USWNT v. Germany

[Guest]

Talking about being lazy or the easiest cop out answer, blaming parent pressure? You think parents have anything to do with this? In this country college success comes first and is most important to 99% of these youth players who are identified early on. Do You think that Youth national players should put playing nationally before academics? Players getting identified early on get called into camps much more now then 5 years ago. Definitely more attention is placed on these young age groups then ever before. There has to be a balance in the States between academics and the National team. Just another genius know it all parent who wants States sponsored players academies for those players not academically gifted. College will always be the end game for 99% of the youth in this country. That landscape will never change.

Women's college soccer was a huge blessing but also a double-edged sword now. When there wasn't much else in the world of women's soccer, college soccer was this unique and huge training ground for 18-22-year-olds, and it produced world-class players in the early days. College soccer, for many reasons, will always be about picking the fastest and strongest players (the coach only has them for four years and it's the easiest way to win). That means the pool of "star" players for the national team is mostly fast and strong players who excelled in that system. There is very little room for players with high soccer IQs and who want to play a possession-based game but are not the fastest or strongest. Now that women's soccer is becoming popular in the rest of the world and that they are training in ways similar to the men's game with a focus on possession and a passing game, this will start to hurt us. But, nothing will change because there will not be anything that matches the attraction of college soccer for young girls (and their parents).

[Guest]

Women's college soccer was a huge blessing but also a double-edged sword now. When there wasn't much else in the world of women's soccer, college soccer was this unique and huge training ground for 18-22-year-olds, and it produced world-class players in the early days. College soccer, for many reasons, will always be about picking the fastest and strongest players (the coach only has them for four years and it's the easiest way to win). That means the pool of "star" players for the national team is mostly fast and strong players who excelled in that system. There is very little room for players with high soccer IQs and who want to play a possession-based game but are not the fastest or strongest. Now that women's soccer is becoming popular in the rest of the world and that they are training in ways similar to the men's game with a focus on possession and a passing game, this will start to hurt us. But, nothing will change because there will not be anything that matches the attraction of college soccer for young girls (and their parents).

Yesssssssss

[Guest]

Women's college soccer was a huge blessing but also a double-edged sword now. When there wasn't much else in the world of women's soccer, college soccer was this unique and huge training ground for 18-22-year-olds, and it produced world-class players in the early days. College soccer, for many reasons, will always be about picking the fastest and strongest players (the coach only has them for four years and it's the easiest way to win). That means the pool of "star" players for the national team is mostly fast and strong players who excelled in that system. There is very little room for players with high soccer IQs and who want to play a possession-based game but are not the fastest or strongest. Now that women's soccer is becoming popular in the rest of the world and that they are training in ways similar to the men's game with a focus on possession and a passing game, this will start to hurt us. But, nothing will change because there will not be anything that matches the attraction of college soccer for young girls (and their parents).

What we just saw vs Germany our USWNT is not made up of the fastest and strongest collectively.

Breakdown-
Morgan: fast, strong, Technical, IQ
smith: fast, strong, technical
Pugh- fast, IQ
Horan, Strong, technical, not fast
Lavelle, fast, technical, IQ, not strong
Dunn, technical, IQ, strong
Saudenbetg- technical, IQ, strong

new kids:
Rodman- fast and flashy
Huerta, technical, IQ
Girma, IQ, technical, strong

Players are individuals- so when you actually break down teams you realize the qualities they have and don’t. The key is making those qualities connect.

[Guest]

Women's college soccer was a huge blessing but also a double-edged sword now. When there wasn't much else in the world of women's soccer, college soccer was this unique and huge training ground for 18-22-year-olds, and it produced world-class players in the early days. College soccer, for many reasons, will always be about picking the fastest and strongest players (the coach only has them for four years and it's the easiest way to win). That means the pool of "star" players for the national team is mostly fast and strong players who excelled in that system. There is very little room for players with high soccer IQs and who want to play a possession-based game but are not the fastest or strongest. Now that women's soccer is becoming popular in the rest of the world and that they are training in ways similar to the men's game with a focus on possession and a passing game, this will start to hurt us. But, nothing will change because there will not be anything that matches the attraction of college soccer for young girls (and their parents).

nailed it

[Guest]

Women's college soccer was a huge blessing but also a double-edged sword now. When there wasn't much else in the world of women's soccer, college soccer was this unique and huge training ground for 18-22-year-olds, and it produced world-class players in the early days. College soccer, for many reasons, will always be about picking the fastest and strongest players (the coach only has them for four years and it's the easiest way to win). That means the pool of "star" players for the national team is mostly fast and strong players who excelled in that system. There is very little room for players with high soccer IQs and who want to play a possession-based game but are not the fastest or strongest. Now that women's soccer is becoming popular in the rest of the world and that they are training in ways similar to the men's game with a focus on possession and a passing game, this will start to hurt us. But, nothing will change because there will not be anything that matches the attraction of college soccer for young girls (and their parents).

