5 homegrown cut by LAGALAXY

jpeter

jpeter

PREMIER
"The LA Galaxy cut ties with five academy products on Wednesday, according to the LA Times’ Kevin Baxter.

Baxter reported that the Galaxy will not bring back forward Jack McBean, defender Nathan Smith and midfielders Jaime Villarreal, Jose Villarreal and Raul Mendiola. All five initially joined the team as Homegrown Players"

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/11/07/report-la-galaxy-cut-ties-five-homegrown-players

The home grown idea really hasn't worked that well for Galaxy yet, investing 6 yrs of development in some players and having very little to show for in the end is rough, but I guess there cutting the loses & moving on ?
 
I really think they made a huge mistake with McBean and Jose Villarreal. They were never given a real chance with the first team. I saw Villarreal play outstanding each time he got on the pitch with the 1st team. McBean is and was a young player that I saw promise in. They should have given these players a real chance to make an impact but never did for whatever reason. Best wishes to all the players going forward.

As stated in previous threads- I will continue to advise players in the US to look toward the college route as it still is their BEST chance to both play professionally and have a quality life after football. If you get the invite to move overseas and your family is willing to invest in that then do so but the US has so many problems with its current system and sadly the Galaxy is a big perpetuator of the status quo.
 
Move over home grown players, step aside, only if you is a old 38 year old wash up superstar from Europe than you can always play for LA Galaxy. ------- United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, France, Russia, Netherlands, Italy, Turkey, Switzerland, and Hungary.
 
True love said:
Move over home grown players, step aside, only if you is a old 38 year old wash up superstar from Europe than you can always play for LA Galaxy. ------- United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, France, Russia, Netherlands, Italy, Turkey, Switzerland, and Hungary.
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Galaxy academy did a good job in the past of producing players with the potential to play professionally. Then Bruce Arena happened. More interested in the short-term (MLS business model doesn't help), he ignored the club's youth completely. Galaxy are paying the price now and will continue to do so for years to come. If they compete in MLS again it'll have to be with mercenaries. The youth are not ready. These 5 players all had the potential of being very good or even great, but that requires faith and patience from the coaching staff as well as consistent playing time at a top level at a much younger age. The organization let these guys down big time. I hope they land on their feet, but their ships may have sailed.
 
Sadly this is a trickle down of MLS not being on the same page with the rest of the planet. It’s hard to send these kids to other clubs to get playing time with the transfer windows not being aligned. They should keep them though, it’s not like they can do any worse or get relegated. The season is over now.
 
As stated many times before. If you have a true prospect, and their goal is to play pro, send them to Europe. At the very least, send them to college so they can have a back up plan. Now, you will see the same patterns start to develop with the girls program.

The problem isn't that the coaching staff let them down. The problem IS the lack of a true coaching staff to begin with.

The US will figure it out eventually (15-30 years) but do what is right for your player today. Let the vanity parents run their kids through this mill.

Such a shame for these young men, but going forward, even a blind man can see that the DA is a dead end so new parents that chase the bright lights of DA have to accept responsibility for their results.
 
First off good luck to these young men, hopefully they find their career track back on target soon.

These were among the first of the homegrown player concept that may have been ahead of its time and misused somewhat.

Collecting some young hot target prospects from clubs and and putting them in a "academy" for 6 months or so then calling them homegrown is somewhat of a misnomer IMO.

Starting players at U12,U13,U14 like what LAFC is attempting to do then seeing them through development all the way to U18/19, USL 2nd team, and possibly 1st team is what is really takes to be a true "home grown player".

Putting too much hype, expectations, branding on players that where what 16 or 17 yrs old in this case and still developing in a rough way to go. Prior to the USL alignment MLS only had "reserve teams" and the developmental players had limited option. The Galaxy II was born, partly I was told so that players like JV who went on loan to a MX team (playing time) could have a bridge between the academy and the first team. The bridge was more like a moat under BA. the Galaxy lost key personnel and basically haven't keep up with the times like:
Greg Vanney, Tornoto FC Eastern Conf Finals
Gregg Berhalter, Columbus Crew; Western Conf Finals

The Galaxy II has turned into something else, the wooden spoon winner but at least there giving this new breed of young prospects hope that the bridge is real this time and they can continue to develop into first team players, they kind of struck out on the first attempt but maybe some of them will make it and have consistent pro soccer career's?
 
