Everything Soccer

[thekid33]

 

[TNUtoNotreDame]

Thiery Henry just eviscerated us 😂

Well deserved. That was an awful performance. Belgium played really really well though, and they didn’t even play their stars.

 

[FOTY977]

Did we really get our shit rocked by the 2s???

 

[TNUtoNotreDame]

View attachment 3063991

Why not us? We’re ass

 

[greyhammer90]

Disappointed but unsurprised. Hopefully the sport continues to grow. Our relative population and immigration numbers should continue to help in our lifetimes.

 

[notredomer23]

Garbage effort all around. Tillman, Balogun, Adams, and maybe Robinson I can say played to standard.

I get why Ream is getting crap for his play but simply put he is a product of a crappy system. The US shouldn’t be relying on a 40 year old MLS player who is a step too slow these days. I can’t fault him because it’s not from lack of effort, his days are past. But Richards? What the hell was that? I thought he was gonna be the real difference maker tonight.

Overall the moment was simply too big. This is the first time the US has ever had to deal with expectations and they clearly had no clue how to handle it.

And credit to Belgium. They took advantage of the US’s mistakes which were largely either self inflicted or a product of Tielmanns having a massive game.

 

[IrishInOntario]

No offense, but it may be growth for Canada, but it is not growth for us or Mexico. In fact, R16 exits are just standard fare for both of us. Mexico has never gotten beyond it and we've only done it once. Losing is one thing, but getting run off the field by Belgium is a huge setback. This is the worst loss for the US in a long, long time considering the relative expectations coming in and the fact we're at fucking home. Mexico at least put up a fight against a far superior opponent. Rolling over and dying to a mediocre UEFA team is the same old, same old. Maybe hold off on the Poch extension.

Although Mexico and USA have much better soccer history than Canada, I actually think that the continued growth of the sport in all three countries is crucial to upping our collective level of competitiveness against the Europeans. Players from three countries are critical to elevating the standard of MLS, both as an independent league and a feeder source for the big leagues in Europe. The more talent that we collectively produce in North America, the better the competition and, invevitably, the better the players.

So while I understand that both USA and Mexico have made it here before and it doesn't demonstrate growth at the micro level, at the macro level North America is producing better-and-better players every couple years and we're going to need to continue doing that if there is going to be any hope of catching the Euro / South American squads.

 

[ACamp1900]

Heavy touches on critical moments and upgrading the defense are the two glaring areas for improvement, and I thought that throughout the group stage, not just tonight

 

[FOTY977]

Although Mexico and USA have much better soccer history than Canada, I actually think that the continued growth of the sport in all three countries is crucial to upping our collective level of competitiveness against the Europeans. Players from three countries are critical to elevating the standard of MLS, both as an independent league and a feeder source for the big leagues in Europe. The more talent that we collectively produce in North America, the better the competition and, invevitably, the better the the player's we'll produce.

So while I understand that both USA and Mexico have made it here before and it does demonstrate growth at the micro level, at the macro level North America is producing better-and-better places every couple years and we're going to need to continue doing that if there is going to be any hope of catching the Euro / South American squads.

We also need to keep stopping pregnant women from boarding planes when their offspring may have athletic prominence

 

[Sea Turtle]

6th

The most frustrating aspect of this is that Belgium is not the cream of the European crop. They will get their doors blown off by Spain probably like 4-0. This was the perfect R16 opponent and we fucking blew it.

It looked like Belgium was just that much better than us.

Our best athletes just don't play the game. Our second tier athletes don't even play it.

Soccer is literally the only thing the rest of the world has and it is treated like a religion. It's not even in our top 5 or 6 of sports.

 

[TracyGraham]

6th

It looked like Belgium was just that much better than us.

Our best athletes just don't play the game. Our second tier athletes don't even play it.

Soccer is literally the only thing the rest of the world has and it is treated like a religion. It's not even in our top 5 or 6 of sports.

Plus, at least where I grew up, the kids that played soccer didnt exactly have a killer mindset. No matter how talented or athletic our players are, they will continue to wilt under pressure. Iron sharpens iron and there wont be any iron sharpening when the game is played by kids that want to sit out the more physical sports.

