Wednesday, February 1, 2006
The "Ex" Files
Kristian Dyer
Every offseason has an X-factor, a player who changes the landscape of MLS through his signing, involvement in a trade or salary dump, sale to a European side, or retirement. This offseason's impact player may be a virtually unknown X-factor who might well change the face of MLS and youth development in this country. Johnny Exantus is a young man who is poised to become the league's Jean-Marc Bosman and set MLS on a different course. Interestingly, he has never even kicked a ball at the professional level.
The MetroStars might not be able to sign Johnny Exantus. (MetroStars/Other)
In 1996, the Bosman case overturned the rigid hold European teams maintained on their players. When a player was out of contract, the club still retained his rights and often demanded a transfer to allow the player to move to another side. Bosman was a marginally talented Belgium player who railed against the draconian system in place that limited his ability to move to a different team. Bosman, under the argument of "freedom of movement," took his case to court, overturning the current establishment and creating a less inhibited system not unlike free agency.Exantus is a mere 16 years old. A standout player, he has been brought through the MetroStars' youth development system, under the direction of former Metros legend Giovanni Savarese. The system, the first of its kind in MLS, has excelled and, according to Savarese, is ranked "the top youth academy in North America."
Exantus spent a significant portion of his formative years in Haiti, even suiting up for the nation's Under-17 side in a match versus Jamaica, notching a brace at the tender age of 14. The young man's parents eventually moved to New Jersey, and, shortly thereafter, Exantus explored his options with the MLS outfit's development program.
Having spent considerable time with the youth system and starring for the junior side, Exantus was invited to the MetroStars' first training camp of the year last week and caught the attention of coach Mo Johnston. Shocking some, Johnston has publicly stated that he is interested in signing the budding star to a contract. On the surface, this is an exciting development for a league eager to groom young stars to headline its circuit for years to come.Hence, all appears to be fine and uncomplicated, but in MLS, simplicity is never the norm. For Exantus to sign with the MetroStars, he would need to ink a deal with the league through the Generation adidas program and be entered into a special dispersal draft. At that point, the Jersey-based side would have to hope no other team claimed the special talent, then draft him with their slot in the draft. There is a strong possibility the MetroStars would have discovered and groomed the young man -- only to lose him to any other MLS team.
Herein lies the greater problem with MLS, one that reaches beyond this specific instance. The league is still too dependent on the limited scope of Generation adidas to scout and develop young players into the core of MLS. Although the league's front office talks boldly about each MLS side having a youth program providing a pipeline of talent to the senior side, the league, as of yet, has failed to allow a reliable way to integrate such players into the team.
The MetroStars, for perhaps the first time in their history, were ahead of the curve when they established a program to find and develop local talent. "For the past few years, the MetroStars have spent considerable time, resources and money on our youth development programs," general manager Alexi Lalas said. "Johnny Exantus is already a member of the MetroStars family, and we think he has the ability to make the jump to our senior team. It would be a crime for another MLS club to reap the benefits of our investment." Under the current system, the MetroStars' resources and legwork could well be wasted should another team, ahead of the MetroStars in the special draft, make a swoop for the player.
As it stands, the system discourages other MLS sides from initiating a youth system. Because the league does not allow a seamless transition from the development program to the regular team, the opportunity exists for other MLS sides to poach the rights for these players, in whom they have invested no resources. There is little motivation, therefore, for a club to collect and nourish young talent if it's only going to see the players mature on another team.In its intransigent world, MLS rarely will fix something unless it is broken. It would be an absurd condemnation if a team could not sign a player it had invested itself in, and not allowing a team to blood a player in its own system retards the maturation of the game in this country.
Commissioner Don Garber has consistently stated that much of the existence of MLS depends on the cultivation of young talent with which to stock the cupboard for years to come. If the current system remains intact, then MLS will have failed itself and the sport as a whole in this country.
If the league wants to grow the game, then the first priority should not be bringing European teams on tour, unveiling new slogans and nicknames, or anything else on the periphery of the game. Priority No. 1 for Garber must be encouraging teams to grow their own youth development system to ensure long-term vitality and a constant flow of homegrown talent, as Lalas has done with the MetroStars. Now is the time for MLS to break from its own rigid mold and allow the MetroStars to cull from their system a special player, the X-factor of 2006, Johnny Exantus. Kristian Dyer is a freelance writer who covers MLS for ESPNsoccernet. He can be reached at kristianrdyer@yahoo.com
