This Is American Soccer, US Soccer, MNT, WNT, and MLS - Tackling the subject of Soccer in the US, and worldwide.

MLS season is upon us. Jeff Carlisle has the standard ‘what you need to know’ piece to get you ready. Both American teams were eliminated from the concacaf champion’s cup after relatively thrilling games in which the MLS sides only seemed interested in the second half. Besides appearing too slow, it was a tale of too little, too late. Then again, its early, MLS preseason to be exact, so what can we really get from Houston and DC’s performances. Not much. We did better than last time, though, so next year a MLS team should be winning it, right? Just like the US MNT did last summer after adding on their 2002 Cup success. Oh wait.

Sports invite discussion, argument, and theorizing, but when it really comes down to it, winning and losing are separated by such a thin line, I don’t feel confident taking any conclusions away except that fact that we could have won, but I’m guessing somebody out there does - head to the recently fixed comments page to add your thoughts - and then continue after the jump for this week’s barometer.

Maria Burns wrote the article this week that had me on edge. It’s a piece about American youth soccer success and how, wait for it, SURPRISE, it’s what makes good soccer players. She wrote “perhaps the most valuable lesson U.S. kids can take from playing foreign clubs is realizing the need to continuously perform as though their job is on the line. Find a way to hammer that point home at an early age, and it might not be long before there are a few American names to add to that all-time great list.”

Yikes. Does it really have to be like that? Houston v. Pachuca, fine, but I don’t think most people want preteen kids feeling like soccer is a job. And if they do, there is an argument waiting on whether they should be involved in youth sports. I’m willing to accept this ethos at the Residency Program, but when a kid is paying to play, it makes it a little more complex. In a job, after all, you get paid, you don’t pay? I’m not saying the best eleven should allow a scrub on the field, but there has to be another way beyond the scare tactics to develop strong, young players. It should be about reaching out, not closing out, which is more the reality today. I also think Burns is missing a huge part of this story when she doesn’t address parental, environmental, or cultural contributions to a child’s personality, decision-making process, and mental drive, especially when sports are involved.

Maria would be wise to heed the advice of Newcastle U-17 coach Vince Hutton. “There’s not that much difference [in talent] to be fair,”Burns quoted him saying. “The only advantage is we have 92 professional clubs where players can go play. Unfortunately, you don’t have that.”