 

[calvegas04]

 

[MPClinton22]

the math doesn’t add up when a country 1/25th can run roughshod over us though. I’d understand if we played a vastly superior team from a country of 60-70 mill à la England and France. But Belgium is a nation of 12 million people. I just can’t wrap my head around it.

And I understand other large nations aren’t any good at soccer either, but those are mainly nations without the resources the US has.

 

[NDPhilly]

Idk I don’t think Belgium did much this game except play composed. The amount of awful touches and bad easy passes was absolutely insane for the US. Many not even under duress. I bet they get exposed by Spain.

 

[tirishman505]

6th

It looked like Belgium was just that much better than us.

Our best athletes just don't play the game. Our second tier athletes don't even play it.

Soccer is literally the only thing the rest of the world has and it is treated like a religion. It's not even in our top 5 or 6 of sports.

I mean, neither is swimming but we dominate that sport internationally. With nearly a quarter of all youth sports participation in this country being soccer, it’s remarkable how little we’ve improved vs the rest of the world.

 

[greyhammer90]

Idk I don’t think Belgium did much this game except play composed. The amount of awful touches and bad easy passes was absolutely insane for the US. Many not even under duress. I bet they get exposed by Spain.

Agree with this. I didn't watch that performance thinking Belgium was playing amazing. It felt like US was nervous/flat coming out and had regained some composure coming out of half, then our goalie lost his damn mind and the game was just away from us then.

 

[Old Man Mike]

It's not "math." It's when the kids begin acquiring their skills and how intensely the culture drives their desire from there.

A culture can produce elites in anything that it "facilitates" psychologically. My brother's two boys were national champion youth olympic weight-lifters. Not a coincidence that he was a national elite level coach who started them early. I'll bet Belgium et al start kids at least as early as we do and the culture makes them want to intensely put in the hours of foot skills years after years.

 

[MPClinton22]

It's not "math." It's when the kids begin acquiring their skills and how intensely the culture drives their desire from there.

A culture can produce elites in anything that it "facilitates" psychologically. My brother's two boys were national champion youth olympic weight-lifters. Not a coincidence that he was a national elite level coach who started them early. I'll bet Belgium et al start kids at least as early as we do and the culture makes them want to intensely put in the hours of foot skills years after years.

I get this for sure - I’m just saying the argument that the US has more prominent sports rings hollow for me. The US has the populace and the resources to be elite at all 4 major pro sports and soccer. They just choose not to, and blaming the presence of other sports is passing the buck. It’s a structural issue with how we train youth soccer, and has nothing to do with the prevalence of other sports in the country

 

[stlnd01]

6th

It looked like Belgium was just that much better than us.

Our best athletes just don't play the game. Our second tier athletes don't even play it.

Soccer is literally the only thing the rest of the world has and it is treated like a religion. It's not even in our top 5 or 6 of sports.

It's notable our two best players tonight, and perhaps this whole tournament - Balugan and Tillman - grew up in other countries. Not just as military brats but were raised there by parents from those countries and came up playing in their soccer programs. Dest, too. Probably a few other of our guys.

It is also notable that if those guys were good enough to play for their home countries’ national teams, they probably would. Instead they play for us.

 

[notredomer23]

I’m sure it varies region to region but nationwide soccer is at worst the 4th most popular sport now by pretty much every metric, whether it’s youth participation, professional attendance, tv ratings, etc. The infrastructure for the US to be good at soccer really wasn’t in place until Klinsmann overhauled the system 14 years ago, and Polish Irishman and Jigga have elaborated on their experiences with the problems that are still present. They’re getting there and the talent continues to get better and catch up, and the gap is closing but it’s still a gap.

 

[Sea Turtle]

I mean, neither is swimming but we dominate that sport internationally. With nearly a quarter of all youth sports participation in this country being soccer, it’s remarkable how little we’ve improved vs the rest of the world.

True but swimming isn't really a professional sport. It's a true Olympic sport.

