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2020 Ranking of MLS Academies Final 10-1
Now, we will take a look at what the top ten American Major League Soccer academies. This is the continued MLS academies count down of the top MLS Academies from the 23-11 count down. All ten of these academies have one or more of these things: great historical success, great success currently, or a great foundation and solid momentum to push them into the top ten. There are some academies in this list that have fallen from grace over the last few years and there are others who have made significant success.
Every academy in the top ten has quality coaching and are producing a good volume of players or are doing a great job integrating players with their first team. When moving into the next decade these academies should be looked at as the model of how a club should be trying to operate their academy. There are three clubs in particular that are truly remarkable while the other seven academies in the top ten are all doing something right as well.
The MLS Academies Rankings
10. DC United
DC United is an academy who has produced some talent but has committed the largest sin an academy can still commit: they are one of two clubs (Minnesota United being the other) that are still pay-for-play. In 2020 this is unacceptable. Every other fully established MLS academy is free at the DA level except for DC United and United have been a club since 1996, there is no excuse for this. If DC United was not pay-for-play then they would be ranked higher than Sporting Kansas City.
The positives about their academy is that they do integrate their academy very well with their USL club Loundon United and have produced some very good players lately in Chris Durkin, Moses Nyeman, Griffin Yow, and Kevin Paredes. Where they can be better is recruiting, giving their best talents minutes and selling their players at the right time. An example of them not getting the best area players can be seen in the 1996-1997 area players including Junior Flores, Gedion Zelalem, Jeremy Ebobisse, Chase Gasper, Jake Rhozansky, and Carter Manley who were all good enough players for homegrown contracts when they all we’re 18 years old.
They currently have the best 2003 and one of the highest ceiling American prospects in Moses Nyeman and yet he did not make the first team roster for the first two games. Chris Durkin has said publicly numerous times that he would like to stay in Belgium and yet he has not been officially sold even though there have been reported offers while he was at DC United and overseas. Until they start doing these and become a free-to-play academy they can’t be considered one of the top academies.
9. Sporting Kansas City
Sporting Kansas City is in one of the hardest situations that an MLS academy can be in. They have a very small homegrown territory in the heart of middle-America. However, they have made the most of what they have through a very good scouting network and a very well-functioning academy. Their academy has produced the likes of Kevin Ellis, Erik Palmer-Brown, Jaylin Lindsey, Gianluca Busio, Wan Kuzain, Tyler Freeman, Cameron Duke, and Felipe Hernandez which is impressive considering Kansas City is the 31st largest metro area in the country and does not have very many surrounding communities to harvest players from.
Their academy does have some talent currently. Osvaldo Cisneros is one of the best 2004 attackers, Nati Clarke is the best 2005 in the country and potentially the highest ceiling American player yet, and Gage Akalu is the second best 2005 and is an incredible attacking player as well. They unfortunately have just lost one of the best 2004 prospects in the country in Rokas Pukstas to the Barca Residency. They may be at their ceiling currently but they are doing very well developing players and playing their top prospects in their first team and with the Swope Park Rangers. At one point, they were a club that refused to play Erik Palmer-Brown and now they are a club that has given Gianluca Busio over 1000 minutes before he has even turned 18. Over the years look for them to hover around the top ten as they are making the most of what they can but may not be able to go up from here due to factors they can’t control.
8. New York Red Bulls
New York Red Bulls two-three years ago would have been a top three academies but they have dried up lately. They have a richer academy history than almost every other club in the league. They have produced the likes of Sean Davis, Matt Miazga, Tyler Adams, Alex Muyl, Derrick Etienne Jr, Omir Fernandez, Tim Weah, Chris Gloster, Peter Stroud, and John Tolkin. At one point, they landed seven players onto a u17 residency roster in January 2012 and were viewed as the top MLS DA and they regressed from there.
