wxman1 said:

It looks like 2027 might be the first year of the Hybrid Telluride.

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intrepid27 said:

Speaking of irony, I just noticed she is holding a bonefish.

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NorthCyd said:

I get it, and that's why I tried to stop complaining about things so much after that night. But you seem to think that fans of football and other more popular American sports don't ***** about rules and gameplay and nothing could be further from the truth. Fans of those sports ***** about what they don't like about the sport and how it could be improved all the time. Good Lord, I see someone swear off college sports pretty much every day on this message board. I get soccer fans are defensive about it but that's just how fans are, especially when the team they are rooting for loses.

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Clonehomer said:

I’m not sure today was about athleticism. This was about skill level. Belgium was crisp on all their passes and we gave the ball away too much. People always talk about what if LeBron played soccer. But it’s more than just size and speed. Those top players look like they’re dancing with the ball. You need to be able to make that first move and the body that makes a great football or basketball player isn’t necessarily equate to that.

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Cyientist said:

I’ve been on CF for too long. I’m almost positive this is third time I’ve been part of this exact thread .

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cyatheart said:

Not talking about conditioning. Just one example, I live in a school district in Texas, powerhouse in everything. Huge school, won like 3 state titles in a row in football etc....Every single year the 4-5 best soccer players on the freshmen team end up at dback, linebacker, shortstop, point guard, or running track or even lacrosse. And at that schools level you really can't play more than 1 sport. These are elite players, guys that are d1 at their respective sport. But soccer loses the elite guys to other sports 9 times out of ten here. This isn't to say the kids that stick with soccer aren't great athletes, they are, but the truly unique unicorns very rarely stick with soccer. The 6'4, 220 kid that can run a 4.5, football coach shows up and says, you're the tight end. That kid that's 6'5 and has great hand eye coordination, ends up pitching or playing off guard. Etc.

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madguy30 said:

This is very well written but what is 'Nickelbacking'?

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madguy30 said:

This is very well written but what is 'Nickelbacking'?

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harimad said:

Not really. One of the things that USMNT can traditionally hang its hat on is superior conditioning. It's all that kept them in some games against superior competition in previous cycles. The 2010 WC last second win vs Algeria is a great example of that.

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coolerifyoudid said:

We're hundreds of years behind other nations in this sport. That's significant in passion, development, coaching and overall infrastructure.

Watch youth and high school soccer. We don't value possession. There's too much focus on through-balls and scoring and too little focus on composure and touches. Those make up the player pools that eventually make up our national teams.

There is increased interest overall, but we're still dealing with a horrible perception issue. Hell, this thread is a microcosm of how the rest of the country feels. We battle the rest of the world trying to catch up while fighting off our own that go out of their way to **** on the sport when they could just ignore it.

When a chunk of people try to make it cool to "Nickelback" a sport, it doesn't make it any easier to increase interest and get better.

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cycloneman003 said:

Tough night, but there is no denying the progress US soccer is making. One result doesn’t change that.

I can confidently say there are more USMNT players right now that belong on this level than ever before and the great news is many of them are going to be around for another WC cycle probably. Freeman, Richards, Tillman, Balogun, Pulisic, McKennie, Adams, etc. That core is going to be around for a while still. There are plenty of young studs out there too and on the way. Trajectory is still up and to the right for this country.

And good news, we’ll see more big time soccer in the states. Copa America is likely going to have the US in it and hosting in 2028 and pretty great chance the US will host the 2038 WC. We’re not going anywhere on the global scene.

Next big question is Pochettino. Will he resign for another WC cycle? Seems like he wants to go back to managing a big club. If he doesn’t want to continue, throw the biggest bag imaginable at Pep and give him four years to work his magic.

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cyfanbr said:

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.

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AppleCornCy said:

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.

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