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The infrastructure is far far more...I dunno, 'advanced' I guess, here though. I mean the US has what, 250 million population? And 12 teams to cover that? England alone has 1/5 of the population and nearly 8 times the number of professional clubs...even though it doesn't happen as much nowadays the best young talent does still come through at the top level. I just wonder how much potential in the US is going to waste in places like say Florida where there is no pro team within a few hundred miles.
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No that is pretty much like what I am saying. England will always be one of the top national teams in the world because they have one of the top leagues. Same goes for Italy, Spain, and Germany. But what I am saying is that while almost all of the players on an Premiership team are English, if a smaller country can get just 11 good players in those leagues then they are just as good.
As for the MLS, its makeup is much different from the real leagues in Europe etc. It is still expanding, and looks like it may be in a strong period right now, but it really doesn't serve as the true supplier for the national team.
Also, you mentioned Florida. I don't really think any talent is being wasted by not having an MLS team in Florida. Believe it or not there are actually a couple pro soccer leagues in the US. We have a team called the Minnesota Thunder who used to play in the A-League and now play in a new one called the USL First Division or something. It's random but I assume there is a random smaller level team somewhere in Florida. But as for the rest of it, soccer in the US works pretty much the same as any other pro sport here. You go to college wherever you want, and if you are good enough you get drafted into the MLS. So a player from Tampa Bay who plays soccer at UF (assuming they have a team) could get drafted by the Kansas City Wizards, it doesn't really matter where he is from.
But the US still does have a long way to go. I don't understand why so many people keep leaving Europe and coming back to the US (Donovan, Mathis etc), but what I am saying is that we could still sport a very solid team just based on our top players. Not a contender, but a possible second rounder, maybe even a quarterfinalist if we meet Mexico again
