***Official USMNT Thread***
- Thread starter ianoconnor
- Start date
I am dumbfounded on how the women excel where the men don't while using the same fecking strategy
The Knicks and the GSW run a similar strategy. What’s the difference there? Same problem.
Women’s soccer in the United States is light years ahead largely because the first women’s World Cup was in 1991. They were a part of the global game from the beginning. The men are catching up to the world. The women are the pioneers.
i know, it was more of a rhetorical statement. Because of a bunch of European experts were saying that the US have hit the brickwall after the 2016 Olympic Meltdown and yet we're in the final.
The assumption was that first mover advantage would dissipate. Candidly there is a sliver of truth but opportunities for quality training has improved more than anyone imagined domestically. Furthermore, women’s soccer is more inclusive for all not just rich white kids.
When I look at the current roster, I see a pretty solid mix of players with white, black, Hispanic, and Eastern European decent. Pretty much resembling what the demographics of the country look like. Odd.
https://www.ussoccer.com/players
The interesting thing is nearly from the start there has a been a healthy mix of the overall demographic of the country reflected in the women's national team pool.
It’s the same in the men’s side. But there’s this myth out there that if soccer wasn’t a “select” sport that cost a couple grand a year that every NBA and NFL guy would have grown up playing soccer instead of (mainly) basketball and that’s just not how it is. Basketball is the game of our streets like soccer is the game of the streets in the rest of the world. That’s just how it is.
I go a bit further, rich basketball an football players are much more visible here than soccer players. Every kid my age wanted to be like Mike. We didn't know who the stars of soccer were. I think the 10 to 14-year-olds emulate who they see on TV, soccer doesn't have that presence in the US. It does have more a presence now than it did. It just takes time.
For Women, US soccer has been the most visible sport for them for a long time. I think that is why they do attract the best athletes.
I think that is why it is important to grow a competitive domestic league. MLS has stalled out recently in my opinion. US soccer went for the dollars. Instead of looking at what works everywhere else and implementing it.
I have started to wonder if the US is too big for one entity to control soccer in the US. If a more regional/state approach wouldn't be better. Let the world of soccer grow organically within those areas as opposed to forcing it to grow by placing MLS franchises where billionaires feel they can make money. That works some times but fails others. Look at Chicago, it should be a hotbed for the top league in the US and the Fire have very often been at best average, it shows in the support of the team.
I'm kinda curious to see who returns for the next World Cup. I know there are some exceptions to the age rule, but we have a number of players that will be mid 30s and older for the next one. Fortunately, we have some solid youth on board, but there is some star power on this list:
Lloyd - 40
Harris - 37
Heath - 35
Krieger - 41
Morgan - 34
Naeher - 35
O'Hara - 35
Press - 34
Rapinoe - 37
Sauerbrunn - 38
Lineup vs Jamaica tonight:
Arriola-Jozy-Morris
Pulisic-Bradley-McKennie
Ream-Long-Miazga-Cannon
Steffen
Arriola-Jozy-Morris
Pulisic-Bradley-McKennie
Ream-Long-Miazga-Cannon
Steffen
