American Talent Pool Too Shallow, RSL will never improve

[SoccerPrime]

Urban Opinion
American Talent Pool Too Shallow, RSL will never improve and other musings of a deranged soccer writer:
http://www.ussoccerplayers.com/exclusives/495958.html

Isn't 2006 after 2005?
Why does Urban keep mentioning 2007? Toronto?

[clarette]

There is actually a valid point in there, but it's buried under a lot of oversimplification, IMO.

We experienced first-hand that the expansion draft and SuperDraft alone do not a competitive MLS team make... but he doesn't really address foreign acquisitions and how the league can strengthen its standing outside the U.S. to attract better players to the league.

[SoccerPrime]

Yes, but was it a weak American talent pool of players that led to Chivas and RSL's bad performance or was it poor choices by management?

[colinkun]

It was expansion vs. established. Period. Chivas and RSL finishing last in the division should come as a surprise to exactly 0 people.

[clarette]

Originally Posted by SoccerPrime

Yes, but was it a weak American talent pool of players that led to Chivas and RSL's bad performance or was it poor choices by management?

I wouldn't say "weak", I'd say "limited".

[SoccerPrime]

Of course we are missing Urban's point.

Urban says that RSL and Chivas already have "proved" that a American domestic league can only really have 10 teams. After that you get diminishing returns.

Personally, I think there is lots of talent still out there for many more teams. My disagreement with Urban is that RSL could field a better team, based on Americans, if the management picked better players. Certainly, RSL is locked by MLS expansion rules, but the talent is out there.

[Aero]

Originally Posted by SoccerPrime

My disagreement with Urban is that RSL could field a better team, based on Americans, if the management picked better players.

Like who? I'm sure that the FO would like to know so that they can pick these players up. 😉

[SoccerPrime]

Thanks for snipping only the part you liked.
You forgot this:
"Certainly, RSL is locked by MLS expansion rules, but the talent is out there."

MLS restricted who RSL could get, especially in the first year. The talent level of RSL is based on Americans, home and abroad. The good ones "at home" are resting comfortable on some other MLS team's bench. The Americans "abroad" only come home when there is money for them and/or opportunity. Oh and RSL had to use their allocations intelligently to get these abroad players.

RSL did what they could and made mistakes along the way.
Should they have taken Jeff Cassar or Jonny Walker instead of DJ Countess in the draft? Probably. Should they have picked Michael Parkhurst or Scott Sealy instead of Nic Besagno or Jay Nolly? Maybe.

My point is the Urban is wrong. There are lots of American talent out there, enough for 12 team plus. Unfortuately for RSL, they didn't get their "share" of the best Americans out there. Not yet anyway. There is always next year. 🙂

[Aero]

Originally Posted by SoccerPrime

My point is the Urban is wrong. There are lots of American talent out there, enough for 12 team plus. Unfortuately for RSL, they didn't get their "share" of the best Americans out there. Not yet anyway. There is always next year. 🙂

Oh, I understood your point. I was just wondering who you thought this talent was now so they could go after it. We all realize that they made mistakes in the past, but I was focusing on the future. It doesn't do us or the FO any good to look at the talent they could have had. What talent should they go after for the future?

[Section 37]

If the league can fill seats, it can find the talent. Consider how many players there are across the planet that play professionally or want to play professionally.

The last thing the league should be worrying about is lack of talent. After all, this is a world sport.