Their academy currently houses some talented players in Kenan Hot, Dantouma Toure, John Carlos-Cortez, Leonard Avilez, and Bento Estrela but for a city of the size of NYC and NYRB having a pretty uncontested claim on New Jersey prospects that is simply not good enough. They should be out producing everyone for as long as they have been a club and having a very established pipeline longer than every other MLS club. They once won the USL Championship with a team of homegrown players and have completely stopped in their tracks once NYCFC started rolling which is why they are one spot below their neighbors. Like NYCFC the Red Bulls have limitless potential with their academy but they need to use it and start playing players up more, moving academy players into the USL team at a quicker rate, and signing more players to homegrown deals. Players like Kenan Hot and Dantouma Toure should have been signed already and could both jump to Europe if they are not signed soon.
7. New York City FC
New York City FC is the fastest trending upward academy and it is not even close thanks to the amazing work of Claudio Reyna. They have the best coach in the Development Academy in Matt Pilkington, they have the largest player market in the country where they are doing a great job of taking talent from, and they are producing high level talent. The only thing that is keeping NYCFC below the Colorado Rapids is them not having a USL team for their many talented prospects in their academy which results in a drop-in the rankings from what they could actually be (they would be sixth).
The academy had a slow start as they decided to add a team year-by-year until they had a team in every age group and just had their first real graduating class in 2019. The players they produced is remarkable for only having a team for all age groups for two and a half seasons. Pilkington is responsible for producing Gio Reyna, James Sands, Joe Scally, Justin Haak, and Tayvon Gray who all are now on professional contracts.
If they had a USL club they could have kept Will Sands, Dante Polvara, Nico Benalcanzar, and Velkjo Petkovic. Currently players like Andres Jasson, Ozase De Rosario, Prince Amponsah, and Cooper Flax are stuck playing in the DA when they could be playing at the USL like their peers at other clubs. Soon players like Mark Cajamarca, Joah Reyna, Kelvin Da Costa, Alex Hauschild, Josue Martinez, Kaden Pollard, and Din Klapjia will need a higher level than the DA as NYCFC has quite the talented pipeline in their 2006’s and 2007’s. Once this club has a USL team they will very quickly rocket into the top tier and push for a top three ranking for MLS academies. Claudio Reyna did amazing work building this academy and Austin FC fans should be ecstatic about the future of their club with him at the helm.
6. Colorado Rapids
The Colorado Rapids are becoming a very well-functioning academy while being completely under the radar to most USMNT followers. Players like Sam Vines, Cole Bassett, and Sebastian Anderson have come onto the scene out of nowhere. Sam Vines has already gotten a USMNT cap and is one to watch over the next couple years as an emerging left back for the USMNT and the u23MNT and Cole Bassett will be taking a lead role with the u20 youth national team and has been a standout performer for them in the early stages of the cycle and is one to look for as he may be making the jump over to Europe soon. Here is a link to take a look at the Rapids academy which I have become a big fan of over the last couple years:
The Rapids academy is truly underrated when it comes to producing players and giving them first team minutes. Over the years they have produced first team contributors in Kortne Ford, Dillon Serna, Shane O’Neill, and the previously mentioned Sam Vines, Cole Bassett, and Sebastian Anderson. Most teams can’t claim to have successfully integrated that many players into their academy. What is even more impressive is that the rapids have one of the weaker player pools to work with. Be on the lookout for Darren Yapi who is a player who oozes with raw talent who will be looking to be the next academy player to break into the Rapids first team.
The next step for the Rapids will be recruiting better, better utilization of their USL team, and more consistently producing MLS level players. Of all the teams in this list I think that the Rapids will have the hardest time moving any higher and a team that could very well get jumped by other teams below.
5. LA Galaxy
The Galaxy as an organization have been shaky to say the least over the last few years when it has come to using academy players but they are slowly improving. The Galaxy are ranked in fifth because their player production is notable compared to other academies. This is because of Brian Kleiban who is a top three youth soccer coach in the nation who the club fired for reasons yet to be confirmed. The Galaxy could easily be a top team in MLS from the players their academy has produced alone yet the only ones they have actually given minutes to recently are Didie Traore, Julian Araujo, Efrain Alvarez and Ethan Zubak (hardly). You could very well say Araujo was not even produced by LA Galaxy because he came to the club as a polished player already from the Barca Academy in Casa Grande, AZ.
