The real problem that people don't talk about isn't promotion or relegation but that clubs don't have their own youth set ups where they can develop and keep homegrown talent. There's no incentive to develop talent when someone else can just draft a player you brought up.
This MLS draft ******** is what's really messing up the game here in the United States.
Promotion/relegation does factor into this, but discussion-wise you don't really hear about how the draft needs to be scrapped or modified.
Man, I mean no offense but I don't know any other way to say it; you need to educate yourself on MLS, it's structure, and it's modern approach to youth development.
First and foremost, every single MLS club does have its own youth set up. MLS clubs first began developing their own homegrown talent in 2008, many had already formed academies but in 2008 USSF made it a mandate.
Look up the Homegrown Player Initiative. Homegrown Player is the language the league uses to denominate players developed by MLS clubs, these players can't be drafted or signed by other American clubs.
There's no incentive to develop talent when someone else can just draft a player you brought up.
I don't want to sound redundant but again, players developed by MLS clubs DO NOT go through the draft. These are some of the actual incentives MLS has put in place to encourage clubs to develop talent:
- Homegrown players don't have to go through the Draft, or any of the other player allocation mechanisms
- The club keeps 75% of the transfer fee upon sale vs. 66% for non-homegrown players (back in the day it was 75% vs. 30%)
- Homegrown players don't count against the salary cap (that's kind of huge in a salary cap driven league)
- Homegrown players are protected in expansion drafts
To say the MLS draft it's what's hurting the game in this country just shows a misunderstanding of how MLS signs developed talent and the type of player the draft currently serves.
The 20 years ago the draft was the primary means acquiring young players. Today the draft is an auxiliary method of acquiring players, with the vast majority of talent matriculating up through the academy system.
No significant American prospect has gone through the MLS draft since Maurice Edu in 2007. Omar Salgado was a special case in 2011, he was developed by Chivas down in Mexico and had no connection to any MLS academy when he signed with MLS.
Today the relevance of the draft as it pertains to
U.S. developed players is that it basically serves as an important safety net for players who are late bloomers. Players who weren't considered top prospects at 17/18 and who's clubs declined to offer them pro contracts, players who subsequently had to go the NCAA route.
It's a very good thing that the draft is there to serve these players. Not every 18 year old prospect will be physically or psychologically ready for professional soccer at 18. Like anywhere else in the world, some players will also simply fall through the cracks. This is the primary reason why the draft still exist and it's a good thing that it does.
There are so many pressing issues, problems and ideas we could discuss when it comes to MLS youth development and what we can do to continue to improve it but so often we can't even get the basic facts right before we blast the league.
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