Whats wrong with the US Men's National Program?

[Unregistered]

The answer

Still crap. Soccer requires people that actually care about it. Field, goals, etc. are just extras. Brazil didn't start with that fanciest facilities, and still don't have them. Look around the world.

Look at basketball in the US. Street Ball.

Money is not needed to build soccer in the US. Problem is bigger than that

1. Not inclusive enough with the current model

2. Development is backwards with 90% of focus on team development and result oriented vs individual development and results mean little.

3. Parent culture of entitlement. No responsibility or accountability. Parents who think they know what's best or know more than people who do this for a living.

4. High school and college are not proper development models and continue to be erosive to development best practices.

5. Poor coaches with focus on possession/ 11v11 tactics at u10 when needs to develop the individual should weigh in more yet it will not produce wins along with leagues who don't follow best practices along with mentality of athleticism is better than skill. This isn't American football and height and weight matter little when the best player in the world is 5'7 and 150 lbs.

6.

[Unregistered]

1. Not inclusive enough with the current model

2. Development is backwards with 90% of focus on team development and result oriented vs individual development and results mean little.

3. Parent culture of entitlement. No responsibility or accountability. Parents who think they know what's best or know more than people who do this for a living.

4. High school and college are not proper development models and continue to be erosive to development best practices.

5. Poor coaches with focus on possession/ 11v11 tactics at u10 when needs to develop the individual should weigh in more yet it will not produce wins along with leagues who don't follow best practices along with mentality of athleticism is better than skill. This isn't American football and height and weight matter little when the best player in the world is 5'7 and 150 lbs.

6.

I strongly agree with your point 6.

[Unregistered]

1. Not inclusive enough with the current model

2. Development is backwards with 90% of focus on team development and result oriented vs individual development and results mean little.

3. Parent culture of entitlement. No responsibility or accountability. Parents who think they know what's best or know more than people who do this for a living.

4. High school and college are not proper development models and continue to be erosive to development best practices.

5. Poor coaches with focus on possession/ 11v11 tactics at u10 when needs to develop the individual should weigh in more yet it will not produce wins along with leagues who don't follow best practices along with mentality of athleticism is better than skill. This isn't American football and height and weight matter little when the best player in the world is 5'7 and 150 lbs.

Good stuff, all spot on.

This stupid myth about how all of our NBA and NFL players would rule the soccer world if they wanted to, is the most idiotic theory ever. I don't imagine a team full of Emile Heskey's and Peter Crouch's would scare anyone.

It's about our crap youth system making meaningless trophies at U14 the end product, rather than real players.

[Unregistered]

Good stuff, all spot on.

This stupid myth about how all of our NBA and NFL players would rule the soccer world if they wanted to, is the most idiotic theory ever. I don't imagine a team full of Emile Heskey's and Peter Crouch's would scare anyone.

It's about our crap youth system making meaningless trophies at U14 the end product, rather than real players.

Your last sentence couldn't be more correct. But don't push the parents too hard, this is probably blowing their minds...imagine if someone told them it isn't the development that makes the players at the big clubs, it's winning while sacrificing development and recruting parents and families each year to replace the poorly developed.

[Unregistered]

Good stuff, all spot on.

This stupid myth about how all of our NBA and NFL players would rule the soccer world if they wanted to, is the most idiotic theory ever. I don't imagine a team full of Emile Heskey's and Peter Crouch's would scare anyone.

It's about our crap youth system making meaningless trophies at U14 the end product, rather than real players.

No No No. The truth is, and this may scare a lot of coaches and DOC's, is that everyone wants to and feels entitled to earn a living off of youth soccer. The best players in this country pay the most money while the recreational players pay next to nothing. You have professional teams profiting off of the children (whether you choose to believe it or not). Soccer is a business in the U.S. at every level. Do these people who are profiting off of youth soccer truly care how strong our national team is? Seems like a catch 22. The stronger our National team becomes the smaller the paycheck these people collect ;)

[Unregistered]

Most stud athletes play football and basketball. It's pretty clear at high school level.

Not really true. Sometimes true, most of the time the football and basketball players would suck at soccer.

More kids play soccer than any other US sports. Many top soccer players stick with soccer these days.

Someone else said it. The US has more stud athlete soccer players than most countries do. There's more to it.

But let's not forget, it's not like the US is failing. It's a top 10 in the world. It just so happens that the entire rest of the world puts soccer on a pedestal. They put all their money and effort into soccer success. They don't put that kind of money and resources into other sports because they don't care.

Regarding womens soccer, I'm glad the US is #1. But that also makes sense because other countries do not care about womens soccer. They put ALL there money and resources to the men. It's just like WNBA here. Nobody cares.

[Unregistered]

Simple

Soccer is not sport of the people in the USA.

Did you ever wonder why do so many foreign rejects come to the USA to coach Soccer and get high level youth jobs and 100K salaries? Nobody of any consequence gives a rip about coaching/teaching here in youth Soccer. These ex-pats can't make it their home country as professional coaches, but in the states they are in high demand by a populous that could care less and know even less about the game. They must know more than us ignorant yanks.