College soccer is 300+ teams. the vast majority of the WNT comes from a handful of those teams. Why start at College soccer? Youth is where it starts. College soccer is about getting an education. There is very little room for ANY player who cannot meet academic requirements. Using the ACC as an example, which of these teams is winning without soccer IQ just using fast strong players? you say womens is becoming popular in the RoW. where? the USA are probably the biggest exporter of womens soccer talent in the world. you are trying way too hard to oversimplify a complicated social issue. The mens game is played many different ways, because the technical foundations are laid much earlier. Why? because there is money to be made in talent identification. young men have a very clear professional pathway from an early age. clubs pay and make decisions based on value. the biggest nation in womens soccer, the USA, is based on parents paying for access. The attraction of College soccer for families is education, not "becoming a pro" . to date, the US method has been successful at international level based on sheer volume. No country keeps this many women playing this long. it will continue to be succesful unless huge amounts of money are spent in other parts of the world and the only way that happens is if there is real demand to watch Club games and/or someone is willing to lose a lot of money betting on that happening down the road.

[Guest]

College soccer is 300+ teams. the vast majority of the WNT comes from a handful of those teams. Why start at College soccer? Youth is where it starts. College soccer is about getting an education. There is very little room for ANY player who cannot meet academic requirements. Using the ACC as an example, which of these teams is winning without soccer IQ just using fast strong players? you say womens is becoming popular in the RoW. where? the USA are probably the biggest exporter of womens soccer talent in the world. you are trying way too hard to oversimplify a complicated social issue. The mens game is played many different ways, because the technical foundations are laid much earlier. Why? because there is money to be made in talent identification. young men have a very clear professional pathway from an early age. clubs pay and make decisions based on value. the biggest nation in womens soccer, the USA, is based on parents paying for access. The attraction of College soccer for families is education, not "becoming a pro" . to date, the US method has been successful at international level based on sheer volume. No country keeps this many women playing this long. it will continue to be succesful unless huge amounts of money are spent in other parts of the world and the only way that happens is if there is real demand to watch Club games and/or someone is willing to lose a lot of money betting on that happening down the road.

wait until the next women's world cup. you'll see how fast other nations are catching up. we already had a taste of it with the last olympics. other nations have been investing in the women's game for awhile now and it's starting to pay dividends.

[Guest]

wait until the next women's world cup. you'll see how fast other nations are catching up. we already had a taste of it with the last olympics. other nations have been investing in the women's game for awhile now and it's starting to pay dividends.

It also helps that the other nations have invested in US coaches or those that have coached either in US college or pro/semi-pro programs.

[Guest]

College soccer is 300+ teams. the vast majority of the WNT comes from a handful of those teams. Why start at College soccer? Youth is where it starts. College soccer is about getting an education. There is very little room for ANY player who cannot meet academic requirements. Using the ACC as an example, which of these teams is winning without soccer IQ just using fast strong players? you say womens is becoming popular in the RoW. where? the USA are probably the biggest exporter of womens soccer talent in the world. you are trying way too hard to oversimplify a complicated social issue. The mens game is played many different ways, because the technical foundations are laid much earlier. Why? because there is money to be made in talent identification. young men have a very clear professional pathway from an early age. clubs pay and make decisions based on value. the biggest nation in womens soccer, the USA, is based on parents paying for access. The attraction of College soccer for families is education, not "becoming a pro" . to date, the US method has been successful at international level based on sheer volume. No country keeps this many women playing this long. it will continue to be succesful unless huge amounts of money are spent in other parts of the world and the only way that happens is if there is real demand to watch Club games and/or someone is willing to lose a lot of money betting on that happening down the road.

Other parts of the world get good numbers in attendance at youth and club/academy games. It is part of their culture. It is not part of US culture.

[Guest]

wait until the next women's world cup. you'll see how fast other nations are catching up. we already had a taste of it with the last olympics. other nations have been investing in the women's game for awhile now and it's starting to pay dividends.

