Good question re: the failure rate of American prospects in Liga MX academies. I have a few thoughts on this!

A short thread: https://twitter.com/mikebernstein7/status/1292143279274782720

1) It's not especially controversial to say that Liga MX clubs are, broadly speaking, not great about giving young players opportunities. It's a constant issue with in Mexican soccer circles. LMX has a lot of money and can buy lots of S. American veterans.

2) If you aren't the sort of person who closely tracks obscure BigSoccer Yanks Abroad, let me assure you that there have been a ZILLION Mexican-American kids who have come through LMX academies in the last 10 years. Very, very, very few make it.

3) Are the lack of opportunities given by LMX to blame? That probably doesn't help. LMX clubs also, until recently, had a bloated academy structure. They have U17 and U20 teams, but they also had old-style 3rd division reserve squads too.

So they needed bodies.

4) Some clubs went all-in on recruiting Mexican-Americans. First it was Tigres (under Dennis te Kloese!). Then it was Tijuana. Neither had all that much success, given how many kids they had in their system. We're talking 15+ kids at any given time.

5) Some kids who went were YNTers like G. Garza, P. Arriola, and J. Gonzalez, but the vast majority of kids who went south were obscure. Even ardent prospect watchers hadn't heard of them. A lot of kids got offers through the platform offered by the Alianza tryout system.

6) This made it an interesting test case of the Hispanic-talent-falling-through-the-cracks theory. Some no-names did make it big (M. Orozco, V. Alvarado, E. Castillo) but whether it was talent or lack of opportunity 95+% faded away.

7) Due to aggressive LMX club scouting and partnerships with Alianza, Mexican-American teens have continued to flow south. But I do think the numbers have already started to decline. I think there are several factors for this.

8) [a] clubs have trimmed the fat and junked unnecessary youth teams
[b] US club scouting/recruitment has improved
[c] lack of results has discouraged clubs from going all-in on Mexican-American kids like Tigres & Tijuana once did.

9) And maybe(?) there's some recognition that LMX offers a tough road.

Ex: N. Carrera just turned down a bunch of offers from LMX clubs, all of which are much bigger than Holstein Kiel.

OTOH his ex-FCD teammate D. Letayf joined Tigres, which is *NOT* known for playing kids.

10) Last point:

A ton of Mex-Am LMX U20 players struggle to get on the field in the 2nd div while on loan.

Everyone just gets stuck in the U20s, plays a few Copa MX matches, and goes on pointless loans. Few seem to even latch onto 2nd div teams successfully.

It's not great.