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SBI Question of the Day: Which issue facing U.S. Soccer is most important to you?

Now that the United States Soccer Federation has a new leader in Carlos Cordeiro, plenty of issues need to be addressed over the next several years.

On the surface, an overhaul of the U.S. Men’s National Team is a hot button issue since they won’t be at the World Cup this summer and do not have a full-time head coach, technical director, or general manager. The team will also need to fill in the ranks as older players move on from the team. This could include the recruitment of dual nationals, development of players through the American amateur ranks, and scouring Americans overseas for the next stars to feature alongside Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie.

However, there is much more that Cordeiro will have on his plate.

There is increasing pressure on a youth development system that champions a pay-to-play system and does not receive much in the way of solidarity payments for players it develops.

The issue of equal pay between the USMNT and U.S. Women’s National Team came up several times throughout the campaign process for this election. The USWNT nearly went on strike once last year and may threaten to do so again if their concerns aren’t addressed.

Finally, the issue of promotion and relegation will never seem to go away. Eric Wynalda made it a part of his radical campaign and there is a very vocal movement for its implementation amongst a subset of American soccer fans. Their calls will only get louder as the NASL’s legal battle in American federal courts and the Court of Arbitration for Sport moves forward.

So, which issue facing U.S. Soccer is most important to you? Which should Carlos Cordeiro look to address first and foremost? Vote in the poll below and explain your reasoning in the comment secion.

[polldaddy poll=9937935]

Comments

  1. youth development
    that is: get the money and resources BEYOND the super clubs catering to suburban soccer moms
    also, disagree our soccer culture is maturing; without leadership folks still talk about possession soccer as if it’s the only way, and playing out of the back as if it’s the only way to judge and build teams and players.
    in reality, there are lots of ways to play effectively, depending on many variables, and our kids should be exposed to learning ALL of them…and our US soccer culture does NOT get that; it still thinks the best players should play striker and that if you’re a defender it means you’re not as good…still lots of that BS in our naive yet evolving soccer cutlure

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  2. While I voted for youth development, that is kind of like voting for mom and apple pie. What is needed it to bring order to the multitude organizational structures that oversee an even larger number of leagues and teams.

    Until there is an enforced order, various entities, MLS, USL, NASL, PDL, DA, USYSA, AYSO, NCAA, ethnic legues, etc. will continue to set their own agenda and ignore any sensible approach that would require some cooperation.

    It will never be true that all of those groups will fall gladly in line (and they probably shouldn’t be totally subservient), but the constant bickering, sniping, power grabs. etc must come to an end.

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  3. Youth development, no question. The US is a long ways toward a soccer culture now, but our ‘youth development’ system is awful. Real talent keeps getting overlooked for speed/strength at the youngest ages. Players get weeded out of the system before they’ve hit puberty and we’re left with those that matured earlier at the top of the pyramid. We need to figure out how Dortmund was able to recognize talent like Pulisic’s, while he was getting overlooked in the US, at the younger ages. Then we need to figure out what to do with that talent to take it to the next level. Enough of this dream of finding the biggest/fastest kids and thinking they can be magically taught how to be players.

    It takes more than athleticism to be great at this sport. Until that can be figured out, appreciated, and created as the motivating factor for clubs to select youth ‘talent’, the best talent will continue to get overlooked.

    On the flip-side, US Soccer needs to properly support the base of the youth soccer pyramid. There is such a focus on the top level that kids love to play but aren’t good enough for the top teams have very few options to continue once they reach the U11-14 age groups. These kids are the future referees, fans, youth coaches, etc. Keeping them involved in the game longer goes a long way toward bringing the culture to the next level.

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  4. 1.Clear up all rules and allow academies to collect Solidarity payments. 2. Put pressure on MLS to allow clubs to collect all profits for selling any homegrown player. 3. Advertise and make coaching licences more accessible. These 3 things I believe are very doable and would be a great start.

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    • In item 2) MLS is a single entity and a private enterprise so, explain to me how the US Federation is going to force the MLS to do this? BTW being owned by the clubs and their investors would be like transferring the money from the left packet to the right, somehow…

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  5. I FORGOT SOMETHING : that sbisoccer get rid of the loser of JOE HOJNACKI, this guy doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about , beside of being a born loser.

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  6. National team being MLS players I don’t know what the Federation has to do with this issue. PRO/REL Its a decision of the MLS and nobody else, the Federation does not have any business in this matter, period. Did you believe that the Federation has the power to impose this to the league? absolutely not.. The other way around the federation NEEDS THE Mls and SUM.

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  7. You peeps with “PRO/REL BRO” tunnel vision should turn off the tele and go see a game. Sorry but your prem / liga teams on the tube don’t give you clout when talking about being a fan and how pro-rel will save us all. Go support your local team.

    Equal pay BS. I see Grant Wahl got 3 of his pals to choose that so far. No one who calls for this runs a business. It’s about INCOME. If the WNT brought in the bacon like the MNT there wouldn’t be pushback. But it just IS. Get over it.

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  8. voted youth development, with special emphasis on getting rid of pay-to-play, though i don’t really see how it could be done.

    i know that we’ve seen very promising kids come up in the last few years, but i still think inadequate youth development is the primary reason that we failed in the the gold cup and wcqs.

    simply put, we’re producing quality, but not nearly enough of it, which means that there is not enough competition for starting spots. (i’m not talking competition like, “there’s this kid in the belgian league i’ve never seen play–give him a shot in dempsey’s place!” but a proven quality at the senior level who could confidently step in without sabotaging the team.)

    our team had consistently overachieved for their talent level for about 10 years, and i think it hurt our mentality in the long run, so that we just thought that if our best players worked hard enough (“lazy altidore”, anyone?), we would win. once our best stopped overachieving (for whatever reason), we (ussf) were left with our dicks in our hands, without a real backup plan (obviously simply switching to arena didn’t work).

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    • Youth dev was my choice as well but not to get rid of pay to play. Thats a pie in the sky request. From the limited research I’ve done I think reducing costs/red tape to coaching licences and courses is a very easy “win” for the new President. More qualified coaches = better player development and access to these courses should strengthen the coaching network in the US. Qualified coaches identifying the quality players and passing them up through the pyramid. With that said we still need to revamp the youth scouting network. Find our best talent earlier and get them into the best place for them to develop.
      These are two achievable steps for Cordeiro to tackle.

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