Usmnt

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Hey Croatia made a WC final with a total population of 4 million!

Iceland is even smaller but they devised a plan and executed it, did pretty well for a tiny island nation. It's about leadership and commitment. We have neither.

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I think that was the poster's point - in a nation of 335M people we should be able to cobble together a qualifying soccer team. And no it's not because the other sports are the main sports for men - it's that we SUCK at talent identification and development.

You had me at talent identification.

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You had me at talent identification.

Yes 100% and this is the result of too much dead wood in the coaching system and inefficient talent center design for a country this size. In some respects a smaller country of N. Ireland has an advantage here because they really only need a handful of talented coaches centrally operating in a country where everyone is an hour drive or less from national team practice. Think of the advantage there. Kids play together daily if they want it for years. What can we do? We have a Byzantine system with regional centers that meet up and finally 32 MLS teams with academies. But all requires jets or really long car rides just to practice with the national team.

Say you were an incredible prospect living in the Hartford area, your only options are to play in Boston or New York at a certain level. that’s really not practical for most people, so really our national pool of players is probably picked from a handful of regional centers across the United States. So technically we probably do not have access to 350 million people to make a winning soccer team. Maybe we only ourselves have a few million people as options and within that have poor coaching with a lack of championship experience.

For what it’s worth I thought the senior team did OK, but I was thinking we had a much deeper roster as a whole then what the under 23 team showed yesterday.

[Unregistered]

Yes 100% and this is the result of too much dead wood in the coaching system and inefficient talent center design for a country this size. In some respects a smaller country of N. Ireland has an advantage here because they really only need a handful of talented coaches centrally operating in a country where everyone is an hour drive or less from national team practice. Think of the advantage there. Kids play together daily if they want it for years. What can we do? We have a Byzantine system with regional centers that meet up and finally 32 MLS teams with academies. But all requires jets or really long car rides just to practice with the national team.

Say you were an incredible prospect living in the Hartford area, your only options are to play in Boston or New York at a certain level. that’s really not practical for most people, so really our national pool of players is probably picked from a handful of regional centers across the United States. So technically we probably do not have access to 350 million people to make a winning soccer team. Maybe we only ourselves have a few million people as options and within that have poor coaching with a lack of championship experience.

For what it’s worth I thought the senior team did OK, but I was thinking we had a much deeper roster as a whole then what the under 23 team showed yesterday.

Yeah senior team did ok against a place less almost twice as small as CT. Perhaps we should give get a t am together of OW and BS players .... They are academy and we are far larger than N. Ireland. We should kill them.

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Until our top male athletes choose to play soccer our results will always be the same.

Our best female athletes play soccer and basketball thus america is number 1 in both.

[Unregistered]

Until our top male athletes choose to play soccer our results will always be the same.

Our best female athletes play soccer and basketball thus america is number 1 in both.

In your expert opinion, who are the 10 “top male athletes” in the US right now in all pro sports?

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Until our top male athletes choose to play soccer our results will always be the same.

Our best female athletes play soccer and basketball thus america is number 1 in both.

Bullshyte. We have an abundance of athletes in a country this size. You don't need the "top" athletes (whatever that even means) to field a skilled team that can compete internationally. It's about identification and development and the US can't do either. Many of the younger players who "make it" are dual passport players, had a skilled parent/coach like Pullisic. They're not coming through "the system." The first goal scored by Honduras the other day was a US born player.

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Bullshyte. We have an abundance of athletes in a country this size. You don't need the "top" athletes (whatever that even means) to field a skilled team that can compete internationally. It's about identification and development and the US can't do either. Many of the younger players who "make it" are dual passport players, had a skilled parent/coach like Pullisic. They're not coming through "the system." The first goal scored by Honduras the other day was a US born player.

I would even leave development off. Those types of players are driven and are different .... They just need to be refined and allowed to play with the other players like them. These types of players have what others don't and it can't be seen by doing technical drills on cones and getting timings in the 40 or 100 yard dashes. They have different vision, smarts, heart, creativity ..... They have more tools than the guys we are putting stock into now but they can't always be easily quantified. The success of US Born players on other teams is frustrating.

[Unregistered]

Bullshyte. We have an abundance of athletes in a country this size. You don't need the "top" athletes (whatever that even means) to field a skilled team that can compete internationally. It's about identification and development and the US can't do either. Many of the younger players who "make it" are dual passport players, had a skilled parent/coach like Pullisic. They're not coming through "the system." The first goal scored by Honduras the other day was a US born player.

