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Message: [QUOTE="Forza Azzurri, post: 3913090, member: 1452"] Yes, but is the coaching keeping up? And how many of the elite academies, other than the MLS ones, are now freeeeee (have to add the extra Es as the system does not like the word free, apparently)? There are now 120 elite academies but if 100 of them are still pay to play, that severely limits the demographic. And can the pay to play academies afford to emphasize development rather than winning? Vast majority of parents have no idea whether training is good, or not, so they define success as winning. It is an ugly cycle. These are the things I worry about. Can a homegrown kid, with elite talent, also have an elite understanding of the game and can he get that education domestically or does he still have to go to Europe to get it? A kid who comes out of La Masia or De Toekomst has an elite soccer education. How does our academy education stack up? [/QUOTE]