As Major League Soccer aims to be one of the top five leagues in the world by 2022, club executives are posed with a ‘chicken or the egg’ problem. Do they purchase established players for top dollar in a bid to draw attention to the league (the chicken), or do they focus on internally developing players for the First Team (the egg)?
Since joining MLS, the Sounders have brought in internationally-recognized Designated Player signings. However, their commitment to youth development has been equally impressive, such as producing highly-touted American prospects in DeAndre Yedlin and Jordan Morris. Essentially, the club has decided to go with a combination of the chicken and the egg concepts to form a competitive club.
The organization is committed to producing First Team talent and is willing to travel all over the world to do so. For example, Sean Henderson, the Head Coach of the U-16 Academy side, is taking part in a joint venture between MLS and the French Football Federation.
Henderson recently returned after a week at the Clairefontaine facility, which serves the national training center for the French National Team. While in France, he received formal training from the FFF on the various aspects of youth development. After departing France, he spent one week at Champions League side Valencia C.F., observing the various stages of their youth system.
Henderson’s transition into the program was easier than most, as Academy Technical Director Marc Nicholls already completed and passed the course and has implemented various aspects of the course into Sounders FC’s youth system.
The core purpose of the training program is to teach coaches and directors methods for developing intelligent soccer players. Coaches can stress the importance of tactics all they want, but if the players on the field don’t understand it for themselves then they won’t be able to fulfill their potential.
“We want to help teach kids the mental part of the game, to create smart soccer players that can read the game,” Henderson said.
The second phase of the training, spending a week with a professional European club, is equally instrumental. As a club with a newly formed youth system, the Sounders have the benefit of creating an Academy that perfectly suits the club. They can do this by observing a number of clubs, like Valencia, and adopt development methods they find the most effective.
For Henderson, the culture of Valencia’s youth development served as a stark contrast to the current state of American soccer.
Valencia has adopted a longer-term approach to player development. Up until the U16 age group, progress and growth take the initiative over results. Each player learns how to play in a certain system, becoming a master of their tactical role until they reach the ‘high performance zone.’ After years of training and development, the players are put into competitive matches as a means of assessing their individual ability.
With both Nicholls and Henderson now schooled in the French philosophy, Sounders Academy has an improved approach to development. With an integrated system amongst the various Academy sides, as well as S2 and the First Team, there is a greater focus on individual player development. If one of the young Sounders has been impressing for their team, they will begin to train with an older age group. If they continue to excel, then they will participate in matches. There is absolutely no rush to progress, thus players do not burnout or fail to realize their full potential.
The success of this program can be seen throughout the organization. Fifteen players have spent time training with S2. For the U-16’s first trip to California in the Development Academy season, six of the 18 players were members of the U-15 squad. Furthermore, six Sounders Academy alumni have signed Homegrown Player contracts with the First Team since the inaugural 2011 class.
