Eh, Bo probably doesn't reach top speed until well into the 40 so using an average over the distance doesn't work.
Bo Jackson's 4.12 time was hand timed and most likely wasn't accurate -- no one in the world has ever run the 40 that fast including world class sprinters indoor runners (60 meters) who are much quicker than 100 meter guys like Bolt. Bolt has the fastest peak speed of any human at about 27.5 mph -- you're seeing an average over the distance in your calculations. There are 3 types of sprinters -- guys with quick off the line burst and a fast 40 yard dash Reggie Bush/ Sanders, long speed sprinters like Carl Lewis or Bolt who aren't quick off the line but have high top end, and endurance sprinters 200 meters and 400 meters -- Michael Johnson is the perfect example of this though Bolt crushed his 200 meter record because he is a freak of nature. Speed in soccer is a bit different since you're never at a dead stop -- you're always moving and breaking from a run or jog. To answer your question -- if I had to take a safe guess on Robben's time in the 40 I think he could run a sub 4.5 second dash.
Interesting discussion. They say speed kills, but in soccer you must have speed im combination with soccer ability. Othewise, all you have is a Korean soccer player. lol. Just kidding, Ok! Robben is a one-man wrecking crew because he is able to outrun just about anybody and finish his play due to his excellent soccer skills. Dude is top 5 in the world easily.
The US had grit and fight, just not the talent and certainly not the ball skills. How many times did you see decently weighted passes go forward and hit their target only for the ball to bounce straight up as if the ball was rocketed in? That is a lack of touch. Then after that there is a general lack of ball skill for the players to maintain possession. As was pointed out, the midfield was terrible. Jones is a good wrecking ball but the rest was crap. Zusi did nothing. Actually he did worse than nothing because he wouldn't even track back. He let a frighten CB play like a dangerous winger. I like Vertonghen but he is playing in a completely different role and has generally been much worse at it. Johnson and Yedlin were bright spots of the tournament. The rest either were what they were or even underperformed. Lack of talent, lack of skills, and lack of football IQ. British announcers loved the heart and we thankful for a great game but ultimately the US is always in over its head in the knockout stage and they were lucky to advance this year. Very,very lucky.
I thought putting in Cameron would help unlock some things for the US going forward on the attack and keep Bradley in a more familiar role. Unfortunately, no one had any touch on their passes or was good at just holding the ball. It was so clear that they felt they needed to move the ball as soon as they could. Panicked possessions all over. You look back over the four games and even with taking into account the absence of Jozy, I'm not sure how much progress the team made aside from finding a couple of keepers in Johnson, Yedlin, and hopefully a couple of more: Green, Johannsson, and Diskerud. The team got the early goal against Ghana and then sat back and played defense for 85+ minutes. Their best showing was against Portugal, but a couple of sloppy defensive lapses netted us a tie, and then Germany/Belgium pretty much out-classed us and those games could've been a lot worse without Howard there in goal. Going into the knockout stage, I thought they only way we could win was if Tim had a CS and we stole a goal either on a set piece (which we did nothing with most of the match, except for the one in ET that Dempsey almost poked in), a PK, or won it in a penalty shootout. The PK dream went away when we didn't have a lot of good chances to attack or press them in their penalty area for most of the night. When Belgium scored their first goal, it seemed like a formality even though we yearned for an equalizer. The class that Belgium has on its roster really shone through as the game developed; De Bruyne, Hazard, Origi, and Lukaku as a late sub really kept the pressure on the US all game long. Chelsea sure looks like they've got a couple of keepers from this Belgian side. Go Go USA!!
i think by the time the census shows 80% of the population hispanic, in the year 2089, the u.s will be on par with brasil for football talent supremacy. Actually, i'm clueless as to why the u.s can't luck into ONE skilled player every 8 years. it's a fascinating topic though. It has nothing to do with race/athleticism,as some in media are basically suggesting by insinuating, if lebron had only chosen futbol. By that same token, Pele would have been the best PF in history, at 5'7 had he chosen basketball. It's crazy as all sports require different attributes. I also don't think it has nothing to do with the popularity of sport either. Plenty of countries,3rd world and ones with kings and queens, have futbol as their no.1 sport and can't even qualify for the cup let alone contend for one. why not just do what you do best, u.s? go out to other countries and clandestinely take a couple of players and give them citizenship. Just because the freddy adu experiment failed does not mean you have to stop trying.
The USA will be fine as soccer is growing fast in popularity, it won't be long now for the first creative star will come from USA, we are arguably top 10 already, and that is not bad. DD
Short stops and PGs have a lot of the athletic qualities one would look for in soccer. These positions steal a lot of potential soccer players to other sports.
Uh, we have one in Landon Donavon, only player I've seen for the US with any sort of skill on the ball that is close to being world class.
Technically, we finished ninth since we were the last team out in the Round of 16 Hooray, FIFA calendar!! All the Group Stage winners advanced to the quarterfinals. Would've been great to be the only team to break the mold... Going into the match, I was thinking who would take the kicks for the US if it went to PKs. I thought it'd be Dempsey, Bradley, Jones, Johnson, and maybe Beasley (or a late sub). When Johnson went down, I guess we would've had Wondo and/or Green take them. Would've been fun to see!
LOL. :grin: Nice. It will more than likely be 11th or 12th just ahead of Greece, Algeria and Nigeria, and probably Uruguay. I think this says a lot... and I recall reading somewhere that he even said "we're not a World Cup winner team yet"... Klinsmann: We show too much respect Yeah, he's looking to the future... but he was ALREADY looking to the future from the get-go. His mistake was keeping Bradley in there for so long, not playing Green enough, and staying back versus a potent Belgian offense. Keep your heads up, y'all.
BTW - this whole soccer is not big because our best athletes don't play it argument is turning around. Soccer is becoming bigger and bigger in the USA, and will continue to grow. I know it is somewhat myopic, but my 11 year old, is the SS on his all star traveling baseball team, the PG on his BBall team and the QB of his football team - but none of those sports are near to his heart like soccer is - that is his number 1 by a long way with basketball 2nd, so much so that a kid that hit over .700 and turned a triple play unassisted at 9 - gave up baseball because it was boring compared to soccer. Not saying it will matter, or that my boy will be anything special - he is only 11, just saying that somewhere there is probably an ELITE level athlete making that same choice today that 20 years ago would have been unthinkable. Soccer is here to stay and the USA is on the way. DD
I disagree, what with your two losses, and not even scoring against Germany, and only showing little to no offense against Belgium, you shouldn't even be considered over 12th. Besides, I don't think they give an exact number, because you can't fairly compare two very distant groups. In terms of skill, effort, etc, I will disagree with you. We will wait to see who is placed where. I don't remember ever checking that, since after the Cup ends, no one stays to discuss those things.
that's idiotic. we have bunch of athletes in this country. and we have bunch of porkers too. like you and i. but IMO this is the country where getting into sports is probably the easiest. and we have a culture that encourages athletes.
We are much better today than in '94, can't say the same for your favy team. We will have to go by FIFA rankings I guess. DD
And where we placed during the last Gold Cup (1st), our spot in the Hex during qualifying (1st), and how we do in 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
