Everything Soccer

[notredomer23]

Preach.

Had the instant gratification chat with my kids and nephews this weekend while fishing. Told them to put down the devices and pickup a fishing pole and work on their patience and persistence.

Lastly, someone correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Cavan Sullivan (or perhaps another young phenom) leave America at a young age to do academy soccer in EU because of better coaching on top of playing up in age, etc? Maybe I'm not recalling properly, but just trying to piggyback on Bill's point regarding coaching gap and knowledge base here in the US.

Sullivan is still here and plays for the Philadelphia Union at 16. He will be going to Man City once he turns 18 because of Visa Rules. Union have a great academy and set up.

He did play up in age though, his older brother is on the team. Their dad was a college player and played some American professional pre-MLS.

 

[NorthDakota]

yeah they argument for why Brasil are so poor now is that their promising players are getting plucked too young by European academies so they end up with a European football mind and skillset which is alien to their historical game. Also the spread of Evangelism is blamed but you can go on Twitter to read all that lol

The claim is very amusing. Perhaps there is something to it!

 

[jerseyborn1971]

They play up in age overseas while American families are obsessed with reclassifying so they can play against weaker, less developed opponents to look good.

 

[calvegas04]

1) Norway
2) Morocco
3) France
4) Spain
5) Switzerland

All the rest are equally horrible options.

France and Spain?

Weird take

 

[gregm83]

I live in the Cincinnati burbs. FC Cincinnati has an initiative over the last few years to build "mini-pitches" all over the greater Cincinnati area. One just went in earlier this year a few minutes from our house. My 2 sons use the mini-pitch on a regular basis. They dm their friends to meet up there and have some pick up 4v4 or 3v3 games. We need organic development like this to see soccer really gain a foothold. We need kids getting out and playing pick up ball. This is the way.

Small scale these programs work. A nation the size of the usa has a hard time similar setups vs a smaller nation like many european countries. The last 10 years or so MLS/NWSL has helped nearly every youth USMNT/WNT player.
There certainly are growing system that should improve the overall talent but it will likely benefit kids in key areas and those who can afford/willing to train at academies of pro teams.

 

[InKellyWeTrust]

Small scale these programs work. A nation the size of the usa has a hard time similar setups vs a smaller nation like many european countries. The last 10 years or so MLS/NWSL has helped nearly every youth USMNT/WNT player.
There certainly are growing system that should improve the overall talent but it will likely benefit kids in key areas and those who can afford/willing to train at academies of pro teams.

My boys play club but there is only so much improvement that happens in games and training. They need to be doing it outside of organized practice. They need to be playing for fun too.

Somewhere out on the web there is a map with soccer field density. The density in Europe is shocking.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Sullivan is still here and plays for the Philadelphia Union at 16. He will be going to Man City once he turns 18 because of Visa Rules. Union have a great academy and set up.

He did play up in age though, his older brother is on the team. Their dad was a college player and played some American professional pre-MLS.

Thanks. Maybe I'm thinking of someone else then. Could've sworn I just watched a video about players leaving the US to get their training. My brother in law actually knows a family who did that with their son, so maybe that's my confusion. He was a solid local talent and his parents had the money. He wanted better training so he traveled all over the US and EU. End of the day, once he went to college, he wasn't any different than anyone else and his career ending shortly after.

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

I feel like I should be supporting Argentina because our tax dollars have helped bail them out. Since FIFA is also doing their best to bail them out, I say fuck Argentina.

 

[TNUtoNotreDame]

I feel like I should be supporting Argentina because our tax dollars have helped bail them out. Since FIFA is also doing their best to bail them out, I say fuck Argentina.

Go Ukraine!, Go Nato! Go ________(120 other countries our tax dollars go to and get wasted) !

 

[Jiggafini19Deux]

Go Ukraine!, Go Nato! Go ________(120 other countries our tax dollars go to and get wasted) !

That joke was totally wasted on you.

 

[dublinirish]

i agree with Klinsmann here, the key to making the USMNT better is basically to abolish NCAA soccer

 

[IrishLax]

i agree with Klinsmann here, the key to making the USMNT better is basically to abolish NCAA soccer

But ironically Title IX and college soccer is what made our USWNT into a powerhouse before other countries!

I would argue that reform of college soccer is the move, especially in the era of NIL, rather than abolition.

 

[dublinirish]

But ironically Title IX and college soccer is what made our USWNT into a powerhouse before other countries!

I would argue that reform of college soccer is the move, especially in the era of NIL, rather than abolition.

you also made university tuition free I guess!

 

[Dale]

i agree with Klinsmann here, the key to making the USMNT better is basically to abolish NCAA soccer

I’m not sure what abolishing NCAA soccer would do. If anything, NIL as an idea in high school and college is more in line with the European model. What was posted earlier:

“In Germany, a talented 14-year-old earns his club money. In America, his parents pay the club $15,000 a year…Training compensation and solidarity payments send a cut of every transfer fee back to the clubs that developed the player, from age 12 onward. Develop one future pro and your academy gets paid for a decade…The kid is the asset. US Soccer refuses to enforce those rules…So American clubs earn zero dollars when a kid turns pro. They earn when a kid enrolls. Which makes the parent the customer, and the product is whatever keeps the parent writing checks: travel tournaments, hotel weekends, $500 showcase events, private training at $100 an hour….A club dependent on fees can't cut its weakest paying players, so rosters optimize for retention over development.”

The NCAA really has nothing to do with holding any of that back. If anything, if some colleges wanted to start throwing around money like some college hockey programs are doing enticing kids out of Canadian juniors because they can earn, the college soccer program could even help as NIL breaks down walls.

 

[jerseyborn1971]

I don't know that it helps having our players spread out across 200 different college teams with varied coaching. And our MLS teams don't have the financial resources to have affordable academies. We gotta find money somewhere so it's not as expensive as I've learned it is from y'all.