To be fair, it HAS surpassed tennis and boxing. These are two sports that the US used to dominate and is now largely ignored. But the big 4, golf and even auto racing are substantially bigger.

At least our hockey program seems to be among the best now. I'm sure everyone on this forum can agree that this is a great thing.

 

[Sea Turtle]

I’m sure it varies region to region but nationwide soccer is at worst the 4th most popular sport now by pretty much every metric, whether it’s youth participation, professional attendance, tv ratings, etc. The infrastructure for the US to be good at soccer really wasn’t in place until Klinsmann overhauled the system 14 years ago, and Polish Irishman and Jigga have elaborated on their experiences with the problems that are still present. They’re getting there and the talent continues to get better and catch up, and the gap is closing but it’s still a gap.

Do you think it's bigger than lacrosse? Particularly on the east coast?

 

[notredomer23]

Do you think it's bigger than lacrosse? Particularly on the east coast?

100%. Just my opinion, but lax is confined to more affluent communities which is also where soccer tends to over index compared to football and basketball. No disrespect to the lax folk here as I’ve grown to really enjoy it

 

[Dale]

Millions more Americans grow up playing soccer than Belgians

 

[GATTACA!]

I agree it’s disappointing, but I’m pretty sure we can still win the whole thing if only Mike Pence has the courage to do what’s right

 

[GATTACA!]

Millions more Americans grow up playing soccer than Belgians

Yeah but the Americans hit puberty and pick a real sport unlike the Belgians.

 

[Dale]

It looked like Belgium was just that much better than us.

Our best athletes just don't play the game. Our second tier athletes don't even play it.

Soccer is literally the only thing the rest of the world has and it is treated like a religion. It's not even in our top 5 or 6 of sports.

I don’t think realize how talented this team is compared to even a decade ago. 9 of those players start/play heavily on European clubs, some major European clubs. The exceptions, Ream and Freese. The US is filled with extremely talented players now, some by happy circumstance, and soccer is absolutely a Top 5 at worst sport in this country. In terms of participation it’s Top 3. It sounds bad, but they really at their core just had a bad day today. Lot of that mental. Belgium is probably the better team, but there aren’t 16 more talented countries in soccer in the world. The problem is there are probably 8 for sure. And that’s what they keep bumping against.

 

[MacIrish75]

That Freese fustercluck is going to live rent free in my head for a week.

 

[NDRock]

I mean, neither is swimming but we dominate that sport internationally. With nearly a quarter of all youth sports participation in this country being soccer, it’s remarkable how little we’ve improved vs the rest of the world.

I really think it comes down to our lesser athletes playing the sport. Watching my son grow up playing all different sports, the less athletic ones played soccer. We really need to convince all super athletic kids who are 5’8” to 6’2” that love basketball, to play soccer. There are some absolute tenacious, athletic kids that “waste” their time in a sport where you have almost no shot at a pro career if you’re not 6’4” and above. If you’re a father who is under 6’ and you have athletic kids, get them on the field and off the court. Save America.

 

[Crazy Balki]

I really think it comes down to our lesser athletes playing the sport. Watching my son grow up playing all different sports, the less athletic ones played soccer. We really need to convince all super athletic kids who are 5’8” to 6’2” that love basketball, to play soccer. There are some absolute tenacious, athletic kids that “waste” their time in a sport where you have almost no shot at a pro career if you’re not 6’4” and above. If you’re a father who is under 6’ and you have athletic kids, get them on the field and off the court. Save America.

It's basically this.

If you're an athletic kid growing up in America, you are more likely to gravitate towards basketball or football. Then behind that, soccer is fighting hockey and baseball for the bronze.

On one end, soccer is far and away the most accessible sport of the 3. On the other, baseball is MUCH higher paying on the high end and has a far more established farm system in the US than soccer does.

Baseball and Hockey also have the benefit of the US having the premier league in the world. The best players from all around the world come to the US to play in the MLB or NHL. That's not really the case with MLS. The US lacks the footprint on the sport that they have in football, basketball, baseball and hockey.