The system for US Soccer needs to be revamped

“They never go anywhere,’” was his reply.

And thus, two more soccer player who may have developed into something, instead gave up the dream.

And therein lies the biggest problem for U.S. Soccer.

Since the United States was bounced by Belgium in the round of 16 at the 2026 World Cup July 6, there has been debate about how the United States Men’s National Soccer Team can take the next step and attempt to break into the top flight of world soccer.

But before we can figure out a solution, we have to look at the current path to professional play. The developmental soccer path in the U.S. is the same one used for baseball, basketball and football. Star at the club and high school level, earn a scholarship to a major college program and then get drafted.

While that may be a path to MLS, it is not the path followed by soccer professionals around the world. Kids with even a modicum of talent are identified by a professional organization and then is assigned to that team’s academy program. While 18 year olds in America are playing their senior year of high school soccer, 18 year olds in England, for instance, are already competing against guys who will starring for the big squad, as opposed to playing against kids who won’t play the game past high school.

And those European players who may have been weeded out of professional academies, they end up coming to the United States and playing collegiately. Across all levels of college play — from community college, to NAIA,to Division III, to Division I — European players account for up to 37% of collegiate rosters, so that means even less opportunity for domestic players.

The other path to the pros is for talented American players to leave the U.S. for (usually) Europe at a young age and latch onto a pro academy program. Landon Donovan, who is in the discussion of greatest American player of all time, signed with Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen as a 17 year old. Current U.S. star, Christian Pulisic, followed a similar path.

So the first goal is to keep top American talent in the country and to do that, there needs to a program other than the MLS academy system. US Soccer needs to get serious about its own academy system in which iron can sharpen iron. One idea is to put academies in every state and then have those teams play each other, either in regional or nationwide leagues. That way, they would be playing against the best the country has to offer.

To get to that point, however, U.S. Soccer needs to pour as much money as possible into scouting. The problem is the United States is so big, that players falling through the cracks is inevitable. I’ve heard and read several stories over the years of dual-citizen players, in California it’s usually players with U.S. and Central American citizenship, who end up getting poached by the country of their parents because there simply were no U.S. Soccer scouts paying attention.

To remedy this, U.S. Soccer needs to expand it scouting department exponentially.

The other big part of this is the pay-to-play model that has taken over American soccer culture. Youth clubs are not interested in developing players to move on to the next level. They’re sole goal is to win as much as possible in order to draw the best players so they can continue to win and charge obscene amounts of money from families.

Doesn’t even matter if the player is good or not. If you got the money, there is spot and that is the biggest problem with soccer in this country.

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There has also been a lot of talk about the best athletes in the nation not playing soccer. This is usually followed by someone putting together a starting soccer lineup that features the biggest, baddest, (usually) NFL players, with the likes of LeBron James thrown into the mix.

Can you imagine a 6-9, 250-pound James marauding on a soccer field?

The problem with this argument is that elite soccer players are not always the heaviest or the tallest, or even the fastest. For every 6-5 Erling Halaand, there is a 5-7 Lionel Messi. Imagine if Messi never got a shot because he was too small?

Again, the mentality of American sports is that only the biggest, fastest and strongest can become professional athletes. But look at any World Cup game and you will see every variation of athlete on the field.

The one thing pro soccer players are not is slow and there is a big difference between straight-line speed and running with a ball at your feet. It’s the difference between the 40-yard time at the NFL Combine and actual running in a football game. 49ers legend and NFL hall of famer Jerry Rice was never known as a fast runner – but he was almost never caught from behind.

Yes, if America’s best athletes played soccer, maybe US Soccer would be further along. But there is no guarantee that it would be any better than what it is now. Because it’s not about the player, it’s about the game.

Nathan Mollat has been covering high school sports in San Mateo County for the San Mateo Daily Journal since 2001. He can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com.