Please reconcile your opinion with soccer becoming much more popular in the US over the last 25 years.
Please reconcile your opinion with soccer becoming much more popular in the US over the last 25 years.
When does the diving start? I have teenagers in soccer who play for clubs and play for their schools and there is no diving. That said, when I watch men's pro soccer they are all diving all over the place.
FWIW, the kids are very tough, especially the young women.
Also, it is way too expensive. We are having a family talk this weekend because I want to make sure my oldest plans to continue playing seriously if I am going to shell out thousands for a club team + numerous kits each season + all the gear. It is really, really pricey to play club sports.
critic 100 wrote:
Any sport that finishes in 90 minutes and the final score... 1 to 0. = let us watch paint dry.
a 6-3 "American football" game = nail-biter, great defensive battle, epic
a 2-1 "football" match = watching paint dry
can't have it both ways. All the SEC fans here in the southeast hate the high scoring offenses in the west and complain that they don't play defense, and then turn around and criticize soccer for being low scoring. okayyyy
Some players cheat in football (the game where the ball is played predominantly with the foot), it is regrettable but to draw conclusions about the game from this is rather like claiming that track and field is rubbish because some athletes dope.
Good thread, OP. Any sport where you can be a double amputee and still theoretically succeed is pathetic.
SoccerDad wrote:
When does the diving start? .
In the lower professional leagues in UK you don't see it.
A very common misconception though especially from people who have not played to a reasonable standard is that the impacts are minimal in the game. They would be staggered at the physical violence. I noticed this playing both football and rugby. Because you can tackle with the whole body in rugby it looks more violent (and can be) but being chopped down by someone's leg into your shins or ankles or knees actually hurts more.
joed|rt wrote:Watch some Messi highlights and you will start to understand why people find soccer exciting:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OASaJVMg__IThere’s an American in the Champion’s League final who is an actual contributor. You should open your mind and watch the final two games.
There will actually be two but Zach Steffons, the US #1 Goalkeeper will be sitting on the bench as Man City's #1 goalkeeper will be playing unless he gets injured.
and another coach wrote:
Actually the "pay to play" model used in youth soccer is why soccer will never become as popular as it is all over the world. You see, in EVERY other country if you are good at soccer opportunities for you to improve and play FIND YOU. In the US, only the folks with money to pay for clubs are given access to top level coaching. So, if you are poor and can play soccer, you might as well find another sport in America.
So, with that model how can America grow it's home-based professional league so it rivals even the second tier European Leagues and how can the national team compete with the best countries in the world at The World Cup?
A lot of truth in this post. This is what holds American "soccer" back.
Soccer is a boring game of keep away.
American football is a homosexual orgy of violent obese sex.
Soccer is less just boring.
Not revolting!!!
and another coach wrote:
Actually the "pay to play" model used in youth soccer is why soccer will never become as popular as it is all over the world. You see, in EVERY other country if you are good at soccer opportunities for you to improve and play FIND YOU. In the US, only the folks with money to pay for clubs are given access to top level coaching. So, if you are poor and can play soccer, you might as well find another sport in America.
So, with that model how can America grow it's home-based professional league so it rivals even the second tier European Leagues and how can the national team compete with the best countries in the world at The World Cup?
You are mostly right about the "pay to play" system, but it is changing.
Many MLS academies are now free for the player. MetroStars/Red Bulls were one of the first, if not the first, professional academy to do this, but it is becoming more common at least among the MLS academies. I believe there are some academies (maybe Philadelphia Union) that provide housing and schooling for academy players as well.
Pay to play is still prevalent in high level youth soccer, but good players who lack the financial means now have places to play and develop that will be free of charge, as long as they are good enough.
As more and more American players succeed in Europe, American clubs will be able to sell more players to Europe, at higher fees. This in turn will fund the academies.
Sham 69 wrote:
and another coach wrote:
Actually the "pay to play" model used in youth soccer is why soccer will never become as popular as it is all over the world. You see, in EVERY other country if you are good at soccer opportunities for you to improve and play FIND YOU.
Ever heard of Clit Dempsey?
Clit? no. are her movies on pornhub?
