2nd October 2025
October 2 – Money, according to Jürgen Klopp, is the great stumbling block holding American football back. Speaking to _The Athletic_ in his new role as Head of Global Soccer for the Red Bull Group, the former Liverpool manager didn’t mince words.
“We have a couple of problems in the USA. So I’m the new guy. So I’m not the one who says, ‘I change it,’ it’s not my personality. I just observe and see what could be a problem. Youth football can be expensive. So that makes no sense at all to get the best talents. We all know that the best players (in the world) are not coming from the richest areas. I think the last one (best player in the world at the time) who was rich before he started playing was Kaka, if I am right. So this part of motivation is essential.”
For many, Klopp’s observation cuts painfully close to the bone. Clint Dempsey, the Texan who became one of the USMNT’s greatest ever, revealed to _The Athletic_ that his family went into debt to fund his dream: “It must be made easier for people who are less fortunate to have the chance to go chase their dreams.”
Tim Howard echoed the sentiment. “People are asking: ‘When is the U.S. going to produce a World Cup champion? When is the U.S. going to produce more top-quality talent?’” he said. “If we keep ostracising people on a socioeconomic level, then we’re not. I went through it, and I was lucky because I had people who looked the other way.”
Stories like Chris Richards’ bring the issue into sharper focus. After lifting the FA Cup with Crystal Palace in May, his parents recalled “robbing Peter to pay Paul” to cover youth costs, often topping $500 a trip. His mother Carrie admitted: “I was so embarrassed,” after receiving a letter warning unpaid fees meant her son couldn’t play.
Klopp compared it to German tennis in the 1970s. “That is what tennis was 50 years ago. It was a rich person’s game… then Boris Becker came, clubs opened, and everybody could play. That’s the situation here. So many kids play football. But to get the right training and education… it makes sense that it’s free. It’s a long-term project.”
Until America fixes its pay-to-play culture (worth billions of dollars), the dream of producing world-class talent will remain just that.