All the countries that compete in the final stages of the World Cup title every 4 years, guess what they have only one sports god to follow in their homeland, called Football (and it's not the american version).

In conclusion the state of the American game is best evidenced by a finger wag from the Bayern Munich coach to the sad puppy neophyte coach of the MLS all-stars last night in Portland when it came time for the customary post game hand shake. We have no system of play, no players of distinction, no high level league, no mass following of the sport. Basically we get treated like the foolish child in the playground and dismissed by those who can play. We get no respect.

Thanks Pep! for letting us know what 'the world' thinks of American Soccer.

[Unregistered]

Don't agree

I think that's bogus. When you see countries with small populations doing well then a country as large as ours doesn't have an excuse. If you look at the number of young people playing soccer in this country, and I mean playing serious soccer, I bet we have a larger population to choose top players from than many small countries (who outperform us). Personally, I think it's a deeper issue for the US. We have plenty of players in this country who are good enough athletes to play with international players.

I agree that smaller countries do better than us with fewer numbers of kids. But within those numbers you have that countries best athletes. I apologize for saying this even before it is stated. In the US you are getting largely 3rd and 4th tier athletes going out for soccer past 6th grade. You can argue this till you are blue in the face and if I had a son I would argue it probably as well.
To back my claim up all you have to do is look at 2 things. Landon Donovan athletically for one. He would not make a Community College team in any of our countries traditional sports. Secondly our womens national team. They train in largely the same way as our men's side from youth on up. Difference being our better women athletes play soccer.

[Unregistered]

5'2 Super Athletes like Messi, Maradonna and Goetze?

I agree that smaller countries do better than us with fewer numbers of kids. But within those numbers you have that countries best athletes. I apologize for saying this even before it is stated. In the US you are getting largely 3rd and 4th tier athletes going out for soccer past 6th grade. You can argue this till you are blue in the face and if I had a son I would argue it probably as well.
To back my claim up all you have to do is look at 2 things. Landon Donovan athletically for one. He would not make a Community College team in any of our countries traditional sports. Secondly our womens national team. They train in largely the same way as our men's side from youth on up. Difference being our better women athletes play soccer.

You have got to be kidding me, this is just the most ridiculous idea ever, how does it continue to persist? It is just flat out wrong.

1) Soccer is an entirely different sport than any of the domestic sports that are supposedly taking top athletes and potential soccer stars away, athletically speaking soccer is fishing in a different gene pool.

You want to use Landon Donovan to somehow prove your point, when in fact it refutes it. The greatest American field player ever is not a super athlete that escaped the NBA/NFL/MLB, that is the point, it is a sport for little dudes and has more to do with skills than athletics. Marvell Wynn is a super athlete and son of a super athlete and is a crap player on a national level, with the first touch of a rapist.

Look at the corollary to your argument, where are these potentially great NFL/MLB/NBA super athletes from Europe that chose soccer instead? There are like 3 current top players that are athletic enough to make a community college team in any of our traditional sports FFS. Lukaku, Bale and Ronaldo, although Ronaldo is such a pansy he wouldn't last a day.

If the Netherlands, which only has 14 million citizens total loved the NFL/NBA/MLB it probably wouldn't have taken a single great soccer player away, here is a list of just their crap athletes who could not play for our community college football teams, but are somehow world class soccer players: Cruyff, Snjeider, Bergkamp, Robben, Van Persie, Both Blinds, DeBoer, Koemans, Seedorf, Van Der Vart, Van Nistelrooy, Neeskans, Maher, Classie, Depay, Affelay, I could go on forever.

I can only think of like three dudes that might have been good enough pure athletes to make a case for; Van Basten, Edgar Davids and Ruud Gullit, maybe.

2) The kids ARE playing soccer! We have 3 million registered youth players, 1.5 million of them male, annually. The problem is they never learn how to play. They spend all of their time, effort and money competing.

So at the end of the day we are left with a bunch of second tier athletes that only know kick and chase, because those with true potential can't play jungle ball and no one ever bothered to train them properly, because that does not result in a shiny trophy.

3) The Womens team - OVER-RATED! Bunch of first class athletes, you are right about that. They were only ever any good because no other country that actually understands soccer gave a crap. Other countries are catching up now (we have not won the world cup since 99), and the last WC final proves the point that you don't want super athletes in order to play the game the way it is meant to be played, when a bunch of tiny Japanese girls, who would never make it at any of our tryouts, played beautiful football and left our super athletes running around looking like clowns.

tl;dr version: Train soccer players, don't recruit athletes.

[Unregistered]

I think that's bogus. When you see countries with small populations doing well then a country as large as ours doesn't have an excuse. If you look at the number of young people playing soccer in this country, and I mean playing serious soccer, I bet we have a larger population to choose top players from than many small countries (who outperform us). Personally, I think it's a deeper issue for the US. We have plenty of players in this country who are good enough athletes to play with international players.

