Setting priorities

When 14-year-old Freddy Adu became the youngest player to sign a professional contract in the 2004 Major League Soccer draft, it was expected to herald a new dawn for men’s football in the United States. At a similar time, authorities in the country were looking towards the success of their European counterparts in an attempt to revolutionise the way the nation developed its most talented young players. Adu, the child prodigy supposedly destined for greatness, made only 17 appearances for his country during a journeyman career that most recently saw him leave third-tier Swedish side Osterlen last month having not played a single game. In contrast, the ambitions harboured by US soccer chiefs are now coming to fruition, with more American players featuring in the Champions League this season than ever before. Among them, Weston McKennie has impressed at Juventus, Sergino Dest excelled for Barcelona in the last 16 despite being knocked out by Paris St-Germain, Tyler Adams scored the goal that took RB Leipzig to the semi-finals last year and Chelsea’s Christian Pulisic and Borussia Dortmund’s Giovanni Reyna are both exciting talents. In total, nine players featured in Europe’s elite competition this term, all aged 25 or under, and their emergence looks particularly timely with the US set to host the 2026 World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico. The aim, according to former US soccer president Carlos Cordeiro, is to “put football on a new and sustainable path for generations to come”. Average crowds of 68,626 watched each game when the US last hosted the men’s World Cup in 1994, more than 3.5m people in total, making it the most-attended tournament of all time and whetting the appetite for the game in a country that had previously featured in just four of 14 tournaments. In exchange for hosting the tournament, Fifa tasked organisers with launching a professional US competition and Major League Soccer duly kicked off in 1996. Its legacy? A generation of players produced by MLS clubs believing they can be successful this time they host the tournament. “I get goosebumps just thinking about it,” Leipzig midfielder Adams, who came through the New York Red Bulls academy, tells BBC Sport. “We’ll be experienced, we’ll have a lot of games under our belt, international experience will hopefully be there and we’re going to be ready to compete.” Chris Richards, on loan at Hoffenheim from Bayern Munich, adds: “To be able to win a World Cup on home soil, that’s something we’re kind of expecting to do at this point.” There is an exciting new breed of youngsters emerging from the US and top European clubs are taking notice. The trickle of talent continued in the latest transfer window, with Roma signing 19-year-old full-back Bryan Reynolds from FC Dallas and the highly rated Brenden Aaronson joining Red Bull Salzburg from Philadelphia Union. One European scout told BBC Sport the North American market has always been on clubs’ radar, but the region is now producing “modern, athletic players who can cope with high-intensity demands” and who have the “correct drive and focus”. While World Cup 94 piqued interest, Larry Sunderland, director of player development at MLS side FC Cincinnati and coach of the US Under-16 and Under-17 teams, believes the turning point in producing talent came 14 years ago. “Player development is all about patience,” he tells BBC Sport. “We got serious about player development with the advent of US Soccer’s Development Academy in 2007. “We started to get the best of the best playing together. It defined our pathway, defined our pyramid, and more than ever it encouraged free-play scenarios, rather than pay-to-play. At the highest level, it really encouraged clubs to make an investment in players.” It provided a streamlined pipeline of talent for MLS clubs by getting the best youngsters to train and play together for 10 months of the year, exposing them to better coaching and a more professional environment. It put an emphasis on clubs to develop youth players. “They invested heavily, by MLS standards, in player development, in facilities, in personnel,” explains Sunderland. -BBC

Setting priorities

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Setting priorities

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