Landon Donovan youth football rant: Geoff Cameron responds

Youth soccer in the United States has become a hot topic in recent months, with two former U.S. Men’s National Team players offering their thoughts on the state of youth development in the country.

Former USMNT players Geoff Cameron and Brek Shea spoke about the state of youth soccer in the U.S. while co-hosting their new podcast “The Ground Training Club,” discussing the whys and hows of what matters to young players in their development.

This came after USMNT legend Landon Donovan expressed his disapproval of the development in the country and why it is one of the biggest reasons why the men’s national team is struggling to bring out talent.

Cameron, who made 55 appearances for the US national team, agreed with the former LA Galaxy player’s views, saying youth players don’t necessarily need an influx of matches or tournaments, but rather have the time to train and to improve.

Geoff Cameron responds to Landon Donovan’s youth football quote: “We need winners.”

The former Premier League centre-back believes that youth teams and coaches often focus on the team (and winning) rather than developing the individual players and taking them to the next level.

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“(Youth players) don’t have to play twenty games in a weekend, do they? They go to these tournaments and play match after match. Do you actually have enough time to train and get better?” said the former Stoke City player.

“(Coaches) only focus on a team rather than on the individual technical development of the players,” he added.

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However, Cameron also supported the idea of ​​having to create winners in sports from a young age – something Donovan criticized.

“It’s okay to create winners, you want to ‘want to win’. I actually want them to lose too, so that they experience what it feels like to lose.

“You push them, we have to create winners. To say, “Hey, I’m going to run through a brick wall if I have to.” It’s a fine line, you want to develop them but you want to create winners,” he added.

The topic of youth football in the US (and their infamous pay-to-play system) was also raised by FIFA president Gianni Infantino earlier this year. He said the US needs to change the dynamics of youth development (moving away from pay-to-play systems). play) to maximize their potential.