Where have all the (US) strikers gone?

A few years ago, there seemed to be a trend for producing strikers in the U.S. Some were born in the U.S., others moved to the country as youngsters, and they were scoring goals in high level competitions. Four were league-leaders well into the 2012 season.

Not many people, it seemed, were paying attention to this phenomenon. And it was difficult to draw conclusions, as I wrote here.

At the time, Jozy Altidore (Dutch Eredivisie), Aron Johannsson (Denmark Superliga), Yura Movsisyan (Russian Premier League) and Chris Wondolowski (MLS) were at the top of the scoring charts. Others were among the top 10: Terence Boyd (Austria), Caio Canedo (Brazil), Charlie Davies (Denmark), Clint Dempsey (England), Herculez Gomez (Mexico), Vedad Ibisevic (Germany), Rogelio Funes Mori (Argentina), Giuseppe Rossi (Spain). Seven of those (Altidore, Davies, Dempsey, Gomez, Johannsson, Rossi, Wondolowski) were born in the U.S.

So, the story noted that, where once the U.S. seemed to be a country that would produce goalkeepers, instead was churning out goal-scorers.

Flash forward to MLS today. The top 10 scorers in the league were all born outside the U.S. This is the first time that has occurred in the 20-year history of the league.

The dropoff seems to have happened suddenly. Last year, Wondo (eighth) and Altidore (10^th) were in the top 10 and eight other U.S.-born players were in the top 25 scorers in MLS. This year, a total of five U.S.-born players (Altidore, Wondolowski, Jordan Morris, Lamar Neagle, Chris Pontius) are among the MLS’ top 25 goal-scorers.

Foreign strikers have been the top goal-scorers in MLS 11 times. But U.S. players usually either led the league or were close to the top – until the last three years. Wondolowski was the last U.S.-born scoring leader in MLS, leading the league in 2010 and ‘12. Before that, there were Roy Lassiter (1996, ’99), Taylor Twellman (2002, ’03, ’05), Brian Ching (2004), Landon Donovan (2008).

Before this year, the closest the U.S. came to being shut out of MLS’ top 10 was in 2001, when Eric Wynalda finished eighth. That year, 10 U.S. players were among the MLS’ top 25 scorers.

So, yes, the U.S. national team should be concerned about the striker position, especially should Dempsey remain out with a heart condition. Sure, Altidore and Bobby Wood can probably carry the scoring load, and Julian Green could be finding his touch with Bayern Munich. Morris has looked strong in the playoffs, and Juan Agudelo finished the regular-season with some exceptional performances. But there is a need for consistent, proven depth up front, and MLS does not seem to be providing it.

NOTE: Of the list of players in my 2012 story, only Caio remains uncapped. Caio, who was born in Brazil but grew up on Nantucket Island, could have been recruited to MLS several years ago, when he was eager to earn citizenship. Now, Caio is 26 years old and earning a rich salary playing in the United Arab Emirates, where he is the fourth-leading scorer. Caio has always wanted to return to the U.S. and, though it might be too late to gain eligibility for the national team, would still be a good get for an MLS team.