Is U.S. Soccer Killing Creativity in Its Best Young Players?

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Is American soccer development actually holding our kids back? In this Christmas week edition of Unleashed, Eric Wynalda …

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21 thoughts on “Is U.S. Soccer Killing Creativity in Its Best Young Players?”

  3. @dodivol

    I once at a coaching course in Cocoa Beach Florida raised the question of the need to allow American kids to play uninhibited like happens in Basketball. The instructor, the coaching director of of the state, told me that American parents will not agree because of insurance concerns.

  4. @dodivol

    Overcoaching by mediocre coaches has killed Brazil's Jogo Bonito. As a coach whenever I was recruiting players, my first choice always was the best dribblers and particularly the left footed ones. My father having played the game and introduced me to it always bought me balls and by the time I was selected to play on a u 15 team I had already played thousands of hours of street soccer and very often with a tennis ball.

  6. @aayoung920

    My sonā€™s team the coaches are from Togo AF. They preach the free play. Friday nights they donā€™t coach just come and play. And it is translating to ranking up.

  9. @vinnyv2721

    I feel this about myself, growing up i played alot and because of my dad being military i got to travel a lot and play in different countries. I played in Korea, jamaica, England, and Germany and almost all of them told me im a terrible footballer.

    And this was super confusing to me because i was almost always a top scorer, rarely got tackled and had pretty good ball control. As they described that im a good athlete and have good individual skills, i have no idea how to read the field or how to play on a team, and that when i got tp a certain level top speed and body fakes would get shut down.

    It turns out they were right and everyone back in the states really didn't know what they didn't know and it hurts us

  10. @DanielEckert63

    I agree with this. Most of the best players in America are not in MLS Next, ECNL, or whatever label weā€™re selling this year. Those systems are built to win games and justify higher fees, not develop players. A kid getting picked up by a pro club is incredibly rareā€”and when it happens, it mostly becomes marketing to pull in more players next season.

    Iā€™ve coached for 30+ years (Iā€™m not imported). What actually matters is this: kids have to love the game first. Too many are dropped off like itā€™s babysitting, taught to chase results instead of curiosity, joy, and growth. No love = no work = no development.

    Elite academies exist for the 1 in 1,000. Youth, travel, and high school soccer exists for the other 999. If we optimize everything for winning and ā€œpathways,ā€ we fail most of the kidsā€”and thatā€™s also a problem. Eric – I agree with you about letting the game be the teacher (and a lot of other things) – but we can only be better coaches – if there was better education (Yes, I have my USSF B and my USC Advanced National and we need those certifications) but those are about teaching us how to train soccer – we also need education on how to be a coach. Thereā€™s an opportunity for you to fill that void.

  12. @BSComposed

    Thank you for taking the time to record another video, Manager/Coach/Player/Mr. Wynalda. When I started listening to this ā€œchannelā€ around June/July this year, I discovered I wasnā€™t alone in my thinking and understanding of the state of soccer in the US. Your messages and those of 3four3, which I started listening to about 3 months ago, have resonated with me. The impact of learning more about the soccer industry from experts in the industry that choose to shoot at/talk about the industry from outside the ā€œboxā€ almost gave me a panic attack, because my now 18 year old son is deep into college recruiting and I felt like I hadnā€™t done enough to prepare him to stand out. Thankfully I knew enough to not be like everyone else and I worked with my son a lot to get him to where he is, which is as a solid prospect at St. Louis University. Most of all, I have prepared him to be an American in soccer, which is unfortunately a disadvantage on the global stage. I have felt like my son and I have had to fight the system to for him to be taken seriouslyā€¦ heā€™s no superstar, but he has a higher than average soccer IQ. On many occasions Iā€™ve had to tell him to just keep pushing forward until he reaches a level where the business of soccer gets serious, coaching and players are not half-assed. Weā€™re hoping the investment of tens of thousands of dollars over the years has a return on investment! Fingers crossedā€¦

  17. @bobbycrosby9765

    I think it's fine that people play soccer "too long". The whole sport shouldn't exist to serve the top 0.000000001%. The problem is the field has been flattened into this awkward middle, which makes things worse for everyone involved.

  18. @poppy7970

    "A bunch of robots," spot on. I see it all the time. Kids taking the easy way out in the attacking third. We need more šŸ  šŸŖ creativity! GelvezĆ³n

  19. @Mancityfan50514

    One of the things you didnā€™t mention was how bad we are at talent id. Can you explain the talent id process and how you are different than USYS in an upcoming podcast.

  21. @evanlindsey7567

    Eric,

    Not sure how much experience or input you may have, but I'd love to hear your take on rotation of players in positions in the "Pre" Academy years. I coach with NCFC youth in Raleigh U12 and U11.

    You mentioned letting the players do what they are good at and develop there. Is there kind of a cut off where I should avoid moving them around the field too much for the sake of developing their weaknesses.

    Hope to hear back. Thanks.

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