This series will look to the future of the United States Men’s National Team. It will examine MLS and Americans abroad to attempt to determine a path for the future. While preconceived notions may exist, we will objectively look at the development of MLS to determine whether enough is being done to develop the players of tomorrow.

Click here for part two.

I have to start by admitting that I have a bias. I believe that MLS fields older players. At the start I have no statistical evidence to back this up, but it is an instinctual feeling I get when I think about MLS. This is largely because the majority of transfers that are associated with MLS are older European based players coming to the United States to end their career. But is this actually a failure of information? Since soccer and the MLS are still just growing in the US, does the media fail to properly advertise other transfers that consist of younger, lesser known players? This is a possibility, and one I will explore further in this series.



To start, I want to look at the composition of a MLS, Premier League, Bundesliga, Eredivisie and Ligue 1 squad. This will begin with a simple look at the average age of a squad in each league. This number will give us an idea of how each league builds their roster. But that will not be the full picture. This average will take into consideration those nineteen years old who are on the roster but never play. Or the late thirty players who are on the squad only to offer their experience to the other players. So the average age of squads will only allow us to consider how each league builds a squad. We will look at other numbers to determine whether enough young players are given a chance in MLS.

Here is the initial breakdown of each league:

League Average Size of Squad Average Age of Squad* Major League Soccer** 25.8 (37.7)*** 26.3 Premier League**** 34.8 24.5 1. Bundesliga**** 33.3 23.6 Eredivisie**** 32.9 22.6 Ligue 1**** 35.5 23.8

*Based off transfermarkt.com

**As of 7/29/2014

***Number in parentheses is for the 2013 MLS season

****As of end 2013/14 season

Before I discuss the average age of the squads, I want to go over the average size of the clubs. The reason that the average size of an MLS club is 25.8 as of July, 29, while the other leagues are above thirty is because as the season goes on injury and fatigue mount so more players are brought in to play. And as the 37.7 for the 2013 MLS season shows, we can expect the MLS clubs to use even more players by the time the season ends.

In the leagues that we are looking at, MLS is by far the oldest. The average age of a MLS squad is almost two years older than the next, the English Premier League. This goes against my expectations. While I thought MLS would be older than the other three leagues, I did expect the Premier League to have the oldest average age of squad. This assumption was based on the idea that as the widely considered best league in the world (and the richest), Premier League teams would buy players that are already finished products for their squads. This may be the case still, but it is interesting that the MLS is significantly older than the other leagues.

The average age of squads for the other leagues fall in line with my expectations, though the Bundesliga is a bit younger than I thought. I knew that the German clubs relied on younger players to step up more but it was still a surprise to see them as the second youngest league. The Eredivisie was as expected the youngest league. The Dutch are renowned for their youth development and the Eredivisie is seen as a feeder league for the rest of Europe. Meaning that players go to the Netherlands to learn to play and then the Dutch clubs sell the players to the rest of Europe for large profits. Ligue 1 is similar to the Eredivisie in my opinion. There are clubs like PSG and Monaco who buy developed, often older players. For the most part though, Ligue 1 teams need to rely on youth development as they do not have as much money as some of the other leagues.

This outlook of the leagues does not answer many questions though. While the average age of a Premier League squad is 24.5, what if this is because a club uses an older starting eleven and then fills the squad out with younger, cheaper players who do not get much starting time? And though it is unlikely, what if the opposite is true for MLS? What if MLS gives starting opportunities to young players and then fills their squad with experienced veterans to guide the young guys? This is a question that we will pose to each league. It is important to look at the composition of starting elevens to determine if young players are being given enough playing time. Or are they just riding the bench.

My thought is that as the season goes on, young players are used to fill the roster in place of injured, fatigued or suspended players. So midway through the season MLS is older but the average age of a squad may be brought down by the end of the season. The average age of a MLS squad at the end of 2013 when the roster size jumped up to 37.7 was 24.5 years old. So this is telling me that maybe the other leagues are filling their roster out with young players but not actually playing them.

These are important details to look at. So the next article will look at the average age of the starting eleven in each league. This will be a better number to look at to determine if enough young players are getting experience in each league as we will be looking at who is actually playing in each league. It will not be considering those players who are on the squad but rarely get playing time. This will allow for a better analysis of how each league does in youth development.

Part four will be available Thursday and will examine the average age of the starting eleven for each league.