This is what I was saying in my post on the club side. US Soccer has basically, implicitly or not, given the old up-yours to high school soccer and high school coaches every where. Luckily I can use my dual citizenship to pull for the Dutch, but I feel sorry for the rest of you guys.
The irony is that sure, in other countries 15 and 16 year olds play ten month season. So do 19 and 20 year olds. But the USSF is too chicken to take on the length of the college season. I've always felt, based on observations of youth teams in Europe, that players from the States were very close to their equal. But the gap opens when, worldwide, 18-19 year olds go pro and play 10 month seasons, while in the states we have college.
IF USSF is serious about improving the national pool, it needs to encourage players not only to quit high school, but to forego college as well. It needs to provide agents to the DA players and get them jobs in some of the better world leagues after they graduate from high school. Until then, it's all sound and fury.