What do you mean by other nations? the other nations are not investing in the development of young players at anything like the same rate as the USA is. Not even close. Players dont suddenly appear at international level. they have to have access to the game along the way. Outside the USA, women have no mass access to organized soccer unless they play with boys or happen to play in a country that has professional clubs. even the ones that do, have what, 10 clubs of which maybe 2 can afford to have a real youth development program. how do you explain the number of full internationals from other nations who are playing in the US College system.

the slight change in the balance of power is that enough players from other countries are now accessing soccer longer so that some nations are achieving the critical mass required to at least be competitive. Its still about volume, not investment. An average girl from the USA who plays youth soccer from 8-18 has had far more money invested in her than almost every girl from anywhere. else in the world unless, that girl from another country is a phenom at a pretty young age OR has a burning desire to play the game. The opportunity to continue to play in the USA is not totally tied to how much potential you have to be good. The education/financial based component if far bigger than the athletic piece.

Think about it this way, the biggest payoff in women's soccer in the USA is the value of the education. it pays to appear to be the best at 14-18..ie pre College. In the rest of the world, the payoff for being good was playing pro soccer for next to nothing. over time, more women from abroad have started to leverage that skill into playing over here in College. That has increased the numbers available for selection.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti_..._football_team

look at Haiti. I think they are close to qualifying for the next WC. Do you think their growth is coming from Haiti federation spending more money ? Look where the players are coming from. Haiti are an example of the type of country the USA are competing with to make the WC. The USA has such a big advantage that its hard to see them not making the last 8 of any international tournament unless they happen to be in a group with two other powers (ENG,GER,FRA,SPA,SWE) Unlikely Once it gets to single elimination, anyone can win. especially on Pks. So if your "taste" is not winning, that can happen. I think you are confusing playing style, with effectiveness. The USA are hard to beat because they are fitter, better prepared, spend way more money than any other group in the world to get every advantage they can. its possible because the USSF control who makes money.

In my opinion, other nations were never behind in terms of the quality of individual player produced. In fact they were always ahead. the USA has always been way ahead in terms of depth and still is. The only way that volume gap continues to close is of professional Clubs around the world start to spend a lot of money on development and I dont see that happening anytime soon. Federations have Zero incentive to do so. tIf the USA were so far ahead in terms of soccer, why has USA has never won the U17WC ?

[Guest]

Other parts of the world get good numbers in attendance at youth and club/academy games. It is part of their culture. It is not part of US culture.

not for women they dont most dont have them.

[Guest]

It also helps that the other nations have invested in US coaches or those that have coached either in US college or pro/semi-pro programs.

wait what? this thread is or was about women right? if not, ignore me. these comments make it seem like players appear from nowhere. the US have conditioned people to think that International soccer is the pinnacle of excellence. How so? but more importantly, why? its the only level at which anyone cares. nationalism blends with those who are really interested in the sport - all of it. without the nationalism part, not enough people across the country care. its why College soccer, another example of tribalism/nationalism pays and spends more than Professional club soccer does in the USA. That does not exist anywhere else in the world. Club soccer is the only source of players and ot access that, someone has to want to invest in you and enough others to make it competitive. the USA on the women's side up youth thru college draws in people from all over the world from player to coaches because its the only system of its kind/size in the world.It is the largest producer of players in the world by far. it was never designed to be the producer of elite quality. if you wanted to develop the kids with the most potential to excel at 20, it would not look like this. There is a reason that almost any US player of any quality at a young age goes abroad, or tries to. or has soccer in his blood from another culture.

[Guest]

These girls are too worried about everything but soccer....purple hair....we don't get paid the same as men (simple economics to answer that one)......no surprise, and no sympathy.

[Guest]

What do you mean by other nations? the other nations are not investing in the development of young players at anything like the same rate as the USA is. Not even close. Players dont suddenly appear at international level. they have to have access to the game along the way. Outside the USA, women have no mass access to organized soccer unless they play with boys or happen to play in a country that has professional clubs. even the ones that do, have what, 10 clubs of which maybe 2 can afford to have a real youth development program. how do you explain the number of full internationals from other nations who are playing in the US College system.

the slight change in the balance of power is that enough players from other countries are now accessing soccer longer so that some nations are achieving the critical mass required to at least be competitive. Its still about volume, not investment. An average girl from the USA who plays youth soccer from 8-18 has had far more money invested in her than almost every girl from anywhere. else in the world unless, that girl from another country is a phenom at a pretty young age OR has a burning desire to play the game. The opportunity to continue to play in the USA is not totally tied to how much potential you have to be good. The education/financial based component if far bigger than the athletic piece.