Sham 69 wrote:
and another coach wrote:
Actually the "pay to play" model used in youth soccer is why soccer will never become as popular as it is all over the world. You see, in EVERY other country if you are good at soccer opportunities for you to improve and play FIND YOU.
Ever heard of Clit Dempsey?
Clint was a very good American player. One of the better players in the MLS. He did go to England where he played and even got some good minutes on some not so successful teams. He was just an average player at best in England and eventually couldn't secure a contract. He returned to the US and played very well in a much lower level league.
Dempsey is a legend at Fulham for helping them knock the mighty Juventus out of the Europa League, with Fulham advancing to the quarterfinals.
Not many players would have the nerve to attempt this shot, much less put it in.
Dempsey is also the all time leading Premier League goalscorer for Fulham, and a two time Fulham Player of the Year. Fulham may not be a big club, but in Dempsey's years they were a decent team, finishing as high as 8th in the Premier League and, as noted above, making it to the quarterfinals of the Europa League.
Nigel_Bikes wrote:
Clint was a very good American player. One of the better players in the MLS. He did go to England where he played and even got some good minutes on some not so successful teams. He was just an average player at best in England and eventually couldn't secure a contract. He returned to the US and played very well in a much lower level league.
OK, now I think maybe you're just trolling, since what you've said here is simply wrong.
In August, 2012, Dempsey signed a 3 year deal with Tottenham. In the 2012-2013 season, he scored 12 goals for Tottenham. Not bad production on a Big 6 club. With two years left on his Tottenham deal, he was transferred to the Seattle Sounders of MLS for a transfer fee of $9 million.
I'm not sure where your "he was just an average player at best in England and eventually couldn't secure a contract" came from, but that's not what happened.
Soccer is ubiquitous in the EU, Mexico, South and Central America. Everyone plays soccer all the time. Anywhere that is big enough to fit a couple of kids and a soccer ball will have a pick up game. And when there is no one to play with, kids will be juggling in their gardens or on the street. My son did a year of U9 club soccer before the pandemic hit. His coach was from England. He said that kids in the US have to learn how to properly kick a soccer ball in the early age groups of club soccer, but in the EU and UK, they already have proper technique and are building plays because that is all that the kids have done in their free time. In the US, if the kids are big on sports, they will split their time with baseball or football and soccer is almost always the second choice. This is why the US so rarely turns out top soccer talent.
I grew up in England. In those days from about 7 or 8 years on, we'd play soccer on the playground before school started, in the breaktimes (what you call recess), and lunchtime.
In summer, in the evenings we'd go to the local playing fields and play after school too.
If you had nothing to do at home, you'd probably be in the back yard kicking a ball against the wall.
By the time you were 14 or so, you'd be playing with kids that had been signed to league clubs as prospects. So you could be playing at school with a kid that was on Chelsea's books (to give one real life example when I was at school).
A legend at Fulham? No one hardly remembers him. All time goal scorer in the EPL? Well, up until that time Fulham had spent very little time in the EPL. That's like someone saying, "I beat Frank Shorter in a 10K". Ok, maybe but Frank was 55 years old. It's not the same. As all time goal scorers at Fulham go he's nowhere near even being mentioned. These seven men are so far ahead of Clint.
Gordon Davies – 178
Johnny Haynes – 158
Bedford Jezzard – 154
Jim Hammond – 150
Graham Leggat – 134
Arthur Stevens – 124
Steve Earle – 108
Clint did get transferred to the Spurs. Lasted one uneventful season there and then they unloaded him to the MLS as they didn't see him fitting into their plans.
I used to not care for soccer (football), but moved to the UK. It's an amazing sport - that FLOWS. There are no advertisements for the whole half. No stoppages or time outs. The clock keeps running.
It's a beautiful and very skilful game. The fake injuries do get me too (the NBA does this all the time as well...). But after becoming used to watching a game without add breaks, it's hard to go back!
Because we have real football. Now women’s soccer is fairly popular because for one they SCORE and WIN. Something the men’s team does not do. Watching 90mins of no scoring is horrible. Our women know they need to score and a lot to be interested. Plus it helps that some of them are hot as fug
If the the best athletes in the US picked soccer as kids then we’d dominate in soccer and it’d be popular here. Our best athletes will never pick soccer over the big three.