Everything Soccer

[Irish YJ]

2010 was great because I watched a lot of games with a bunch of foreign born buddies. 1 from MX, 1 from Slovakia, 2 from Germany, and several from Brazil. 2014 was mainly just me and by 2 buddies from Germany and a few from Brazil. Wasn't fun for the Brazil crowd though lol.

 

[IrishLax]

Now the the final is gonna be a snoozer. 0% chance Croatia can score on France.

Well I was wrong about this, but that was certainly the least exciting 6 goal game I’ve ever seen. Only 3 of the 6 goals were anything legit.

 

[ACamp1900]

It’d be nice if there were any hope of Mbappe not ending up in a Real jersey...

 

[BabyIrish]

France is the worst team I’ve ever seen win a World Cup. How different the second half would have been had they not been gifted those goals in the first.

 

[ACamp1900]

Loving the MLS following it right up with this ATL game... nice way to spend a Sunday.

 

[ACamp1900]

Largest MLS crowd ever today in Atlanta, 73,000

 

[Irish YJ]

Largest MLS crowd ever today in Atlanta, 73,000

HUGE following for such a new team. The game they had a week or so ago had more people than both WC games combined that were going on that day.

There's a ton of rec leagues around ATL and have a bunch of friends (adults) who play. Soccer is big here.

 

[Irish YJ]

Pussy Riot claims credit for interrupting World Cup final
https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/15/europe/pussy-riot-world-cup/index.html

 

[ickythump1225]

As a German fan 2014 is my favorite WC of all time. 7-1 will forever be one of my fondest sports memories of all time. I still watch the highlights to that match.

2010 was fun because it was my first time really paying attention to the WC. I have mixed feelings about this WC. A lot of really great matches but it just felt...anticlimatic. I could just be jaded because Germany had their worst ever result in the WC but as a Braves/Irish/Vikings fan I'm well accustomed to watching postseasons/championships without my favorite team in them and it doesn't damper my opinion normally.

 

[NorthDakota]

As a German fan 2014 is my favorite WC of all time. 7-1 will forever be one of my fondest sports memories of all time. I still watch the highlights to that match.

2010 was fun because it was my first time really paying attention to the WC. I have mixed feelings about this WC. A lot of really great matches but it just felt...anticlimatic. I could just be jaded because Germany had their worst ever result in the WC but as a Braves/Irish/Vikings fan I'm well accustomed to watching postseasons/championships without my favorite team in them and it doesn't damper my opinion normally.

Why on earth are you a vikes fan? You from MinneSnowta?

 

[BabyIrish]

I definitely don’t think this was a bad or boring World Cup at all. Portugal vs Spain, Mexico Germany, Sweden Germany, Belgium Japan, Russia Spain, Russia Croatia, were all plenty entertaining games and I already know there’s more I’m just not remembering. Was it the GOAT? No and certainly I would have rather seen anyone besides France not win it. Belgium vs Croatia would have been awesome in my opinion.

 

[ickythump1225]

Why on earth are you a vikes fan? You from MinneSnowta?

Yeah bro I wouldn't choose that shit willingly.

 

[dublinirish]

Giroud zero shots on target in the whole world cup, love that stat.

 

[stlnd01]

I definitely don’t think this was a bad or boring World Cup at all. Portugal vs Spain, Mexico Germany, Sweden Germany, Belgium Japan, Russia Spain, Russia Croatia, were all plenty entertaining games and I already know there’s more I’m just not remembering. Was it the GOAT? No and certainly I would have rather seen anyone besides France not win it. Belgium vs Croatia would have been awesome in my opinion.

Felt a bit like an NCAA Basketball Tournament to me. Lots of fun games, and some upsets, early. A mid-major made a Cinderella run to the title game. But in the end, one of the big powers wins, just like they were always going to.

 

[IrishLion]

Yeah bro I wouldn't choose that shit willingly.

At least you're in a good, stable place with Zimmer running one of the best defensive units in the NFL, and the team is making decent moves in terms of offensive personnel, as well.

I'm still pissed that the Bengals didn't dump Marvin and promote Zimmer three years ago.

 

[Emcee77]

... but that was certainly the least exciting 6 goal game I’ve ever seen. Only 3 of the 6 goals were anything legit.

I totally agree. I might even take it a bit farther and say that none of the 6 goals was really satisfying as a product of quality, or to put it differently, there was something at least slightly flukey about all of them.

