to put in perspective. in 12 years. argentina went from getting blown out to the dream team 128-87 to beating the usa in basketball at the olympics. <iframe width="480" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/zV3xGflsz2o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> they didn't get more athletic. they got smarter. even spain gave the usa a hell of a game in 2012. and the usa was clearly more athletic. again, athleticism is nice but it won't save you from poor fundamentals.
Explain for me -- I just threw out a few names of athletes who didn't play soccer, but probably could have been very good if they grew up playing the sport. The big list isn't mine and most of the players he lists are way too big to play soccer, it was just a random example I found. The US team absolutely needs more speed up front and more general athletic talent on the field.
rep right on. this whole end to the thread is very embarrassing. Happens every four years with a new crop of whiners and excuse makers. It's just an excuse to make us feel superior...and that's just a fact to any foreigner reading this thread. We have a superiority complex about when we are inferior, due to culture.
You just described Jozy Altidore. He has the football IQ of an imp and the touch of a brick wall. It's not about athleticism.
i think people underestimate the opportunities in soccer. yeah you might not make kobe money but some guys in the mls eat real good. michael bradley gets 6.5 million a year in the mls . slight chance you become good enough to play big boy european football. there are multiple leagues you can play in and make really good money as opposed to only the nba for basketball and nfl for football.
IMO, our players are bunch of derek fisher level athletes. i don't see a truly a transcendent physical talent. on top of that we lack skills. it's visible. and results speak for itself. so basically we are putting the mediocre talent out there. bunch of derek fishers of the world. no d roses out there. no westbrooks or adrian petersons. are our players athletes? yes. but they aren't the best we have PHYSICALLY. they just look like bunch of hard working glue guys. ask yourself WHY WE AREN'T WINNING WORLD CUPS. because we aren't talented enough. ask yourself why we aren't talented enough. you can't hate my statement all you want, but it's glaringly visible on TV. we have no soccer geniuses. we have no physical freaks. and IMO this is because our BEST ATHLETIC kids aren't playing soccer when they grow up. and we don't have a system in place like aau, pop warner to develop the talent EARLY. now tell me what is wrong with my statement again. yes, it's an affair. it's hard to follow soccer in this country. i do watch MLS time to time, but it's not a mainstream. like i said previously, it's growing. i can feel it. but we are still not there yet. that's our sad reality. you can deny it all you want, saying skills this skills that. but in all major professional sports physical ability is important. in basketball, football, baseball - players with physical gift shines. futbol is no exception. i lived in london when young ronaldo was playing for man U. his physical gift stood out. it was visible on TV. it's about damn time we produce some of the sickest soccer genius in this soil. i believe that day will come in my life time. i've seen the light.
You are one of the few USA ppl who I feel has actual knowledge of international soccer and its history on this board. I don't. And I don't even think I know anyone personally who does, but maybe two do (my sister, an ex-Fulham STH and my best friend from college, a 10yr FCB STH), but they share with me on occasion, when I ask. I was just disappointed thinking your were chiming in for the US cyclical whiners about why we should win. that's all. So, my sister has a U-14 National Academy player on her hands. Her husband is a NA registered coach. They don't like what Klinesmann is doing with the farm system. They don't think our NT Coach should have that much power. They say he's disorganizing everything (vs Bradley), including the way they get funds for travel and ****. A systemic breakdown that Europe doesn't have.
You're missing my point -- we need more of our top athletes to develop a soccer skill set from a young age -- if this happens the US could become a soccer power.
But Arjen Robben can re-invent himself when he's older, relying more on skill and less on athlecism . Think Pirlo. Or in basketball, think Duncan.
to be fair,maybe athleticism could have helped us on defense. belgium was blowing by our defenders with ease, but even then defense is more about positioning and tackle ability. 18 shots on goal is terrible without time howard the usa loses by at least 6 goals.
i'm sure nobody is saying athletic ability alone will make us better. it's all about the combining the skills & athleticism. are we ever going to produce a natural soccer geniuses like brazil? i doubt it will ever happen. countries like brazil will always have 100 times more chance to produce soccer prodigy because they have 100 times more talent pool and the system. and it's their religion. soccer will never be our religion. i think it can be a mainstream someday passing baseball, but we will never worship soccer like how brazillian worship football. we have too many choices. but can we produce a better athletic product? faster version of beasley? faster and more agile dempsey? bigger and stronger bradley? why da hell not? IMO, we were inferior physically to germany and belgium. and that's a sad reality IMO.
No, I've always felt this way -- I just don't get to discuss it much. If the US an athlete like Deon Sanders develop as a soccer player from a young age instead of football/ baseball he could become that world class superstar the US lacks. Beyond the goal box the US team doesn't have that player yet.
there is a reason why yedlin stood out. he may be a lil pup, but his speed was visible. even an idiot like me can figure out that dude has a serious motor. how fast is yedlin actually? if he runs 40 dash can he run 4.3? i'm not sure. but all i know is he was visibly faster than guys like bradley.
Why don't we imagine instead a Larry Brown, Popovich, Bobby Knight or Coach K as soccer players, they all played PG in college. Brown played PG as a pro. We make a big deal about the Spurs winning the NBA, and say athleticism doesn't win, then we look at USA soccer and assume our athleticism will win. Brown, Popovich, Knight and Coach K would have been extremely great passers in soccer, had that been their sport. Or Stockton? lols. Why couldn't Larry Brown as a soccer player be as good as Klinesmann? You think Klinesmann could have made it into the NBA like Larry Brown did? I can say he could have been? We don't need Deon Sanders. Larry Brown could easily have been better than Sanders. Why couldn't Ginobody or Parker play soccer for Argentina or France?
Jeez, the argument over the last two pages is like dummies shouting at each other. Like Kam said, the argument is like clockwork every four years! Damn give it a rest.
