GOAL sat down with MLS NEXT technical director Luis Robles to discuss the significance of Taka and how it's being implemented
At the 2025 Generation Adidas Cup, MLS NEXT director Luis Robles spoke with academy coaches, technical directors and front office members from all around the world to ask them about what they're doing at the academy level that some might deem "radical." The responses rolled in, with a wide variety of answers.
In Germany, at the U13 and U14 levels, they're going back to 9v9 instead of 11v11 on the pitch – with some leagues not even using goalkeepers. "They're putting two small goals on the side, and the idea is more touches, more creativity, gets a goal," Robles told GOAL.
In Belgium, academies are even going back to small-sided 7v7 matches, while in England, they're going box to box. What Robles picked up, was variation, but there was an extreme emphasis on the development of the U13 and U14 age groups across each country.
That age group has been identified to be the perfect level that is "ripe for tinkering," and as a result, it's given Major League Soccer and MLS NEXT the chance to try something new: "quality of play" rankings via the Taka mathematical formula.
But what is Taka? What are quality of play rankings? What does this mean for the development of youth soccer at the MLS NEXT level, and why does it matter – at all?
Wins, losses, and draws are no longer accounted for at the U13 and U14 MLS NEXT level. Now, instead, players are judged and analyzed individually through positive and negative moments on and off the ball. It's a unique change, and one that Robles believes will create more "professionals," as they develop further at the MLS NEXT level and – eventually – into the professional ranks, whether that be signing as a Homegrown player in MLS or abroad.
"It's another way to reward teams and coaches and players who are looking to implement whatever style they want to play, while also realizing that traditional data may not capture creativity, may not capture the sort of players that we're hoping to develop. And that's, it's players that are dribbling, it's making those passes. It's, it's ones that, over a length of time, if supported, could end up being super influential players," Robles said.
It's a shift away from normality, or tradition, per se – but, it's also a move that could pay dividends if it benefits the growth of the youth game at the U13 and U14 levels over time.
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"We believe each club or team should have its own identity, so we have no preference of a style of play," Vice President of Player Development Fred Lipka said. "We want to celebrate all types of team actions, which can happen everywhere on the field as there is a value in seeing players think and act in synchronization and coordination during the offensive and defensive phases.
"For MLS NEXT, we want to shift the paradigm in player development to focus on the process and progress. That is a goal of quality of play, and why we are partnering with Taka to launch this pilot program," Lipka added.
GOAL looks at Taka and what it means for the future of academy soccer at the U13 and U14 levels in the U.S.
Get the MLS Season Pass today!Stream games nowWhat is Taka?
Taka is a platform for players and coaches that utilizes technology and professional analysts to determine criteria for what makes a soccer move, whether it is on or off the ball, a good play or not. Categorized into five levels, and handed a score out of 100, Taka is a revolutionary practice that has suddenly taken away the concept of wins, losses, and draws at this specific age group.
Major League Soccer
The system, which takes video from every MLS NEXT match, provides athletes with personalized highlights and exposure, while – for coaches- streamlines elevated analysis. More than 50,000 athlete profiles exist on the platform, while more than 20,000 matches have been analyzed, providing six million individual highlights. Every player in MLS NEXT at the U13 and U14 levels is analyzed through Taka. The best part? Each academy player has access to the highlights, stats, and analysis – both the positive and negative.
"What we've identified is, let's give them [U13s and U14s] the entire season to develop," Robles said. "So don't worry about the wins and the losses, don't worry about the standings. Figure out, as a coach, how do you want your team to play?"
Robles explained what that all
"It tilts offensive, so we want them to take people on. We're going to score that as if someone's trying to nutmeg," he explained. "We saw this last week in the Premier League – if someone's trying to nutmeg, if the center-back is going to try to nutmeg the forward in the 18-yard-box, that is always going to be scored poorly, right?
"But if a winger is on the flank and they're taking someone on, we want that, whereas traditional data is going to say: successful dribbles, and if they're one out of 12 you just like, 'well, no, this is why we passed the ball!' Well, no, what if the one out of 12 led to the goal? That's going to be super significant. And that's how we score it."
