***Official USMNT Thread***
- Thread starter ianoconnor
- Start date
Thomas Muller made a career out of being in the right place at the right time. Hes big but hes not the fastest player nor the most technically skilled player. But he was a player that just popped up in the right spot on every pass, deflection etc etc etc for YEARS.
Aight. I stand by this. Rodri should get a yellow card for that acting job. If you fake injury to illicit a card you should get the card
Absolutely beautiful service and how he got that much power behind it is just amazing. Dude floated.
Ironically, the top two draft choices in the NBA draft were from France. Point is that all athletes are not the same build, type, etc.. While soccer is not the number one choice of most American male athletes, the U.S. still have a large enough pool to pull players to provide a good to great team.
The point I saw the other day that made a lot of sense to me is how high the bar is financially for club teams are here. That you’re cutting off a huge % of potential players before you even get them on the field.
But I don’t know enough about academies/clubs anywhere else to know if we’re any different in that aspect.
But I don’t know enough about academies/clubs anywhere else to know if we’re any different in that aspect.
Most major countries have found ways to bring the sport to all wakes of life because, and I know this is shocking news, not all of the best talent in the world came from the upper echelons of society.
Many many countries including Germany, England, France, Belgium, Italy and Spain. This is done through the pro leagues in those countries. They want to identify talent early and promote it to their teams as a product that people will pay for. But its also mandated by some of the countries that they provide these programs.
Here in the US its not. Its a lot of money to get your kid into these programs and not everyone can afford them.
finally lets talk value statement. It costs $2800-3500 to get your kid into an academy for some MLS club here in the states. PSG charges $200. I saw Mbappe brought up earlier. That dude grew up in Bondy, which is a pretty poor region of France. If he were American he wouldn't be playing soccer. He'd be in something else because the cost of playing high tier soccer in the states is a roadblock on talent. So yeah. The whole sport is growing. But we are shooting ourselves in the foot every step of the way.
Canada up 1-0 on Venezuela after a great couple of attacks. They are so much more fun to watch than our team is. More athletic and technical in some key spots on the field.
To be fair though. They did only score one goal in the group stage. They seemed to have the same issues we did with creating offense until tonight. The big difference was they avoided the big mistake that the US made so they were able to get a draw without scoring.
Yeah they were oddly flat in the Group Stage. Will cut them slack against Argentina. But they just need to learn to finish in the final third. However, their creativity and chances they have created tonight and several other times I watch them is better than what I see from our boys. Canada just need to keep improving on the small things.
