watching this angers me, HOW DO YOU NOT SEE THE OPEN CLINT?! you know hes beside you in that formation
I'm sure he saw him, but he didn't need to pass it. He had a clean shot that he should've took, did take, and BONKED. Although they said it wouldn't have counted, but still - that's the difference between winning and losing, right there.
Stockton is a great example -- he could have been a very good mid-fielder. For the type of offensive we were playing today we needed a lot more skill and speed up front and it just wasn't there.
But why is Stockton a better example than Larry Brown? Because Stockton could shoot a ball better than Larry Brown? See where I'm going with this. If we build a farm system that Europe has, but the NCAA won't let us build, then the lessor knowns of the US pro sports like Larry Brown, Popovich, Knight and Coach K who were extraordinarily dedicated athletes and great passers would probably be the ones who rise to the surface. not AI and Deon Sanders. How many players with Deon and AI speed make a big difference in World soccer.
I am not giving credit where it is due...I read this on here and it rings true. It is not necessarily the LeBron's, the Sanders (Barry and Deion) that the US game is missing. It's probably some undersized Division II linebacker who with the proper development could maybe give Ronaldo/Messi a run for their money. I am not saying the USA would dominate soccer if it were our #1 sport and nothing else was close....but I think we would be more competitive. And since we are already making strides....maybe we would have a shot at the whole enchilada.
You make good points HP -- as for Larry Brown that is too far back for me to make a comment on his ability to play soccer. From my experience having a skilled, fast striker on the opposing team changes the way you have to play defense against that team. Robben absolutely changes the game with his elite speed and skill. The US has athletes that could become as good we just need to get them into soccer at a young age. For the type of offense the US runs (lots of long balls and through balls to space) you need that type of speed and skill to attack once you run the ball down and we just don't have it. Unless we develop a more skilled mid-field to bring the ball up under control we will continue to have to run that type of offense.
I wonder why people are denying that at the very least we have a chance of fielding a better squad if we had a larger pool of talent. Nobody here is being a sore loser, we are just pointing out the horrific lack of interest of soccer in America compared to other sports (the big three basketball, football, baseball) and the lack of a youth system that is able to properly develop young players. UPDATE: Actually, it seems like the youth are catching onto soccer in the US. ESPN polls have showed professional soccer is the 2nd most popular sport in the US for the under 25 age group. MLS still sucks though.
we need a bigger boat. translation..so we also need Cornerback Speed on defense. btw: I've seen that. the famous Copa del Rey goal by Madrid, forget his name. In Valencia, right? My buddy was there, fb'd me that with sadness. Bad year for FCB.
I think our women's team is a good example -- soccer is one of the top women's sports in the US and we have one of the very best teams in the world.
Yeah, i'm not seeing sore losers just a good discussion on the merits of getting better athletes to play soccer at a young age.
Here's another sad photo my buddy took with his daughter when Athletica took out FCB in the quarters of Champions league. <img src="https://scontent-a-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/t1.0-9/p417x417/10152593_10152420869330540_4087704146233947752_n.jpg" width=600> <img src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfa1/t1.0-9/10270557_10152420870820540_4092230329955205692_n.jpg" width=600>
Of course the USA could be a dominant factor with soccer. They are one of the richest countries in the world (invest a lot in sports) and have a huge population. You should dominate almost every sport (funny to compare how good you do in the Olympics with countries who do not even have half your population). The problem is that the Culture in the USA is not suitable for becoming a power house in soccer. You even need a foreign head coach. Saying the USA could be dominant if only they had the right culture is similar to saying: Belgium would be a power house if only they had 300 million inhabitants (Belgium has 11 million inhabitants, that is a bit more than 1/3 of Texas) Nigeria would be a powerhouse if only they had more money to invest in soccer and have better training facilities. Or the Netherlands would dominate basketball if only we had more inhabitants and people actually cared about basketball. All these things aren't the case, so there is no point in complaining about it. You got beat by a much much better Belgian team ( a country with 11 million inhabitants). I have never seen such a one sided match that finished in 0-0 after 90 minutes. The USA can be happy that they advanced through the group stages, they played good (They were also a bit lucky they could finish against the Germany, and Portugal had to start versus Germany, but you need luck to succeed). Be happy about that. Being good in one sport does not make you good at another. I played soccer when I was young (I am 6'7), and I was a goalie. I was an ok player, but I would not even make the highest amateur level in the Netherlands. When I started playing Basketball at the age 17 I was one of the best talents in the Netherlands. So talent does not need to transfer between sports. And people who think Dwight Howard would be a great goalie obviously never played soccer. A guy that size would be much much to slow getting to the ground, just shoot the ball next to him over the ground and you have a goal. There is a reason why there are hardly any player over 6'7 at high levels in soccer. I do agree that if more people grew up in a culture were soccer is more popular and more kids start playing that there would be more better players. But this is not the case. These arguments about how good the USA would be if their culture was completely different are annoying. The culture is not different, and the USA is not a top team in the world, and I do not see them becoming one in the near future. So get over it.
So, I just did a calculation. According to google, Gareth Bale is clocked at 34.7km/h, which equals 21.5 mph. Now, I still don't know what that means. Is that top speed? By comparison Bo Jackson ran a 40 in 4.12. Over that distance his average speed is: 19.9 mph. Is Bale faster than Bo? If so, the NFL doesn't have anywhere close to the fastest players like Soccer does.
