I have a 3 years old at home. I let him have a ball in the house except the living room and he loves dribbling the ball around. I focus on just making it as fun for him as possible and now the rest is easy. Since he loves it it’s easy now cause he just does it almost everyday. Very important to make it fun for the little guys. Easily the most important video you’ve done Tac. Keep up the good work

I can’t tell you how important this is for the future of US Soccer… thank you Tom and Tac for sharing this information. Love for the ball! Starting kids early. I got a lesson from Pele when I was six years old learning to juggle. Learning at home. I fought the fight for 50 years and hearing this makes me finally think we’re turning the corner.

Our culture is north south focused. Get to the finish line as fast as you can. Which is why pace and power merchants are valued. But like Tom says the best athletes in the USA in any team sport are the ones who can win individual battles one on one. It's true in basketball, NFL and even hockey. Players who can operate in tight spaces and change direction while manipulating the ball or puck to beat a defender.

We gotta be able to bring in the AYSO system. There's many talented kids out there that don't get noticed or even get the opportunity to play for an academy team. Either the parents are too poor, or the parents are like mine who refused to let me travel because they were worried about me not getting an education.

The winning mentality is true. I used to coach and I mostly cared about development over winning right away and the parents never understood that. I never wanted to be mean and tell the parents their kids weren’t that good so I had to start with development but all they cared about was winning and seeing results right away which is not how you get there. Everything is a process, with good development you develop good players which will eventually lead to winning.

Fantastic podcast episode. Thank you for asking great questions and for allowing Tom the time to talk and answer in detail.

Love this content tac!

Awesome interview series.

It's about time you bring a real smart dude on the channel. Love all u do!

I wish that if we had more football community and support on our local league in the Philippines we might invite Tom Byer.

This is great!!

If we are solely talking ever, then yes, likely, but it won’t be a player developed on American soil. Which is pretty obvious at this point. Even Messi was taken from Argentina to develop in Spain at la masía so I can’t say he is a pure homegrown Argentine talent. By odds law alone the answer would be yes

The USA needs to focus on developing and producing consistent talent. Then perhaps you can think about world class. None of the US players are the main man at their clubs, and the performances are patchy. What is the most amount of goals and assists a US player in a forward position has ever achieved in a season and how does that compare to others in their league? So much hype around Reyna, look at him in comparison to his peers. Reyna is 21, so let’s consider some players aged 20-23. There is Bellingham, Pedri, Gavi, Haaland, Foden, Musiala, Saka, Doku, the list goes on and on. Reyna is way behind, and no it’s not because of his coach. Americans love to play the victim, but the truth is If he was good enough he would play.

GOAT interview

This was great to listen to. Tom talking about how to get children to learn Technical Skills at a young age would get them to be better academicly reminded me of how I'm very good at disassembling and assembling things. My parents told me I've been doing it since I was 1. They don't know how I got interested in doing it. There's even a picture of me thinking critically on solving a block puzzle. 😂

I come from the same northeastern Texas area as Clint Dempsey, there’s an unbelievable amount of talent out here! Guys I’ve grown up playing with had plenty of talent. Many of these guys are the best of the best in this entire area, possibly even in the entire state. But they all have a belief that at the most, they can make it work all the way to college. After that they believe their soccer career will be over. Really makes you see just how much talent is wasted because the US has no interest in soccer talent.

Awesome ideas to progress US soccer!

Talking about the difficulty of culture change, one of the hard parts of coaching a U5-8 school team in our city rec league was that there were plenty of other club and school teams that were playing to win, as much as possible. I can’t forget another school’s parents cheering lustfully at 7-0, while my 7 year old keeper was walking off the field crying. It took that kid several weeks to gain the courage to play again… never as a keeper. These dominating, competitive pressures are just one of the obstacles to cultivating an inviting entry point to soccer.

Great info and ideas. Love to see him back with some specifics. What about a link to his website Philipo?

Tom could easily do this in Jamaica. Small english speaking country w a football & athletics culture. JFF get in touch! 🇯🇲

Feel like we need at least an annual state of usa development interview with tom

Watched Koleosho one time and saw him beat like 3 players by himself, that's all I need to see to know he's a really good prospect and we need to persue him

Finally, a serious guest

Christian Pulisic is close enough to world class that I’m confident we will eventually develop not one but multiple world class players

The trend is clear and the path is obvious and the answer is yes...