First goal: fortunate own goal on a set piece

Second goal: great work by Perisic but benefits from a fortunate deflection

Third goal: penalty awarded based on VAR despite the fact that it was an obvious unintentional ball-to-hand situation

Fourth and fifth goals: both pretty good strikes but it was clear that Subasic was unfit and unable to really push off into a dive. A fit Subasic probably saves both. (I've heard some pundits suggest that he probably would have saved the Trippier goal in the semifinal if fit.)

Sixth goal: Horrific mistake by Lloris

Overall I thought it was a really disappointing final. You want to see a team win because of its quality, not because it just gets more and better breaks. (Which is not to say that France had any dearth of quality; it just wasn't the quality that determined the result on Sunday)

France is the worst team I’ve ever seen win a World Cup. How different the second half would have been had they not been gifted those goals in the first.

I agree with the sentiment. France were not exactly dominating in this tourney (but then few teams really were), and it was just a shame to take all that attacking talent and set the team up to defend deep and counterattack. There's something so dissatisfying about that.

Still, I have to agree with this:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Maybe France didn't quite play to their full potential at times but you can say the same for Germany 2014 and (particularly) Spain 2010. Like then, ultimately the most talented squad won.</p>— Michael Cox (@Zonal_Marking) <a href="https://twitter.com/Zonal_Marking/status/1018543361794306048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 15, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[GowerND11]

I agree with the sentiment. France were not exactly dominating in this tourney (but then few teams really were), and it was just a shame to take all that attacking talent and set the team up to defend deep and counterattack. There's something so dissatisfying about that.

Still, I have to agree with this:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Maybe France didn't quite play to their full potential at times but you can say the same for Germany 2014 and (particularly) Spain 2010. Like then, ultimately the most talented squad won.</p>— Michael Cox (@Zonal_Marking) <a href="https://twitter.com/Zonal_Marking/status/1018543361794306048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 15, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

In a way, setting up deep ready to strike with the counter is a perfect fit with a team that can use defensive players (Kante) to win the ball back and go full force forward. People will rag on Giroud, understandable he didn't score, but his hold up play was pretty good all tournament. This allowed others to occupy the flanks and Pogba to come forward.

Also, I agree with the tweet you shared. The US really should have went level with Germany, and Spain only won 1-0 in all knockout games in 2010. Plus they lost to the Swiss.

 

[Emcee77]

In a way, setting up deep ready to strike with the counter is a perfect fit with a team that can use defensive players (Kante) to win the ball back and go full force forward. People will rag on Giroud, understandable he didn't score, but his hold up play was pretty good all tournament. This allowed others to occupy the flanks and Pogba to come forward.

Also, I agree with the tweet you shared. The US really should have went level with Germany, and Spain only won 1-0 in all knockout games in 2010. Plus they lost to the Swiss.

Agree, and you can't argue with the results. All I mean is that, as a fan, I would have preferred to see France managed by someone who would let the horses run.

And I agree the Giroud criticism is annoying. He was in the team because generally you get the best out of Griezmann by pairing him with a #9 who can offer solid hold-up play and link-up play, and Giroud did his part in that respect. Many people wanted to see that fluid front 3 of Dembele/Griezmann/Mbappe, but that really didn't work when France tried. Those three players didn't interchange well and didn't look like they knew what they were doing or where they were supposed to be. So I think it was fair enough for Deschamps to go back to Giroud. (Maybe I am contradicting myself now, but I don't know, I guess two things can be true at the same time: you can want to watch the Showtime offense but still respect the Bad Boys for getting results.)

 

[ACamp1900]

They aren't as complete as previous champions but their final third attack is so far and above the rest currently that they can sit back and just wait for a nice counter... I believe they are going to be very hard to beat over the next five or so years as long as their core 3-4 up front are all healthy.

 

[Rogue219]

If the USMNT starts using their resources a bit wiser, they can be a powerhouse. We're a nation of over 320 million people. Croatia is the size of Oregon. Something is amiss.

 

[NDty9]

If the USMNT starts using their resources a bit wiser, they can be a powerhouse. We're a nation of over 320 million people. Croatia is the size of Oregon. Something is amiss.

I get your point for sure. However, it comes down to a lotttt more than just population of our country vs others.

