There are two schools of thought when it comes to the growth of MLS. The first is stars bring eyeballs to the league and that is the reason you see Pirlo, Gerrard and Lampard in MLS. The other is growing on youth and building through the academy is the way to grow the league. FC Dallas has been at the forefront of this movement ever since they launched their academy 10 years ago. It is starting to bear fruit as they are on a 4 game winning streak led by a three man midfield featuring 24 year old wizard Mauro Diaz (Gifs above from weekend game vs East leading DC United, a 2-1 win) but the heavy lifting is being done by two academy products in Victor Ulloa and Kellyn Acosta. Dallas is the first team to be able to build an MLS Cup caliber lineup on youth and academy players. They have U-17 starlet Alex Zendejas already getting minutes with the first team as well.
Now as we enter the next stage of US Professional Soccer, teams will be forced to invest heavily on both sides of the roster as the Galaxy is already starting to do. They have Keane, Gonzalez, Dos Santos and Gerrard at the top but it is balanced on the salary cap by Cap exempt Home Grown Players and Generation adidas players. Gyasi Zardes and Jose Villarreal doesn't count against the cap. They also have a 3rd Division team that is already bearing fruit for up and coming players like Raul Mendiola and Bradford Jamieson IV. Their infrastructure is complete but their academy isn't at Dallas' level yet. Though with their roster they should be a favorite to win the CONCACAF Champions League.
If you are a money club and you aren't copying LA you won't win much (See NYCFC, expansion side or not), and if you are a small market club and you aren't copying Dallas there are lean years ahead. Once DC United has to blow up their roster they will fall to the bottom of the standings.
For novice followers of MLS, LA and Dallas are the teams that will set the trends for development and growth in MLS on both ends of the financial spectrum. For the rest it will be adapt or die.
Here's another Diaz gif with a great assist from another young star Fabian Castillo
