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Brad Rothenberg: 'Our Federation lost Jonathan Gonzalez either by its own arrogance, apathy or incompetence'
https://www.socceramerica.com/publi...henberg-our-federation-lost-jonathan-gon.html
Sueno Alianza launched a decade ago as a talent search for largely neglected young Latino players in the USA. In 2017, more than 8,000 players attended Powerade Sueno Alianza tryouts in 11 cities across the USA. In 2013, Jonathan Gonzalez of Santa Rosa, California, was named the top player at the Sueno Alianza National Finals in Los Angeles and received offers from 13 Liga MX clubs.
Gonzalez joined Monterrey in 2014 and last season, at age 18, helped Los Rayados win the Mexican Cup and finish Liga MX runner-up and he was named to the Liga MX Best XI. But this week Gonzalez, who had represented the USA on youth national teams U-14 through U-20, announced he was switching to the Mexican national team. Another young Californian who went to Mexico via Alianza, Pachuca's Edwin Lara -- among The Guardian's 2016 "60 of the Best Young Talents in World Football” -- played for Mexico at the 2015 U-17 World Cup after leaving the USA's U-17 program.
SA: There’s also the style of play issue. Of U.S. Soccer’s nine national teams on the male side, there’s only one Hispanic head coach [Tab Ramos, U-20s]. And by my last count, only one of the 12 Technical Advisors, who are charged with scouting youth national team prospects, is Hispanic. That proportion doesn’t even match the overall demographic of the U.S. population. And U.S. Soccer imported three Dutchman for the key positions of U.S. Soccer Director of Coaching Education, Coaching Educator and U.S. Soccer Development Academy Director.
One could get the impression U.S. Soccer is not interested in a Latin style of play, despite its large Latino soccer-playing population and the international success of Latin-style soccer. Your thoughts?
BRAD ROTHENBERG: I think the Mexican coaches know what they’re looking for. They have a defined style of play. …
Technically, I couldn't analyze what a coach does or doesn't see. I leave that for soccer experts. I know, however, that the U.S. Soccer Federation is absolutely missing out on identifying talent because they aren’t expanding their definition of what good talent means. When any coach says we know all the talent out there and our performance at the top echelon of our national teams is erratic at best and just bad in some cases -- then either we should throw in the towel and accept status quo or truly expand what we are looking for.
I know culturally our Latino kids at Alianza feel no connection to U.S. Soccer or Major League Soccer, and that's borne out on surveys we've done.
It's a shame when you look at these surveys that the top league, the league they prefer to play for if they could, or watch on TV, is Liga MX, followed by La Liga -- Barcelona and Real Madrid -- followed closely by the English Premier League, and sometimes fourth or fifth, sometimes after the Bundesliga, is MLS, with a single-digit mindshare. This is from kids born and raised in the United States. And that’s simply because these kids have not been preached to or reached out to by the U.S. organizations.
Most of these kids would not recognize the U.S. Soccer logo.
SA: I do find it somewhat surprising that MLS comes in so low, it does have a good amount presence on Spanish-language TV.
BRAD ROTHENBERG: My instinct is the MLS's albatross is U.S. Soccer. I think if U.S. Soccer did more to ingratiate itself to this community, MLS would benefit.
I don't think the kids distinguish between MLS and U.S. Soccer. But I think MLS fortunes would rise in this community if the Federation was doing more to go into the these communities and find talent, and help these kids live their dreams, which U.S. Soccer should be doing for its own benefits anyway.
SA: Going way back to the 1990s, U.S. Soccer talked about bringing unaffiliated Latino leagues into the fold. Are you saying that has still not happened? How many of kids who show up to Alianza events play with unaffiliated leagues?
BRAD ROTHENBERG: At the very top, some may have been plucked into an affiliated club, but the vast majority of our kids are in unaffiliated leagues.
We had over 700 kids come to our L.A. tryout, and the overwhelming majority were unaffiliated. And 700 is a very small group for that area. There must be a couple million Latino boys under the age of 18 playing soccer within driving distance of that San Bernardino location.
