This Soccer Thing Would be Easy for Real American Athletes - Right?

[Unregistered]

5'8 guys do have advantages on the soccer field like they do on the football field.

The best 5'8 athletes in the US end up playing running back or corner back on Friday nights.

I would agree. They play on Friday nights but not usually Saturday or Sunday.

[Unregistered]

You seem to be missing the point that the definitions of the best athlete are different for each sport. Just because an athlete is big, strong, and fast in another sport that requires every down collision or the use of their hands doesn't mean they have the ability to learn to use their feet like the best in the world. Athletic ability isn't something that can be applied universally to the highest levels of any sport.

More importantly, why do you assume the best athletes here in the US are any better than the best athletes from the rest of the world? Are the humans here different than the humans there?

The reality is future team that could 'dominate' the rest of the world would look very similar in size and athletic ability as the best club teams in the world today.

That would be an effective comparison. What were the sizes of the final two teams in world cup? Height and weight?

[Unregistered]

. . . and you are missing mine - what the "best athlete" means varies by sport and position.

Spain is crazy about soccer; yet they also find ways to produce lots of great Tennis Players (they have won more Davis Cup in the last 10-yrs than world cups). Because they excel at Tennis, doesn't mean they can't also excel at soccer.

But in this country, the athlete excuse seems to (i) excuse our lack of men's soccer success despite large numbers of participants and (ii) lead to misguided proscriptions that we need to act and train more like football/basketball to be successful.

In the last 6-months, 2 different youth teams from socal have had substantial success on the global stage (one recently beat FC Barcelona's top team). They aren't doing it by trying to recruit the best American football players or emulate how you develop them.

When you say lots of great tennis player, how many are we talking about?

We produce lots of professional players in every sport.

How many athletes did Spain lose to football, basketball, baseball, and track.

The team that you are talking about are not able to recruit the best American football players because realistically none of them would switch to soccer. If they could get these athletes at a young age they would. Let’s at least be real.

[Unregistered]

Had a superior athlete like Chad played & concentrated on soccer since young, he’d be amazing. The argument isn’t that better natural athletes are automatically better than soccer players. The argument is that if two players both train all their lives in soccer, the better athlete will end up the better player in almost all cases. The vast majority of our best male athletes DONT play soccer from a young age like in other countries because our best male athletes overwhelmingly choose other sports. Until soccer is the first choice of more of our best young natural athletes, we won’t be able to compete well internationally. Just the way it is. Denying it is folly.

[Unregistered]

Had a superior athlete like Chad played & concentrated on soccer since young, he’d be amazing.

Lol. That's not obvious at all. he'd probably be just as bad as our other highly athletic kids.

You need to wrestle with two possibilities:

1) The way we select and train soccer players is the problem.

2) You might not know what you're talking about.

Or, said another way, t's on you to explain why the best defensive center midfielder in the world looks like an underfed accountant while we're over here pining for better athletes.

[Unregistered]

Had a superior athlete like Chad played & concentrated on soccer since young, he’d be amazing. The argument isn’t that better natural athletes are automatically better than soccer players. The argument is that if two players both train all their lives in soccer, the better athlete will end up the better player in almost all cases. The vast majority of our best male athletes DONT play soccer from a young age like in other countries because our best male athletes overwhelmingly choose other sports. Until soccer is the first choice of more of our best young natural athletes, we won’t be able to compete well internationally. Just the way it is. Denying it is folly.

Thanks Captain Obvious! All else being equal, the better athlete will be the better soccer player, obviously!

[Unregistered]

Thanks Captain Obvious! All else being equal, the better athlete will be the better soccer player, obviously!

Apparently it it not obvious to everyone if you read the previous post.

He is stuck on finding a 5’8 slow kid to prove his point

[Unregistered]

Pele 5'8"
Maradona 5'5"
Puskas 5'8"
Messi 5'7"
Silva 5'8"
Alba 5'7"
Aquero 5'8"
Hazard 5'8"
Xavi 5'7"
Iniesta 5'7"
Ribery 5'7"
Countinho 5'8"
Sterling 5'7"

[Unregistered]

We have plenty of athletes who can become great soccer players. But without a soccer culture, most will gravitate to other sports. Without reducing the cost we will always lose more. Without better talent identification and development we won't nurture them into better players.

[Unregistered]

Ochocinco's twitter feed is single-handily destroying "if only we had the best athletes" argument:

"I really suck at soccer w/ the ball at feet, it’s extremely frustrating my footwork refuses to translate to the soccer field, watching Neymar on YouTube & trying emulate what i see against my kids hasn’t helped one ****ing bit, what’s the point of being fast w/ no skill😢"

[Unregistered]

Lol. That's not obvious at all. he'd probably be just as bad as our other highly athletic kids.

You need to wrestle with two possibilities:

1) The way we select and train soccer players is the problem.

2) You might not know what you're talking about.

Or, said another way, t's on you to explain why the best defensive center midfielder in the world looks like an underfed accountant while we're over here pining for better athletes.

Most of the civilized countries in Europe and South America live, eat and sleep for Mens football.

Hundreds of Millions in the States don't even consider it a sport.

Solve this current reality and we have a chance.

Not too much drawing studs to a sport that pays less than 6 figures to be a 'pro' in the MLS.
https://www.socceramerica.com/public...ment-team.html

NBA, NFL and MLB pay millions to America's best players/athletes.

Good Luck.

[Unregistered]

We have plenty of athletes who can become great soccer players. But without a soccer culture, most will gravitate to other sports. Without reducing the cost we will always lose more. Without better talent identification and development we won't nurture them into better players.

It is less of a cost issue, and more of a culture.

How many people pay attention to the MLS Cup? ***??

Superbowl, College Football Playoffs, College Bowls, NBA, March Madness

Even HS Football gets more coverage than the Portland Timbers.

[Unregistered]

Most of the civilized countries in Europe and South America live, eat and sleep for Mens football.

Hundreds of Millions in the States don't even consider it a sport.

Solve this current reality and we have a chance.

Not too much drawing studs to a sport that pays less than 6 figures to be a 'pro' in the MLS.
https://www.socceramerica.com/public...ment-team.html

NBA, NFL and MLB pay millions to America's best players/athletes.

Good Luck.

The culture will change once high school girls start packing the stadium for soccer games.

No one goes to boys HS or club soccer games.

[Unregistered]

Pele 5'8"
Maradona 5'5"
Puskas 5'8"
Messi 5'7"
Silva 5'8"
Alba 5'7"
Aquero 5'8"
Hazard 5'8"
Xavi 5'7"
Iniesta 5'7"
Ribery 5'7"
Countinho 5'8"
Sterling 5'7"

#1 Athlete in world--all sports is.
over 6 feet and plays Soccer..next
https://www.espn.com/espn/feature/st...king-athletes#

[Unregistered]

The culture will change once high school girls start packing the stadium for soccer games.

No one goes to girls or boys HS or club soccer games.

Girls soccer is the key....lol