Players to recently have come through the Galaxy academy include Uly Llanez, Alex Mendez, Efrain Alvarez, Julian Araujo, Ethan Zubak, Zico Bailey, Kobe Hernandez-Foster, Adam Saldana, Jonathan Perez, Jorge Hernandez, Mauricio Cuevas, Victor Valdez, Diego Rodriguez, Paulo Rudisill, and more. The Galaxy have some very big positives for their academy. They do use their USL team, and they do keep their players in house very similar to what the Philadelphia Union do. The thing keeping them from being a top tier academy is that they have been reluctant to hand over the keys to their academy products in the first team which could really use some youth as they have been lackluster the last few seasons and could really use a change in philosophies.
This is a team that could have taken players like Uly Llanez, Alex Mendez, and Kobe Hernandez-Foster and started to win games carried by players from the area instead of being bang average like they currently are. If players like Julian Araujo, Efrain Alvarez, Jonathan Perez, Mauricio Cuevas, and Cameron Dunbar get over 1000 minutes this season then the Galaxy could be on their way to becoming a true top academy but if they don’t change they will quickly become the little brother in town to LAFC who’s academy is shaping up to be the real deal. The Galaxy need to prove that they can produce players without Brian Kleiban and Mike Munos who are largely responsible for the player development success that they have achieved recently.
4. Real Salt Lake
Real Salt Lake are true pioneers in the Major League Soccer academy world. They were the first club to successfully launch a residency program when they launched their Casa Grande (now home to the Barca Academy) in 2010 and it has paid its dividends and more for the club. Real Salt Lake have now moved their academy to their home state in a brand new, jaw-dropping facility in Herriman, Utah. Real Salt Lake has led the league in homegrown minutes which is a testament to their success as an academy which has produced the likes of Danny Toia, Jordan Allen, Justen Glad, Sebastian Saucedo, Brooks Lennon, Aaron Hererra, Danilo Acosta, Erik Holt, Milan Iloski, Richie Ledezma, Sebastian Soto, Taylor Booth, David Ochoa, Luis Arriaga, Chris Garcia, Zack Booth, Jeff Dewsnup, and more.
Real Salt Lake are ranked at fourth because while they have had amazing success with producing players, they have slumped. They have been impacted by the emergence of other MLS academies who have diminished the pool of players for RSL to recruit from. While RSL has been carried in homegrown minutes by their spectacular class of 1997 which has produced previously mentioned Justen Glad, Aaron Hererra, Sebastian Saucedo, Brooks Lennon, and Danilo Acosta who all had a very large impact at some point in the Real Salt Lake first team. For RSL to jump back into the top tier they must go back to producing players at a higher rate and testing their academy players more with their USL team, Real Monarchs, which has been rather vacant of teenage minutes the last couple seasons compared to other MLS academies of their prestige.
3. Seattle Sounders
The Seattle Sounders have come a very long way in a very short amount of time. The Sounders are the fastest rising of the MLS academies and it is for a reason: their scouting is superior to other academies around the country. They are not just finding players in the Washington area, they are finding players in places such as Las Vegas (Danny Leyva) and New Hampshire (Austin Brummett). The Sounders are number three because of their incredible integration of the academy with their USL team and soon to be MLS team. The Sounders are pulling players up to the Tacoma Defiance regularly when they are 15-16 years old and they are still managing to win games. The Tacoma Defiance have even been captained by Joshua Atencio who just turned 18 in January.
The Sounders have already moved Danny Leyva and Alphonso Ocampo-Chavez into their first team and over the coming years will very quickly become an academy led Major League Soccer team with players like Ethan Doubbelaere, Ray Serrano, Marlon Vargas, Daniel Robles, Alec Diaz, Austin Brummett, Eric Kizner, Sota Kitahara, Takashi Sakasi, Obed Vargas, Reed Baker-Whiting, Angel Martinez, and Michael Luande. This is an academy who in 2015 no one would have thought that they we’re prioritizing youth investment and now they are well recognized as one of the best academies. They were the first MLS club to win the Champions Division of the GA Cup when they won in 2019 and they will only improve from there.
