siff
Scott "Rufio" Feather
538 says...
I’ll cheer for the Ticos and whoever plays Mexico.
I would give my left nut to hire Marcelo Bielsa and give him complete control over US Soccer. Dude is a complete lunatic but if given authority of our entire program/system he would work wonders.
Most geniuses are lunatics anyway.
I think the problem is that it's even a question.
How does the US only have a few players capable of playing in the top leagues? Would the US have been a top WC contender?
This isn't like the Wake team that lost to WVU. That team was actually good and made the tournament.
While I agree with the premise that an AAU style funding model would help soccer in the US, the truth is that the pay for play system isn't the reason we fail. The 2% who end up playing professionally number isn't going to change. But if you think kids who hope to go to college to play don't think about being the next Messi, you're wrong. Sure there are some kids who can't afford the travel or Academy model, but there are club scholarship opportunities for those players. What doesn't work here in the US is the weak player development, and the crappy system for identifying talent. Paul Arriola, Jordan Morris, Darlington Nagbe, Jorge Villafana, Omar Gonzalez, and the rest of these guys simply aren't good enough to compete on an international level. If they were they'd be in Europe or England. You think they don't dream of following Pulisic to Germany? Of course they do, except they haven't got the talent. Until we figure out how to develop these players to the elite level nothing good is going to happen. Having a college scholarship as your goal is a blessing of being American, but it's not the reason we don't have more Pulisic's.
I'll add that the US hosted the World Cup 23 years ago. That was supposed to kick off the age of American relevance on the world stage. The USMNT should be full of experienced players who watched that USA-Colombia match when they were little boys. Instead, it is a roster of crap players led by a kid who wasn't even born then.
What a missed opportunity. You all should have been way more pissed before now. 30 years of planning led to losing a must tie match Trinidad.
I'm glad you all are waking up though.
Read the article it addresses what you said about our best athletes not playing as well. Wetzel makes many great points.
I'll add that the US hosted the World Cup 23 years ago. That was supposed to kick off the age of American relevance on the world stage. The USMNT should be full of experienced players who watched that USA-Colombia match when they were little boys. Instead, it is a roster of crap players led by a kid who wasn't even born then.
What a missed opportunity. You all should have been way more pissed before now. 30 years of planning led to losing a must tie match Trinidad.
I'm glad you all are waking up though.