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You're listening to The Men in Blazers media network suboptimal radio.

This is the question is how do you create high level fluid football with tactical ideas but freedom for the players to learn and teach themselves the type of coaches that know how to create environments where they don't have to drive far to get really good matches and really good training.

That is the challenge right and that often the if you can contain that pressure cooker a little bit then you can I think see development accelerate.

It's Roj and you're listening to a show that attempts to ask the big question what if our best athletes do play soccer a show presented by Allstate.

Building deep into the important question really at this inflection point for the game in our nation.

The past present and future of American men's youth development and over the next two episodes we're going to tackle a topic I know from our mail bag that so many of you have been obsessed with thinking about for a very very long time to topic that yes it's hard partner strategy and execution.

But it's also hard fuel by passion and longing and dreams but we ask it at the very moment that we have Lionel Messi rocking up to Miami for MLS so let's dream some more crazy dreams yes.

Been on our nation over 330 million souls. How might we one day develop our own Lionel Messi?

Or at least an elite truly consistent world class outfield player right here in the United States.

Now football youth development in this nation it's historically been a strange beast a Jerry Rage to often parochial labyrinths through dark days when there was no professional league and football was a recurring punchline and late night talk shows.

But soccer since and it's been a sport at a future since 1972 on the C shiny shores so the purpose of this podcast special is to try and look at the history and the intricacies of how we create men's footballers in this country what does the process look like what's unique to the American experience and how's it evolved over the decade also this what are the next steps what might that future look like today.

We'll kick off with a historical overview and on the next episode we'll zoom in on the one place that seems to have truly cracked the code and provide a blueprint for how to foster an alchemized young footballly talent across our nation for all of this we'll get the woods and experience of those who've lived it.

Breed it who've grappled with the development structure for much of their lives format as fact to our two of the brightest lights in the new generation of American coaches Jim Curtin and Jesse Marsh and the ultimate soccer dad father and youth coach and not one but two full US international Mr Rusty errant.

Before we go any further we do want to take a moment to thank the GFO peace at all state for making all of these conversations possible they do so bloody much for the game of football in this nation all state you in good hands.

But to start who better to tell us about you development in this nation of ours than the gent who's lived it and navigated it successfully first hand and then put the many disappear pieces together to make it work for him and others and emerges a leading like for Americans in English football will lead you know it or what captaining the United States national team it's tireless midfield tire and my mate Tyler Adams here to explain this journey in his own words.

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