Sad USMNT has developed many very good Goalkeeper, Tim Howard being at the top. Yet Costa Rica has manage to created one world class goalkeeper and his name is Keylor Navas :(

Yes and his name is Ricardo Pepi

The way he described how Brazilians master possession of the ball. Spot on.

We already had one the goat Brek Shea 🐐

The U-17 team really impressed me. There are some gems in that squad + with the reconfiguration of MLS academies and MLS Next -- think a few world class players are on their way.

would help if USMNT had a world class manager/coach and obviously Beerholder isn't it

A good competitive league needs to come first. Maybe then, you can hope for world class u.s players to shine in the MLS.

A. when parents recognize that their children can be a world class athlete on the level of Michael Jordan, Koby Bryant, and Magic Johnson, then you will see a rise of world class U.S. athletes...B. when they start organizing soccer like that of track and field, basketball and football in little league, middle and high schools, that's when you will definitely see a rise in U.S. the production of world class soccer players... this is important because inner city youth focus and dream about becoming NFL football and NBA basketball players and probably never have heard of soccer, and that's where their interest lies as well as the interest of their parents...the U.S. has always produced world class athletes only when their is an interest, and training is given in schools.. my suggestion, start in schools where "all" children are inclusive and can be trained not just those attending soccer academies (academies are not right for the U.S. to find the best talent)....these very very very talented upcoming players will never get the exposure, training, and interest needed anywhere else other than public schools where training is free... just one more thing, soccer is a leveling field for young boys who dream about becoming a world class athlete and the best in the world...you don't have to be 6 feet 7 inches like that of the average NBA player (that leaves 95% of us out), you don't have be a well muscled jock of 210 pounds like that of the average NFL player (that also leaves 95% of us out), but in soccer you can be 5 feet 7 inches with a weight of 150 pounds like that of Messi, who is the best in the world and you can be like that of Luciano Acosta , who is 5 feet 3 inches and weighs only 130 pounds, who is MLS's MVP (that is inclusive of us all)... when this happens, the U.S. will dominant world soccer...

Having grown up in 4 “ecosystems” in the USA, from 4-18 i have a lot to say. As a player, my father was semi-pro in the 70’s and 80’s for 4 years. I was gonna play regardless… I was horrible physically… legs too long, heavy footed, awkward, slow, but… i was good at the basics and creative with dribbling and passing. I struggled for 9 years… but got better technically and when puberty hit… I made physical gains. Got into Premier Teams, And ODP regional teams, as a 8, 6, or 10 position. Played School soccer for HS Varsity. And even got to University Trial… at a D2 but stopped playing because of “burnout”… I’ve coached at the HS level too… I want to get involved in coaching more in this kind of system now that I have a kid. To be honest, I’m from California… and playing throughout my childhood I got picked up based on my passing and defensive skills… but the kids who were truly talented and could beat kids one on one… were Mexican kids who were passionate for the game… but their technical skills begins dribbling were crap… and never picked up by elite teams or ODP… All that said I came to 2 conclusions… 1.) pay for play benefits White Kids and Rich Kids predominantly, my parents had money and sent me to camps as one of the few Mexican kids, and this severely lowered the over potential of the pool of talent to pull kids from for elite development. And 2.) The system was self-aggrandizing and nepotistic… those Rich kids from predominantly white suburban and upper class households were “over-hyped” and “overrated” much… and the other Brown and Black kids were and are considered “undisciplined” and “selfish”… instead of passionate and underdeveloped…. I saw this the language among the players and coaches… any many coaches got in positions they weren’t qualified for… and never helped kids or programs grow…

Canada have Alphonso Davies. T&T had Dwight Yorke. Costa Rica had Keylor Navas. You don't need a perfect youth development system to produce a world class player. The difficulty for the US has been the tendency of other sports to take the great athletes and 'mentality monsters' who go on to be the world class footballers. A strong youth development system increases the size of the player pool. But you still need the raw material,--the mentality monsters and athletic phenoms-- which the US has to compete for with American football, baseball, baskeball, and track and field.

I mean, yes. Christian is the closest to world class that we have. Gio could get there if he could get regular minutes. But it’ll probably be another decade or longer before we have a true world class player.

Define world class.

