With Footie in the States Part 1 and 2 looking at soccer’s past and present, part 3 will look towards the future.

As every cliched movie knows, the kids are our future. But in the case of MLS, this statement could not be more important.

Don Garber and the suits of MLS have declared that they want the MLS to be one of the top leagues in the world by 2022. That claim is more of a motivator than a realistic goal.

At the base of this discussion is the quality of play. Because no matter how much money there is, which cities the teams are in, or how many people are watching, it’s the footie that matters. With all the kerfuffle surrounding teams, it’s easy to forget that. And the league has a long way to go.

Retirement League

If you know anything about the MLS, you know it has a reputation of being a retirement league: a league where aging famous players go for one last pay day. While many argue that this has changed, one need only look at recent signings to see it is still prevalent. Frank Lampard, David Villa, Kaka, and Steven Gerrard were all acquired this year and are all 33 or older.

Most of the high profile DP’s who are still in their prime are US players. It’s unfortunate that 8 years after David Beckham arrived in LA, the MLS’s biggest players are still former greats rather than greats.

The Children

Thus, it seems that this trend will continue. Giovinco’s signing is a fascinating rarity which we’d love to see happen more often, but the more realistic goal is to invest in our youth.

We are at a crossroads. MLS, and all MLS franchise’s need to pour money into youth development or else this league will slowly recede into the shadow of world football. Youth development in the US is arguably 20 years behind Europe. The amount of money spent on scouting, facilities, and training sessions for all age groups in Europe is immense.

What is so promising about the US is that we have the available recourses, we are a highly developed country, and we are traditionally competitive. This league will improve slightly by having the David Villa’s, but if we started producing some more homegrown talent (see: Gyasi Zardes), what a league we’d become.

The League We’d Become

One of the biggest issues in Europe is giving young and promising talent a chance to play consistent football. Since the US isn’t even close to the level of the premier league, we’d be able to give an 18-year-old American kid much more playing time than abroad. He’d be able to play in his home country and even hometown. And he might even pull a Dempsey by sticking around in the States and rejecting lucrative offers from Europe.

It’s so simple. We just can’t attract the young talent from abroad, and probably never will. So rather than eating up Europe’s trash, why not just start cooking better food here?

Imagine. A league full of young talented Americans rather than aging hamstring-pulling internationals.

It would be a feeder for the USMNT, and much like the World Cup winning teams of Spain and Germany, most of our national team would play in the same domestic league. Some would play on the same team and build up partnerships that they could go and use at international level.

The benefits of the MLS transitioning from a retirement league to a homegrown league are immeasurable. But one thing is for certain, if any of this is to happen, the MLS and the franchise’s have to grow some balls and do this correctly.

Only with proper academies, proper funding, and extensive scouting can the MLS one day hope to be one of the top leagues in the world.