Good Foot Skills

This has been one of the big questions about US Soccer for awhile now. I think that article brings up some good points and questions. But what is really interesting is they said that in England if you aren’t starting by 22, you should quit. Because of the way development occurs in other countries players are better at younger ages. I think the majority of the top 10 players in the world are all under 24.
In countries with professional youth systems, players are more freely allowed to play up at higher levels (age means nothing, only your ability) so that they can continue there development at a very quick rate. Like the example of Rooney, he was just good enough at 16 to play in the EPL and that forced him to become better and develop faster. If your not training with players who are better than you, it’s far more difficult to improve.
I understand that it’s a cool statistic that so many of the US players went to college, but why then is the best hope for the future of the team 19 year old Josie Altidore, whose dramatically improved over the last two years he’s been playing in Europe.
And if soccer’s not your thing, try thinking about putting the NBA and AAU basketball in place of the European youth development ideas. Maybe Lebron James would be even better if we let him play 10 minutes a game when he was 16.

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