We could go on for hours talking about what is holding the USMNT back, but it seems to be a combination of

- Lack of interest in the sport by a majority of our population

- Extreme interest and importance placed on several other sports in our country (NFL, NBA, MLB, etc) , which differs from nearly all other countries

- Philosophy of how we treat our top tier soccer players in this country, from a VERY YOUNG age.

Among other things.....



Now... Im more so an Italia Fan, and if you can tell me wtffffff is wrong over there, ill be in your debt forever! haha

 

[fightingirish26]

We need to make sure our most promising players don't get anywhere near the NCAA. MLS academies should continue to invest in scholarship funds so players can go to school if pro soccer doesn't work out for them, but we can't let these guys spend ages 18-22 in the NCAA when everyone else's 18-22 year olds are breaking through in top leagues

 

[ACamp1900]

We are one of the few countries, if not the only, that has multiple other top tier, huge money, options. That will continue to be a factor. In most of the nations we want to catch up to you have soccer and maybe another option or two that isn't nearly as appealing as soccer. That's a great leveler. I still think we are going to get there soon enough though.

 

[NDty9]

In addition to the other things i mentioned just a few posts ago... something that people don't talk about as much, which is another reason Soccer is struggling in this country, is Broadcasting.

The big name and big money companies are sometimes hesitant to put the big bucks into soccer. They realize there are far less commercials in a broadcast of soccer, as opposed to NFL , NBA, etc. This is part of the reason it has taken sooooo long for the Main Television networks to buy in. FOX has obviously started to recently, but we need others to follow.

 

[notredomer23]

If the USMNT starts using their resources a bit wiser, they can be a powerhouse. We're a nation of over 320 million people. Croatia is the size of Oregon. Something is amiss.

We didn't have a uniform development system until Klinsmann really. It's coming. There is a reason we're seeing the youth movement in the USMNT.
That is what it comes down to. People want to over complicate it, but youth development sucked here until it was completed overhauled. Just to see that progression look at all the American developed players at academies in Europe. We have 7 American developed players in Bayern's u17-u19 teams. We have over a dozen other American developed players not including them in Bundesliga academies. We have a player at PSG in addition to Weah. Konrad De La Fuente is a standout in Barca's academy.

In short, our pool wasn't the problem. It was how we developed them.

 

[Rogue219]

Youth participation in the "big four" all took a drop.

 

[IrishLax]

We didn't have a uniform development system until Klinsmann really. It's coming. There is a reason we're seeing the youth movement in the USMNT.
That is what it comes down to. People want to over complicate it, but youth development sucked here until it was completed overhauled. Just to see that progression look at all the American developed players at academies in Europe. We have 7 American developed players in Bayern's u17-u19 teams. We have over a dozen other American developed players not including them in Bundesliga academies. We have a player at PSG in addition to Weah. Konrad De La Fuente is a standout in Barca's academy.

In short, our pool wasn't the problem. It was how we developed them.

With people moving more and more towards banning pee wee football, what I'd like to see is a lot more outreach into communities from age 6 to 12. Start identifying the athletic kids with promise then because you've now you've potentially got a window outside of basketball season... the big issue will always be that the only male sports where you get a full ride at the college level are football and basketball. Accordingly, the best domestic athletes will always be funneled that direction.

 

[GowerND11]

With people moving more and more towards banning pee wee football, what I'd like to see is a lot more outreach into communities from age 6 to 12. Start identifying the athletic kids with promise then because you've now you've potentially got a window outside of basketball season... the big issue will always be that the only male sports where you get a full ride at the college level are football and basketball. Accordingly, the best domestic athletes will always be funneled that direction.

Definitely agree with this here. The people that always use the, we have 300+ million in the country argument have a flawed one. China and India never make noise. It's all about development, retaining top athletic talent in soccer (not letting them slide away to football, basketball, etc.), and expanding the academies. It's very tough since the USA has not had a system built like other countries, therefore it's about playing catch up. Think of how good the USMNT would have been from 2006-Present with a viable and working youth system in place. Especially the 2014 team.

 

[NorthDakota]

Sounds like Alisson Becker will be at Liverpool. 75 million euros. Love that Pool is throwing down big money for starting 11 players.

 

[Rogue219]

Finishing in the Top Four on a regular basis is important. Liverpool is proving that, and Klopp seems to hit on the guys he wants more than he's missed so far.

Fekir deal looks to be back on too. They are mounting a challenge to City.

Should be a very fun Premier League season again.