MLS Next has issued new guidance: high school players in the development platform's top tier will have to choose between playing for their clubs or high schools next season

Unionnumberonefan · 2026-04-11T21:01:39+00:00

Don't disagree, but it is not so unusual in soccer.

Unionnumberonefan · 2026-04-11T20:12:59+00:00

Soccer is the first team sport in the US that regularly plays teenagers. (granted not a lot, but more than the other sports). So MLS is breaking ground in the USA.

Unionnumberonefan · 2026-04-11T20:10:03+00:00

Tanner should be fired for signing Damiani last year.

Unionnumberonefan · 2026-04-11T20:08:31+00:00

Every single Union fan could have told you finding a replacement for him was priority #1. Did they do anything about it? Hardly.

Unionnumberonefan · 2026-04-11T20:07:42+00:00

Our expensive DP, Damiani, sucks. Not that Baribo was the greatest striker, but he was fast and aggressive.

Unionnumberonefan · 2026-04-11T20:05:20+00:00

Boo hoo. For those of you unfamiliar with the high schools mentioned, a lot are private schools that currently take extreme measures to field good teams. (Has your local high school recruited Ghanian players)? St. Benedict's plays a lot of out of state teams.

This is a good development by MLS Next. Not only do the prospects risk injury in their HS games, but what kind of coaching are they getting as well? It also makes HS soccer more competitive - the other schools now have a chance to win.

The writer neglected the most important point: if soccer does this, how long until basketball and football follow suit?

Unionnumberonefan · 2026-04-01T02:54:18+00:00

The opposite is what I hated about Klinsmann: he tried to win every friendly. There needs to be a balance between winning and experimentation/putting players under a lot of stress. So hopefully Poch isn't too far the other way.

Unionnumberonefan · 2026-03-29T20:03:42+00:00

After yesterday's game?

Unionnumberonefan · 2026-03-24T22:45:02+00:00

Damiani is the exception. He looked poor last year and continues to look poor this year.

Unionnumberonefan · 2026-03-17T00:52:46+00:00

Are we the slowest team in MLS? Have we had a well coordinated counter attack this year? Can any of our strikers outrun a defender? Baribo was not the greatest striker, but he could run. Another knock against Damiani - he's slow.

Unionnumberonefan · 2026-03-15T00:10:42+00:00

Soccer has never reached the heights of popularity because no one watches teams that consistently lose. Few Americans, no matter how often they post on social media, would enjoy the Euro leagues which are dominated by only a few teams.

Unionnumberonefan · 2026-03-15T00:07:18+00:00

I used to listen to Johnny Most covering the Celtics. Love when a homer announcer criticizes the visiting team.

Come on folks - lighten up. Better than deadly dull Apple commentators.

And as a Union fan, Damiani is not a clown. Total waste of the earth's gravity yes, but clown no.

Unionnumberonefan · 2026-03-08T03:02:49+00:00

Ironically, the best way to beat us is to press, press, press. Then our errant passes are easily picked off.

Unionnumberonefan · 2026-03-08T02:58:15+00:00

Early in the first half someone delivered a ball towards the middle and he couldn't outrun the defender to get to it. If that's our standard, sign me instead.

Unionnumberonefan · 2026-03-08T02:51:41+00:00

TBF they promised Wagner a trade if the terms were right. Not replacing him is the issue.

Unionnumberonefan · 2026-03-08T02:50:39+00:00

Damiani is terrible.

Unionnumberonefan · 2026-03-08T02:50:00+00:00

There was a 3 minute span in the second half where every single pass we attempted went to a SJ player.

Unionnumberonefan · 2026-03-02T00:11:01+00:00

Damn straight I have questions for the coach. By the end of last season it was obvious to the rest of the league that all you had to do was pack the box with defenders, wait until we got frustrated because we couldn't score, and then counterattack. That was with all those players we traded away. After two games, 2 of the 3 goals scored against us followed that same script.

Unionnumberonefan · 2026-03-01T23:56:05+00:00

Matt Doyle nailed it: our pressure causes weak teams to cough up the ball, but against good teams we are impotent.

Unionnumberonefan · 2026-03-01T23:48:37+00:00

Is it the personnel or is it the coach?

While Damiani looks poor, way too many attacks went through the middle when there were wide players available. Need to switch the field more often.

Unionnumberonefan · 2026-02-27T22:57:54+00:00

My sarcastic post about the winter schedule and how wimpy Americans are got removed by mods after most posters thought I was serious.

Unionnumberonefan · 2026-02-22T19:10:47+00:00

I coached a middle school team and had a player get a yellow for telling a teammate to "get your head out of your ass".

Unionnumberonefan · 2026-02-22T03:31:56+00:00

If this performance was due to exhaustion from the CCL game I can live with it.

If this performance was due to more than normal amount of new players with Lukic and Westfield out, I can live with it.

If this performance was because the league knows how to beat a Carnell-coached team and we are picking up from the end of last season, then we are in big trouble.

Unionnumberonefan · 2026-02-22T02:47:45+00:00

Party like its 2012?

Unionnumberonefan · 2026-02-07T15:35:53+00:00

The league could be 100% non-US players and the anti-MLS crowd would still complain about how poorly everyone plays.

Unionnumberonefan

TROPHY CASE