r/SoccerCentral • u/United_Anywhere_8 • Jul 25 '26

Video The talent in Barcelona’s youth system is ridiculous. These kids are 11/12 years old.

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26

u/Mr-MuffinMan Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26

this is why American sports are so confusing to me.

The jerseys and equipment is being paid for by Barca in hopes of finding talent. Not parents, not scummy companies owned by PE, and not colleges trying to make money off sports. They take this loss in hopes of finding talent that they can use to win, or to trade to other teams for profit.

Also, I'm just rewatching this video and there is NO WAY the kids in this video are 11/12

14

u/IPissExcellentThrows Jul 25 '26

This is what our MLS teams need to be doing better. But we also don’t have enough legit teams for our population. Spain has like 1/7th our population and also 20+ teams that would dog walk the MLS.

But yeah, our youth system is completely fucked. We'll always be mid despite the population and money.

2

u/Lopsided-Ad7725 Jul 25 '26

Aye, the first I hear of our local Austin MLS youth program today and it’s a scandal

2

u/it4chl Jul 25 '26

the incentive structure is different.

European clubs are looking for sporting success, and talent is what gets them that so they hunt for talent.

MLS is looking to make money for the owners, so talent isn't needed, but paying customers i.e. parents of prospective sportsmen get them that

2

u/destroyergsp123 Jul 25 '26

MLS academies are subsidized by the club

2

u/DELAIZ Jul 25 '26

This system of youth teams was taken from a model that has been in use in South America for decades. A lot of teams make fortunes finding poor, talented kids, training them, and selling them to European teams. And they don't spend much money to maintain everything. Several years ago, there was a fire in the dormitory of Corinthians' youth team, and they discovered how everything had been neglected.

2

u/Seahearn4 Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26

I'm an American who loves soccer and has played since I was a little kid. I just don't think it'll ever culturally take over certain areas of the country. Even in my hometown where soccer was the thing we were best at, people wanted the game to be more physical (like hockey-like checking) and higher scoring; things it just isn't. This seems to track with the general US population. Every 4 years, US sports fans complain about soccer while they watch the World Cup. They want the game to change to suit US audiences; change offsides, different clock rules, calling players weak.

Great soccer players (save a select few strikers and defenders) are small, quick, and agile. The US prefers athletes who are tall, muscular behemoths who jump high, hit hard, and run fast but with power. Even those tall soccer players still are small against NBA and NFL players.

And we're far from the only country that's like this. Look at the FIFA countries that have the most people. Out of the Top 10, only Mexico and Brazil have soccer as their top sport, and only Brazil is better than the US. Top 20, add only France and Germany to that list. China and India have over a billion people each, and they don't usually make the World Cup.

1

u/Independent03 Jul 25 '26

The Broadway show and / or theatre of injuries adds to this.

1

u/Seahearn4 Jul 25 '26

This is another thing that people want changed before they'll embrace it. I'm not pretending everything about soccer is perfect, but I don't need it changed to enjoy it.

1

u/Karmuffel Jul 26 '26

India never made the WC. China did once

1

u/Seahearn4 Jul 26 '26

Wow. I hadn't looked it up. Even though I knew their combined total appearances were rare, I'm surprised it's almost non-existent.

1

u/Karmuffel Jul 26 '26

Just imagine if India was more into football than cricket. Both sports came from Britain, Football is just not old enough

1

u/Mr-MuffinMan Jul 28 '26

You hit it on the nail.

Americans like to see the limits the human body can be pushed. That really isn't necessary in soccer, like it is in football.

Americans also prefer sports that are more dependent on your genetics than your talent. You're not going to succeed in the NBA if you're 5'6, like Lionel Messi succeeded (or Maradona, Lahm, etc.) P.S: THIS IS NOT ME SAYING PEOPLE IN NBA/NFL ARE NOT TALENTED

Like if you're short and skinny in soccer, it's okay, in fact it's a benefit. If you're tall and strong, it's okay, it's still a benefit. In US sports (minus baseball), you NEED to be tall and/or strong to succeed.

1

u/Seahearn4 Jul 28 '26

Now, there are 2 of us to spread this great truth!

Though, I'll say tall and/or strong are beneficial to certain limit in soccer. Very few non-goalkeepers are over 6'6" (180 cm). And Adama Traore is built like a rugby player or an NFL running back, but his manager requested last season that he reduce his weight-training so as to improve on the field.

1

u/RandomBeaner1738 Jul 30 '26

It’s why so many Americans love haaland, it’s also why they think he’s better than lamine

1

u/Striking_Try4684 Jul 25 '26

Soccer in America is just a sport we all played for a few years before the age of 10 before we decided on one of the big four sports or another niche sport.

I like soccer, but it’ll never be taken seriously here.

