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Whats the proper talent vs. national identity balance?
Posted on 7/1/24 at 11:28 pm
Posted on 7/1/24 at 11:28 pm
I think we have more talent and depth than we did in our best years (2002-2010?) But our team looks charmin soft. And the results speak for themselves. We aren't performing as well as we have in the past, especially against both high level teams and Concacaf shithousery.
Do you need to replace certain players with those less talented, but who fit the national identity of being tough, laying it all on the line, etc?? Do we need to cultivate a new national identity?
Is the fact that more and more of the squad plays overseas, and maybe played overseas from a younger age, one of the culprits with this identity?
Final add - Gregs got to go no matter what the answers to the above are. He's not even close to getting the best out the squad.
Do you need to replace certain players with those less talented, but who fit the national identity of being tough, laying it all on the line, etc?? Do we need to cultivate a new national identity?
Is the fact that more and more of the squad plays overseas, and maybe played overseas from a younger age, one of the culprits with this identity?
Final add - Gregs got to go no matter what the answers to the above are. He's not even close to getting the best out the squad.
8
Posted on 7/1/24 at 11:31 pm to Tigerstark
Attitude reflects leadership
Posted on 7/1/24 at 11:35 pm to StrongOffer
Captain
Posted on 7/1/24 at 11:38 pm to StrongOffer
quote:
Attitude reflects leadership
Yep and all we've been hearing about is culture this, togetherness that. Meanwhile we've had 2 of our best players sent off in the past year for incredibly dumb and immature red cards.
Posted on 7/2/24 at 12:44 am to Tigerstark
Our GK pool is awful
Posted on 7/2/24 at 5:19 am to Tigerstark
Soccer is the largest sport in the world and we just refuse to participate. As a casual fan, it’s hard to get excited to watch.
Posted on 7/2/24 at 6:37 am to Bamafig
OP may be correct that the current US team is the most talented as compared to past US teams ….however
1) This team is not as athletically talented as the top 6-8 teams in the world. In fact it is not even close. The lack of speed across the board is glaring. We have one guy that can drive with pace and everyone in he world knows it. Until youth soccer figures out a way to retain the best athletes beyond middle school age we will never be able to compete with the world. The best athletes in every other country play soccer. The best athletes in the US do not play soccer beyond 10-12 years old. A large part of that is because youth soccer discourages multisport participation around 11-13 years old. Kids simply walk away if the competitive coach / org tries to force them to play only soccer.
This US team has only one finisher. He happens to be the same game who is the fastest. The rest of the world knows it. No one that plays the US is fearful of the other 10 beating them or otherwise scoring on them.
Time and time again when it’s nut cutting time , the US plays soccer while their opponent plays football. Uruguay play rough, tough and physical. The US whined and begged for calls. Meanwhile they forgot take shots or truly attack the goal. They were punched in the mouth , bled , and didn’t do a damn thing about it. Outside of 1996, this has happened to every US team at some point.
1) This team is not as athletically talented as the top 6-8 teams in the world. In fact it is not even close. The lack of speed across the board is glaring. We have one guy that can drive with pace and everyone in he world knows it. Until youth soccer figures out a way to retain the best athletes beyond middle school age we will never be able to compete with the world. The best athletes in every other country play soccer. The best athletes in the US do not play soccer beyond 10-12 years old. A large part of that is because youth soccer discourages multisport participation around 11-13 years old. Kids simply walk away if the competitive coach / org tries to force them to play only soccer.
This US team has only one finisher. He happens to be the same game who is the fastest. The rest of the world knows it. No one that plays the US is fearful of the other 10 beating them or otherwise scoring on them.
Time and time again when it’s nut cutting time , the US plays soccer while their opponent plays football. Uruguay play rough, tough and physical. The US whined and begged for calls. Meanwhile they forgot take shots or truly attack the goal. They were punched in the mouth , bled , and didn’t do a damn thing about it. Outside of 1996, this has happened to every US team at some point.
Posted on 7/2/24 at 6:53 am to michael corleone
quote:
A large part of that is because youth soccer discourages multisport participation around 11-13 years old. Kids simply walk away if the competitive coach / org tries to force them to play only soccer.
That’s not unique to soccer. In fact I’d say it’s now more like 10-12 and almost every sport. Soccer is bad though. The highest level of travel at my daughter’s club in palm beach county is in the Carolinas or Atlanta every other weekend to play a couple of games. Just doesn’t seem efficient use of training time, funds, or a weekend.
Posted on 7/2/24 at 7:04 am to michael corleone
quote:
1) This team is not as athletically talented as the top 6-8 teams in the world. In fact it is not even close. The lack of speed across the board is glaring. We have one guy that can drive with pace and everyone in he world knows it. Until youth soccer figures out a way to retain the best athletes beyond middle school age we will never be able to compete with the world.