Its not bogus... think about some of our best athletes: Kobe, Lebron, westbrook, rose, adrian petersen, sherman, Petersen, the list goes on and on, if all of them grew up only playing soccer think about the freak athletes we would have playing on the national team. In other countries those freak athletes are playing soccer.

[Unregistered]

Who?

Its not bogus... think about some of our best athletes: Kobe, Lebron, westbrook, rose, adrian petersen, sherman, Petersen, the list goes on and on, if all of them grew up only playing soccer think about the freak athletes we would have playing on the national team. In other countries those freak athletes are playing soccer.

Name them. Give me your list of freak athletes from other countries that mirror 6'5 230 pound dudes that run real fast...

Do you know the names of any world class players outside of Messi and Ronaldo?

[Unregistered]

?

You have got to be kidding me, this is just the most ridiculous idea ever, how does it continue to persist? It is just flat out wrong.

1) Soccer is an entirely different sport than any of the domestic sports that are supposedly taking top athletes and potential soccer stars away, athletically speaking soccer is fishing in a different gene pool.

You want to use Landon Donovan to somehow prove your point, when in fact it refutes it. The greatest American field player ever is not a super athlete that escaped the NBA/NFL/MLB, that is the point, it is a sport for little dudes and has more to do with skills than athletics. Marvell Wynn is a super athlete and son of a super athlete and is a crap player on a national level, with the first touch of a rapist.

Look at the corollary to your argument, where are these potentially great NFL/MLB/NBA super athletes from Europe that chose soccer instead? There are like 3 current top players that are athletic enough to make a community college team in any of our traditional sports FFS. Lukaku, Bale and Ronaldo, although Ronaldo is such a pansy he wouldn't last a day.

If the Netherlands, which only has 14 million citizens total loved the NFL/NBA/MLB it probably wouldn't have taken a single great soccer player away, here is a list of just their crap athletes who could not play for our community college football teams, but are somehow world class soccer players: Cruyff, Snjeider, Bergkamp, Robben, Van Persie, Both Blinds, DeBoer, Koemans, Seedorf, Van Der Vart, Van Nistelrooy, Neeskans, Maher, Classie, Depay, Affelay, I could go on forever.

I can only think of like three dudes that might have been good enough pure athletes to make a case for; Van Basten, Edgar Davids and Ruud Gullit, maybe.

2) The kids ARE playing soccer! We have 3 million registered youth players, 1.5 million of them male, annually. The problem is they never learn how to play. They spend all of their time, effort and money competing.

So at the end of the day we are left with a bunch of second tier athletes that only know kick and chase, because those with true potential can't play jungle ball and no one ever bothered to train them properly, because that does not result in a shiny trophy.

3) The Womens team - OVER-RATED! Bunch of first class athletes, you are right about that. They were only ever any good because no other country that actually understands soccer gave a crap. Other countries are catching up now (we have not won the world cup since 99), and the last WC final proves the point that you don't want super athletes in order to play the game the way it is meant to be played, when a bunch of tiny Japanese girls, who would never make it at any of our tryouts, played beautiful football and left our super athletes running around looking like clowns.

tl;dr version: Train soccer players, don't recruit athletes.

Yea you are correct... Big, extremely fast and strong would never work on a soccer field. And last time I checked playing in a World Cup final like our Womens team did is still pretty good. Sorry again if I touched a nerve. Just trying to point out what should be pretty clear observations. I will try and ignore the obvious in the future.

[Unregistered]

?

Name them. Give me your list of freak athletes from other countries that mirror 6'5 230 pound dudes that run real fast...

Do you know the names of any world class players outside of Messi and Ronaldo?

Our athletes that would help on the soccer field wouldn't be ogre's. They would be the wide receiver types and point guard body styles. Those top athletes are not even thinking about soccer at this point. Ronaldo is a pretty big dude. If he grew up in the US he wouldn't have chosen soccer as his sport.

I would classify Ronaldo as a big fast physical player.

[Unregistered]

After talking with Arjen robben last night he said he would have played professional basketball if he were born in the u.s. Guess he was a pretty good point guard and many professional teams wanted him both in the U.S. And all over Europe.

[Unregistered]

Simple fix

The NCAA is the WNT's farm system and the goal of college keeps girls in the system after they have been identified at the youth level. I DK the exact numbers but have read that there are literally TWICE as many scholarships for girls than boys.

What all too many people fail to fully understand is that 80% of our population can't afford pay to play premier soccer therefore 79% of our best kids are not brought into the system. Yes a hand full of exceptional athletes will get "spotted" and sponsored but that is a HANDFULL compared to HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS excluded/locked out.

Without a coordinated effort buy US Soccer organizations including the MLS to provide need based financial assistance there is no way to bring a true cross section of our athletes to the game.

A realistic and doable fix for the men would be to increase the scholarship count to 14 like the girls which would draw more of our better athletes away from basketball and football EARLIER in their athletic careers. Yes that takes money too but if FCS football can survive on donations so can soccer programs! For example the MLS could support a pool of funds distributed equally across NCAA D1 & D2 programs to fund the expansion.