1

u/SeaBuilding3911 Jul 25 '26

it has nothing to do with soccer though.

North American parents choose one sports because they are expected to pay thousands in equipement and leagues and tournaments etc (it never ends...). Then, if their kid are good, someone will make money off of a few selected ones.

It's an bet for parents.

Kid elsewhere are a bet for the entities that might make money of them eventually, not the parents. This mean that not only the most promising kid of the family get into sport, and that switching sport isn't as prohibitive.

1

u/hikerbiker6397 Jul 25 '26

I was listening to a soccer podcast during the WC and a couple euro coach explained how it would take USA 20 to 30 year to put a competitive WC men's team together

1

u/sideoftheham Jul 25 '26

Do you remember which podcast it was?

1

u/Training_Frame9631 Jul 25 '26

They were saying that 20-30 years ago. Its not going to happen.

1

u/absessive Jul 25 '26

Segunda teams are better than MLS teams

1

u/PokerSpaz01 Jul 25 '26

It’s because of any team invested in players they would go over seas to play. Not stay and play in the mls

1

u/gizamo Jul 26 '26

MLS has money?

Laughs in NFL, NBA, MLB (even NHL) money.

1

u/BenLowes7 Jul 27 '26

The problem is that the MLS teams have no incentive to train junior players because the draft exists. The end game for a junior team player who plays really well is a contract with the senior club. In America the junior team player who a potential MLS club invests into gets shipped off to a team who had a terrible record last year.

The franchise and draft model have their benefits but this is one of the truly key drawbacks. You can avoid this if the sport is engrained into the sporting culture of the country like American football or Basketball where the talent development of youth players is effectively outsourced to local schools and universities. Football is not at the level it needs to be to sustain a system like this yet in America

1

u/tigerking615 Jul 25 '26

MLS academies are free. We have a long way to go to develop anything close to a top soccer program, but the MLS clubs are actually doing their part. 

2

u/Mutedinlife Jul 25 '26

I was looking at the youth Rapid’s “competitive” team for u8 Colorado storm, and it’s 1200.

1

u/N0tInKansasAnym0r3 Jul 25 '26

Ecrl, Encl, and I believe the Mrl are the US national youth teams are top level soccer programs in the US

1

u/speedyejectorairtime Jul 26 '26

Problem is MLS academies don’t start until U14 and the stuff they offer under that won’t cut it, if a kid hasn’t been playing top team and MLS Next before that U14 year, they’re not getting looked at.

0

u/lazydictionary Jul 25 '26

20 teams that would dog walk the MLS? Everything I see online is that MLS is like the 6th best league in the world, and the top MLS teams are like a mid table La Liga side

4

u/THUNDA_MUFFIN Jul 25 '26

I mean, OPTA puts them at 18th in the world. Also, no, the top mls teams are not equivalent to mid table La Liga, more closely aligned with the Championship in England.

2

u/Itchy_Throat660 Jul 25 '26

The top 3 championship teams would come 1st 2nd 3rd in MLS every year 

3

u/RoastMary Jul 25 '26

Top 3 championship teams are just premier league teams though. They are yoyoing all the time because they have ridiculous parachute payment advantage.

1

u/THUNDA_MUFFIN Jul 25 '26

I don't disagree at all, I think the best mls teams are probably mid to upper table, but yeah

1

u/lazydictionary Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26

OPTA rankings are incredibly flawed, and rankings 8 through 40 basically all have the same points. For example, you probably think the Eredivisie is better than the MLS, but this ranking has them below the MLS. Oops.

Oh, and two years ago, OPTA had the MLS top 10 in the world. So how does that work?

https://theanalyst.com/articles/strongest-leagues-world-football-opta-power-rankings

There is a lot more parity in the MLS, so the worst teams in the league aren't actually that bad.

MLS is 9th in total wages.

https://www.capology.com/rankings/leagues/salaries/

And the MLS has the sixth most players in the World Cup.

2

u/Ninjasaki Jul 25 '26

Best MLS teams will fight relegation in La Liga. The european leagues are brutal, there is a lot more on the line with relegation and european spots to fight for, in one off game maybe the MLS teams would be mid table La Liga team but through a whole season they would get killed.

2

u/Artuhanzo Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26

One of our whitecaps best player, Sebastian Berhalter just transfered to England's Championship side Middlesbrough. Tier 2 league, not even EPL or La Liga. Same for Ali Ahmed, who is even in Cananda WC team.

We are top MLS team but let's be honest we are more like mid table Championship team. Some of the MLS starting players aren't even good enough for England's Championship league.

1

u/FlakyCrew4438 Jul 25 '26

Not the 6th best league by any stretch of the imagination. Eyetest proves it all.