Opinions stated as facts? Show me the facts that we are “less athletic” than the other best teams and only have one guy that can take on others.
My belief is the best teams are better than one another at slim margins in the national game. Our talent / roster allows us to compete on any day with the best in the world but our coaching staff is inadequate. We don’t show up consistently regardless of the opponent and that’s on the staff. When we need that edge against better quality teams, our staff doesn’t pull the right strings tactically (or make the right substitutions).
Posted on 7/2/24 at 7:58 am to Tigerstark
To me it certainly seems like we're bridging the talent gap with better national teams, but that is being outpaced by our decline in grit/leadership/intangibles that previously made inferior talent USMNT more competitive.
Unfortunately, I just don't know that you can really cure the latter issue. In this era of political polarization, contingent support (both players of country and fans of players/country), and a general decline in unifying national identity in most of the Western world, it's a tough ask. And of course, we've been discussing the general disparity between how America has typically viewed national teams vs. the rest of the world.
I'm assuming the solution is modest improvement in both areas - upping the talent as possible and trying to restore some of the pride/grit/etc. through new leadership, even if it's never going to be as it once was.
Unfortunately, I just don't know that you can really cure the latter issue. In this era of political polarization, contingent support (both players of country and fans of players/country), and a general decline in unifying national identity in most of the Western world, it's a tough ask. And of course, we've been discussing the general disparity between how America has typically viewed national teams vs. the rest of the world.
I'm assuming the solution is modest improvement in both areas - upping the talent as possible and trying to restore some of the pride/grit/etc. through new leadership, even if it's never going to be as it once was.
Posted on 7/2/24 at 9:00 am to michael corleone
Athleticism doesn’t have anything to do with why we’re so bad at the sport. It has everything to do with our development system and technical ability.
Everything
Everything
Posted on 7/2/24 at 9:02 am to Tigerstark
I see this and I can’t think that talent is the problem:
Loading Twitter/X Embed...
If tweet fails to load, click here.Posted on 7/2/24 at 9:47 am to Earnest_P
Dempsey, Bradley, Beckerman, Brooks, and Cameron were all dudes. That 2016 squad was a better team with less talent than this one. All except Zardes and his dynamite first touch.
Posted on 7/2/24 at 10:04 am to lsugorilla
quote:
Our GK pool is awful
Shulte is coming to save us.
Posted on 7/2/24 at 10:15 am to mizslu314
quote:
Shulte is coming to save us.
Would love a goalie that is his club’s number one to be USMNT’s number one.
A Billiken would be nice
Posted on 7/2/24 at 10:19 am to lsugorilla
quote:
A Billiken would be nice
multiple Billikens on the team would get us to where we need to be.
Posted on 7/2/24 at 10:20 am to michael corleone
quote:This nonsense again? It's 2024
The lack of speed across the board is glaring. We have one guy that can drive with pace and everyone in he world knows it. Until youth soccer figures out a way to retain the best athletes beyond middle school age we will never be able to compete with the world
Driving with pace isn't a speed thing, it's a technique thing
The GOAT is a 5'7" midget with minimal physicality who is hardly among the fastest (top speed or agility) in the world. His athletic tools are an afterthought vs peers. Everything that makes him the GOAT is driven by technique or brain
This post was edited on 7/2/24 at 10:29 am
Posted on 7/2/24 at 10:22 am to Tigerstark
quote:That would be a team of solely MLS players. We can't really cultivate a national identity with players all over the place in Europe
Do you need to replace certain players with those less talented, but who fit the national identity of being tough, laying it all on the line, etc?? Do we need to cultivate a new national identity?
Posted on 7/2/24 at 10:31 am to RemouladeSawce
quote:
We can't really cultivate a national identity with players all over the place in Europe
The reining world champs have their players all over the place in Europe
Posted on 7/2/24 at 10:57 am to michael corleone
quote:
This team is not as athletically talented as the top 6-8 teams in the world. In fact it is not even close. The lack of speed across the board is glaring. We have one guy that can drive with pace and everyone in he world knows it. Until youth soccer figures out a way to retain the best athletes beyond middle school age we will never be able to compete with the world. The best athletes in every other country play soccer.
Utter nonsense.
quote:
Time and time again when it’s nut cutting time , the US plays soccer while their opponent plays football. Uruguay play rough, tough and physical. The US whined and begged for calls. Meanwhile they forgot take shots or truly attack the goal. They were punched in the mouth , bled , and didn’t do a damn thing about it. Outside of 1996, this has happened to every US team at some point.
What the frick are you talking about?
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