@larsiu Not gonna happen overnight. I suspect we're seeing the US somewhere in the early/middle stages of their upward ascent in World Soccer competitiveness. Gonna need another generation or two worth of focus, and DNA, to ever fully close the gap. Getting more truly elite players to migrate to the United States, like Messi has, would help speed this process up, I would think.
I'm beginning to think there's a reason poor and socialist countries are better. They don't turn sports into a cash grab at the youth level.
VIVA LA REVOLUCION!
USA hockey made huge strides in the last 25 years or so. On the flip side, so has Japanese baseball. Gotta be more to it than camps and Academies.
Lots of problems with athletics in USA. (1) sport specialization; (2) dumb coaches/trainers who don't know shit; (3) too many distractions; and most importantly (4) unlike other sports for some reason or the next, kids are not playing soccer on their own, meaning no coaches, no trainers, just guys playing for fun for hours at a time. That's the creativity aspect of things that disappears when you are under the guise of a coach or trainer. Youth coaches focusing on passing the ball instead of developing dribbling skills; too early 11 v 11 games--Stupid. If you can't let these young kids develop their confidence by dribbling in games when they are young, they won't ever get it when they get older. We have empowered far too many morons in youth soccer who were taught the wrong way. Want to get youth soccer better, and ultimately, soccer in the US as a whole better? Bring in a bunch of Barcelona/Dutch side youth academy coaches and let them coach ages 5-14. My two cents
Shoving carrramrod into a locker since 2024.
the off the ball movement of the US is still lagging significantly behind everyone else.
I thought we had plenty of runs in the 2nd half where we just didn't try or execute a longer pass. But agree that off the ball movement is not as fluid or consistent (too much standing).
We need Tim Ream to never play another match. That dude has never made me confident and I'm sure the goalies are the same way. Freese's disastrous decision really killed the momentum that we were building.
got routinely abused by this guy. 5'7 145 probably a 4.9 40 at best. marginal athlete. you just don't get it
I am reminded of this photo from many, many years ago. But he was even slower: 5.28 40 (a couple of 300 pounders beat him). A 24.5" vertical.
Less than two years later he was the Super Bowl MVP.
Pros versus amateurs. The US simply lacks the technical skills, spatial understanding, tactics and strategy to compete with the big boys. Now we know. They’ve progressed a bit but no more.
I’m beginning to think the US will never catch up in soccer. In 1992 the Dream Team was embarrassing everyone at the Olympics and the now basketball has seen international players lead teams at all levels to championships, MVPs, etc. Meanwhile, every Olympics or World Cup since the ‘90s you hear how the U.S. just needs to do this or do that to bridge the gap and legitimately be competitive.
I think last night was our ceiling for a long time. In 2 weeks no one will care until we qualify for 2030.
@dbmhoosiermhoosier lmao yeah your hickory huck high school isn't really much of a measure compared to the 250 million worldwide. This dude is 6'3 200 pounds runs a 4.3 40. ELITE level athlete.
got routinely abused by this guy. 5'7 145 probably a 4.9 40 at best. marginal athlete. you just don't get it
And? Who the fuck said he'd be a good soccer player? LeBron, for example, would've made a horrible soccer player.
We just got smoked by a mostly white nation with a population the size of Ohio. If they can be great we can be a lot better.
But things have to change. They need to get a lot better at identifying potential talent at a young age and get them into soccer. Many aren't even playing sports at all most likely. We're so obsessed with height and size in this country that many don't even go out for sports thinking they won't be any good while a guy like Messi is 5'7" and the average World Cup player is around 5'11". That needs to change.
@larsiu Although there are more kids than ever in youth soccer programs in the US , I rarely, if ever see kids outside playing soccer for fun. You see kids playing basketball all the time though. In nearly every country I’ve traveled to, I see kids either playing a real game or just goofing around with a soccer ball all the time. Can’t tell you why that is though…
@dbmhoosier messi's goal in this game was an obscene level of skill. that's my point about "best athletes" ain't it.
@larsiu Although there are more kids than ever in youth soccer programs in the US , I rarely, if ever see kids outside playing soccer for fun. You see kids playing basketball all the time though. In nearly every country I’ve traveled to, I see kids either playing a real game or just goofing around with a soccer ball all the time. Can’t tell you why that is though…
What's shitty is in Carmel most of the fields are owned by the clubs and they get sideways when "outsiders" use them. However, you're right. We used to just use our shirts to make goals on piece of grass. that shit doesn't happen anymore.
Also, I rarely see kids out at playground playing basketball anymore. Lazy shits.
@dbmhoosier messi's goal in this game was an obscene level of skill. that's my point about "best athletes" ain't it.
Never said or implied any such thing. You seem to be saying that I want 11 Lebron's or Usain Bolts on the field. Not at all. That would be stupid.
Most of our best soccer players have never played soccer. Many have probably never played sports at all. That's the problem that needs to be fixed if we ever want a World Cup
@dbmhoosier i think we got rid of every other sport and only played soccer we'd still basically be the same. i don't think it's a numbers issue . i think it's a century of quality dna we are lacking. messi's goal was obscene. there are no words for how hard it is to keep that ball down as the only way to hit it is how he did and a shitty player would have basically missed it completely and a quality player sent it way over the bar without much power. only he can keep that ball down
Yeah, like how did you learn to throw a baseball or shoot a free throw? Your dad. What if your dad never thew a baseball, never saw a basketball before?@dbmhoosier i think we got rid of every other sport and only played soccer we'd still basically be the same. i don't think it's a numbers issue . i think it's a century of quality dna we are lacking. messi's goal was obscene. there are no words for how hard it is to keep that ball down as the only way to hit it is how he did and a shitty player would have basically missed it completely and a quality player sent it way over the bar without much power. only he can keep that ball down
It's cultural
For a game where you’re not allowed to put your hands on balls, soccer players sure do a lot of groping.