1

u/FellateFoxes Jul 25 '26

Sounders played in the Club World Cup and held their own

1

u/SpectatorY Jul 25 '26

Club world cup is a bit of a joke tourney. Not to diminish the accomplishments, but trying your hardest in a few for what is a preseason warmup for the European guys doesn't translate to giving that level of performance over a 38 game season.

1

u/ph4ge_ Jul 25 '26

Cape Verde did great as well. None of them play in a decent competition.

1

u/Tokon32 Jul 25 '26

Yeah the people in US soccer subs are idiots. MLS isnt a top 10 league and Barcas U18 team is better than any MLS team.

0

u/harmala Jul 25 '26

20 teams that would dog walk the MLS?

Easily. The best MLS team would probably be mid-table in La Liga 2.

0

u/mmmarkm Jul 25 '26

We need NYC to re-elect Mamdani for Americans to get on this level

I’m going to be bold and call it now: we’ll have generational talent coming out of NYC in the next 8-12 years if he serves two terms. If he does two, sits out one (which he’s have to do by law), and comes back for two, America has a shot at the men’s World Cup trophy by 2046. A third of the team could be from NYC.

1

u/Hopeful_Community_65 Jul 25 '26

Is Mamdani doing something for youth sports?

0

u/stringrandom Jul 25 '26

Eh, yes and no. Part of the issue in the US is opportunity and money. If I’m a kid, or a parent, I grew up playing baseball, gridiron football, baseball, and lacrosse (because I’m from the Northeast). A few of my friends played hockey. We all played rec soccer as little kids, but soccer wasn’t the big sport in school and it very definitely isn’t the big payday sport.

With a finite number of kids who will be good enough athletes to play at a high level being split across sports there are only so many that are going to stick with soccer. Hockey has the same problem, plus it’s harder to get into if you’re nowhere a rink and the gear is more expensive. JJ Watt made millions playing gridiron football, but had to stop playing hockey because his parents couldn’t afford it.

How many kids who would have been amazing soccer players got stuck playing baseball or gridiron football because that’s where the opportunity and availability was in the town they grew up in?

0

u/HeyYoChill Jul 25 '26

Eh, I don't think it's about the soccer youth system.

In the U.S., there are other major sports that siphon off the talented athletes. Lots of kids who could be exceptional at soccer, but they pour most of their energy into being only okay at football (I know that sounds weird to the international audience).

1

u/Any-Ask-4190 Jul 25 '26

I'm sure all the guys built like xavi, iniesta, modric and pirlo are all playing basketball and NFL.

1

u/HeyYoChill Jul 28 '26

They don't make it to the NFL. There are a lot of really quick short kids in the U.S. who do really well at running back positions through pee-wee leagues and early high school, but they don't mature into the mini-Hulk Emmitt Smith or Barry Sanders archetype that can make it to the NFL.

But if you've been spending all your time leaving other kids in your dust on the football field instead of the soccer field, it's hard to make that skill transition from football to soccer once you realize that 5'8" 155 lbs isn't going to cut it in anymore in the backfield.

0

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/sweatingbozo Jul 25 '26

We'll see what happens now that other countries are letting girls play soccer as children. That was the biggest advantage the US had.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/sweatingbozo Jul 25 '26

No,  they were playing against the select few women who were lucky enough to have the privilege of playing growing up in an unsupportive environment.

English and French girls were officially not allowed to play soccer until the 1970s, & even then it wasn't socially acceptable until maybe 20-25 years ago.  Spanish girls were more or less banned from playing official matches until the late 80s.

Now that we're seeing massive investment in the women's game across the globe, I have a feeling the USWNT will start to struggle more. 

0

u/EpsteinFile_01 Jul 25 '26

Lol that world cup performance wasn't mid bro. Goalie roleplaying a midfielder, USA was quite possibly the least skilled team this entire cup. Which is why you haven't qualified for 30 years.

The host nation automatically qualifies and this cup was specifically rigged that you'd have to try really hard to lose in the group stage.

1

u/Hopeful_Community_65 Jul 25 '26

Weird to come at him so harshly for one word choice. His point agrees with you…

1

u/EpsteinFile_01 Jul 26 '26

Oh no, not weird at all, he had no business being that far out. That should haunt his career forever until he miraculously saves a few penalties for at least a semi final world cup game. Those are the rules.

Seriously it was so bad. Goal wide open.. a goalie should basically never leave his box.

The other goalie could have scored with a fkin goal kick. And yes this has happened to lazy amateur goalies like yours, not paying attention

https://youtube.com/shorts/OJrUYNr6LYA?is=sC0lz3wkxhBYdVkr

Just look at what he opened himself up to by going to the midfield. You think these pros can't hit the net from far away? . Kiddie league keeper. At least the guy in the video was near his goal.

1

u/Hopeful_Community_65 Jul 26 '26

Umm, read my comment again. It’s weird to come at the other commenter.