If U.S. Soccer doesn’t care about the unaffiliated players, then it doesn't matter who the next U.S. Soccer president is, our destiny is fixed.
Alianza is a trusted brand in the Latino community. If U.S. Soccer came along with us, if the U.S. Soccer brand was coming with us into the community, our ability to find kids would be go up three-, to five-, to-10 fold. And even if we never found the next great player, the federation will be winning over families who, at present, think U.S. Soccer doesn’t care about them. We won't know until we try it.
SA: How much of a problem is pay-to-play?
BRAD ROTHENBERG: Pay-to-play doesn’t work in the Latino community we deal with, but it is not going away. Pay-to-play should not be an excuse for us not to do more with the Latino community.
Pay-to-play exists in other countries, too, it's just that the soccer governing bodies in those countries can afford to subsidize it -- and MLS does some of it already.
I think there's a lot more the Federation can do, once we have someone who wants to dedicate themselves to this community.
U.S. Soccer could bring training centers into the Latino communities tomorrow if they had the will, because they have the money.
Five years ago, Hugo Perez wanted to bring these training centers into more of the Latino communities, and he was able to do a few, but not nearly enough to meet the demand. He did not get enough support from U.S. Soccer.
[Editor’s Note: U.S. Hall of Famer Hugo Perez coached the U.S. U-14 and U-15 national teams that included Christian Pulisic, Jonathan Gonzalez, Weston McKennie, Haji Wright, Nick Taitague, Tyler Adams and Edwin Lara. He was let go as a youth national team coach in 2014 and shortly after as a U.S. Soccer Technical Advisor.]
SA: For sure, the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, launched in 2007, has given more Latino players opportunities to play elite youth soccer than ever before ...
BRAD ROTHENBERG: It seems like the Development Academy clubs might be where to get the best coaching, but there aren't enough. We have seen incredibly talented boys from areas that aren’t close to an academy.
I don't know whether the Development Academy is the answer. Even if they scholarship players, their clubs are geographically out of reach for so many players.
U.S. Soccer needs to go to into these communities. Until U.S. Soccer shows these players the path, they won’t be able to take the steps"
https://www.socceramerica.com/publi...henberg-our-federation-lost-jonathan-gon.html
Sueno Alianza launched a decade ago as a talent search for largely neglected young Latino players in the USA. In 2017, more than 8,000 players attended Powerade Sueno Alianza tryouts in 11 cities across the USA. In 2013, Jonathan Gonzalez of Santa Rosa, California, was named the top player at the Sueno Alianza National Finals in Los Angeles and received offers from 13 Liga MX clubs.
Gonzalez joined Monterrey in 2014 and last season, at age 18, helped Los Rayados win the Mexican Cup and finish Liga MX runner-up and he was named to the Liga MX Best XI. But this week Gonzalez, who had represented the USA on youth national teams U-14 through U-20, announced he was switching to the Mexican national team. Another young Californian who went to Mexico via Alianza, Pachuca's Edwin Lara -- among The Guardian's 2016 "60 of the Best Young Talents in World Football” -- played for Mexico at the 2015 U-17 World Cup after leaving the USA's U-17 program.
SA: There’s also the style of play issue. Of U.S. Soccer’s nine national teams on the male side, there’s only one Hispanic head coach [Tab Ramos, U-20s]. And by my last count, only one of the 12 Technical Advisors, who are charged with scouting youth national team prospects, is Hispanic. That proportion doesn’t even match the overall demographic of the U.S. population. And U.S. Soccer imported three Dutchman for the key positions of U.S. Soccer Director of Coaching Education, Coaching Educator and U.S. Soccer Development Academy Director.
One could get the impression U.S. Soccer is not interested in a Latin style of play, despite its large Latino soccer-playing population and the international success of Latin-style soccer. Your thoughts?
BRAD ROTHENBERG: I think the Mexican coaches know what they’re looking for. They have a defined style of play. …
Technically, I couldn't analyze what a coach does or doesn't see. I leave that for soccer experts. I know, however, that the U.S. Soccer Federation is absolutely missing out on identifying talent because they aren’t expanding their definition of what good talent means. When any coach says we know all the talent out there and our performance at the top echelon of our national teams is erratic at best and just bad in some cases -- then either we should throw in the towel and accept status quo or truly expand what we are looking for.
