Where are the Special Players?

From www.topdrawersoccer.com

Exact link: http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/component/option,com_mojo/Itemid,304/g,3/p,8/

July 25th, 2008

by OldTimer

As I continue to watch all the various levels of our American soccer landscape, one disturbing trend is becoming more and more evident to me, and that’s the endangered special player.

Without question, this country is developing and producing more good, quality players than ever before. Today’s players are more advanced at a much younger age than a decade ago, the number of quality coaches and youth clubs is up dramatically, there are so many events and tournaments where “the best can compete against the best”, players have unlimited access to top International and professional games on television like never before, we have more identification camps and youth national team programs than are truly necessary and we have an established and solidly-financed professional domestic league.

Now, with all these major improvements and advances in our game I ask you one question: Where are all the “Special Players”?

Where are those unique players that change the dynamic and makeup of a national team or professional club team? Where are all those young 17-20 year old phenoms that the big clubs all across the world are clamoring to sign? Am I asking too much that this country should produce more young talents that the rest of the world wants than just Jozy Altidore in the past 2 years? Should we not have three to five like him each year in a country our size? Should we not expect to have a Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley or Claudio Reyna coming through the ranks on a consistent, regular basis through all our youth national teams? Where are they?

Go ahead, start in our domestic pro league, MLS. Do you see anything there that makes you really believe we are getting closer to winning a World Cup? See any U.S. born and raised players that are clearly too good for the league outside of Sacha Kljestan? Look at our current National player pool and find me just one player that is truly a difference maker at the International level. Landon Donovan is the closest one and after him, I don’t see one. I see a deep base of very good players, deeper than ever, but not one special player to build a National team around. I am only asking for one. Should we not expect to have more at this point in time? I still remember like yesterday when US Soccer unveiled and spent millions of dollars on Project 2010, the year the United States would win the World Cup. Well, do you feel we are any closer to that goal today?

Think of all the great International teams, look at their rosters, look at the size of their countries, look at their limited resources as compared to ours and ask yourself, if they can have so many, why do we have so few?