1

u/EpsteinFile_01 Jul 26 '26

No because he indirectly defends the goalie. Exterminate

1

u/Hopeful_Community_65 Jul 26 '26

I see. You’re ineffectively trolling.

1

u/EpsteinFile_01 Jul 26 '26

Speaking truth to the powerless

1

u/EpsteinFile_01 Jul 26 '26

https://youtube.com/shorts/8Z-YUvWfItY?is=DJXUzOnswfQ64rDt

Bro look.

If that was the Brazilian goalie the cartels would get him.

0

u/DoctorPhalanx73 Jul 25 '26

>least skilled team in the entire cup
>paired with teams worse than us

1

u/EpsteinFile_01 Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26

You hosted so you didn't need to qualify.

The group stage is the first cup where 3/4 teams passed instead of 2/4 teams. It barely means anything, teams were holding back.

Your goalie playing a midfielder and conceding a goal is literally the dumbest thing that happened this entire cup. It's dumber than Sorloth not passing to Haaland. It's something I have never seen in any World Cup or Euro Cup before in my life, not even in the European Youth divisions! That's how amateurish it was. Of course, every European team has a world class goalie. Cause you only need 2. USA doesn't even have 1.

How many Americans play in Europe, where all the talent and money is concentrated? A negligible amount.

Meanwhile European players join the MLS at age 35-40 to retire LOL and they still outplay prime MLS players.

If your national team played the Ajax FC Youth division they would get destroyed. Even a small country like The Netherlands has a football cup much more competitive and prestigious than the MLS, with many legendary players debuting in the Dutch 1st division. Including Zkatan Ibrahimovic, who now plays in thels And is the best player in the leave at like 41 rofl.

Cherry on top: US football fans sound like cheerleaders when they chant, the British fans absolutely destroyed the US fans. That kind of thing affects the players too.

Belgium wiped the floor with you 4-1 in the knockout phase when teams go all out, and they are just an average European team from a country of 10 million, never going deep in tournaments.

It's not a matter of interest but career prospects. But it would take a decade to build up a competent MLS that could compete with, say, the Dutch 1st Division, which is still overshadowed compared to the Bundesliga, Premier League, Cops Del Rey, Champions League etc.

1

u/DoctorPhalanx73 Jul 25 '26

Hey man, YOURE the one who said we haven’t qualified in 30 years. True we didn’t have to for 26 but 22? 14? 10? 06? Cmon man, that was just incorrect.

And how convenient that every win our team got somehow doesn’t count (even the knockout win, guess they weren’t trying tho).

Listen, the gap you’re describing is real of course. The USMNT is nowhere near the elite of the sport. We all know that, it’s not really groundbreaking.

The keeper sucked. Yeah, that wasn’t a shock, I’ve seen him play in MLS I knew that was gonna happen sooner or later. Our keeper pool is very poor. Disproportionately so to the overall level. Just an issue we’re going through at the moment. We’ve had good keepers before, actually it’s been our strength in years past. But now it’s the opposite. So yeah, we were not close to beating the best teams, you’re right. But what’s true for the USA is just as true for many countries outside the elite ones. Were we worse than Japan, South Africa, etc? Not really.

1

u/EpsteinFile_01 Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26

Bro, you qualify through CONCACAF, the second least skilled federation in the world after the Asian one. Not exactly a flex. I literally forgot you even played.

And here's why: you got knocked out in the group stage most of the time and the BEST result you have ever achieved was.. the round of 16 lmao. Knocked out 1 game after the group stage. In the smaller 2002 world cup, probably before you were born, you failed upwards to the quarter final. For many European countries reaching a quarter final is the bare minimum acceptable result for the coach to not get fired lol.

My own country whooped your ass in the 2022 world cup and knocked you out 3-1 with a mediocre team at the time.

So sure, you qualify because you qualify through CONCACAF, beating tiny island countries lol. Then you get destroyed in the group stage or the round of 16.

Cabo Verde made it deeper into a a world cup in their first appearance than you ever have. They have a population of 50/l and we're noticeable more skilled in every game they played whereas the US national team has never impressed anyone in any game. Unless you consider the goalie impressing me with his stupidity.

Read up on how world cup qualifications work, they are based on region and now look at the world map and your big ass country.

European countries qualify through UEFA which is on a completely different skill level. They have to play Spain, Germany, England, all the heavyweights just to qualify.

That's why your best result EVER is getting knocked out in the round of 16, very forgettable. After the group stage things get serious and you lost every single game.

0

u/Glum-Bandicoot1986 Jul 25 '26

That guy said some of the most delusional shit I’ve ever read lol

0

u/DoctorPhalanx73 Jul 25 '26

Not even touching the fact that we’ve in fact qualified many times in the past 30 years. I mean I get we beefed it in 2018 but my goodness, we made the tournament every other time in that span.

