Rising to the Opportunity
The MLS has not been known as the league that plays its young, but this is changing.
So you sign, then what happens?
There is a rise of talented youth players being signed to professional MLS (Major League Soccer) contracts by top clubs in America — but the lingering question is how many minutes of actual playing time do these just turned professional players really get in the big league?
There is the unspoken gospel mantra that dictates giving worthy young talent the chance to develop. A sentiment that U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team head coach Tab Ramos has encouraged.
Read: AMERICAN SOCCER: YOUNG PROS WHO ARE GETTING MINUTES IN THE MLS
While it is hard to compare all the stats of player minutes, there is a clear trend that some MLS clubs provide more opportunity for their young pros than others.
While it is not uncommon to sign a player and then loan him out to a less competitive club, usually in the second division, the dreams of playing under the bright lights of the big field can dwindle. Many players who have celebrated their name being called in the MLS SuperDraft never saw their chance to rise to the opportunity.
What are the chances of a young professional player seeing real playing time in the MLS?
While there is a lot of speculation on the topic, the facts speak for themselves.
Here are the total minutes played by young professionals born 1999 to 2001 so far in the 2019 MLS Season.
| Player | Team | Minutes Played | Games Played | Date of Birth ↓ |
| Carleton, Andrew | Atlanta United FC | 27 | 2 | 6/22/00 |
| Barco, Ezequiel | Atlanta United FC | 159 | 3 | 3/29/99 |
| Bassett, Cole | Colorado Rapids | 144 | 3 | 7/28/01 |
| Durkin, Chris | D.C. United | 17 | 2 | 2/8/00 |
| Roberts, Thomas | FC Dallas | 11 | 1 | 5/11/01 |
| Ferreira, Jesús | FC Dallas | 108 | 3 | 12/24/00 |
| Cerrillo, Edwin | FC Dallas | 101 | 2 | 10/3/00 |
| Pomykal, Paxton | FC Dallas | 287 | 4 | 12/17/99 |
| Álvarez, Efrain | LA Galaxy | 61 | 2 | 6/19/02 |
| Araujo, Julian | LA Galaxy | 5 | 1 | 8/13/01 |
| Vassell, Peter-Lee | Los Angeles Football Club | 25 | 2 | 3/15/99 |
| Choinière, Mathieu | Montreal Impact | 72 | 3 | 2/7/99 |
| Rennicks, Justin | New England Revolution | 45 | 1 | 3/20/99 |
| Buchanan, Tajon | New England Revolution | 10 | 1 | 2/8/99 |
| Sands, James | New York City FC | 268 | 3 | 7/6/00 |
| Jørgensen, Mathias | New York Red Bulls | 35 | 2 | 9/20/00 |
| Cásseres Jr, Cristian | New York Red Bulls | 90 | 1 | 1/20/00 |
| Fernandez, Omir | New York Red Bulls | 144 | 2 | 2/8/99 |
| Aaronson, Brenden | Philadelphia Union | 155 | 2 | 10/22/00 |
| Fontana, Anthony | Philadelphia Union | 9 | 1 | 10/14/99 |
| Arriaga, Luis | Real Salt Lake | 1 | 1 | 1/26/01 |
| López, Marcos | San Jose Earthquakes | 182 | 3 | 11/20/99 |
| Busio, Gianluca | Sporting Kansas City | 96 | 2 | 5/28/02 |
| Akinola, Ayo | Toronto FC | 86 | 1 | 1/20/00 |
| Ardáiz, Joaquín | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 55 | 3 | 1/11/99 |
So far this MLS Season, New York City’s homegrown player James Sands and FC Dallas’ Paxton Pomykai have played the minutes — an impressive amount of time on the field.
Is this a trend? In 2018, here are the minutes played in the MLS for young players born 1998 to 2002 — and it is clear that young professionals are gaining time on the pitch.
