Coming back to to the RSL - LAFC match for a minute.
Recap:
LAFC had a good 3-2 win over a tough RSL team the weekend of 3/1.
Saldana, the LAFC TD, tweeted out congrats (fair)but then went on to write "I’ve given them (ed note: LAFC u17) the task of being the youngest team (by a large margin) in every game & always up for the challenge..never used as an excuse."
The Issue:
LAFC seems to have recruited a disproportionate number of Jan/Feb DOB players for while now across all their teams. For example, almost 60%of LAFC's u15 team was born in Jan/Feb (fyi, most of this data is from old rosters when USSDA used to list DOBs on the team roster which they stopped doing in Nov-ish 2018-19). The next oldest u15 SoCal team is RSL with 34% of the team roster being born in Jan/Feb. LAG is 22%.
One of the impacts of LAFC doing this is that, in SoCal, in order to compete w/ LAFC, other clubs, anecdotally, seem to be more actively recruiting older/early developer DOB players to a greater degree than before LAFC emerged as a force in 2017-18. (This is possible to check but haven't checked yet.)
So, for late in the year SoCal DOB/late developers, who already had it pretty tough breaking into DA teams, LAFC made it tougher.
Ok, life is not fair. Fine.
But to then have LAFC's TD - who is very aware of the relative DOBs for his teams vs other teams and the benefit of having older players in the u12 thru u17 DA age groups - go into passive/aggressive "Don't Cry for Me Argentina"-esque mode to say, rephrased, "no excuses but ... our team is the youngest 'by a large margin' in every game.." Yeah, no.
The RSL - LAFC Match
Doing a weighted average of player DOB x % minutes of played, LAFC's average player age on the field for the match against RSL was March 24, 2004. Running the same numbers for RSl, their weighted average age on the field for the match was August 14, 2003. So LAFC was about, on average, about eight months younger than RSL. So, good for the LAFC players for the win.
What's the Impact of Younger vs Older Players in u17?
When LAG played the Pats two weeks in a row, in the first match, LAG played a youngers line-up (LAG has 33 players on their team roster and it's split almost 505/50 03s and 04s) with average age of Feb 3, 2004. The Pats, who's team roster is mostly 03s, had an average age of Sept 7, 2003 (which is relatively young for DA). Netted out, LAG was five months younger than the Pats and the score was 4-0 Pats.
The next weekend LAG and Pats played again. This time the LAG average age was October 29, 2003 (still pretty young for u17), and the Pats average age was Sept 16, 2003. So pretty even age wise. Result was a 1-1 tie.
Obviously, only one example, but a pretty striking example.
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So, give credit to the LAFC players for their result, but Mr. Saldana, please simmer down w/ this "youngest team by a wide margin" stuff. Have heard this repeatedly from the LAFC DA talking about their u17 team this year. It actually is an excuse, and not a good look.
Hopefully, LAFC will start looking longer term than just building their academy brand by getting wins this year in DA to actual player production, which would mean bringing in and developing players who are going to the best players at age 17, 18 and 19, and these players are not necessarily the player who matches at u13, u14 and u15.
Older should not confused with better. And way too often, right now, in the US, particularly, it is.
But maybe things will start changing. Here's a quote on this subject from a Soccer America interview w/ the new u15 US Soccer Head Coach:
"They might be the same age, but physically one can seem two years older than another. Some are over-developed physically and some under-developed. A player might not be physically ready right now, but one in two or three years when the physical aspect evens, he might be one of the top players. At FC United, a lot of our teams at the younger ages are under-sized. Because we're judging them as soccer players, knowing that at some point they're going to grow. My staff and I and our scouts recognize that there's so much physical change to come..."
U.S. U-15 boys national team head coach Gonzalo Segares played more than 200 MLS games for the Chicago Fire.
www.socceramerica.com
Many of these high potential players will be Jan/Feb DOBs, but odds are that there's a lot other players out there - up to 25% of the potential player pool - not getting a shot.
And it's not just the right thing to do, it's also good business. Running the numbers, mining Q4 DOBs for players is a huge arbitrage oppty right now that's being missed across the US. But, like all arbitrage opportunities, it won't last forever, because someone at some point will figure it out. (The guys in Carson seem to be on this track though ...)
In a short time, LAFC has built up a significant influence on the SoCal - and the national - youth soccer environment.
If LAFC leads, others will follow. Mr. Saldana, your thoughts?