Jerry Yeagley (originally from Pennsylvania) coached Indiana University and said he would recruit winners. That is, he'd recruit players that had won championships in youth soccer, high school soccer. From that general formula (more to it than that) he'd gain a remarkable amount of college championships that made him a legendary American soccer coach. One whose camp I went to; one who I'm still talking about today; a brilliant coach that led American soccer into a new pathway that has only grown more since then.
But, question. Given this approach, which is wise, wouldn't it be wise to find something similar going on with the USMNT and use that? I would think.
For example, let's be clear what we're getting at here: That would be a FIFA World Cup championship for the USMNT. That is the goal. Win the FIFA World Cup. It is very possible.
A theory to consider:
Look no further than Club soccer championships at the national level and College championships at the national level. (Minus an actual tournament, high schools tend to rank teams nationally.) Now you've got something. Let's take for example, if you were to follow the patterns here, you'd see that U16 and U19 national Club championships are essentially owned by two distinct places in the country. That would be the East Coast Connection (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Greater DC) and St. Louis. Both of these areas over the years have roots that run deep with the honor of winning multiple Club national championships. That's where your players are! Recruit there! Follow that into College, whereby most colleges recruit locally with some outer recruits, and you'll see a vast history of success from University of Pennsylvania, Penn St., University of Maryland...then look to St. Louis University, SIUE. Now you've got players to choose from, don't you? Based on these patterns for over 100 years, wouldn't the majority of your USMNT consist of 4 starters from the East Coast and 4 from St. Louis? That's 8. Throw in one from LA, one from Michigan, one from Dallas and you're in business. After all, aside from the vast amount of Club championships for U16 and U19 going to the East Coast and St. Louis, others are sprinkled in with occasional wins and they would be the likes of LA, SF, Arizona, Michigan, Chicago, a few others. But not as much as the East Coast giants and St. Louis. So commonsense would tell you, much like how Spain fills its roster with Barcelona talent, to do the same. It's time to wake up and see the starting lineup through new eyes, one that recognizes the overwhelmingly strong soccer cultures of the East Coast conglomerate and St. Louis.
A few players over the years from these areas:
Pat McBride (St. Louis University, USMNT)
Al Trost (St. Louis University, USMNT)
Ricky Davis (LA area product, New York Cosmos, USMNT)
John Stollmeyer (Pennsylvania product, went to Indiana University, USMNT)
Bruce Murray (Greater DC, USMNT)
John Harkes (New Jersey product, USMNT)
Tab Ramos (New Jersey product, USMNT)
Mike Windischmann (New York product, USMNT)
Perhaps in the modern era, we could steal some ideas from Spain and others. Maybe "borrow" would be a better way of putting it. In order to follow some patterns from the past, we can hone in on talent from the aforementioned regions to gain a strategical edge over opponents around the world that often do the same.
But, question. Given this approach, which is wise, wouldn't it be wise to find something similar going on with the USMNT and use that? I would think.
For example, let's be clear what we're getting at here: That would be a FIFA World Cup championship for the USMNT. That is the goal. Win the FIFA World Cup. It is very possible.
A theory to consider:
Look no further than Club soccer championships at the national level and College championships at the national level. (Minus an actual tournament, high schools tend to rank teams nationally.) Now you've got something. Let's take for example, if you were to follow the patterns here, you'd see that U16 and U19 national Club championships are essentially owned by two distinct places in the country. That would be the East Coast Connection (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Greater DC) and St. Louis. Both of these areas over the years have roots that run deep with the honor of winning multiple Club national championships. That's where your players are! Recruit there! Follow that into College, whereby most colleges recruit locally with some outer recruits, and you'll see a vast history of success from University of Pennsylvania, Penn St., University of Maryland...then look to St. Louis University, SIUE. Now you've got players to choose from, don't you? Based on these patterns for over 100 years, wouldn't the majority of your USMNT consist of 4 starters from the East Coast and 4 from St. Louis? That's 8. Throw in one from LA, one from Michigan, one from Dallas and you're in business. After all, aside from the vast amount of Club championships for U16 and U19 going to the East Coast and St. Louis, others are sprinkled in with occasional wins and they would be the likes of LA, SF, Arizona, Michigan, Chicago, a few others. But not as much as the East Coast giants and St. Louis. So commonsense would tell you, much like how Spain fills its roster with Barcelona talent, to do the same. It's time to wake up and see the starting lineup through new eyes, one that recognizes the overwhelmingly strong soccer cultures of the East Coast conglomerate and St. Louis.
A few players over the years from these areas:
Pat McBride (St. Louis University, USMNT)
Al Trost (St. Louis University, USMNT)
Ricky Davis (LA area product, New York Cosmos, USMNT)
John Stollmeyer (Pennsylvania product, went to Indiana University, USMNT)
Bruce Murray (Greater DC, USMNT)
John Harkes (New Jersey product, USMNT)
Tab Ramos (New Jersey product, USMNT)
Mike Windischmann (New York product, USMNT)
Perhaps in the modern era, we could steal some ideas from Spain and others. Maybe "borrow" would be a better way of putting it. In order to follow some patterns from the past, we can hone in on talent from the aforementioned regions to gain a strategical edge over opponents around the world that often do the same.
RSS Feed