Headlines: U.S. Soccer Looks to Roll Out 'U.S. Way' Developmental Plan

 

The Athletic:

[U.S. Soccer Sporting Director Matt Crocker] asked Twenty First Group, a sport data firm, some simple questions: Over the past 10 years, how many of the world’s best soccer players have been American? From 2014 to the present, Crocker said, the data showed a "slight, slow decline" in top-50 and top-250 players on the women’s side. On the men’s side, Crocker asked a room of coaches in January, how many top-50 players do you think we’ve produced?

"Zero," a man in the audience shouted.

"Correct," Crocker said.

And "there’s a saying," he later continued: "do what you’ve always done, and you will get what you’ve always got."

His goal, and his most monstrous task, is to get American soccer doing things differently.