soccer soccer soccer

[Transmogrified Tiger]

2 hours ago, CubinNY said:

Saw this posted on Threads is it true? 

 

My understanding is that it is less true than it used to be, partially due to the proliferation of MLS academies, and MLS participating in solidarity payments when they did not before a few years ago.  I've also seen estimates that are far from free but also significantly lower than 8-10k (like 2-3k), and this is something that can vary across a very large country.  It is still a problem, though one that is not as simple as the federation simply deciding to make it low/no cost. US Soccer doesn't reasonably have the money to do this, which is why progress has happened via MLS and their academies who can make that more sustainable.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

To go back to last night, my impression from being there

 

• If you have the chance to see the US A-team play a good opponent, you should do so.  The atmosphere is great and unique among sporting experiences.  Similarly, if you have the chance to go to a world cup game you should do that
• Both fanbases kept trying to chant/counter-chant U-S-A or Ur-u-guay and it became hilariously muddled every time
• That ref was some Remember the Titans nonsense, clearly not why they didn't advance but honestly indistinguishable from someone actively throwing the game.
• Between St Louis City and now this game I have watched the same match in person too many times this year.  Be the better side but don't have enough attacking quality in the final third, give up a questionable/unjust goal, and be incapable of getting a breakthrough against a team with no interest in putting numbers forward.

[stitchface]

that last bullet is why strikers make millions . . .

re: costs on youth soccer. Local super club is now $3500 not including travel - this is for the low level teams. ECNL teams are much more I'm sure. The highest level teams are crazy travel - like to Seattle for 1 game. Our smaller club is $1500 a year but not likely developing national players. They have their camps that are all travel. Not sure on scholarship opportunities. My guess is that it's not the cost that keeps a lot of athletes out but lack of opportunity to play at all (pickup, even getting started where parents can't get them to practice). Over-coaching is a big issue - kids need to just play. Driving around Buenos Aires, there are literally kids playing soccer on their own everywhere you look.

MLS academies appear to be greed-based also, Not sure they are the answer. European academies likely a better route. One of the boys I coach went to a "Real Madrid camp" and told his parents I was a much better coach than those at the camp! 🙂

[stitchface]

here's the thing about bad refs, if you want better refs, we need to stop ripping on refs nonstop. Alexei Lalas should be fired for his overtly racist "let's use his full name." Halftime shouldn't be a show ripping the ref to shreds. Reviewing controversial calls is one thing, but that horsefeathers was over the top and hugely hurts the sport and the ability to recruit refs. They make mistakes. Get over it and stop personally attacking them. Or get your badge and get your ass on the field yourself.

[UMFan83]

Regardless of pay to play and all that crap, one thing that struck me last night was they showed a graphic showing our respective country populations.  USA - 340m, Uruguay - 3.4m.  We literally have 100x more people in the US and cant put together a team on the same level.  Not sure how much this adds to the discussion, but it was jarring to me.

[bukie]

1 hour ago, UMFan83 said:

Regardless of pay to play and all that crap, one thing that struck me last night was they showed a graphic showing our respective country populations.  USA - 340m, Uruguay - 3.4m.  We literally have 100x more people in the US and cant put together a team on the same level.  Not sure how much this adds to the discussion, but it was jarring to me.

Every time this argument comes up, the answer is the same.

 

USA sports prioritizes football, basketball and baseball over soccer for sure, and depending on the area of the country, throw in hockey, lacrosse and volleyball as well. Most kids play soccer at 6-8 years old, but the majority of them focus on a more common/lucrative sport after that.

India has a billion people, and their soccer team is awful. Cricket is best in the world, though.

[soccer10k]

 

Seconds left in the game when he made this save.

[stitchface]

"But there also seems to be level of comfort inside the team that is unhealthy. There is usually a tension within national teams when there is a big tournament on the horizon. Is a player in the coach's plans? How does he stay there? If he isn't, how does he get there? That doesn't seem to be present at the moment. Changing the manager every cycle recalibrates that tension, as everyone starts over. That's part of why a change in manager seems necessary now." Why U.S. Soccer needs to move on from Berhalter after Copa failure - ESPN

 

Pretty good article that captures a lot of my thoughts. It's almost like Berhalter is the Dusty Baker of soccer coaches - the players like him a little too much. For me, the failure to reach the 2018 world cup largely came from players who had been around too long and no longer put in full effort. This group takes on an air of being anointed. There is clear evidence for me that we need better mids - Weston doesn't cut it there (check out his passing percentage from last night if you don't believe me). Yet, Berhalter shifts the only playmaker wide to accommodate him being out there. We need a coach who will make tough decisions. The women continue to win because they are always fighting for their spot. Emma Hayes comes in and immediately dumps Alex Morgan, probably the most popular player of the last 15 years, probably 2 years later than should have happened. She releases Crystal Dunn from purgatory at left back. She has courage. Berhalter has the appearance of just wanting to keep everyone happy.

[stitchface]

2 minutes ago, soccer10k said:

 

Seconds left in the game when he made this save.

that was HUGE! I thought that was a certain goal. Good stuff upcoming in the Euros!

[stitchface]

17 minutes ago, bukie said:

Every time this argument comes up, the answer is the same.

