I know I’m in a small camp here, but I’m honestly more excited for soccer season to start than college football for the first time ever. The NIL and transfers and conference realignment crap has taken a pretty big toll on my enthusiasm.
I love soccer, and I root for the USMNT - sometimes in person! Bummer that they lost tonight and looked bad doing it. On a good day, beating Belgium was going to be rough, but the disruption of the Balo situation was dishonorable IMO. He should not have been reinstated, and he should not have played - even after being reinstated. Definitely could not have been any worse than it was.
USA soccer is heavily dependent on club teams that try to teach the sport to everyone but ultimately have to make money. We've convinced ourselves that the only way we will have good players is to travel regionally and nationally and have priced out more than half of the potential athletes.
Unfortunately, the MLS season change to fall / spring won’t help IMO. Going up against baseball for viewers seemed like a winning strategy. Going forward, you’ll be competing with football and basketball for viewers. I don’t know that is the way to grow the league.
I know I’m in a small camp here, but I’m honestly more excited for soccer season to start than college football for the first time ever. The NIL and transfers and conference realignment crap has taken a pretty big toll on my enthusiasm.
I love soccer, and I root for the USMNT - sometimes in person! Bummer that they lost tonight and looked bad doing it. On a good day, beating Belgium was going to be rough, but the disruption of the Balo situation was dishonorable IMO. He should not have been reinstated, and he should not have played - even after being reinstated. Definitely could not have been any worse than it was.
Unfortunately, the MLS season change to fall / spring won’t help IMO. Going up against baseball for viewers seemed like a winning strategy. Going forward, you’ll be competing with football and basketball for viewers. I don’t know that is the way to grow the league.
I dont know how you grow MLS without telling owners they are just going to have to take in less money to buy better players. There's just no way they'll ever get it to where they want it to be. Thats like trying to make the Japanese or Korean League as big as MLB. One thing we need to consider is a merger with Liga MX. Its probably better.
We've greatly improved. What we have to do now to get to the next step is for parents to send their first born male to the English soccer academies at age 6. See them once or twice each year for the next 14 years. They'll be a mainstay on the US international team and will have acquired an English accent, a la John Harkes.
I’m not here to defend US youth soccer, but let’s be honest here…..
In other countries, EVERY competitive kid who plays a sport plays soccer, and they probably spend a lot of time watching it, practicing ball skills, and playing it informally. It’s engrained in the culture. And all that stuff happens outside the formal ‘club’ setting.
I think a lack of soccer culture is the biggest factor that limits our national performance in the sport
I think it is a mixture of both. Cost + lack of soccer culture. Get those 2 things under control and a country like Cape Verde can push Argentina to the brink.
I posted earlier that there’s about 14 mins of action in a 3.5 hr college football game. It’s just ignorant to say soccer is boring but football isn’t.
Soccer though is just not even close to being our #1 sport in America, like it is in nearly every other country. That’s just a fact. Argentina will never have a prayer to beat us in American football…. it’s just the way it is.
Looking at any sport like this is so small minded and weak. Open your eyes to different things in life. Might come to enjoy the nuances each sport provides
I haven't even been hating on the sport tonight. I bitched about the officiating and penalties after the Balogun redcard but I let it go and haven't said much since then including tonight. I want the US to be good at the sport and would like the MLS to be a top tier league. I'm not sure I will ever be much of a fan but hope it takes hold in the country. You keep being an elitist prick and chasing marginal fans like me away.
If that the case then you’re not part of the pricks, but my man/lady, go back to the last several pages and tell me that there aren’t plenty of the “well I hate soccer and don’t have to care about it again for 4 years anyways” crowd.
Every other country is inclusive with soccer. US is exclusive. Look at how other countries run their youth programs. That’s the issue. Greed has made soccer unattainable for a vast majority of the country.
I’m not here to defend US youth soccer, but let’s be honest here…..
In other countries, EVERY competitive kid who plays a sport plays soccer, and they probably spend a lot of time watching it, practicing ball skills, and playing it informally. It’s engrained in the culture. And all that stuff happens outside the formal ‘club’ setting.
I think a lack of soccer culture is the biggest factor that limits our national performance in the sport
I haven't even been hating on the sport tonight. I bitched about the officiating and penalties after the Balogun redcard but I let it go and haven't said much since then including tonight. I want the US to be good at the sport and would like the MLS to be a top tier league. I'm not sure I will ever be much of a fan but hope it takes hold in the country. You keep being an elitist prick and chasing marginal fans like me away.
That’s it? What a let down. Anyhow, enjoy going around telling other people all the things that you hate. As I said before, let those feelings out. It’s no good to keep them bottled up.
I haven't even been hating on the sport tonight. I bitched about the officiating and penalties after the Balogun redcard but I let it go and haven't said much since then including tonight. I want the US to be good at the sport and would like the MLS to be a top tier league. I'm not sure I will ever be much of a fan but hope it takes hold in the country. You keep being an elitist prick and chasing marginal fans like me away.
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