2. Philadelphia Union
The Philadelphia Union in my opinion are the most underrated Major League Soccer academy. They do not get the constant publicity that teams like FC Dallas and the Seattle Sounders get and yet they are also a youth factory. The Union, like Dallas, have an incredible academy, players who litter rosters of youth national teams, a USL team (Philadelphia Union II, formerly the Bethlehem Steel) that is carried by academy products, and a first team that has multiple academy graduates. Very soon the Union will see their academy investments impact the USMNT with Brendan Aaronson and Mark McKenzie and they will continue to have more academy products join the USMNT ranks in the future. A look inside the Philadelphia Union academy will blow you away. Check out this video which goes into high detail on the Philadelphia Union Academy:
The Union have partnered with YSC Academy to create a state of the art academy. Their players come in early in the morning, train multiple twice a day, and are educated in house by the Union. The Union are seeing the rewards currently with players like Brendan Aaronson, Mark McKenzie, and Matt Real. They have numerous top tier prospects in the pipeline including Jack De Vries, Patrick Bohui, Selmir Micsic, Dante Huckaby, Paxten Aaronson, Quinn Sullivan, Brandan Craig, Samuel Jones, Dominic Dubon, Marcello Mazzola, and Aaron Heard. However, the pipeline doesn’t end there. Their u12’s (2008 born players) went into Brazil and dominated teams in convincing fashion. Here is a video of them:
This is a testament to the amazing work the Union are doing at developing players and I could not be more excited to see how they will improve in the future.
1. FC Dallas
FC Dallas are the gold standard of soccer academies in the country. They set the bar in every single way. They are elite at scouting, they dominate the rosters of youth national teams, they have a successful USL team that is led by their academy players, their first team has multiple academy alumni who have taken starting roles, and they have numerous players who have gone on to receive USMNT caps.
Their head coach, Luchi Gonzalez, is their former academy director and immediately funneled numerous academy products into the FC Dallas lineup and led them into the playoffs. FC Dallas is the only team to win the two oldest age groups of the Development Academy when they accomplished this feat in 2016… many of the players involved on those teams are now contributing for North Texas SC and the FC Dallas first team.
The list of players who have come through the FC Dallas academy is why they are second to none. Here are a few players to recently have come out of the FC Dallas factory: Victor Ulloa, Jesse Gonzalez, Kellyn Acosta, Emerson Hyndman, Weston McKennie, Reggie Cannon, Brandon Servania, Paxton Pomykal, Jesus Ferreira, Chris Richards, Christian Cappis, Shaft Brewer, Arturo Rodriguez, David Rodriguez, Johan Gomez, Tanner Tessmann, Diego Letayf, Ricardo Pepi, Jonathan Gomez, Dante Sealy and more.
Make no mistake, FC Dallas are the top dogs and will continue to be. This academy is showing no signs of slowing down as their u15 team (players born in 2005 and Matthew Cochoran, a standout 2006) are dominating in the Development academy and will re-load the FC Dallas first team when current academy standouts Paxton Pomykal, Reggie Cannon, Brandon Servania, and Jesus Ferreira move onto the next level in Europe.
FC Dallas Academy:
What to look for over the next decade in the MLS academies
There is a lot to look forward to in the 2020’s. The 2010’s saw the MLS academies take over the youth development in the country and now the clubs who are behind are finally beginning to wake up and will ramp up their efforts over the next decade. Expect these MLS academies to produce players in numbers every year: FC Dallas, Philadelphia Union, Seattle Sounders, Real Salt Lake LA Galaxy, New York City FC, New York Red Bulls, DC United, Atlanta United, LAFC, Chicago Fire, Houston Dynamo, Inter Miami, St Louis, Charlotte, and Austin.
The other clubs in MLS will either have reached their peak and should be expected to maintain production (Sporting Kansas City, Colorado Rapids) or will be a club who will still not realize the future of the league and will lag behind in developing their own players in MLS academies.