International Soccer Thread...

[Baldkin]

An old article but a good one on how the US is failing to develop talent.

 

“As soon as a kid here starts playing, he’s got referees on the field and parents watching in lawn chairs,” John Hackworth, the former coach of the U.S. under-17 national team and now the youth-development coordinator for the Philadelphia franchise in Major League Soccer, told me. “As he gets older, the game count just keeps increasing. It’s counterproductive to learning and the No. 1 worst thing we do.”

[FVBrewerFan]

An old article but a good one on how the US is failing to develop talent.

 

“As soon as a kid here starts playing, he’s got referees on the field and parents watching in lawn chairs,” John Hackworth, the former coach of the U.S. under-17 national team and now the youth-development coordinator for the Philadelphia franchise in Major League Soccer, told me. “As he gets older, the game count just keeps increasing. It’s counterproductive to learning and the No. 1 worst thing we do.”

 

So it's not about the money afterall.

[madbad2000]

So how is that different than any other major sports that kids play in the US? We seem to be developing talent pretty well in baseball, basketball, football, and hockey.

[Baldkin]

So how is that different than any other major sports that kids play in the US? We seem to be developing talent pretty well in baseball, basketball, football, and hockey.

 

We're also starting to fall back to the pack in every major sport in the world. Having a 100 year head start helps.

[Baldkin]

An old article but a good one on how the US is failing to develop talent.

 

“As soon as a kid here starts playing, he’s got referees on the field and parents watching in lawn chairs,” John Hackworth, the former coach of the U.S. under-17 national team and now the youth-development coordinator for the Philadelphia franchise in Major League Soccer, told me. “As he gets older, the game count just keeps increasing. It’s counterproductive to learning and the No. 1 worst thing we do.”

 

So it's not about the money afterall.

 

The entire article is in fact saying it's ALL ABOUT THE MONEY.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

I wonder how all this conversation about developing players lines up witth the women's game. Female athletes are just as divided in terms of which sports they pursue (with the exception of football), and yet the USWNT is pretty dominant. Of course, the US creates a lot more opportunities for female athletes than many nations, though Western Europe has a pretty sophisticated pro structure.

[Baldkin]

I wonder how all this conversation about developing players lines up witth the women's game. Female athletes are just as divided in terms of which sports they pursue (with the exception of football), and yet the USWNT is pretty dominant. Of course, the US creates a lot more opportunities for female athletes than many nations, though Western Europe has a pretty sophisticated pro structure.

 

And you watch over the past 20 years, the world has caught up to the USWNT. As other countries start cultivating talent and empowering their female athletes, suddenly, the US model of pay-to-play (which has only gotten worse over the past 20 years) doesn't hold up nearly as well.

 

https://www.soccerwire.com/news/michelle-akers-briana-scurry-reflect-on-growth-of-womens-soccer-challenges-ahead/2/

 

“I think the problem is the access, but I think it’s changing. It’s the access, and maybe not having the money to be able to afford to play on this team or that team. The fact that I was able to play at the higher levels was a gift. My family had to scrape money together to pay for fees and whatnot, I used the same gloves year after year after year as my parents couldn’t afford it. I know right now that a lot of it is because kids don’t have access and the families are priced out of the sport unfortunately. We’re talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars that people pay for their kids to play, and people can’t afford that.”

[Baldkin]

Even more on the failure of the pay to play model

 

The last global count by FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, found that the U.S. has as many female players as the rest of the planet combined. There currently are about 1.5 million registered female youth players, depending on which database you use; Spain, according to soccer’s European federation, has 20,590.

 

Perspective: San Diego County alone has two or three times that.

 

“Our fragile advantage in ‘athleticism’ will wilt in the face of intelligence,” Beane, a Dartmouth and Stanford alum with European perspective from his youth academy in Barcelona, wrote me on social media. “Until we abandon our arrogance and complacency based upon past success, we will not adequately prepare our young players for the future. We have a unique opportunity now on both the men’s and women’s side of U.S. Soccer to rethink and redesign talent development.

 

“Innovation is a cornerstone of U.S. culture in so many industries, and yet in soccer we train our players based upon a paradigm introduced 30 years ago … Nations that just now are finally supporting women’s soccer will hold no sympathy for us as they outplay us with a much more profound understanding of the game than our young players currently hold.”

[homer]

An old article but a good one on how the US is failing to develop talent.

