"MLS isn't Catching Up" Wright-Phillips Critical of American Player Development

Former New York Red Bulls winger Shaun Wright-Phillips, brother of team all-time leading scorer Bradley Wright-Phillips, was critical of Major League Soccer and the American player development issue in a recent interview with FootballFanCast. The comments came after the former Manchester City academy product was asked about whether the gap was closing between teams in Europe and the United States.

"No," answered Wright-Phillips. "If I'm being honest, I don't think it will be for a while because, in Europe, we've got a whole grassroots system. In America they miss like four to five years of coaching and learning what it takes to be a professional footballer."

MLS has long had issues growing their infrastructure in order to bridge the gap between the youth game and the professional level. While reserve teams and even a reserve league existed for some time, it wasn't until 2015 that the United Soccer League restructured in order to house more meaningful games for developing players. The lack of a strong second division for much of MLS's history also didn't do them any favors and left young players struggling for minutes or looking abroad for games.

That has changed and there is now a system of tiers that do allow for more minutes. However, the gap is still quite steep when jumping from the current USL Championship to MLS. There have been success stories such as Tyler Adams and Aaron Long, but too few have broken through at a high level.

"There are no bridges," said Wright-Phillips. "You're jumping a lot of gaps to get to MLS without actually being fine-tuned as a footballer first."

Wright-Phillips does speak highly of the player pool in the United States. Players are lauded for their physical play and ability to stay fit for long stretches. However, the tactical nature of the game has been lost with a lack of coaches across the league that can instill aspects of the game that have created attractive games in other countries.

"Tactically they weren't as sharp as clubs in Europe. It's not because they weren't good enough to change it. They just stayed the way it was in MLS. For example Jesse (Marsch) has gone to Germany now and he's done amazingly well."

Comments

New York Red Bulls Sought to Sign Liverpool Signee Takumi Minamino

A revealing interview with Jesse Marsch on ESPN revealed that the New York Red Bulls were interested in bringing in recent Liverpool signing Takumi Minamino. The 25-year-old Japanese winger has dazzled under Marsch in Red Bull Salzburg but could have been doing the same in New York.
"We were following him in New York," revealed Marsch when speaking with Taylor Twellman. "We liked him a lot and thought that there would be potential for him to come to New York and play for MLS. He was still young, he didn't always play under the other coaches that he had played for here."
This revelation shows the synergy between the teams which has seen movement in the past towards MLS but never a top talent such as Minamino. Previous signings from Salzburg included Fredrik Gulbrandsen and and Marc Rzatkowski. Both were very good players but neither peaked while playing in New York.
For Minamino, staying in Salzburg worked out well. Under Marco Rose last season he made 27 leagu…

Tyler Adams is Developing a Bad Reputation

News from RB Leipzig is that midfielder Tyler Adams will miss several games with a calf injury, yet another set-back in a series that has come to plague his time in Europe. Considering the amount of time he's missed thus far, we may not be far from the point where Adams develops the reputation for being injury prone.

Adams is believed to have suffered the injury during training and will miss the weekend's fixture as well as the Champions League clash against Tottenham Hotspur which would have been his European competition debut.

The injury is nothing new for Adams who was sidelined for most of the campaign with a groin strain. He only rejoined the club in December and appeared ready to make a statement within the starting lineup. Now he is back on the injured list and leaving Leipzig to consider whether or not he will be dependable over the long term.

The other loser in this scenario is the New York Red Bulls. After allowing Leipzig to sign Adams to a modest fee, many thought…

Armas Focused on Excellence not Expectations

New York Red Bulls head coach Chris Armas isn't interested in what expectations are for his club in 2020. Instead, he's interested in making sure he gets the best out of young group of players eager to prove themselves to the league.
"On the outside there are going to be some expectations," said Armas during a media call. "We have guys coming back with different experience, with more experience. I'm not thinking of the playoffs or MLS Cup. My expectation and demand around here is excellence."
Armas is leading a group that is mostly unproven in key areas such as in the striker position. The team isn't expected to mirror the tactics of years prior and the third-year head coach knows that changes are necessary to continue to deliver the kind of soccer that Red Bulls have made their fans accustomed to seeing.
"We want to win here but above all we want to be a real team that is together. That sounds nice but a lot of teams fall short of that."
…

Red Metro Way

Search This Blog