You yourself went straight from college to the Bundesliga. This is a rather unusual step in men’s football today.
The MLS clubs now train players themselves. When I went to college, there was nothing straight out of high school. Europe would have come too early for me back then.
Today it is partly the other way around: US colleges lure German footballers with scholarships. Then they have a chance at the MLS – just like Julian Gressel from Franconia, who has been playing successfully in the league for years.
It’s a great path if you’re stuck as a German footballer in Germany. It makes sense if you want to study and go on an adventure abroad anyway. Julian is a good example, but there aren’t too many like him in the MLS.
Colleges train the stars of the NFL, NBA and NHL. Is it different with the MLS?
Colleges no longer play a major role in the training of MLS professionals. We’re talking about 18 to 22-year-olds, at which age their training is largely completed.
Instead, the MLS clubs have their own youth departments. Clubs from the USL, the second national soccer organization, also train players. How well does the system, which is distributed across many shoulders, work?
The positive thing is that there are more children playing football today than ever before. But the US is a huge country – it’s hard to scout and develop talent across the country. The association is extremely dependent on the clubs. But that’s where there’s a problem: clubs don’t want to hand over their greatest talents to the next bigger club. There are no financial incentives for this. We have to do better, the association is called upon to do so. In Germany, however, this works extremely well.
Is US soccer moving in the right direction in this regard?
The direction is right: the problems are known and solutions are being sought. The biggest burden of player development now falls on MLS clubs. However, there is little financial return and the association has to find a solution.