Can someone confirm if it’s true that LAG Academy U15 is playing up 6 u14’s? If it’s true I think that’s a very good way to develop player.
 
Myleftfoot said:
Can someone confirm if it’s true that LAG Academy U15 is playing up 6 u14’s? If it’s true I think that’s a very good way to develop player.
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That's correct truth, 6 U14 playing up With the U15 this Saturday against De Anza Force on the road. 100% correct.
 
xav10 said:
So the 04s are on break and the club decided to bring several of them up with U15s this weekend.
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U15 Travel Roster, 16 players travel with the team this weekend, ten 03 and six 04, so I thinks every single player will see some playing time.
 
A bunch of 03s are getting pulled into the YNT camp starting this weekend. 03s running really lean. The 04 call-ups were a must.
 
jpeter said:
"The LA Galaxy cut ties with five academy products on Wednesday, according to the LA Times’ Kevin Baxter.

Baxter reported that the Galaxy will not bring back forward Jack McBean, defender Nathan Smith and midfielders Jaime Villarreal, Jose Villarreal and Raul Mendiola. All five initially joined the team as Homegrown Players"

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/11/07/report-la-galaxy-cut-ties-five-homegrown-players

The home grown idea really hasn't worked that well for Galaxy yet, investing 6 yrs of development in some players and having very little to show for in the end is rough, but I guess there cutting the loses & moving on ?
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Bottom line is they haven't been good enough. They've had chances, limited or not, this is professional sport. Priority one is the result. If you can't be impactful in the MLS then it's time to find a new job.
 
Sunil Illuminati said:
Bottom line is they haven't been good enough. They've had chances, limited or not, this is professional sport. Priority one is the result. If you can't be impactful in the MLS then it's time to find a new job.
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American soccer mentality. This kind of thinking is part of the problem. Your avatar is closer to your persona than even you knew.

If it were all about "result" then Zardes and Gio would've been benched for stretches this season for grossly under-performing. Same with Gerrard and other "names" over the past several years. Can't do that in MLS though. Have to prop up the names and sell jerseys. Bruce Arena would rather bring in Steven Gerrard and watch him F it all up in the midfield instead of giving one of these kids (now men) a chance. Plenty of casual Liverpool fans' butts in seats and #8 jerseys sold in that first season - the MLS business model.

Bottom line, show confidence in any of these players at 18/19/20 years old, play them consistently, and they likely would've risen to the occasion. Their top-level development was never gonna happen in USL or on loan where other coaching staffs decide who plays. Galaxy are now reaping what Arena and the front office sowed over the past several years. A real shame.
 
boomer said:
American soccer mentality. This kind of thinking is part of the problem. Your avatar is closer to your persona than even you knew.

If it were all about "result" then Zardes and Gio would've been benched for stretches this season for grossly under-performing. Same with Gerrard and other "names" over the past several years. Can't do that in MLS though. Have to prop up the names and sell jerseys. Bruce Arena would rather bring in Steven Gerrard and watch him F it all up in the midfield instead of giving one of these kids (now men) a chance. Plenty of casual Liverpool fans' butts in seats and #8 jerseys sold in that first season - the MLS business model.

Bottom line, show confidence in any of these players at 18/19/20 years old, play them consistently, and they likely would've risen to the occasion. Their top-level development was never gonna happen in USL or on loan where other coaching staffs decide who plays. Galaxy are now reaping what Arena and the front office sowed over the past several years. A real shame.
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Its exactly the opposite to American Soccer Mentality buddy. MLS is a soft league that allows for under performance. You think Zardes and Gio sell enough shirts to warrant keeping any top performer out of the team, that would help the team to win? You think Galaxy fans are fighting for tickets to watch those guys play? Onalfo was in place earlier this season. No MLS Coach had a tighter link to promoting youth than he did? They've not been good enough. If they go on to great success at their next club, if they can secure one, I'll hold my hands up. They've had every chance to impress EVERY DAY.