 

“As soon as a kid here starts playing, he’s got referees on the field and parents watching in lawn chairs,” John Hackworth, the former coach of the U.S. under-17 national team and now the youth-development coordinator for the Philadelphia franchise in Major League Soccer, told me. “As he gets older, the game count just keeps increasing. It’s counterproductive to learning and the No. 1 worst thing we do.”

 

For the life of me I have no idea why there are organized leagues for any sport for kids under the age of 8. It's ridiculous. Unless of course this is the only way to get kids outside and exercising.

[WV Brew]

Euro championships going on. Italy looks like the team to beat to me. Hard to pick against France though. They have athleticism galore.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Euro championships going on. Italy looks like the team to beat to me. Hard to pick against France though. They have athleticism galore.

 

Been some good matches. Hard to believe England is the favorite. Belgium looks worth the hype, but there are for sure 5 or 6 teams that look good enough to win.

 

Germany is a team I can't figure out. Great 2nd half from them today, but they've looked pretty bad in qualifying. Interested in seeing if the second tier of teams can break through.

[Menotti80]

Big win for the USMNT tonight against MX.

 

Dos a Cero!

[Sixtofan]

That was a fun game!

[OldHeidelberg]

That was a fun game!

 

It was the first qualifier I watched I think and agree it was a lot of fun. Doesn't look like they will blow it this time around, they talked a lot about how young they are, maybe the MNT is finally getting over the hump this time and moving toward that next tier. They are ranked 13th and Mexico 9th in the world, have to think the CONCACAF winner has an outside shot at a top 8 seed.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

That was a fun game!

 

It was the first qualifier I watched I think and agree it was a lot of fun. Doesn't look like they will blow it this time around, they talked a lot about how young they are, maybe the MNT is finally getting over the hump this time and moving toward that next tier. They are ranked 13th and Mexico 9th in the world, have to think the CONCACAF winner has an outside shot at a top 8 seed.

 

Super talented team. Young, fast, lots of playmakers. Aronson is ridiculously fun to watch, and there's some ability on the back line too.

 

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if they lose in Kingston tomorrow because...CONCACAF. And I'm not big on Berhalter, either as tactician or motivator.

 

I suppose I think this team has more potential than any I've seen, and that includes the 2002 WC quarterfinal team. I just am pretty guarded given how much fitness and draws matter. The good news is not qualifying feels like a longshot.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Well, a draw in Jamaica isn't awful, but it feels like a major let down anyway.

 

Should be in fine position with 6 games to go, but really could use a couple of wins next window just so the pressure doesn't start creeping up. Really want to avoid that 4th spot and the IC playoff.

[OldHeidelberg]

Canada up 2-0 on Mexico, they have sort of come out of nowhere and are looking like a sure bet to qualify.

[Menotti80]

4 horse race for 3 spots. The next 3 games are against the 2 worst teams and Canada at home. 3-0 or 2-0-1. Nothing else is acceptable

[stoutdude04]

Canada up 2-0 on Mexico, they have sort of come out of nowhere and are looking like a sure bet to qualify.

 

Saw it was minus 10 f at kickoff. Probably a nice little advantage against Mexico.

[OldHeidelberg]

4 horse race for 3 spots. The next 3 games are against the 2 worst teams and Canada at home. 3-0 or 2-0-1. Nothing else is acceptable

 

Actually Canada is on the road and El Salvador and Honduras are at home, hate how they list home teams first. Panama is actually behind every other team in the latest world rankings so there may be room for a slide for them. But yeah the US doesn’t want to have work left to do when they get to the last 3.

[Sixtofan]

Panama keeps falling behind and coming back in their games. I would like them to stop doing that!

[Menotti80]

4 horse race for 3 spots. The next 3 games are against the 2 worst teams and Canada at home. 3-0 or 2-0-1. Nothing else is acceptable

 

Actually Canada is on the road and El Salvador and Honduras are at home, hate how they list home teams first. Panama is actually behind every other team in the latest world rankings so there may be room for a slide for them. But yeah the US doesn’t want to have work left to do when they get to the last 3.

 

Thanks for the correction, but I stand by my expectations

[OldHeidelberg]

These things sort of sneak up on me and I miss them so thought I would post for anyone else who maybe wasn't aware, MNT back in qualifying action tonight at 6 against El Salvador.

[worm81]

These things sort of sneak up on me and I miss them so thought I would post for anyone else who maybe wasn't aware, MNT back in qualifying action tonight at 6 against El Salvador.

 

Also a home game, so it's on ESPN2.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

Need 3 tonight. This feels like the key window to me. Get 7 pts, you feel like you're there. 5 or 6 still okay. Anything less, I'm nervous.