Weston McKennie. Bryan Reynolds. Chris Richards. Brendan Aaronson. Reggie Cannon. Tyler Adams. Josh Sargent. Matt Miazga. Zach Steffen. All came through the system without assistance you stated.

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Weston McKennie. Bryan Reynolds. Chris Richards. Brendan Aaronson. Reggie Cannon. Tyler Adams. Josh Sargent. Matt Miazga. Zach Steffen. All came through the system without assistance you stated.

Wowzy. How many are HOFers or will even be on the senior team if we qualify for next WC? A small handful of players barely making the international pro seen after 12 years. Their work is done. Am betting most (if not all) of these players have had tons of training out if pocket outside of DA.

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In your expert opinion, who are the 10 “top male athletes” in the US right now in all pro sports?

top 5 play pro football

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top 5 play pro football

Hmmm, "pro" football about 100x the size of all US-based pro leagues combined, but "top male athlete" requires some qualification. What is this based on? 40-yard time, 100? Time in 1600, half marathon? How much you can bench? Squat? Deadlift? Vertical? Beep test? Agility tests included? Time in the 50 or 100m butterfly? Freestyle? What about a floor routine?

Soccer players are certainly athletic, but they are developed entirely to the physical demands of their sport and have zero upper body strength compared to pros in other sports (or even little girls for that matter! :)). "Athletic" certainly means more than just soccer. Would bet, you would have some cornerbacks, running backs, and receivers as well as some hockey players, an occasional baseball player that is a freak, some point guards for sure .... that would be in that running. Then there are the track and field folks. Swimmers are crazy athletic (in the water). Gymnasts? Freaks with strength above and below the waste and unbelievable balance and grace. Ballet dancers? I dont know if you can just make a blanket statement that top 5 most athletic males are soccer players. Why dont you define the criteria for this first.

[Unregistered]

Hmmm, "pro" football about 100x the size of all US-based pro leagues combined, but "top male athlete" requires some qualification. What is this based on? 40-yard time, 100? Time in 1600, half marathon? How much you can bench? Squat? Deadlift? Vertical? Beep test? Agility tests included? Time in the 50 or 100m butterfly? Freestyle? What about a floor routine?

Soccer players are certainly athletic, but they are developed entirely to the physical demands of their sport and have zero upper body strength compared to pros in other sports (or even little girls for that matter! :)). "Athletic" certainly means more than just soccer. Would bet, you would have some cornerbacks, running backs, and receivers as well as some hockey players, an occasional baseball player that is a freak, some point guards for sure .... that would be in that running. Then there are the track and field folks. Swimmers are crazy athletic (in the water). Gymnasts? Freaks with strength above and below the waste and unbelievable balance and grace. Ballet dancers? I dont know if you can just make a blanket statement that top 5 most athletic males are soccer players. Why dont you define the criteria for this first.

Perhaps if we just throw in decathletes as the measuring stick, how may folks in the world could compete in each realm that those people have to compete in?

[Unregistered]

Hmmm, "pro" football about 100x the size of all US-based pro leagues combined, but "top male athlete" requires some qualification. What is this based on? 40-yard time, 100? Time in 1600, half marathon? How much you can bench? Squat? Deadlift? Vertical? Beep test? Agility tests included? Time in the 50 or 100m butterfly? Freestyle? What about a floor routine?

Soccer players are certainly athletic, but they are developed entirely to the physical demands of their sport and have zero upper body strength compared to pros in other sports (or even little girls for that matter! :)). "Athletic" certainly means more than just soccer. Would bet, you would have some cornerbacks, running backs, and receivers as well as some hockey players, an occasional baseball player that is a freak, some point guards for sure .... that would be in that running. Then there are the track and field folks. Swimmers are crazy athletic (in the water). Gymnasts? Freaks with strength above and below the waste and unbelievable balance and grace. Ballet dancers? I dont know if you can just make a blanket statement that top 5 most athletic males are soccer players. Why dont you define the criteria for this first.

This is just dumb. “ and have zero upper body strength compared to pros in other sports (or even little girls for that matter! )”.

[Unregistered]

Wowzy. How many are HOFers or will even be on the senior team if we qualify for next WC? A small handful of players barely making the international pro seen after 12 years. Their work is done. Am betting most (if not all) of these players have had tons of training out if pocket outside of DA.

Actually all of these are academy products playing on the Senior team. They are now playing in Europe for Series A, EPL, Budesliga, the Erdevsie, etc. of the list will be on the WC team (Adams, McKennie, Steffen, Sargent, Cannon, Richards). Adams and McKennie are two of the best in the US pool and candidates for captain. All the players listed are under 25 years old

Thanks go for your input