I mentioned nothing about Arena, Gerrard. They're part of the MLS parade too, but you can't hold them entirely accountable for these players not taking their chances.
 
Sunil Illuminati said:
Its exactly the opposite to American Soccer Mentality buddy. MLS is a soft league that allows for under performance. You think Zardes and Gio sell enough shirts to warrant keeping any top performer out of the team, that would help the team to win? You think Galaxy fans are fighting for tickets to watch those guys play? Onalfo was in place earlier this season. No MLS Coach had a tighter link to promoting youth than he did? They've not been good enough. If they go on to great success at their next club, if they can secure one, I'll hold my hands up. They've had every chance to impress EVERY DAY.

I mentioned nothing about Arena, Gerrard. They're part of the MLS parade too, but you can't hold them entirely accountable for these players not taking their chances.
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Hey buddy. I agree that MLS is a soft league that breeds mediocrity. Multiple reasons for this...closed market, no incentives for developing youth, control by a select few, seen as entertainment, no incentive to excel. I could go on. MLS is fundamentally flawed. Where else in the world can you make the playoffs and have a chance at a "Championship" with a -21 goal diff (see 2017 SJ Earthquakes)? Or win an MLS Cup with a losing regular season record (see 2009 RSL)? What a joke. If MLS is going to break out of the paradigm of hiring aging superstars (Gerrard/Pirlo/Kaka) or those players that they think will sell jerseys/tickets but can't cut it in Europe (Dos Santos/Bradley/Altidore), the MLS business model needs to change significantly. Do you think TFC brought in Bradley and paid him $6.5m a year because he's worth it in footballing terms? Hell no. It was marketing and name recognition. This is indicative of the greater problems I pointed out above.

Arena is worth mentioning because he is the one accountable for the limited development of these players, although in many ways he didn't have much choice given that he is a product of and has had much success helping to prop up the flawed system. You say Arena gave them opportunities and were given a chance to impress everyday. I say those chances where few and far between at best. MLS, Galaxy, and Arena were never going to allow these unknown youngsters to break into a line-up and take real playing time from "names", jeopardizing their standing in the league as a star. Do you think the typical family of 4 or the hordes of AYSO teams would've come out to see Jose Villareal play? They were there to see the "names" and the league business model was built on that fact, especially the last 10 years after Golden Balls came to LA.

I'll concede to you that these 5 were not likely good enough to promote this year by Onalfo, someone who absolutely had a link to youth. My point is that these 5 were underdeveloped over the past 5+ years under Arena. They never stood a chance of getting to a level that would warrant promotion by Onalfo this season. Time in USL (and Academy reserve league for several years prior) and the occasional sniff at the first team for US Open Cup games or when a "name" is on int'l duty or refused to play on turf isn't enough. Real first team minutes need to happen early and often. In the end, all 5 of these guys might've not been good enough even with the right support and opportunities, but at this point we will never know unless one or more land in a great environment and course-correct.
 
Sunil Illuminati said:
Its exactly the opposite to American Soccer Mentality buddy. MLS is a soft league that allows for under performance. You think Zardes and Gio sell enough shirts to warrant keeping any top performer out of the team, that would help the team to win? You think Galaxy fans are fighting for tickets to watch those guys play? Onalfo was in place earlier this season. No MLS Coach had a tighter link to promoting youth than he did? They've not been good enough. If they go on to great success at their next club, if they can secure one, I'll hold my hands up. They've had every chance to impress EVERY DAY.

I mentioned nothing about Arena, Gerrard. They're part of the MLS parade too, but you can't hold them entirely accountable for these players not taking their chances.
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Sunil, something from Pulisic's open letter to America today...

"I’ve gotta say: It really does frustrate me, when I watch MLS, and I see our best U-17 players — who, again, are so talented and so capable — being rostered … but then not being put on the field much to actually play. I watch that, and I just think about how I was given a chance … a real chance … and it changed my life. Why then are we seemingly hesitant to allow these other talents to blossom?"
 
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