US SOCCER

[CAA Flagship]

It's funny listening to the comments on the game. "Best extra time ever", "exciting game", etc.
It points to a number of things. Lose and go home, underdog Yanks, World Cup stage, etc. But the play on the field was exciting. Mainly because there were goals scored and many shots on goal in the last 30 minutes. Soccer needs to figure out how to create more of that, and they can start by opening up the substitution rules to keep fresh legs on the field. Limiting subs just doesn't make sense to me. Maybe someone can explain the nuance of soccer subbing that will make sense.

Bigger goals wouldn't hurt either. 2' taller and 4-6' wider.

[JMU DJ]

[Seahawks08]

[Seahawks08]

Here's the play at the end of regulation.

http://fat.gfycat.com/PepperyEveryCoypu.webm

[BDKJMU]

Eh. I'm not an MLS fan. But, not because the clock counts upward or because of stoppage time. The quality of the soccer just isn't that great. Maybe that changes... who knows?

But, again. Noone gives a **** if a bunch of old dudes don't like it.

Soccer isn't going to grow in this country by appealing to the "old crotchety man" demographic. It will expand by appealing to the 18-35 bracket. And, soccer is growing very very well in that age group... whether y'all like it or not.

They aren't counting on winning the NASCAR fans like BDK over.

Well, they might want to try diversifying their fanbase. Just about everytime ESPN showed a fan gathering somewhere around the country it was overwhelmingly white. Example in Grant Park in heavily black Chicago before one of earlier games. Where are the black people?


You invoke NASCAR. Yet that looks whiter than a NASCAR race. If that had been a Republican rally some donk would have been talking about how it was all white folks..

[YoUDeeMan]

MLS is built not to be ever be considered the equals of the European Leagues.

Our soccer league is much too socialistic to compete with the capitalist European Leagues.

Salary caps and designated player rules means that we'll never have teams that can match the top clubs in EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, etc.

I'd love for it to be able to increase to European standards, but MLS has made a decision to make it a domestically focused league instead of an international league. That's just the way it is.

skelly, the US teams are just following Obama's plan while the Europeans are following the Conk plan...you should LOVE our way of soccer!

[YoUDeeMan]

Exciting finish, and Howard played a great game, but we got our asses handed to us.

No one goes into the match with a game plan that says, "Hey, goaltender...save 16 shots and we have a chance."

Seriously, at were the shot totals after regulation?

Our defenders looked like clowns out there...bad angles taken and simply beaten off one on one moves. And all through the tournament, we couldn't sting passes together. Most of the World Cup teams are stringing together passes but we were lucky if we made 3 in a row. And we lost some very simple passes...yet they were not even close to their targets.

The low scoring averages in soccer can give a team a chance, but what was clear was that we were not even close in talent, game strategy, or execution, to Germany or Belgium.

[93henfan]

Exciting finish, and Howard played a great game, but we got our asses handed to us.

No one goes into the match with a game plan that says, "Hey, goaltender...save 16 shots and we have a chance."

Seriously, at were the shot totals after regulation?

Our defenders looked like clowns out there...bad angles taken and simply beaten off one on one moves. And all through the tournament, we couldn't sting passes together. Most of the World Cup teams are stringing together passes but we were lucky if we made 3 in a row. And we lost some very simple passes...yet they were not even close to their targets.

The low scoring averages in soccer can give a team a chance, but what was clear was that we were not even close in talent, game strategy, or execution, to Germany or Belgium.

Couldn't agree more. We have the US resolve, but we don't have the international skill. Our ball handling skills are not good.

[AZGrizFan]

At one point in that game, Belgium played about 10 consecutive minutes on our half of the field, most of it with our defenders' backs up against the goalie box line.

[Seahawks08]

At one point in that game, Belgium played about 10 consecutive minutes on our half of the field, most of it with our defenders' backs up against the goalie box line.

