Changing American youth soccer is hard, but does it have to be impossible?

You may have seen my feature on the Philadelphia Union's youth academy in Monday's Inquirer and Daily News. It's a subject that deserves to be treated in depth, and with about 1,300 words in print, I was able to do that.

Yet there never seems to be enough time and space to tell all of the stories that are worth telling. So over the course of this week, I'll be looking at a few other angles of the American soccer development pathway, and how it may change in the future.

The first angle to consider is one that started at the senior level. When Jim Curtin told me in December that he wants the Union "to be known as a club that develops players for the United States national team," it made some headlines. Rightly so, too. But it wasn't just the expression of a dream. It was the establishment of a bar, and a high bar at that.

Plenty of MLS teams have expressed a desire to develop American players over the years. Some have even followed through with it. Not all of them have set their standards for American players at a level above "squad depth." That the Union aspire to something greater has meaning beyond the rhetoric.

Why? Because all of us involved with the game in any way - as players, fans, coaches, administrators, media, you name it - know the deeper truth about what's fueling Curtin and his colleagues.

It's a truth that Curtin hasn't stated publicly. Nor has Richie Graham, the YSC Sports founder and Union minority owner who's the chief bankroller of the Union's academy.

But they know, and so do many others.

Put simply: there is a widespread belief that it's inherently impossible for elite American soccer players to be developed in America.

The objection to that argument isn't based on how things are in the present. It's to the notion of the problem being inherent, and thus unsolvable, no matter how one works at it.

That's what Graham and Curtin are fighting against.

"Without a doubt it's an organizational aspiration - ultimately, I think we all feel that for the game to really be relevant and really be successful in this country, we need to develop American players and American stars," Graham told me. "From our standpoint, there's no sense, organizationally, to sort of set the bar at a lower standard. Try to create players that can play at the highest levels. The highest level means, ultimately, someone who can represent the U.S. national team."

I used that "set the bar at a lower standard" line in my print story too. I've come back to it here because I think it's the most important thing Graham said in my interview with him. If you want to pick one quote from him to remember, pick that one.

He is not the kind of person who takes "No" for an answer - and certainly not from those who would tell him to not bother with his aspirations.

"We've got incredible athletes, we've got great infrastructure," Graham said. "It's like planting something in the garden and nurturing it. I'm not thinking maybe we can do it, I'm confident that we will. It may take its time, but we will get there."

I hear you, yelling: Yeah, right.

Graham hears you, too.

"That kid is out there, if given the right environment to develop in," he said. "What can we do in our environments to help these kids maximize their potential? Because, frankly, what we have been doing isn't good enough."

There you go. What we have been doing isn't good enough. Happy now?

(You aren't. I know.)

My mind flashes back to a 2014 story by ESPN's Jeff Carlisle in which multiple MLS club executives - including then-Union CEO Nick Sakiewicz - accused Jurgen Klinsmann of being "intent on controlling" many aspects of U.S. youth prospects' paths to pro soccer, including which agents they signed with.

From where I sit, it remains one of the signature pieces reported during Klinsmann's tenure as U.S. men's soccer technical director.

"Some of our youth national team kids have reported to us that there have been European agents at their training sessions, and they have been encouraged to sign or look at European options by members of U.S. Soccer staff," Sakiewicz told Carlisle. "It's disturbing to us, because we can't afford to have our best players leave."

Now, you all know Sakiewicz's record with the Union. It's entirely possible that the last sentence in his quote might have been a little too literal for comfort, since the team isn't one of MLS' wealthiest.

Put that aside, though. Klinsmann's actions - even just the accusation of them - were a signal of intent. Think those agents to whom he steered youth prospects cared all that much about American soccer's deep flaws?

Problems get fixed by attacking them with the best tools available, not by taking those tools away.

Graham wants to fix the problem, not run away from it. He knows how big it is and how hard it will be, but he is undaunted. Isn't that what we'd call … well … the American spirit?

That doesn't mean Graham will fix all of American youth soccer tomorrow, or that he'll fix it alone, or anywhere close to either result. Oscar Pareja, the reigning MLS coach of the year, is fighting the same fight in Dallas. So are the New York Red Bulls and the Los Angeles Galaxy and Atlanta United and every other MLS team that cares about the issue.

Be as critical as you want about how things are right now. Plenty of people will agree with you, including many of Klinsmann's critics.

But consider this exchange I had with Graham toward the end of my conversation with him.

Me: What don't we know?

Graham: How good we are.

Just because something is so in the present doesn't mean it will always be in the future. It's something I've said many times over the years about American soccer's strengths and flaws. It applies just as much to the youth game as it does the professional game.

The Twitter handle above is for my general news reporting. My soccer handle is @thegoalkeeper. Contact me there for any questions about this post.