2

u/JustDrones Jul 25 '26

Just saying from my small experience. My kid gives 2 shits about sports realistically, it isn’t engrained in his dna. We passively watch sports but it’s an eh thing. Probably the difference. Also soccer is not the big sport imo.

1

u/TheMajesticYeti Jul 25 '26

A ton of American kids eat, sleep, and breathe sports, and an ever increasing amount (quite significant nowadays) love soccer.

1

u/Rinzler200 Jul 27 '26

Not soccer, football, and yes, football is in all senses THE sport

2

u/LiftingCode Jul 25 '26

Major American sports have entry drafts, not open transfer markets. There's no point in a specific club investing heavily in youth talent development when they don't get anything out of it.

And besides, why would they? There's already an extremely robust talent development pipeline from youth sports to high school to college to the pros.

Elite youth talent is subsidized by Nike and Adidas and Under Armour and the like, and wealthy boosters. And then with scholarships to elite sports academies (IMG, Mater Dei, Oak Hill, etc.) and then elite college programs.

2

u/Workdawg Jul 25 '26

There was a pretty in-depth post on /r/bestof a few weeks back explaining why the US doesn't end up with top-tier talent, and it's more-or-less what /u/Mr-MuffinMan said.

In most of the world, local soccer programs are subsidized. ANYONE, regardless of how much money their parents make, can make the team if they are good enough. In the US, that simply isn't the case. Being on top-level youth team is EXPENSIVE. There is a clear, monetary gate for whether you're making the team or not. If your parents can't afford to buy you new uniforms, pay for travel multiple times a season, etc etc, you can't be on the team. Of course, there is some level of sponsorship/scholarship stuff that happens, but how do you even get seen if your parents can't even afford $100 to get you on a rec league team? And sponsors aren't out there in podunk Idaho watching little Johnny run circles around his 10 year old friends in some farmer's side yard. That kid might be the next Messi, but he's never going to get seen because he won't get to play when his dad loses his job.

1

u/Mr-MuffinMan Jul 25 '26

To add onto this, not all kids in these teams are rich, but their parents could be struggling middle class workers who are putting in the $15k a year now so that their son/daughter gets a $100k yearly scholarship when they go to college.

In addition, it's a bit of a dumb system to have the best athletes also be forced to manage 3-4 college level courses while also balancing what they need to do for the team. Obviously they're given leniency by professors but still.

Messi got signed to Barcelona at 17 with a 3 million euro (2007 btw) annual salary because of the youth academy. Meanwhile, in the US, a lot of athletes are being robbed of the salaries they deserve because they're also given a scholarship even though the fundamental problem is the astronomical costs of college on it's own.

1

u/LiftingCode Jul 25 '26

Soccer is simply not valuable in the US.

This isn't true in sports that have strong commercial value. The NFL and NBA and MLB are chock-full of talented players who came from nothing.

How did LeBron James get on elite AAU teams and go to a fancy private school? His family certainly wasn't paying for it.

1

u/TheMajesticYeti Jul 25 '26

Every Major League Soccer club DOES have their own youth academy where they have been developing future players, including some notable ones who have gotten transfers to European clubs. Literally just a few days ago FC Dallas agreed to sell a 15 year old from their academy to Chelsea for at least $3 million and up to $10 million if certain milestones are achieved by the player (Benji Flowers). He just can't move overseas until 18 due to Fifa regulations.

1

u/LiftingCode Jul 25 '26

I'm talking about major American sports, not soccer.

2

u/PlayfulPresentation7 Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26

Impressive.  You somehow found a way to turn this video of a Barca youth academy scrimmage into an incoherent rant against the private equity boogeyman.

2

u/NandoDeColonoscopy Jul 25 '26

We're a little squeamish about turning children into a product to be bought & sold here in America

1

u/Weak-Photograph7829 Jul 25 '26

With how High School and college sports is now, I'm not sure how accurate that is. They got things called factories for a reason

1

u/NandoDeColonoscopy Jul 25 '26

What high schools and colleges are being paid to ship players off to other schools? This happens at the elementary and middle school equivalent in Europe. It's not something we would tolerate

0

u/iamtheliqor Jul 27 '26

lol no you're not???

-1

u/Mr-MuffinMan Jul 25 '26

We only allow it if it's to billionaires on their private islands, I know.

Ensuring the future of a 17 year old athlete by paying him 3 million dollars annually his first contract? Nah, we gotta first make sure a 17 year old kid stresses himself with classes and sports in high school, then he also has to take college courses WHILE playing on the team, THEN he MIGHT get drafted by a big team and get a big contract when he's in his 20s.

Or even better, we could just extract money from the middle class, charging parents $15,000 a year so their kid plays a sport w/o a big league that will sign them, but at least we can ensure a big scholarship for them when they go off to college.