| Player | Team | Minutes Played | Games Played | Date of Birth |
| Fuentes, Gilbert | San Jose Earthquakes | 1 | 1 | 2/21/02 |
| Ferreira, Jesús | FC Dallas | 3 | 1 | 12/24/00 |
| Colyn, Simon | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 4 | 1 | 3/23/02 |
| Daniels, Aidan | Toronto FC | 12 | 1 | 9/6/98 |
| Josh Pérez | Los Angeles Football Club | 22 | 2 | 1/21/98 |
| Brewer, Shaft | Los Angeles Football Club | 29 | 3 | 10/28/99 |
| Angking, Isaac | New England Revolution | 37 | 3 | 1/24/00 |
| Akinola, Ayo | Toronto FC | 45 | 4 | 1/20/00 |
| Vines, Sam | Colorado Rapids | 45 | 1 | 5/31/99 |
| Da Silva, Pierre | Orlando City SC | 49 | 2 | 7/28/98 |
| Conechny, Tomás | Portland Timbers | 72 | 4 | 3/30/98 |
| Choinière, Mathieu | Montreal Impact | 82 | 5 | 2/7/99 |
| Vázquez, Brandon | Atlanta United FC | 86 | 8 | 10/14/98 |
| Miranda, Bruno | D.C. United | 86 | 7 | 2/10/98 |
| Mines, Ben | New York Red Bulls | 90 | 1 | 5/13/00 |
| Ndam, Hassan | New York Red Bulls | 90 | 1 | 10/29/98 |
| Cásseres Jr, Cristian | New York Red Bulls | 97 | 3 | 1/20/00 |
| Fontana, Anthony | Philadelphia Union | 98 | 5 | 10/14/99 |
| Dunn-Johnson, Julian | Toronto FC | 105 | 2 | 7/11/00 |
| Pomykal, Paxton | FC Dallas | 125 | 6 | 12/17/99 |
| Busio, Gianluca | Sporting Kansas City | 153 | 7 | 5/28/02 |
| Carleton, Andrew | Atlanta United FC | 161 | 7 | 6/22/00 |
| Calvillo, Eric | San Jose Earthquakes | 165 | 3 | 1/2/98 |
| Bello, George | Atlanta United FC | 177 | 3 | 1/22/02 |
| Sands, James | New York City FC | 223 | 3 | 7/6/00 |
| Real, Matt | Philadelphia Union | 236 | 3 | 7/10/99 |
| Bassett, Cole | Colorado Rapids | 307 | 6 | 7/28/01 |
| Wan Kuzain | Sporting Kansas City | 307 | 6 | 9/14/98 |
| Toye, Mason | Minnesota United FC | 340 | 17 | 10/16/98 |
| Castellanos, Valentín | New York City FC | 497 | 10 | 10/3/98 |
| Farfan, Marco | Portland Timbers | 515 | 11 | 11/12/98 |
| Bwana, Handwalla | Seattle Sounders FC | 527 | 13 | 6/25/99 |
| Ruiz, Pablo | Real Salt Lake | 531 | 13 | 12/20/98 |
| Lindsey, Jaylin | Sporting Kansas City | 555 | 7 | 3/27/00 |
| Mihailovic, Djordje | Chicago Fire | 582 | 9 | 11/10/98 |
| Fraser, Liam | Toronto FC | 615 | 10 | 2/13/98 |
| João Moutinho | Los Angeles Football Club | 872 | 14 | 1/12/98 |
| Colmán, Josué | Orlando City SC | 1054 | 24 | 7/25/98 |
| Herrera, Yangel | New York City FC | 1326 | 18 | 1/7/98 |
| Paredes, Cristhian | Portland Timbers | 1418 | 19 | 5/18/98 |
| Durkin, Chris | D.C. United | 1503 | 23 | 2/8/00 |
| McKenzie, Mark | Philadelphia Union | 1719 | 20 | 2/25/99 |
| Barco, Ezequiel | Atlanta United FC | 1747 | 31 | 3/29/99 |
| Davies, Alphonso | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 2420 | 31 | 11/2/00 |
| Adams, Tyler | New York Red Bulls | 2688 | 31 | 2/14/99 |
| Rossi, Diego | Los Angeles Football Club | 2694 | 33 | 3/5/98 |
| Valenzuela, Milton | Columbus Crew SC | 2857 – | 33 | 8/13/98 |
| Cannon, Reggie | FC Dallas | 3011 | 34 | 6/11/98 |
| Trusty, Auston | Philadelphia Union | 3150 | 35 | 8/12/98 |
All MLS Clubs Are Not Equal When It Comes To Playing Time
Some MLS clubs, like the LA Galaxy, are not on the list for 2018 at all while LAFC lists four players playing a total of 3,617 minutes.
Atlanta United also hit the list with four players as do the New York Red Bulls, Philadelphia Union, and Toronto FC — but just making this list does reflect the real opportunity.
For example, Philadelphia Union gave their four young players the most minutes of playing time, totaling 5203 while Toronto’s four never saw more than 777 minutes combined.
With three players on the list, Sporting Kansas City gave their developing pros over a 1,000 combined while Portland Timbers‘ three hopefuls saw an average of 11 minutes each all season.
How aware are players of minutes played by those who have traveled this journey ahead of them? While it is hard to determine the depth of knowledge players have before they sign an MLS contract, it is clear that signing with a progressive and player development oriented club gives the aspiring pro a better chance.
The trend is clear — there has been substantial growth in our young players gaining valuable playing time in the MLS.
Is the MLS doing enough to give young U.S. players more minutes? Back in 2010, even if you combined all the teams in the MLS together, young professionals only played a total of 14,310 minutes. In 2018, this rose to a total of 33,528 minutes — so the stats are improving.
Data on 2018 and 2019 minutes played in the MLS are from Opta Sports – Reports