Think about it this way, the biggest payoff in women's soccer in the USA is the value of the education. it pays to appear to be the best at 14-18..ie pre College. In the rest of the world, the payoff for being good was playing pro soccer for next to nothing. over time, more women from abroad have started to leverage that skill into playing over here in College. That has increased the numbers available for selection.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti_..._football_team

look at Haiti. I think they are close to qualifying for the next WC. Do you think their growth is coming from Haiti federation spending more money ? Look where the players are coming from. Haiti are an example of the type of country the USA are competing with to make the WC. The USA has such a big advantage that its hard to see them not making the last 8 of any international tournament unless they happen to be in a group with two other powers (ENG,GER,FRA,SPA,SWE) Unlikely Once it gets to single elimination, anyone can win. especially on Pks. So if your "taste" is not winning, that can happen. I think you are confusing playing style, with effectiveness. The USA are hard to beat because they are fitter, better prepared, spend way more money than any other group in the world to get every advantage they can. its possible because the USSF control who makes money.

In my opinion, other nations were never behind in terms of the quality of individual player produced. In fact they were always ahead. the USA has always been way ahead in terms of depth and still is. The only way that volume gap continues to close is of professional Clubs around the world start to spend a lot of money on development and I dont see that happening anytime soon. Federations have Zero incentive to do so. tIf the USA were so far ahead in terms of soccer, why has USA has never won the U17WC ?

How about the older players striking a contract that kept younger players at bay while they got paid? Hopefully the new agreement allows talent to drive decisions and not player pay economics. What do you feel the fallout from that is currently? Why aren't there more younger players in line since the USA is doing such a great job? Can Horan even play a full 90 in todays game? She is sucking wind after 20 minutes and isn't even a prototypical middie. We need some young blood to inject some life into this group.

[Guest]

Women's college soccer was a huge blessing but also a double-edged sword now. When there wasn't much else in the world of women's soccer, college soccer was this unique and huge training ground for 18-22-year-olds, and it produced world-class players in the early days. College soccer, for many reasons, will always be about picking the fastest and strongest players (the coach only has them for four years and it's the easiest way to win). That means the pool of "star" players for the national team is mostly fast and strong players who excelled in that system. There is very little room for players with high soccer IQs and who want to play a possession-based game but are not the fastest or strongest. Now that women's soccer is becoming popular in the rest of the world and that they are training in ways similar to the men's game with a focus on possession and a passing game, this will start to hurt us. But, nothing will change because there will not be anything that matches the attraction of college soccer for young girls (and their parents).

Just another parent with a daughter who lacks speed, quickness, athleticism and has been told “not good enough”. These parents go on and on about the beauty of possession based soccer. Managers like Mourinho, Guardiola and Klopp laugh at that argument. This parent trashes those above mentioned qualities by saying they lack soccer IQ. It’ll call that BS! Your beautiful possession style can be broken down so easily with a high line of high soccer IQ players who are athletic, fast and quick. Have you seen the Women’s European championships this past summer? There was no tiki tak of small passes but rather fast action with fast players who are technically and fundamentally gifted footballers. This parent doesn’t want to recognize that athleticism, speed, quickness, smarts, physical and mental attributes are the characteristics of college players in the top 30 teams along with the top P5 conferences. Possession soccer is just one element of playing soccer as is passing over the top into open lanes. That’s what separates the winners from the losers or does that not matter to you as long as you are playing that beautiful possession style.

[Guest]

Just another parent with a daughter who lacks speed, quickness, athleticism and has been told “not good enough”. These parents go on and on about the beauty of possession based soccer. Managers like Mourinho, Guardiola and Klopp laugh at that argument. This parent trashes those above mentioned qualities by saying they lack soccer IQ. It’ll call that BS! Your beautiful possession style can be broken down so easily with a high line of high soccer IQ players who are athletic, fast and quick. Have you seen the Women’s European championships this past summer? There was no tiki tak of small passes but rather fast action with fast players who are technically and fundamentally gifted footballers. This parent doesn’t want to recognize that athleticism, speed, quickness, smarts, physical and mental attributes are the characteristics of college players in the top 30 teams along with the top P5 conferences. Possession soccer is just one element of playing soccer as is passing over the top into open lanes. That’s what separates the winners from the losers or does that not matter to you as long as you are playing that beautiful possession style.

Problem with your rant is where are all the athletic players with skill? Most have one or the other/very few have both here and the USWNT is consistent with leaning towards the athleticism and not the skill set. Can Rodman trap a ball even?