I'm not sure if that's due to skill or style of play. The Swiss seemed to be playing defense the entire game against Argentina and it worked for them until extra time. Plus, the 2 goals against the US were counterattacks i believe where the defense didn't get back in time.

[Skjellyfetti]

Haha. Wikipedia article for "Secretary of Defense" was edited to be Tim Howard

[JMU DJ]

Anyone who watched the match now knows who Vincent Kompany is and why there was so much talk about whether or not he would play. The guy is great all around and had this shot saved by Howard.


Kompany had this to say after the match




Also, Yeldin looked sick. Kids only 20 too! Same with that Green goal, only 19. Hopefully both stay healthy, great pieces to have for the future.

[JMU DJ]

Eh. I'm not an MLS fan. But, not because the clock counts upward or because of stoppage time. The quality of the soccer just isn't that great. Maybe that changes... who knows?

But, again. Noone gives a **** if a bunch of old dudes don't like it.

Soccer isn't going to grow in this country by appealing to the "old crotchety man" demographic. It will expand by appealing to the 18-35 bracket. And, soccer is growing very very well in that age group... whether y'all like it or not.

They aren't counting on winning the NASCAR fans like BDK over.

Well, they might want to try diversifying their fanbase. Just about everytime ESPN showed a fan gathering somewhere around the country it was overwhelmingly white. Example in Grant Park in heavily black Chicago before one of earlier games. Where are the black people?


You invoke NASCAR. Yet that looks whiter than a NASCAR race. If that had been a Republican rally some donk would have been talking about how it was all white folks..

I must see a lot more diversity in the crowds than you.








You keep on keepin on buddy

[bandl]

The World (WORLD) Cup is rigged.

[bluehenbillk]

Well, they might want to try diversifying their fanbase. Just about everytime ESPN showed a fan gathering somewhere around the country it was overwhelmingly white. Example in Grant Park in heavily black Chicago before one of earlier games. Where are the black people?


You invoke NASCAR. Yet that looks whiter than a NASCAR race. If that had been a Republican rally some donk would have been talking about how it was all white folks..

I must see a lot more diversity in the crowds than you.








You keep on keepin on buddy

Soccer is a suburban min-van sport in this country. Find me a competitive soccer league in the inner cities. You want to be more competitive in a World Cup, you get some of those kids to choose soccer over basketball or football. Get back to me when that happens.

[93henfan]

The World (WORLD) Cup is rigged.

BOHEMIAN GROVE!!!

OWL WORSHIP!!!

[93henfan]

Find me a competitive soccer league in the inner cities.

Detroit, yo! So competitive, they kill the refs:

http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/01/justice/m ... ?hpt=hp_t2

[MSUDuo]

I must see a lot more diversity in the crowds than you.








You keep on keepin on buddy

Soccer is a suburban min-van sport in this country. Find me a competitive soccer league in the inner cities. You want to be more competitive in a World Cup, you get some of those kids to choose soccer over basketball or football. Get back to me when that happens.

Because we have it backwards. In the US it's a pay to play sport. Elsewhere it's a play for pay.

With that said, so are all sports in the US. And one could argue that we are leaving behind kids in all sports.

[JMU DJ]

Soccer is a suburban min-van sport in this country. Find me a competitive soccer league in the inner cities. You want to be more competitive in a World Cup, you get some of those kids to choose soccer over basketball or football. Get back to me when that happens.

Because we have it backwards. In the US it's a pay to play sport. Elsewhere it's a play for pay.

With that said, so are all sports in the US. And one could argue that we are leaving behind kids in all sports.

There are very competitive inner city programs, but with that, comes the financial burden of playing the game at the youth level in America:

Wilkinson coached a Bay Oaks team from U-15 to U-18 at the elite level, competing at major tournaments, and Wilkinson wondered why they so rarely encountered San Francisco teams.