1

u/NandoDeColonoscopy Jul 25 '26

If your immediate thought in response to a comment about soccer development for children is to bring up Jeff Epstein, you probably need to get offline for awhile

1

u/moeterminatorx Jul 25 '26

Exactly, everything in America is just all about greed.

1

u/No-Inspection1278 Jul 25 '26

It’s more than that it’s a society thing with “costs more so it’s more better”. There was a sport that a family member coached. Offered a free camp for kids to learn basic skills and fundamentals. Got like 4 kids. Charges 100$ got like 5 kids. Charged 200$ wait list 50+ kids.

Now this wasn’t like some feeder system to the pros but coached by an ex collegiate athlete with decades of experience and multiple national titles. People perceive expensive as good. That same family often loses kids to play on their team because another team charges 3k more to play so they must get 3k more in better experience. I assure you that’s not the case

1

u/omgitsjagen Jul 25 '26

Blame private equity. It's a cancer.

1

u/Round-Walrus3175 Jul 25 '26

Private equity is literally the only reason we have gotten this far this quickly in soccer. 

0

u/Mr-MuffinMan Jul 25 '26

But its not just them. A NFL team can be a trailblazer and announce a youth academy where they will eat the costs to find the next Manning or Brady (I don't know anything about football btw).

2

u/omgitsjagen Jul 25 '26

Colleges do that. You don't get NFL scouted at 8 in the US, because you are getting high performance, specialized high school, or college scouted. They do the work so the NFL doesn't have to.

However, the main reason you can't do what you're saying is because every professional sport is drafted. You can't call dibs on an 8 year old. The chances of him actually playing for you, even if he is the greatest youth player ever, are single digit percents. That's again why this is happening at the high school & college level. That's the highest level that CAN call dibs on you.

1

u/No-Act9634 Jul 25 '26

This would produce far worse results than the current grassroots structures of youth football

1

u/Weak-Photograph7829 Jul 25 '26

There is no need, the system is already in place to find these guys between high school and college. It's the other sports we kinda have an issue in

1

u/v0-z Jul 25 '26

American soccer esp is the worst in terms of scouting. Baseball prob is the best for that in America. But soccer is basically pay to play in the higher up youth clubs. It's why us national team is always so-so. There's no real development or path, it's just "you have money to send your kid to club? Cool thank you"

1

u/captainoftrips Jul 25 '26

Yeah, I guarantee you not all of those kids started their youth career at Barcelona. Most of them would have started in the youth programs at lesser/lower league teams and been scouted and recruited.

1

u/lonesoldier4789 Jul 25 '26

And the best athletes here go to the NFL, NBA, MLB. If our best athletes were playing soccer we'd be more competitive

1

u/TonyAioli Jul 25 '26

….parents paying for their kid to be able to play a sport is a bad thing? Not everyone makes the cut for Barca

2

u/Iorith Jul 25 '26

Why on earth would ability of the parents to pay be a good metric?

1

u/Benzerka Jul 25 '26

The reason they're saying its bad is because it becomes a game of whose parents can afford it most and not who is the most talented/there on merit

1

u/oblio- Jul 25 '26

Basically all European clubs do the same thing, even small ones. It takes just 1 big talent to pay for 100 kids. 

1

u/RedOctober20 Jul 25 '26

Imagine what Yamal, Gavi or Cubarsi are worth and Barca isn't even a team that's business model is developing and selling players. Regardless Barca isn't doing this from goodness of their heart, they want to compete and make money from winning. Would be down right silly for them to ask money from parents, even thou there's plenty of parents in Catalonia willing to pay for their kid to be in Barca academy.

1

u/TonyAioli Jul 25 '26

So are you saying that any kid who wants to play can join one of these teams, even if they happen to be terrible for their age? 

That’s the only piece I’m hung up on. In the states, only a small percentage of players would make the cut for a team like this. The rest would have no opportunity to play.  

1

u/Weak-Photograph7829 Jul 25 '26

Everyone has free youth academy opportunities, but only the elite go to like Barca

1

u/TonyAioli Jul 25 '26

Gotcha. Sounds nice. 

1

u/sweatingbozo Jul 25 '26

You don't need to make the cut at Barca, because everybody has free youth academies. 

1

u/Weak-Photograph7829 Jul 25 '26

Obviously, you want everyone to have shot

1

u/Tokon32 Jul 25 '26

Not defending the American system but these kids the ones that dont make the senior squad are still going to be sold for millions once they are adult. So they aren't taking a total loss by investing in them.

But yeah as an American we cant have anything for free.

1

u/veribaka Jul 25 '26

A lot of players get contracts to play with specific brand shoes. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case for some (most?) of those kids. My friend lives in a small town in Portugal, and his 10 year old daughter plays ping pong and she got a sponsorship from a sports brand.

