An upbeat view from abroad

[lmorin]

No pessimism allowed here.

Nice article by Marc Connolly providing a view from abroad on the growth of US soccer. Implications for future years included.
http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20041230&content_id=20526&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp

[TAKK]

No pessimism allowed here.

Nice article by Marc Connolly providing a view from abroad on the growth of US soccer. Implications for future years included.
http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20041230&content_id=20526&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp


The only pessimism will come from people who have only followed the game here for a few short years. For someone like me who has follwed the sport here for 30 years I am overjoyed.

In our "it has to please me and happen now" world most don't grasp that our players and teams are improving at a rapid level.

Even MLS with it's shortcomings is building stadiums, getting sponsors, investors, reseerve squads, etc. The steps forward are much greater than the steps back.

Since contraction the forward progress has been astounding in only 4 years.

Go out and support the teams and players. Give a damn. If you can't see how good it's getting give it a chance.

You will be able to look back in 10-15 years and say "I was there when it all started. I helped change it all."

Get on the bus people!

[truthandlife]

Good article and I hope we will see some kind of partnership between the MLS and EPL. I think it will only help both leagues.

[braun]

Good article and I hope we will see some kind of partnership between the MLS and EPL. I think it will only help both leagues.

MLS more, methinks.

[JohnR]

No reason for pessimism ... U.S. soccer is much healthier today than even 5 years ago, and in 1999 it was far healthier than at any time before in history.

I am delighted at what I see in U.S. soccer, whether at the national team level, the professional club level, or at the youth level. Delighted doesn't mean "no room for improvement," but it does mean "lots of good stuff happening with more good stuff to come."

[sidefootsitter]

FWIW,the same thread also exists in the Yanks Abroad section.

[Adam Zebrowski]

I fully agree with the reasons to be optimistic.

The first time I saw the usa national team play was july 4,1976 in Philadelphia against england. And the usa had difficulty even getting into the english half.

nasl did spark an initial burst of interest in a broader portion of the population and we see this interest culminate in 1990, finally making the big stage.

I went to the WC finals at the Rose Bowl, and flying back to the east coast, was speaking with an agent who projected an incredible growth based upon the emerging talent skills in numbers of kids.

And we see these kids emerging now. The big key is mls offering the chance for growing numbers to hone their abilities, not just the 20-30 in national camp pools.

Through sheer demographic weight in numbers, PAIRED with a development mechanism, te game will continue to improve.

[lmorin]

I fully agree with the reasons to be optimistic.

The first time I saw the usa national team play was july 4,1976 in Philadelphia against england. And the usa had difficulty even getting into the english half.

nasl did spark an initial burst of interest in a broader portion of the population and we see this interest culminate in 1990, finally making the big stage.

I went to the WC finals at the Rose Bowl, and flying back to the east coast, was speaking with an agent who projected an incredible growth based upon the emerging talent skills in numbers of kids.

And we see these kids emerging now. The big key is mls offering the chance for growing numbers to hone their abilities, not just the 20-30 in national camp pools.

Through sheer demographic weight in numbers, PAIRED with a development mechanism, te game will continue to improve.
Right. I saw a game in 1992 or 1993 against Brazil and wondered how the US would ever succeed. The players couldn't even keep the ball in bounds and there was virtually no such thing as a one touch pass sequence.

[GIO17]

The only pessimism will come from people who have only followed the game here for a few short years. For someone like me who has follwed the sport here for 30 years I am overjoyed.

In our "it has to please me and happen now" world most don't grasp that our players and teams are improving at a rapid level.

Even MLS with it's shortcomings is building stadiums, getting sponsors, investors, reseerve squads, etc. The steps forward are much greater than the steps back.

Since contraction the forward progress has been astounding in only 4 years.

Go out and support the teams and players. Give a damn. If you can't see how good it's getting give it a chance.

You will be able to look back in 10-15 years and say "I was there when it all started. I helped change it all."

Get on the bus people!

Takk. Let's also thank the owners they got rid of Doug Hamilton as the MLS Commishioner and brought in Don Garber. With the old commishioner, he didn't want to make any changes what so ever, he left it as is and when Garber came in, he has made alot of positive things happen, granted that some of them weren't popular, but still he has made changes for the greater of the good for the league here in the USA.

I hope that Garber will stay for a good long time. Everything that has been done it's been done in a positive manner. Sad to see the Florida clubs leave MLS, but it was done to help the survival of the league and now with the Chivas-USA & Salt Lake City coming in, these two sides that already have an ownership in place and Salt Lake City will start building their own grounds right away, MLS is expanding in a healthy enviroment now than what it use to be long time ago.

[TAKK]

Right. I saw a game in 1992 or 1993 against Brazil and wondered how the US would ever succeed. The players couldn't even keep the ball in bounds and there was virtually no such thing as a one touch pass sequence.

Just be happy you didn't see the late 70's and 80's. Those guys were skilled (92) compared to that lot.