I know culturally our Latino kids at Alianza feel no connection to U.S. Soccer or Major League Soccer, and that's borne out on surveys we've done.
It's a shame when you look at these surveys that the top league, the league they prefer to play for if they could, or watch on TV, is Liga MX, followed by La Liga -- Barcelona and Real Madrid -- followed closely by the English Premier League, and sometimes fourth or fifth, sometimes after the Bundesliga, is MLS, with a single-digit mindshare. This is from kids born and raised in the United States. And that’s simply because these kids have not been preached to or reached out to by the U.S. organizations.
Most of these kids would not recognize the U.S. Soccer logo.
SA: I do find it somewhat surprising that MLS comes in so low, it does have a good amount presence on Spanish-language TV.
BRAD ROTHENBERG: My instinct is the MLS's albatross is U.S. Soccer. I think if U.S. Soccer did more to ingratiate itself to this community, MLS would benefit.
I don't think the kids distinguish between MLS and U.S. Soccer. But I think MLS fortunes would rise in this community if the Federation was doing more to go into the these communities and find talent, and help these kids live their dreams, which U.S. Soccer should be doing for its own benefits anyway.
SA: Going way back to the 1990s, U.S. Soccer talked about bringing unaffiliated Latino leagues into the fold. Are you saying that has still not happened? How many of kids who show up to Alianza events play with unaffiliated leagues?
BRAD ROTHENBERG: At the very top, some may have been plucked into an affiliated club, but the vast majority of our kids are in unaffiliated leagues.
We had over 700 kids come to our L.A. tryout, and the overwhelming majority were unaffiliated. And 700 is a very small group for that area. There must be a couple million Latino boys under the age of 18 playing soccer within driving distance of that San Bernardino location.
If U.S. Soccer doesn’t care about the unaffiliated players, then it doesn't matter who the next U.S. Soccer president is, our destiny is fixed.
Alianza is a trusted brand in the Latino community. If U.S. Soccer came along with us, if the U.S. Soccer brand was coming with us into the community, our ability to find kids would be go up three-, to five-, to-10 fold. And even if we never found the next great player, the federation will be winning over families who, at present, think U.S. Soccer doesn’t care about them. We won't know until we try it.
SA: How much of a problem is pay-to-play?
BRAD ROTHENBERG: Pay-to-play doesn’t work in the Latino community we deal with, but it is not going away. Pay-to-play should not be an excuse for us not to do more with the Latino community.
Pay-to-play exists in other countries, too, it's just that the soccer governing bodies in those countries can afford to subsidize it -- and MLS does some of it already.
I think there's a lot more the Federation can do, once we have someone who wants to dedicate themselves to this community.
U.S. Soccer could bring training centers into the Latino communities tomorrow if they had the will, because they have the money.
Five years ago, Hugo Perez wanted to bring these training centers into more of the Latino communities, and he was able to do a few, but not nearly enough to meet the demand. He did not get enough support from U.S. Soccer.
[Editor’s Note: U.S. Hall of Famer Hugo Perez coached the U.S. U-14 and U-15 national teams that included Christian Pulisic, Jonathan Gonzalez, Weston McKennie, Haji Wright, Nick Taitague, Tyler Adams and Edwin Lara. He was let go as a youth national team coach in 2014 and shortly after as a U.S. Soccer Technical Advisor.]
SA: For sure, the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, launched in 2007, has given more Latino players opportunities to play elite youth soccer than ever before ...
BRAD ROTHENBERG: It seems like the Development Academy clubs might be where to get the best coaching, but there aren't enough. We have seen incredibly talented boys from areas that aren’t close to an academy.
I don't know whether the Development Academy is the answer. Even if they scholarship players, their clubs are geographically out of reach for so many players.
U.S. Soccer needs to go to into these communities. Until U.S. Soccer shows these players the path, they won’t be able to take the steps"
