Assess the USA soccer situation here

Seriously, hondo, if you're going to try to make the argument that football players are more physically fit and more athletic than football players as a whole, you've got an uphill battle.

 

Agreed, Shotty. Soccer is not exactly my cup o' tea; I'll watch it on occasion, and I've covered it plenty of times. But damned if those guys aren't in far better shape than most football players.

 

Why is it that when you make the same damn argument that I do, Crass doesn't jump down your throat about it?

I posted the same damn thing three pages ago. Crass, do you think it's coincidence that the two players sent off against Italy were MLS players? I've got to think that playing in MLS didn't prepare them for that type of pressure and situation. The players have to be smart enough to realize you don't make challenges like they did (A) 70 yards from goal and (B) when carrying a yellow card.

There was only one European-based player (other than the two backup keepers) who didn't see the pitch at all during the cup - Gregg Berhalter, who was an injury replacement anyway. Albright, Ching and Wolff were the other three, all MLS-ers.

The soccer academy approach is starting to gain momentum. Both Donovan and Beasley were products of the Bradenton Academy, and Brad Friedel is starting up his own academy near his hometown in Ohio.

Crass, while your statements that the Belgian and Scottish leagues are crap may be true, the fact also remains that those clubs are also eligible for European championships. That alone should be enough to convince you that playing in those leagues (year round in a soccer-heavy atmosphere) would make them far and away superior to MLS.

Your loyalty to MLS (and to your pathetic Red Bulls) is admirable, if not misguided. I think if you objectively looked at it and compared it to some of the second and third-division leagues in Europe, you'd find it's got a long, LONG way to go.

Oh, and for the preservation of MLS - they need a rule banning the introduction of any foreign players over the age of 32. Let's not fall back into the same trap the NASL did, shall we? Older players entering the twilight of their career won't help that league.

 

It's the incriminating photos and the leverage that comes with.

 

Sure, Zizz.
And all those Portugal players who were sent off today -- Deco, Costinha, etc. -- they all play in MLS, too. Don't they?

 

"Near post" Meola? Wow. Etched foever in my memory are the goals he allowed in 1994 against romania and Brazil, both getting by him easily, then Meola making this stupid mid-air twist of his body to act like he made an effort. Ugh. Dude had no business starting in 1994, but he had a ponytail and was thus marketable for the home team.

As for the rest, I would replace Dooley with harkes. A conversation I have had with people lately is: how many guys from that 1994 team (the one with the TV "analysts" running so much smack right now about Arena, when they had nothing to say in 2002) would start for today's team? Harkes, Ramos. Maybe Balboa (he was a force on offense), probably Wynalda. Joe-Max Moore? Caligiuri?

 

As much heat as the MLS takes, the BEST player the US had all tournament was from the MLS. Clint Dempsey.

I read that slate piece about why the US team sucked ... because all the players were from the MLS. well, that's a crock of shit. i wish the writer had put his email on there, i would have reminded him ... ummm, who took the 2002 us team to the quarters? it was a bunch of MLS kids. i know, i know, everyone underestimated the US, and that's why ... whatever.

the MLS argument is BULLSHIT. YES, i agree some players should try europe.

but my reasons for the us disappointment:

- ill-prepared for the opener, which set the tone for the Cup
- absolutely dreadful friendlies leading up to the Cup
- lack of playmaking MF (had in 2002 from O'Brien)
- lack of a central defender who couldn't play without fouling (thought Sanneah was better than Gooch)
- lack of a speeding scoring threat up front (was it just me, or did donovan push forward more last cup?)

the US had less than a dozen shots on goal (i think). that's just fucking terrible.

 

Here's an interesting take from a football coaching guru:

"As long as we're passing around blame for the US' quick exit from the World Cup (presented by adidas), I'd like to nominate US soccer parents.

I'd like to assemble them somewhere and, before breaking out the Chardonnay and passing around the trays of cheese, I'd like to say a few words...

You've had first shot at all our kids, from the time they were three or four, since soccer was the only game they could play. You bought them little uniforms with little satin shorts and you made sure everybody got a trophy just for showing up.

As you got them involved in more and more leagues, you made soccer the focus of the entire family's life, and you boasted when they were selected to play on an "elite travel team." From that point, it was a different tournament every weekend for their teams, named "FC-Something or Other," like a little bunch of faux Europeans.

You decided early on that their futures were going to be in soccer, and you preferred to shelter them from the pain and testosterone of football, so at a very young age, they dropped out of all the other sports.

You raised funds and brought over Brits to coach your little tykes. You pressured the local politicians to build more soccer fields, and grudgingly allowed the less well-funded and less politically-connected youth football programs to play on those fields - when you weren't using them. You whined to the local newspapers when you considered their coverage of youth soccer to be less than that of other sports, and you bitched to the high school AD until he let you use the football stadium for your games - and then maybe a hundred or so of you showed up. When a club soccer tournament conflicted with a school game, though, your kids' first obligation was to their club.

You made yourselves obnoxious in your pursuit of your little boys' careers, and after all that...

Our best just got their asses kicked by Ghana, a country with fewer people than California, and a standard of living lower than Mexico's.

I somehow doubt that as kids those Ghanaians were driven by mommy and daddy to a different tournament every weekend from the time they were four. In fact, I suspect that if they'd grown up in America, those Ghanaian kids would probably have chosen to play football. (Emphasis on "chosen.")

So I say this to you, soccer mommies and daddies of America... you've failed miserably. The whole world saw that today.

Now go to time out. "

 

- the nation's premier pro soccer league is a shadow of its international contempories.

Soccer insiders, what are we talking about here? Roughly similar to England's First Division? Worse?

sp, every soccer parent should be forced to read that. Multiple times. Excellent.

 

There's no question the Euro leagues are farrrrrrrr superoir to the MLS. Nobody is arguing that. BUT, a team of MOSTLY MLS players reached the quarterfinals in 2002.

So the MLS argument is a bit down the list in terms of what went wrong.

 

A_F, the lack of a first-class pro league in this country HAS LED to the other shortcomings. They go hand in hand. And 2002 was an overachievement, as 2006 has shown.