The future of the MLS SuperDraft

Wake Forest striker Marcus Tracy was honored as the NCAA's top men's player; he opted to play in Europe rather than in MLS. Wade Jackson/Icon SMI Related Links SOCCER AMERICA: Who did well at the SuperDraft Greg Lalas's Mailbag Submit a comment or question for Greg. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND

Marcus Tracy has all the innate tools of greatness: size, speed, strength, creativity and, most important, attitude. The Hermann Trophy winner (college soccer's equivalent of the Heisman) fearlessly takes on defenders, challenges goalkeepers on high balls and holds strong opinions.

For example, rumor has it he's not very enamored of Major League Soccer, doesn't follow it (despite the many former Wake Forest teammates spread around the league) and is more than happy about his decision to reject an MLS contract offer in favor of signing a contract with Danish club Aalborg.

Why, then, did the Houston Dynamo pick Tracy with their fourth-round selection in last week's MLS SuperDraft?

"It's a gamble, but I think a lot of fourth-round draft picks are," Houston coach Dominic Kinnear told me. "You never know if they're going to stay with you or not. If [Tracy] decides he doesn't like Denmark and decides to come back to MLS, we'd gladly take him."

But there's no guarantee this gamble will pay off. And there's a good chance that, for better or worse, this is the future of American soccer: more and more talented youngsters shipping off to the Old World rather than joining MLS. European clubs are already setting up scouting systems here. English giants Chelsea recently added the Los Angeles Futbol Club to its worldwide youth-club network; LAFC joins teams in North Carolina and New Jersey.

In many ways, MLS is a victim of its own success. Players such as DaMarcus Beasley, Carlos Bocanegra and Clint Dempsey have shown that MLS-developed talents can contend at the highest levels. Now the league must compete with European clubs (and their thick wallets) for the gifted players in its own backyard.

So what does this mean? For one, it means the draft will become a different animal. It won't be about players anymore, but about rights, much like it is in baseball and hockey, where players are drafted at 18 and teams own their rights while they play out their college careers or polish their skills in Europe.

Second, it means MLS had better accelerate its youth programs and bring young American players into the fold before they reach the typical age to make the jump to Europe. Tracy is 22, so his desire to go abroad is no different from that of an Argentine or Croatian starlet's. The difference is, a 22-year-old Argentine has been on the books at a pro club for years before he moves abroad.

The league's youth teams are the future. Bringing a young player into its academy not only gives the club a stake in the player, but also gives the player a stake in the club. This, to me, is vital, the lifeblood of the game's future. Tracy knows a lot about the players in Europe, such as Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry, but he doesn't follow MLS, his home league. Until this mind set ends -- or at least lessens, because you can't fault anyone for emulating the Messis of the world -- MLS will continue to watch players like Tracy skip overseas.

Which isn't to say MLS will lose out in the end. Europe is not always the El Dorado many players believe it to be (or are made to believe by their agents). In fact, two significant players came back just this winter.

First, Mike Videira, the former Duke standout who was drafted by the New England Revolution in 2008, recently returned from a failed stint with Scottish Premier League side Hamilton Academical. The club released him in mid-December, and he signed for the Revs just before the new year.

Next up, Steve Purdy. Originally selected by the Los Angeles Galaxy in the first-round of the '07 supplemental draft, the 6-foot-4 defender chose instead to sign with German second-division club 1860 Munich. During his two years in Bavaria, Purdy failed to make an appearance with the first team, and this month officially joined FC Dallas.

These two situations worked out differently for the teams involved: New England eventually got its man; L.A. didn't. The different outcomes stem from MLS' rules, which give teams the rights to draftees for two years.

Will Houston get its man? Probably not. Tracy is known to be a thoughtful, coachable kid who most observers believe will not only stick in Europe, but also thrive there. Plus, he doesn't seem to see MLS as much different from college. "You need to go somewhere where you can evolve in soccer and in life, because playing abroad is much different than college and/or MLS," Tracy recently told ESPN.

But Houston's gamble, as Kinnear terms it, is a good one. A thousand things could happen that bring Tracy back to MLS. But more importantly, Houston's pick reminds the league, which has been flush with successes in recent years (David Beckham, expansion, etc.), that success has its consequences. The league now has a lot to do if it hopes to keep young talent at home.

There was a time when many players were thankful for the opportunity that MLS presented. That time has passed. Can MLS hold its own in the globalized talent market?

Extra time

Have any American players joined a Scandinavian team and then gone from there to one of the big leagues? Brad Freidel played 10 games at Brondby, but he was on loan from Newcastle and a full international. Plus, before he stuck in the EPL, he made stops in Turkey and MLS. Other than that, Heath Pearce comes to mind, but Hansa Rostock didn't show any interest until Pearce started featuring for the national team.

So my question is: Other than the money -- which can be significant -- why are all these American kids going to Scandinavia with grand hopes of moving on to the EPL or wherever?