Baratunde Thurston pushes back on the myth that Messi succeeded without formal training, pointing out he went through Barcelona's elite academy. For U.S. players serious about college or pro soccer, organized programs like MLS Next and ECNL aren't optional. Backyard soccer won't get you there.
or ECNL, RL, MLS Next, but Lionel Messi didn't have any. How can you learn from Lionel Messi in order to play college soccer? This guy has no idea what the frick he's talking about. Half joking, let's make an argument though because it'll be fun for TikTok. Because he just says that all these parents want to play MLS Next or ECNL, but Messi didn't have any of that. Messi literally played in the Barcelona academy. He had 10 times better than that. He had exactly what is needed in order to play college soccer, let alone pro soccer. He was in an environment with exposure. He was in a structured environment with the best training ever. To say that Messi just played for fun in the backyard, that's insane. He did not do that. He had structured training every day since he was 11 years old. He had the best environment that the MLS Next, ECNL, ECNL RLs are trying to replicate. Now, is ECNL perfect? Is ECNL RL perfect? Is MLS Next perfect? Absolutely not. Is it better than Barcelona Residencies Academy and then Barcelona? Of course not. But to say that all you have to do is have the ball by your feet and play street soccer. That's insane. It's insane because one, you're not going to learn as much. It's insane because two, you need exposure to get to the better teams, which Barça's academy has the most exposure ever. He was training with the first team by the time he was 15. How are you supposed to replicate that by playing in your backyard in the United States? It does not work. So the reason this frustrates me from this person, although I've seen his other videos, he's actually a very good coach, is that you need the structure. You need to be in the environment because the US soccer system is political. Yes, it may not be the best system ever. It's better than it is in Africa. It's better than it is in Sweden, and I lived in Sweden for 5 years. The system here is very good. It is not perfect, but to complain and say you don't need to play at these levels— you do. That's the deal. You have to play at these levels, and it's expensive, and it's not an ideal system, but if you do not play at these levels, you will not play college soccer. There is not a single college soccer player in the game today that did not play club soccer at one of the names you've heard of, and if he did, he was the rare exception to the rule and maybe was an unbelievable player in high school. But that is not likely. So I'm passionate because this is not the word that should be spread. It should be explained that you should get really good soccer training, have a great environment, but at some point you have to play in the MLS Next ESNL Worlds if you want the most chance. Now, do I get a bonus for that? No, I'm not even part of any of those organizations. All I do is help people play college soccer. I just know, statistically speaking, that's where you gotta be. If that guy and I, maybe we should have an argument and fight it out for the TikTok algorithm and make this very popular. Otherwise, I actually really like you. I think you're a great guy. I just think what you're saying is wrong, but that's okay. That's the beauty of online. And if you want more help, give me a call. This is the Baratunde Thurston. Goodbye.