Gio rena is gonna be the maradona of 2026 world cup and fun to watch, and he will feed balogun the ball where ever balogun is, and balogun gonna have a great game off of gio rena passes

Dude be right.. everything starts at home.. with the childrens

St. Louis is the soccer capital of America so I really hope he talked to my state

If you need better technical players regardless of position first lessen the politicking, learn from the mistakes,and of course support from community for US but for the answer a world class player probably an elite player but homegrown world class I don't think so but probably a dual national.

To improve usa soccer we need a better coach than GGG

Everything is going to take time.

W😊

Is he still working with us soccer now?

We need to develop a style of play that is uniquely American… Latin blended… our best untapped talent has that undercurrent… and then develop their technical skills once identifying talent

I would say Tim Howard was probably the greatest player we’ve ever developed. He is borderline a world class player.

How early is too early to have a kid go through the program? My daughter turns 2 in a few weeks. 😁

W

What I would give for an elite level premier league goalkeeper…?

In terms of "World Class," would Giuseppe Rossi qualify?

Game is full of Type A, control freak, kill-joy parents stroking their own ego at their kids expense. (wait- this sounds peculiarly similar to our national team's daddy 🤔) Find other kids in your town that love the game and set up a pickup game in the park where they can P L A Y football.5v5, 3v3... whatever ya got. Play... create.. free-flowing, joyful, spontaneous, joyful football with no fear of making mistakes. P L A Y.

As long as you call football soccer and see the sport as just business with these championships without relegation... no.

Yes, we will, Under my deadership.

Pulisic is World Class when we puts on the national team jersey

Imo we already have world class talent. It is inevitable that the channels of developement will open esp. with more American club owners in Europe.

No next

Us soccer needs more hispanics they love and eat and breathe soccer .i havent seen others in the US be as passionate. US soccer needs to open up to more hispanics and scout better talent. They can be much more but recruit overhyped lazy underwhelming players

I’m hoping Kevin Paredes develops into a world class player

Will we ever have a World Class player? No. For one, we aren't picking from the top of the gene pool like the rest of the world is, and for another, the coaching and philosophy is bass-ackwards here in America.

Blablablabla

Comment

We have had some.. This is subjective.. We have had highly impactful players in the best leagues in the world.

If we had recruited TAA then we would already have a world class player. The answer is yes. The question is just when and is our country actually capable of developing multiple elite to world class players in our country. The way things are now I say no. Keep in mind Pulisic, Balogun, and Reyna all were developed overseas and none got their professional start in America. Where you start your professional career matters greatly

no hahaha

Pulisic is the closest the US ever had to world class talent. If he was injury free and consistent then he would certainly become one...

Bruh elite is above world class

The premise is silly and inflammatory. We have world class players! What you really mean is will we have a Messi or Ronaldo or Christiano or Pele! Every country would love a world class player at that level. On that basis, 190 countries do not have a world class player! Pulisic is world class. Musah is world class. You could even say Aaronson is world class. They play at the highest level! What else is there? Is there a higher level than the Premiership? Come on! This is silly or just for eyeballs. The same things this guy talks about are talked about at every coaching convention you've ever been to! It's hard for volunteer coaches to juggle 15 players who vary in talent from 1 to 10 (bad to great). Our country is evolving. It's not getting worse. It's getting better. We just need to get rid of the terrible hiring of terrible coaches at the USMNT level. It's been a horror show.

The USMNT will never have a world class player.Cuz the US football development program is crap with the pay to play system.Also,the MLS is a crappy league.

Having a world class is mostly about luck. Getting someone with all the talent and mind in the right place at the right time.

If Canada were able to get Alphonso Davies through Vancouver then why cant we?

World class to me is top 5 (the elite guys, i dont count Messi or Ronaldo, theyre a level above this, they were both that good) or maybe top 10 in the world in your position, if I'm being generous....no I don't think the US ever has produced a world class player, you've produced some good players but never a world class men's player, I think you will eventually

Tom Byer invented one-to-two touch soccer and passing & moving. It wasn’t Brazil. Everyone should give him credit for claiming to invent basic soccer fundamentals.

No, because they think our first star should look like LeBron and not like Messi. All the Messi's in the US get ignored.

Make America Great Again

Information dump I lost interest in this interview

Tom Byer everybody

Hell nooooooo!!🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Usa will never develop a world class player simple the pay to play model needs to end the best player I ever played with weren’t rich they came from the hoods and inner cities

W