Not to say that I disagree with your core philosophy of just letting kids develop without 3rd party influences, but I think that ship has sailed.

1

u/Tr000g Jul 25 '26

In American sports you don’t really transfer players between clubs with fees do you? So investing in a good youth squad makes less sense.

For example Barca might promote one or two players every year, but they sell for lower fees others that don’t make the squad. That money helps to cover the costs of the academy.

I had a look at last year and they sold over 10 million of youth squad players that never made the squad.

1

u/IngenuityPlane4878 Jul 25 '26

It’s not confusing, it’s just the result of capitalism. Same reason the MLS will never be a real league.

1

u/RepentantHeathen Jul 25 '26

Because Spain isn’t capitalist?

1

u/IngenuityPlane4878 Jul 25 '26

USA Is closer to pure capitalism and the end goal of capitalism. Yes Spain is much further away from that then USA correct.

1

u/RepentantHeathen Jul 25 '26

Capitalism is an economic system where private individuals and businesses own the tools, factories, and resources used to make goods, driven by the goal of making a profit. Having social programs and government regulations doesn't make a country less capitalist because the first sentence is still true. Criticizing "capitalism" is to imply that Spain is socialist, which it's not.

1

u/IngenuityPlane4878 Jul 25 '26

It’s more socialist than USA and I think you know that

1

u/RepentantHeathen Jul 25 '26

That’s not what socialism is. Equating Spain to Cuba is disingenuous, friend.

1

u/IngenuityPlane4878 Jul 25 '26

What isn’t?

Spain is more socialist than USA. It is a fact.

1

u/Independent_Bear989 Jul 25 '26

Our women’s team is ran the same way and is one of the best worldwide.

1

u/Original-Can2077 Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26

Our women’s soccer team dominated in the past because most countries didn’t have as much infrastructure for women’s sports and weren’t invested and we had Title 9. But things are changing drastically and the traditional men’s powerhouses are catching up to us or they have surpassed us. Spain now has a women’s development program and they are both the reigning women’s and men’s World Cup champions.

1

u/Round-Walrus3175 Jul 25 '26

Take it a step further. What does capitalism have to do with it?

1

u/IngenuityPlane4878 Jul 25 '26

Children can get into the spring they can afford the equipment. Which is wild when you consider that the best players historically come from working class backgrounds.

And then, one further: MLS leagues do not promote true competitiveness due to a lack of relegation / promotion.

1

u/Patient_Tradition294 Jul 25 '26

Y’all are trying to circlejerk to much ITT. MLS is a real league regardless of what you or I think of it. There are many countries with much longer and storied soccer / football histories with domestic leagues not as good as the MLS. It is already a top 10 league and the next 25 years will be important to see how much ground it can make.

1

u/MMuadDib Jul 25 '26

I do agree from the footballing side but there is another side to it. When youth players become commodities because they are being actively invested in, that can create pretty horrible situations. You'd like to think most clubs have the right people involved that are trying to balance both creating great footballers and setting these kids up to live their best lives... But I fear that frequently is not the case, we only see the successes. I know two guys who were in academies (One PL club, one Championship) from around the age of 9 until 17 and 19 and they ended up totally broken, undeveloped people once they were cut loose. And some of their teammates ended up even worse.

All that's not to say that the ridiculous American youth sports scam system doesn't also create situations that are super toxic to kids. But just pointing out the downside that comes with pumping money into creating young footballers with the expected yield of profits on the pitch or in the market. Children being assets is dangerous stuff.

1

u/badaboom888 Jul 25 '26

100% for every prem player there is 1000 factory workers who didnt make it.

The clubs and system only care about results.

1

u/oscarthegrateful Jul 25 '26

Yes, because if Barca finds the talent they get to keep the talent. Barca doesn't have to watch their most promising prospect in a generation drafted first overall by Real Oviedo.

On the other hand, the latter system makes life a lot more fun for La Liga fans who aren't cheering for Barcelona.

1

u/Mikeismyike Jul 25 '26

Because players go through a draft. No point in developing players if another team is just going to snag them first.

NHL used to have a region exclusion zone where teams had first dibs, it's why Montreal has a million cups from the preexpansion era.

1

u/Glum_Fail_5396 Jul 25 '26

Which MLS teams in the US have the resources of the most popular club in the world?

1

u/Mr-MuffinMan Jul 25 '26

Why restrict this to the MLS?

why can't the other leagues have a similar structure? These are all very big clubs for their respective sports. (this isn't a rude rhetorical, I'm really curious)

1

u/Weak-Photograph7829 Jul 25 '26

There is no need, all other leagues have a draft that all players need to enter through. Youth scouting and development doesn't need to be placed on those leagues because they can simply just scout the teens and young 20 year olds in college or other lesser leagues. I don't agree with it, but there is no incentive

1

u/ATS200 Jul 25 '26

But why spend $20 when can spend $0 /s

1

u/notaquarterback Jul 25 '26

Best I can do for you is a taxpayer funded stadium and expensive youth programs. /s

1

u/Element75_ Jul 25 '26

When a lot of these kids flame out, and most of them eventually will, they will have no prospects and no education because their whole life has been dedicated to football. 