AdvertisementHow does it work?
In order to evaluate quality of play, it is captured by the source, with all footage from MLS NEXT games being taken and reviewed. Taka analysts asses every significant player action, recording where it occurred, while categorizing the skill performed and rating the quality of it. Once the full match has been analyzed through those three criteria points, the Taka model calculates an offensive score, a defensive score and an overall quality of play score for the match. The scores are then adjusted to determine the strength of each opponent in each game, noting where they are excelling, and perhaps, where they are struggling.
Major League Soccer
Come the end of the season, the scores are aggregated to provide a final campaign-long score for their attack, defense, and overall quality of play. Teams are then ranked on the MLS NEXT Platform by their overall quality of play scores – a formula that measures more than just wins, losses, goals, and results overall.
The process, per Robles, takes an analyst roughly 4.5 hours per game to break down. With personnel based in Europe in countries like Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro, analysts are going minute-by-minute through the games to create the data that is then analyzed by Taka.
The quality of play rankings are updated every Friday throughout the season, so that all persons involved, from players to staff members to onlookers, are all able to view where each team sits in terms of overall score.
Getty Images SportWhy does it matter?
Far too often, U.S. Soccer has fallen short in the development of professional players. The U.S. is a world leader in talent for the NBA, NHL, MLB, NFL WNBA – among countless other professional sports. For soccer, though, the U.S. has never fit into that category – and Robles believes that may stem back to the development these young players receive at crucial ages, like these U13 and U14 levels.
"What we also want to do is hit more than we miss, and that means that we're going to go to the younger age groups and try to identify players that have potential." Robles said. "Whereas previously, it was just the eye test, but if a scout goes to a game and in 15 minutes… are they really able to know the profile of that player in 15 minutes? Whereas they can now go watch a game, they can take notes and they go back with the notes to Taka, and it's broken down, they can watch more clips than ever before – and that's something that didn't exist before, and that's why this investment is so important."
As the professional game gets younger and younger, with stars like Lamine Yamal breaking out in Europe at 17-years-old, and domestically – the likes of Philadelphia Union teenager Cavan Sullivan and New York Red Bulls prodigy Julian Hall featuring at the senior level in MLS – it's become increasingly important to hit the mark with this age group.
"We can now create a database and go back and see what Julian Hall was like at 15. Because the other thing that we discovered is, yes, the players are getting younger, but we're also still missing [or allowing players to slip through the cracks]. And to miss comes with a cost. So players that are 13 years old that come into our academy, that don't get considered at 16 or 17 to become Homegrown – there's a financial burden that comes with that," Robles said.
"The underlying part is that we want to find more professionals. We want to generate better professionals. And if we're able to do that while addressing all that other. It seems like a massive win for everyone."
MLS NEXTWhere does MLS NEXT go from here?
With the 2025 Generation Adidas Cup wrapped – a tournament that has featured some of the world's best footballers in previous years, like Chelsea FC's Enzo Fernandez – MLS NEXT is nearing the end of its 2024-25 campaign. The MLS NEXT Flex tournament runs from May 9-13, the MLS NEXT Cup Playoffs & Showcase runs June 14-22 and the MLS NEXT All-Star Game concludes this year's events in late July.
With the introduction of Taka, MLS is attempting to both protect and create the next generation of footballers in the American landscape. With an emphasis on creativity, and a rewarding system for the individual, the goal in mind is to give these players a platform to ultimately learn and grow from – while allowing scouts, coaches, family, and fans an opportunity to get a deeper look into what is really valued at the professional level.
"Where are you tinkering the most? It's with 11, 12 and 13 year olds, because that's pre-formation, and there's such a influence of growth and maturation that you might miss because you're only looking at the time at the fastest kid or the biggest kid, the strongest kid, whereas in four or five years, that may not be the case," Robles added. "And so we have to identify enough within our scouting methods to give this kid another chance or give this kid another look."