He did some investigating and met Miguel Ayala, a Salvadoran civil war refugee who started a soccer program at the Good Samaritan Family Resource Center. Ayala told Wilkinson about his U-13 team that won State Cup but couldn’t afford to go to regionals.

“I was well aware of the barriers that existed in our youth soccer system,” Wilkinson said. “I knew it could cost a family $2,000, even $10,000 a year. The team I coached, we’d raise thousands of dollars to travel to tournaments. … These kids in the Mission, their families couldn’t afford $200, let alone $2,000. … There’s great talent, but the teams fall apart at U-13, U-14, because of the costs and the other inner-city challenges.”

http://www.socceramerica.com/article/55 ... uce-u.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also, young players like Jose Villareal (Inglewood, CA plays for Cruz Azul) and Darius Madison (Philly, plays at UVA currently) are out there and showing potential. So players are coming out of the cities.

[GannonFan]

I must see a lot more diversity in the crowds than you.








You keep on keepin on buddy

Soccer is a suburban min-van sport in this country. Find me a competitive soccer league in the inner cities. You want to be more competitive in a World Cup, you get some of those kids to choose soccer over basketball or football. Get back to me when that happens.

Again, it's like you're stuck in the 1990's with regards to your views on American soccer. Everything you said is true 20 years ago. But it's changing, not in a stampede, but it's gradually changing. The inner cities aren't just all Black people anymore, there are tons of different ethnic groups and a lot of them play soccer before they play anything else. Where you never saw youth clubs from those places now you see clubs galore through places like Philly and NYC.

And like the other posters said, soccer doesn't have to become a real rival to sports like basketball and football to see the national team succeed on the global level - like any other sport, you only play so many players on the field. The US is only a few players away from being able to take another step forward.

[clenz]

Soccer is a suburban min-van sport in this country. Find me a competitive soccer league in the inner cities. You want to be more competitive in a World Cup, you get some of those kids to choose soccer over basketball or football. Get back to me when that happens.

Again, it's like you're stuck in the 1990's with regards to your views on American soccer. Everything you said is true 20 years ago. But it's changing, not in a stampede, but it's gradually changing. The inner cities aren't just all Black people anymore, there are tons of different ethnic groups and a lot of them play soccer before they play anything else. Where you never saw youth clubs from those places now you see clubs galore through places like Philly and NYC.

And like the other posters said, soccer doesn't have to become a real rival to sports like basketball and football to see the national team succeed on the global level - like any other sport, you only play so many players on the field. The US is only a few players away from being able to take another step forward.

1 or 2 solid mid-fielders on this years team makes a huge difference.

Even a real striking thread would have made a real difference on this team.

Depth isn't there, but if the US can develop 5-6 REAL good players it will make a HUGE difference.

[bandl]

So we all realize that Michael Bradley wouldn't have EVER been on the USMNT, let alone even tried out, if it hadn't been for his father, right? MB was pretty bad when he first joined the team, and overall he was pretty bad in the WC. Yeah, nice assist yesterday and he hustled a few times. But he is supposed to be THE midfielder, THE General of the team that leads the transition from defense to offense and vice versa. He needs to go. Hopefully one of the youngin's will come up and take his place at the very start of WC 2018 qualifying.

[andy7171]

The World (WORLD) Cup is rigged.

[93henfan]

So we all realize that Michael Bradley wouldn't have EVER been on the USMNT, let alone even tried out, if it hadn't been for his father, right? MB was pretty bad when he first joined the team, and overall he was pretty bad in the WC. Yeah, nice assist yesterday and he hustled a few times. But he is supposed to be THE midfielder, THE General of the team that leads the transition from defense to offense and vice versa. He needs to go. Hopefully one of the youngin's will come up and take his place at the very start of WC 2018 qualifying.

Was he the bald headed guy that absolutely sucked?

[93henfan]

The World (WORLD) Cup is rigged.

I suspected that Howard was an agent of the Illuminati at the start of the tournament, but I kept it to myself.