Shivers just thinking about it.

Shivers.

[Octavius Agustus]

Just be happy you didn't see the late 70's and 80's. Those guys were skilled (92) compared to that lot.

Shivers just thinking about it.

Shivers.


It's not hard to imagine those days, as we still have Frank Hejduk as a remnant of that era.

[Nutmeg]

It's not hard to imagine those days, as we still have Frank Hejduk as a remnant of that era.
Frankie Hejduk would have looked like a world-class all-star in comparison to those players. A lot of people knock Frankie, and in some respects I understand their frustration. But in a lot of ways, he's a great measuring stick to see how far the USA has come in just a few short years. In 1998, he was one of the two best performers on the US World Cup team, and consequently was inked by one of the world's biggest clubs. In 2002, he made a last ditch run just to get on the team, and then played a very nice role at left back because there was nobody else Arena could trust in that position. Today, Frankie is fighting for his life each and every time a US team is pulled together.

From 1998 to 2004, Frankie hasn't lost any skill, doesn't appear to have lost any speed, and is as fit as he ever was. Frankie's problem isn't that he's getting any worse. His problem is that his competition is a hell of a lot better.

[JohnR]

A lot of people knock Frankie, and in some respects I understand their frustration.

Off topic, but Frankie's not that bad.

I'm no great believer in the efficiency of the transfer markets but I also think that they're not completely insane. If Leverkusen wanted Frankie, well yes they overrated him, but also that means that there's more to Frankie's game than people give him credit for.

Everybody laughs at Frankie's stepover but the darned thing actually seems to be working this year. At least on a few occasions.

[Len]

Just be happy you didn't see the late 70's and 80's. Those guys were skilled (92) compared to that lot.

Shivers just thinking about it.

Shivers.

There's a story that one of the national team coaches (Chezywich-sp, I think) at a coaches' clinic was asked what formation he used. He said "9-4". While the coaches where adding it up, he continued, "We've got a forward with 9.4 speed and whenever we get the ball we knock it long."

Yep. We have come a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG way.

[TAKK]

It's not hard to imagine those days, as we still have Frank Hejduk as a remnant of that era.

LOL.

Have to agree with Nutmeg though. Easy to knock the Frankster, but he would have been a standout back then.

It was that bad.

Long live Gary Etherington!

[VioletCrown]

From 1998 to 2004, Frankie hasn't lost any skill, doesn't appear to have lost any speed, and is as fit as he ever was. Frankie's problem isn't that he's getting any worse. His problem is that his competition is a hell of a lot better.

Which immediatly brings Cobi Jones to mind. His career has been even longer than Frankie's and he's still in there. He never really stood out to me at any point, but he obviously must've been, being as he still gets called in to camp.

[XYZ1234]

Frankie Hejduk would have looked like a world-class all-star in comparison to those players. A lot of people knock Frankie, and in some respects I understand their frustration. But in a lot of ways, he's a great measuring stick to see how far the USA has come in just a few short years. In 1998, he was one of the two best performers on the US World Cup team, and consequently was inked by one of the world's biggest clubs. In 2002, he made a last ditch run just to get on the team, and then played a very nice role at left back because there was nobody else Arena could trust in that position. Today, Frankie is fighting for his life each and every time a US team is pulled together.

From 1998 to 2004, Frankie hasn't lost any skill, doesn't appear to have lost any speed, and is as fit as he ever was. Frankie's problem isn't that he's getting any worse. His problem is that his competition is a hell of a lot better.

The thing with Frankie and Leverkusen's interest was that he played out of his mind in the 1998 Cup. He didn't play that well before or after the Cup, well not until the 2002 cup came around. I distinctly remember that Frankie was crap in the 98 gold cup and most of the run up to WC 98.

Frankie plays the best soccer of his life at the world cup and fooled some people. Good time to play his best. Not to knock him but he really wasn't consistant from 1998 to 2004. I think less people would criticize him if he always played at his world cup level.

[SgtSchultz]

Get on the bus people!

There is a bus called the World Cup Express(WCX). It has room, but not for long.

[Peretz48]

Which immediatly brings Cobi Jones to mind. His career has been even longer than Frankie's and he's still in there. He never really stood out to me at any point, but he obviously must've been, being as he still gets called in to camp.
Although a very different player than Frankie, Cobi is also a throwback to the earlier era. He's basically made a career out of quickness and work rate. When he tried to make it overseas (Coventry City? Vasco?) his lack of technical skills was exposed rather quickly.

[sidefootsitter]

Although a very different player than Frankie, Cobi is also a throwback to the earlier era. He's basically made a career out of quickness and work rate. When he tried to make it overseas (Coventry City? Vasco?) his lack of technical skills was exposed rather quickly.
The sucky thing about both of them is that they had improved so marginaly over the last 8-10 years. Cobi had added a cut-back move which can be surprising to new opponents, Frankie had added a step-over but neither of them had become a truly mature international player.