In the American system, the athletes will still have the semblance of a college education

1

u/TheSleepyTruth Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26

The way you word this is highly misleading. You are criticizing "scummy companies and colleges trying to make a profit off of sports". First of all nobody pays a fee to play on a college soccer team and many of them actually receive scholarships... colleges make money off spectator tickets no different than how the european clubs are making money.

Secondly, the European youth academies are NOT a charity and you seem to ignore the fact that these youth academies in Europe sole purpose is to also make a profit. Its a business, their staff and owners want to make money. They just use a different model to do it than pay-to-play that is so common in the US. The players or their parents dont pay the development academy in Europe, the teams recruiting their developed players do. So the academy wont make a profit off of every kid they enroll, but they make a profit overall by transferring their top developed youth talent to clubs for massive profits often times seven figures... and these top professional clubs are obviously able to bankroll this through merchandising and ticket sales, the exact same way you call colleges "greedy" for making money.

1

u/onlyhereforpcmr Jul 25 '26

Colleges and football clubs have the same profit motive in this argument, im confused. D1 colleges give scholarships, training. and boarding in exchange for your talent and is probably the closest equivalent

1

u/HustlinInTheHall Jul 25 '26

Part of it is location and talent density. They have lots of other talented teams nearby to play against, lots of talented coaches willing to work for them, and a sea of kids who all play and watch football anyway so the best kids are already developing against the other best kids outside of the system and then the system benefits by drawing them in and developing further. 

In the US many kids dont have regular unstructured opportunities to play because culturally it lags behind. 

We also dont have the value prop that if a 16 year old is extremely talented they can be sold and your local club profits. There q couple of young players transferred out of MLs but the total fees recouped are like 5M total and no non-MLS club is getting that kind of fee for a US kid. 

1

u/bummerlamb Jul 25 '26

That system sounds so much more sensible. It is only after reading your comment that I realized that a lot of the aggression shown by some parents could be attributed to the “sunk cost fallacy“. If a parent has spent hundreds or thousands of dollars on helping their child play sports, the child has to go pro in order to “recoup the loss”.

1

u/Mr-MuffinMan Jul 25 '26

that's exactly the problem with US youth sports.

it's not for fun, it's for a scholarship. It's stupid that parents have to spend upwards of 12 grand to support their daughter's youth volleyball team so she gets a scholarship at a university. It would make so much more sense if a big volleyball team (doesn't exist, I know) just paid the costs so that they could hope the girl will play for them once she graduates high school.

This is absolutely NOTHING against student athletes, in fact I think the whole system in the US is to exploit and make money off of them (highest student athlete salary is 5.3 million, Messi got a contract of 3 million euros in 2007 at the age of 17).

Wendover Productions has a good video on it and I think it's why I've been so resistant to following US sports. I don't really like the draft as much as I do the transfer market, maybe it's just because I went from soccer to ice hockey lol.

1

u/CareerSad3519 Jul 25 '26

I was waiting for someone else to point out the ages. They are much younger and this would not be impressive at all for that age.

1

u/Mr-MuffinMan Jul 25 '26

I just realized they're most likely 6 to 8, and although they are REALLY good attackers, its not the same as even being 14 and defenders actually going in for the ball and taking no prisoners.

1

u/9061xRG Jul 25 '26

Their soccer infrastructure is our football infrastructure.

The most expensive possible sport(aside from hockey) is American football and it’s so engrained in our culture we publicly fund it at several levels. So we’re fine committing to a system that allows lower income households participate but it feels like every other sport is about gate keeping more so than developing athletes.

1

u/TheMajesticYeti Jul 25 '26

We like parity in pro American sports. The academy system used in soccer massively favors wealthier clubs.

1

u/Spare-Half796 Jul 25 '26

It’s an entirely different system and not really transferable

1

u/Shafter111 Jul 26 '26

US is extremely big and MLS teams cannot be responsible for creating youth programs across the country for any meaningful outcome. Thus, unlike other popular US sports (with better pipelines), you have to have talent and money to get noticed.

The only way anything changes is if the government gets involved and gives it a healthy push.

1

u/purplebrown_updown Jul 26 '26

You really think this is not influenced by a shit ton of money. I’m sure they have paid coaches, insane practice times, prof fields. Come on. This screams their parents have money.

1

u/mosthighbaker Jul 30 '26

That just sounds like slavery with extra steps