a real coach. No disrespect to all MLS coaches but the gulf between Tata Martino and Jay Heaps is Pacific Ocean sized. I am suddenly much more interested in watching an Atlanta game. Call me a snob, call me an anti-American tool - but this is a potential path forward.But many games or few games, we're not going to develop many technically and tactically strong players until we have a lot of coaches who know how to do that.
For too long, MLS has insisted on targeting and paying money for "big name stars" - most of whom have been either over the hill or or downright decrepit. But there is a way to import big name foreign talent (and sell the product) while benefiting the NT greatly: spend that money on more Martino's. Give Laurent Blanc a blank check (ok, not really blank). See if Frank de Boer wants to spend a year in sunshine and warm weather before he goes back to Europe for a higher profile job. See if Louis van Gaal can be coaxed into making his semi-retirement a working one.
Make the coaches lodestones for the league, and they can teach - and raise the level of play - for the clubs that hire them. And its harder to see when a coach has lost his fastball, whereas Steven Gerrard's concrete boots are so obvious that it drags the product down.
So... spend your money on big name coaches MLS. Please.
Next, comes an apprenticeship program and improved licensing training program. This would provide the needed youth/reserve team coaches for MLS's development machine to work. Hire a bunch of big name coaches, place a bunch of eager young coaches on their staff in a "watch and say nothing" role, and provide a generation of young coaches with invaluable exposure to the best training methods/styles in the world. Simultaneously, roll out a new youth level coaching/training program aimed at winning the World Cup in 2030. Blatantly copy Germany's program. Hire @Schnerres and a bunch like him for men's and women's youth programs.
Increasing the number of quality coaches is key, so use MLS's need to sell their product by using their money to buy a generation of potential coaches. who will then work for and make MLS programs (youth and senior) successful. Which will lead to better players, etc.
Oh, and do a bunch of the stuff TB suggested here, particularly the 100% of transfer proceeds. Players should be encouraged to spend their prime years playing for Dortmund, Tottenham, Man U, Real Madrid, Juventus, and the like. Not many will be talented enough to do that but many will be good enough to play for Schalke, Everton, Roma, Valencia, and the like - borderline Champions League qualifiers and Europa contenders. MLS isn't going to develop into a league that can compete with the quality of Europe's top two tiers, but being two or three clear steps ahead of the English Championship by the next WC is doable, I think. When it no longer makes sense for borderline talents like Eric Lichaj to spend their entire careers in the English second division, that's when MLS will have improved their own quality of play. Until then, accept who you are and encourage the best talent to seek out the best competition so they can be the best players possible (for the NT).