By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Jan 14, 2015) US Soccer Players – It's a process that started last year with the high profile returns of Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley to MLS, and it's continuing for 2015. It's not just USMNT players choosing MLS. It's members of coach Jurgen Klinsmann's first choice starting lineup choosing MLS.

The January moves only add to what is already a public disagreement between Klinsmann and MLS commissioner Don Garber. It's an argument neither of them can win right now. There's always another tournament, another cycle, and another chance to gather evidence one way or the other. It's already a fair question to ask if there's a point to either side in what escalated into an unnecessarily public debate.

I just realized I had been avoiding Klinsmann's comments on Jozy because I knew what they'd be and I'm fatigued by his act. — Jason Davis (@davisjsn) January 14, 2015

Where does Klinsmann's push for players to challenge themselves with their club choices end? Would it be enough to be part of a squad that's competitive in the Champions League, or does the American soccer player have to win it? If an American is part of a super club, does he then need to sign on with a club where he's the star? Would that require winning the Champions League all over again? Would it be more of a challenge to sign with his team's rivals, say swapping United for City or Real Madrid for Barcelona? At what point is all of this just silly?

One of the biggest complaints about England in recent years is that so few of their players leave the Premier League. The idea is that it would help the National Team for English players to move elsewhere. Maybe, but 16 of the 23 members of Germany's World Cup squad play in Germany - seven of them with the same German super club. In 1990 when West Germany won the World Cup, it was 17 out of 22. All five of those West German players not appearing in the Bundesliga were in Serie A. Part of that was financial, with Germany paying less than Italy. Yes, Jurgen Klinsmann was one of those five players.

Meanwhile, at the 1990 World Cup England had 17 of 22 players appearing in what would become the Premier League. Four of those remaining five players were members of Rangers. Only Chris Waddle played outside of Britain, a member of Olympique Marseille. In 2014, it was 22 out of 23 in the Premier League with a backup goalkeeper from Celtic.

Whether or not England would be better with its players moving to other leagues is at best a thought experiment. So is whether or not those players would make those moves if it meant a higher level of competition and more money. We don't know, because right now it makes sense to play in the Premier League.

That's the point that gets lost in playing fantasy manager and moving players around at will and whim. It makes sense for players to take the best available option.

A few years ago, there were a couple of foreign clubs that made sense for USMNT players. One was Fulham. The other was Rangers. Though those two teams only put three players onto the 2010 USMNT World Cup squad, that didn't tell the bigger story. Fulham employed multiple members of the USMNT over several years. So did Rangers, a team that competed for Scottish Premier League titles with Carlos Bocanegra, Maurice Edu, and Alejandro Bedoya in their squad.

Things changed. Fulham dropped from a Europa League contender to a struggling club eventually relegated. Rangers dropped multiple divisions due to breaking financial rules and had to move out most of their first team. Bocanegra and Edu eventually ended up in MLS. Bedoya found playing time with Nantes in France.

Let's look at Edu, a former MLS Rookie of the Year in 2007. He returned on loan to a league in 2014 that pays significant money to two members of the USMNT starting eleven. There's a potential dynasty built on bringing in Premier League quality players and keeping USMNT talent in their squad. There's a team regularly playing in front of 40k fans who have their own version of that model. There's another who also see that blend of players as a potential difference maker in MLS.

Would Edu be any better off playing away dates at smaller than MLS-standard stadiums like Fir Park and McDiarmid Park. Is waiting for those massive Glasgow derbies against Celtic and the prospect of the Champions League really better than playing in MLS? Is it more of a challenge for a USMNT player to take a first choice role for a European team dominant domestically but struggling in Europe than it is to play for the Philadelphia Union?

I'm asking because I don't think it's a clear win for what Rangers was when Edu played there. It's worth considering the local and media pressure for a soccer player in Glasgow. DaMarcus Beasley had his car set on fire while playing there. Does any of that pressure, not to mention lunacy, really make for a better professional soccer player?

That's only the first question. The follow-up is whether this makes that player a better international soccer player. The simple answer is that we don't know. For all of Klinsmann's public complaints, he's still working in theory. To a lesser extent, so is Garber. The only examples we have in practice come from the players choosing MLS when they have other options. It's too simple to decide for players that other always means better.

J Hutcherson started covering soccer in 1999 and has worked as the general manager of the US National Soccer Team Players Association since 2002. Contact him atjhutcherson@usnstpa.com.

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