US Men’s Soccer roster announcements are always fun. It is good copy, great water cooler conversation, and an even better happy hour discussion. Depending on where you are from, who you support, and what matches you have watched everybody has a particular player or group of players that has to be on the team. DC United midfielder Perry Kitchen is the east coast equivalent of Columbus Crew midfielder Wil Trapp is the mid-west equivalent of FC Dallas defender Matt Hedges. These are players who have been picked for years to make U.S. Men’s National Team roster and eventually lead our boys to glory.
But US Men’s National Team Coach Jurgen Klinsmann marches to the beat of his own drummer and it looks like he might be doing that again. On Monday, it was reported by ESPNFC’S Doug McIntyre that Klinsmann will be selecting Minnesota United midfielder Miguel Ibarra for their next two friendlies next week. Ibarra would be the first senior team player selected from a non-MLS American soccer league since Clyde Simms in 2005.
While the reaction has generally been positive, there have been questions as to why Klinsmann would select someone from a “lower” division when there are plenty of MLS players who could do just as well as Ibarra. The idea that there could be better players in other divisions within the US structure outside of MLS seems to befuddle some.
There are a couple of misconceptions with this line of thinking. The first is that US Soccer is not already using the NASL and USL Pro to line their national team rosters. Ben Spencer, who plays for the Indy Eleven in the NASL, has already been called up the US U-20 National Team. Spencer’s strike partner with the Indy Eleven, Victor Pineda, has also been called up to the U-23 team as has defender Bryan Gallego of the USL Pro side Arizona United.
Just because Klinsmann has always picked players from MLS does not mean he needs to in the future. Klinsmann’s job in regards to selection are rather simple: pick the best players or the players with the highest upside from any league around the world. It does not matter if the player plays in the Premier League or the PDL: if the player is eligible to play for the United States and they are playing at an exceptional level, then they should certainly merit consideration.
This happens quite frequently internationally; anyone who remembers Theo Walcott’s shock selection to the England team while he was playing for Southampton is just one example of this occurring outside of our borders.
The idea that clubs outside of MLS in the United States are able to produce quality players should not be that surprising. Considering the amount of resources and training that is going into developing leagues like the NASL, USL Pro, and to a lesser extent PDL, it was only a matter of time before players would start cracking the roster of the United States, not to mention other international squads. Players like Deon McCaulay (Atlanta Silverbacks/Belize,) Richard Menjivar (San Antonio Scorpions/El Salvador,) and Jermaine Johnson (Indy Eleven/Jamaica) all still currently play for the National Team and have contributed significantly to their domestic teams.
In the end it is MLS that benefits from improvements in leagues like the NASL and USL Pro. Although the quality of play in these leagues have steadfastly improved over the years, they still do not have the resources to keep up with MLS. Given Ibarra’s play in the NASL this season (he was actually just named the NASL player of the week) he will likely move on to a bigger club in MLS. Whatever MLS team Ibarra goes to will get a finished product and a player whose skills were developed in a non-MLS league.
Meanwhile, United will get a transfer fee which they can use towards investing in another player to sell to a bigger club. Although it does sound kind of cold-hearted, teams in lower divisions all throughout the world live off of selling their top players. If Ibarra can bring in enough of a transfer value that Minnesota can get one or two additional pieces then its a deal that works for everyone.
That the NASL is able to produce a player like Ibarra is critical to the success of both the MLS and US Soccer. It means that the years of investment into developing functional leagues and training systems are starting to pay off. MLS no longer has to be on an island in American soccer; their teams can expand loan deals and partnerships with other clubs because their players are now able to continue to play at a high level and get valuable minutes.
Whether or not Ibarra succeeds in the long-run will be integral to how MLS and other club leagues view the NASL. NASL and USL Pro teams are littered with players who have only made a token appearance with their national team or their youth international teams. Being able to apply this experience into something better can only benefit MLS and US Soccer in the olong-term.