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re: Why isn't US men's soccer better than it is?
Posted on 7/7/18 at 6:57 pm to ShamelessPel
Posted on 7/7/18 at 6:57 pm to ShamelessPel
quote:
I don’t know what else to say on the subject. It’s like people are glossing over parts of the argument intentionally. Soccer being the #1 sport in the country implies we are training these kids at a young age and the brightest minds we have are developing and coaching soccer and not those other sports as well.
If anyone is glossing over anything, it's you. Lack of athleticism is not our issue.
0
Posted on 7/7/18 at 8:47 pm to RollTide4Ever
quote:
Learn from France
Awesome video thanks for sharing it
Posted on 7/7/18 at 8:56 pm to Broski
quote:
We have dudes playing in MLS that are just as athletic as Westbrook, OBJ, etc.
Whoa
Posted on 7/7/18 at 9:32 pm to MF Doom
Pulisic can fricking dunk.
Athleticism has never been the problem. As others have said, we've always had speed, strength and aereal ability.
Tactical awareness and technical ability has always been the problem. That's a system and culture issue.
Athleticism has never been the problem. As others have said, we've always had speed, strength and aereal ability.
Tactical awareness and technical ability has always been the problem. That's a system and culture issue.
Posted on 7/8/18 at 12:20 am to STLhog
Not a lot of NFL or NBA players that could play soccer at a high level even if they started as young children. It's a completely different type of athlete. All the best athletes in the United States Pro leagues are black and you don't necessarily have to be black to be a great soccer player in fact probably just the opposite. There are very few Drew Brees types in the NFL or NBA yet he's probably the type that would excell in soccer
Really there is a huge void of untapped potential athletes that just don't fit the NBA or NFL mold in the United States that could probably excel in soccer if the structure existed
Really there is a huge void of untapped potential athletes that just don't fit the NBA or NFL mold in the United States that could probably excel in soccer if the structure existed
Posted on 7/8/18 at 12:26 am to boxcar willie
It just sucks that the USA is so crappy at soccer which is the sport that most defines a country On the world stage. It's an embarrassment a country like Japan Can field a decent team and we can't. No Wonder the rest of the world doesn't take the USA seriously and we are considered the buffoons of the world
Posted on 7/8/18 at 12:26 am to boxcar willie
Japan proves that the issue with the United States isn't a lack of athleticism. Plus I doubt that the Japanese put a whole lot of emphasis on soccer either yet they somehow still manage to field a pretty decent team
This post was edited on 7/8/18 at 12:30 am
Posted on 7/8/18 at 7:45 am to boxcar willie
quote:
It's an embarrassment a country like Japan Can field a decent team and we can't
We can.
Posted on 7/8/18 at 8:23 am to boxcar willie
(no message)
This post was edited on 3/9/23 at 8:40 am
Posted on 7/8/18 at 8:35 am to TheIrishFro
quote:
It just sucks that the USA is so crappy at soccer which is the sport that most defines a country On the world stage. It's an embarrassment a country like Japan Can field a decent team and we can't. No Wonder the rest of the world doesn't take the USA seriously and we are considered the buffoons of the world
You can always pick out the guys who don't actually follow the sport in these threads. We can, and have, fielded some great teams. Not a top tier team (yet), but some solid teams that have won some games. We were very nearly in the semi finals and would have played South Korea in 2002 for a shot at the World Cup.
Our 2017 failure was an anomaly brought on by a bad coaching decision and being in a weird transition of players.
Posted on 7/8/18 at 8:42 am to Ssubba
quote:And damn it, we outplayed Germany.
We were very nearly in the semi finals and would have played South Korea in 2002 for a shot at the World Cup.
Posted on 7/8/18 at 9:34 am to pvilleguru
quote:
It's an embarrassment a country like Japan Can field a decent team and we cant
We have fielded far superior teams than Japan ever has or will. And also, it's kinda funny that an American is responsible for turning Japan's program around. And we recently hired then fired him within a few months.
Posted on 7/8/18 at 11:03 am to STLhog
quote:
Pulisic can fricking dunk. Athleticism has never been the problem. As others have said, we've always had speed, strength and aer
The NBA doesn't even have players that are just as athletic than westbrook. Get out of here with that bullshite
Posted on 7/8/18 at 11:12 am to High C
Parents in the US don’t care about soccer. And we are significantly lacking infrastructure and resources for scouting and identification of soccer talent at a young age.
Posted on 7/8/18 at 12:09 pm to MF Doom
Athletically, I'd put guys like Opara, Adams, Zardes, Shelton, etc. up against the best of other sports.
Posted on 7/8/18 at 1:28 pm to Broski
quote:
We are a big enough country to where there are enough for all sports. It all comes down to the development. We have dudes playing in MLS that are just as athletic as Westbrook, OBJ, etc. but unlike football and basketball where in American you get the premier youth coaching, for soccer, our athletes have to go overseas where as kids they can't perform to their best because they are in a new environment and get lost in the shuffle because the Europeans look down on Americans in soccer.