 

USA sports prioritizes football, basketball and baseball over soccer for sure, and depending on the area of the country, throw in hockey, lacrosse and volleyball as well. Most kids play soccer at 6-8 years old, but the majority of them focus on a more common/lucrative sport after that.

India has a billion people, and their soccer team is awful. Cricket is best in the world, though.

yea, because we have local leagues where they can make oodles of money (not that very many will). That's why I think European academies will change things because youth can see end goal without first going overseas.

[stitchface]

kind of looking like colombia has passed brazil in the pecking order. clearly the better team in the first half. Brazil could be headed to a Uruguay quarterfinal with Vini suspended.

[wolf stansson]

Tactics aside,  the players obviously need a coach that makes them uncomfortable enough to constantly compete for their spot. If GGG is manager tomorrow, I will boycott the 4th in protest. Matt Crocker you have 24 hours. Do not doubt my sincerity. This is no bluff.

Edited July 3, 2024 by wolf stansson

[stitchface]

58 minutes ago, wolf stansson said:

Tactics aside,  the players obviously need a coach that makes them uncomfortable enough to constantly compete for their spot. If GGG is manager tomorrow, I will boycott the 4th in protest. Matt Crocker you have 24 hours. Do not doubt my sincerity. This is no bluff.

good to see you Wolf!

[soccer10k]

Messi hit a Panenka off the crossbar and went over. Can't say I've seen someone hit one of those too high before.

[JHBulls]

Emi Martinez has gone full Emi Martinez.

[wvcbxl]

On 7/2/2024 at 7:48 PM, stitchface said:

re: costs on youth soccer. Local super club is now $3500 not including travel - this is for the low level teams. ECNL teams are much more I'm sure. The highest level teams are crazy travel - like to Seattle for 1 game. Our smaller club is $1500 a year but not likely developing national players. They have their camps that are all travel. Not sure on scholarship opportunities. My guess is that it's not the cost that keeps a lot of athletes out but lack of opportunity to play at all (pickup, even getting started where parents can't get them to practice). Over-coaching is a big issue - kids need to just play. Driving around Buenos Aires, there are literally kids playing soccer on their own everywhere you look.

MLS academies appear to be greed-based also, Not sure they are the answer. European academies likely a better route. One of the boys I coach went to a "Real Madrid camp" and told his parents I was a much better coach than those at the camp! 🙂

I think granularity is an issue - here in Europe, as a small kid wanting to play soccer you basically just join the nearest club to where you live (and almost every village has one) for a minor cost (250 to 300€/yr) and take it from there. Kevin De Bruyne started out at KVE Drongen, a typical regional league club that nowadays fields two men's teams (first + reserve), one women's team and twenty youth teams at various age levels. I live in a nowhere rural village and even here the village soccer team fields 15 youth teams.

Talented players quickly get picked up by scouts from national league teams (in KDB's case nearby AA Gent), but once they reach their mid-teens the better ones basically can pick their own academy to go to (KDB moved to Genk at the age of 14).

Structuring your youth leagues matters a lot for talent development in soccer.

[wvcbxl]

Spain v Germany was a very entertaining game to watch. 🙂

[JHBulls]

20th anniversary of one of the greatest days…

 

 

Edited July 5, 2024 by JHBulls

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Referees really need to start calling out these penalty takers for stopping.  It's one thing when the stutters clearly have movement, even if it's an exaggerated trailing leg swing, but Ronaldo came to a dead stop twice on his penalty.  It's always been against the spirit of the rule but now they're starting to flaunt the letter of it too.

[stitchface]

2 hours ago, wvcbxl said:

Spain v Germany was a very entertaining game to watch. 🙂

both games were! 

[stitchface]

2 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

Referees really need to start calling out these penalty takers for stopping.  It's one thing when the stutters clearly have movement, even if it's an exaggerated trailing leg swing, but Ronaldo came to a dead stop twice on his penalty.  It's always been against the spirit of the rule but now they're starting to flaunt the letter of it too.

that would need to be one of those things they announce before the tourney starts though. unfair to change enforcement suddenly. Someone else did that on a penalty but when the keeper didn't budge - he didn't know what to do. 

 

 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Just now, stitchface said:

that would need to be one of those things they announce before the tourney starts though. unfair to change enforcement suddenly. Someone else did that on a penalty but when the keeper didn't budge - he didn't know what to do. 

 

 

In practice, probably.  But it wouldn't be unjust at all to just make the call, because the rule exists and in this tournament in particular there's been an escalation in how much takers are breaking it.

[cl smooth]

Alistair Johnston from Team Canada looks like the offspring of Blake Snell and a snapping turtle.

[UMFan83]

So obnoxious that they go straight to PKs after regulation at Copa. Last night and tonight kept getting excited for an extra 30 minutes only to realize it’s time for PKs

[stitchface]

12 hours ago, UMFan83 said:

So obnoxious that they go straight to PKs after regulation at Copa. Last night and tonight kept getting excited for an extra 30 minutes only to realize it’s time for PKs

yea, that seems abrupt. truth is though, I think 30 minutes is way too long. two 5 minute periods would be better. or at least make it golden goal. that Canada-Venezuela game was so entertaining - worst soccer I've ever seen but very entertaining. hard to believe the US couldn't advance in a tourney where one of those teams made the semis