U.S. men's soccer basically needs something like the IMG Academy or the tennis academies that develop professional tennis players except on a much bigger scale. Serena Williams started training to be a professional when she was nine years old. We've been training and developing tennis players to be professionals at very young ages for decades. Why can't we do the same thing for soccer?
Posted on 7/8/18 at 1:50 pm to Bench McElroy
You want the real answer, here it is.
Soccer is the most expensive sport to play in America, and it has become a suburban wasp sport. (I have coached almost all youth sports and don’t give me shite about football or baseball costing more. Soccer cost the parents the most with 600-1500 bucks to play then the travel etc. We estimated it cost 6000k a year to play for my son. The only thing close is baseball travel teams but then they have scholarships. Not to mention us picking up all the expenses for the African kids. (Not African Americans but families delivered from conflicts in Africa by the church.)
Junior soccer in America is about money not making World Cup, and this shite about expenses academies is utter bullshite.
My son was an elite goalie but he was also lazy as hell like most American soccer players. (Sorry truth hurts) how many times would I tell him to go to park and play against Mexican kids but he would rather play video games, hang out with his friends, vape and go to parties. All the talent not of the work ethic. ( just like my brother)
Next, prop 48 killed men’s soccer as it created was women’s soccer. Next time you are at a big tournament look at featured players. 80% of them are girls for a reason. That’s where the scholarship money is. So why would a great athlete ever play soccer since it is only major sport without any real scholarship opportunity.
Finally, US Soccer organization is crap. All these camps everywhere for hundreds to thousands of dollars, and yet I go to the park and the Mexican kids play 8 to 10 hours a day and the kids I have seen make incredible gains in skill and ability just started going down there and playing hours every day too, just like everyone else in the world.
In sum, we think we can buy our way in and that doesn’t work well for Soccer
Soccer is the most expensive sport to play in America, and it has become a suburban wasp sport. (I have coached almost all youth sports and don’t give me shite about football or baseball costing more. Soccer cost the parents the most with 600-1500 bucks to play then the travel etc. We estimated it cost 6000k a year to play for my son. The only thing close is baseball travel teams but then they have scholarships. Not to mention us picking up all the expenses for the African kids. (Not African Americans but families delivered from conflicts in Africa by the church.)
Junior soccer in America is about money not making World Cup, and this shite about expenses academies is utter bullshite.
My son was an elite goalie but he was also lazy as hell like most American soccer players. (Sorry truth hurts) how many times would I tell him to go to park and play against Mexican kids but he would rather play video games, hang out with his friends, vape and go to parties. All the talent not of the work ethic. ( just like my brother)
Next, prop 48 killed men’s soccer as it created was women’s soccer. Next time you are at a big tournament look at featured players. 80% of them are girls for a reason. That’s where the scholarship money is. So why would a great athlete ever play soccer since it is only major sport without any real scholarship opportunity.
Finally, US Soccer organization is crap. All these camps everywhere for hundreds to thousands of dollars, and yet I go to the park and the Mexican kids play 8 to 10 hours a day and the kids I have seen make incredible gains in skill and ability just started going down there and playing hours every day too, just like everyone else in the world.
In sum, we think we can buy our way in and that doesn’t work well for Soccer
This post was edited on 7/8/18 at 2:13 pm
Posted on 7/8/18 at 3:15 pm to High C
I’m certainly no expert on this matter, but to me the entire focus of “soccer culture” in the US versus other countries is out of whack. Here, if you are a good youth player, then your ultimate goal is likely going to be getting a scholarship to college, where you will go to learn to do something else with your life. Soccer is simply a means to that end. Sure, the best players may end up in the MLS, and a precious few outliers may head to European leagues, but that doesn’t really seem like the goal of the system. Now compare that to other countries, where the best players are identified early, and they are placed into a pipeline where they are intensively trained for a career playing the sport. It becomes the primary focus of their education. We can’t compete with that level of dedication. We don’t do that even with the sports that we really do care about. The closest would be basketball academies, and even those are considered somewhat shady by your average American sports fan. We have nothing to compare to the soccer Hogwartses being operated by other countries.
There are other factors at play too, of course, but to me that’s the crux of the problem. We are sending out players who spent their formative years as amateurs to compete with players who have been professionals since their early teens.
There are other factors at play too, of course, but to me that’s the crux of the problem. We are sending out players who spent their formative years as amateurs to compete with players who have been professionals since their early teens.
Posted on 7/8/18 at 4:23 pm to TheTideMustRoll
quote:
if you are a good youth player, then your ultimate goal is likely going to be getting a scholarship to college
10-15 years ago, yeah. Now, I don't think this is the case anymore. The majority of our youth players are being funneled into academies both domestically and abroad.
College soccer nowadays is kind of a "last chance" catch-all net for those that couldn't hack it in the academy, but still have the dream of playing professionally.
Posted on 7/8/18 at 4:25 pm to Bench McElroy
quote:
U.S. men's soccer basically needs something like the IMG Academy
The IMG soccer academy was in existence for damn near 20 years and was our main source of youth talent, but it just recently shut down to shift the focuses towards MLS club-based youth academies.
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