Likewise, if the goal is to win games, there's better and more efficient ways of doing it than spending 80M on Bradley/Defoe.
Between the next two ECs and the next WC in Russia, I'd say that Belgium are odds on favorites to win at least one of those next three tournaments. I think this one's too early, too many of their players still lack a bit of composure, but come the next Euros in Paris, or WC in Russia, watch out!
Certainly agree. They would be even more dangerous if they sort out their weaknesses. Its amazing they have produced so many great players recently but cant field a side with a true full back. If they sort that they become even more deadly. They also lack a true defensive midfielder. Witsel is more a deep lying playmaker, while Dembele and Felliani are box to box players, who when put in a postion to be a holding midfielder, arent disciplined to just sit there and clean up (Kind of like Jermaine Jones). The biggest gap between us and them in the field was wide attacking players. Hazard, De Bruyne(when he went wide) Mirallas when he came on and Mertens to a lesser extent were so dangerous through out the match. They are so far ahead of us in that area. Players like Zusi and Bedoya are not going to cut it at this level. If Julian Green pans out, that will be huge for us. Having even just one Speedy skilled wide player that the opposition always has to worry about can really change a game. Teams hate playing against players like that.
Actually, I meant arguably in the same class as the best in the world at their position. Love those guys though, and playing in the best league in the world was certainly a milestone, but the standard for best American player needs to keep rising. As I may have mentioned once or twice, I find it shocking that Altidore is a guaranteed starter on this team.
Just because it is extremely unlikely for the franchise system to go away in US Soccer, does not mean that it is the best system for the US. We don't have to sit quietly and take it, we can say that the system is holding the country back. And it is. There is no denying it. Yes, it had a purpose at the start, to insulate the billionaires from excessive costs so that they could run at small losses and find a way to eventually be profitable. Pro soccer needed training wheels in order to grow up. The problem is, once entrenched, its almost an impossible system to break, as last I checked, Billionaires don't like to give up market power for no reason. But that doesn't mean that they are right, that doesn't mean that they are not holding the game back, that does not mean that as fans of US soccer we should not try and pressure the system to change. More professional clubs, developing players with an eye on maximizing their professional potential is what drives development. Even if your club is in a small market, you can sell a talented player for a lot of money, and have sell on clauses that will bring even more money to the club when he improves further and is sold again. That money can then be reinvested back into the club. Further, having good lower division clubs gives bigger clubs a place to send their fringe talent on loan to develop and play first team competitive soccer against fully aged professionals.
I do too. I want MLS to be held in AND actually be in the same class as LaLiga or EPL but we need promotion/relegation which isn't going to happen and we need to develop an entrenched Academy network with a professional element which *can* happen. I like the idea of contractually obligating all designated players to spend X number of hours with the kids at the Academies and holding a certain number of clinics per year. That would serve a few purposes but mainly it would give an opportunity for our youth to see what the might become some day , in the flesh. I bet we get some awesome keeper in 12-18 more years because of Timmy Howard's display tonight. Hopefully he will come to MLS sooner rather than later and finish his career with the homegrown adulation he really deserves.
To me, we are heading in the right direction... but for the life of me... hurry. My personal recommendation....still requires patience, but it is a hierarchical structure for professional development. 1st Tier) MLS -Expansion focus on the major TV markets, and working itself into the hearts of all of America. -more TV deals -increased salary cap, more DP's -Improvement in academies. 2nd Tier) NASL -Expansion focus on the missing MLS markets. -revenue-controlled stadiums -youth academies. -more focused on regional competition and rivalries than major media marketing.... 3rd Tier) USL I, II, III -Similar to the same model as NASL (revenue-controlled stadiums, youth academies), but an even more focus on regional competition. -Also, serving as reserve league for MLS. -Expansion focus on the smaller media markets... -USL Pro as the first division, a combined NPSL/PDL divided into appropriate conferences for 2nd division, and a statewide league in every state. MODEL FOR STATEWIDE LEAGUE: *We got the idea for the USL-I, and USL-II could look like, but a model for a statewide league.... if we took my home state of Georgia: Northwest Georgia conference: -Rome -Dalton -Cartersville -Kennesaw -Dallas -Calhoun Northeast Georgia Conference: -Athens -Gainesville -Flowery Branch -Martinez -Augusta -Evans North Atlanta Metro Conference: -Marietta -Smyrna -Roswell -Sandy Springs -Alpharetta -Dunwoody Atlanta Conference: -Buckhead -Brookhaven -Vinings -Decatur -Midtown -Downtown East Atlanta Metro Conference: -Lawrenceville -Conyers -Suwanee -Duluth -Winder -Stockbridge West Georgia Conference: -Douglasville -Peachtree City -LaGrange -Columbus -Griffin -Carrollton Middle Georgia Conference -Macon -Warner Robins -Dublin -Milledgeville -Perry -Forsyth South Georgia Conference: -Valdosta -Brunswick -Statesboro -Albany -Savannah -Richmond Hill *Granted, you can change up the teams and conferences, but hopefully you get the point. And the point being is that soccer becomes very localized and grassroots driven. We have the premier stage with MLS at the very top... the million dollar league that attracts your big names and so forth. Next, create a "championship league" where people who can't have MLS can still watch quality soccer. After that, it is still competitive, but then it also starts entering the realm of developmental. At the very lowest level, the state or amateur level, this gives a chance for players who otherwise would not have a shot to get noticed... and it would need to be localized enough that driving from one town to the other is feasible. But also, the quality of competition is a step above a local competitive YMCA league, and structured enough that scouts can more easily see what's in front of them. And moreover, diverse enough where you can have not only a senior level, but U-21, U-18, U-15, U-13, etc, and you could even throw in a O-30 league. I believe that when we are close to this system, we will start to really see the fruits of our labor.
As we get more youth talent coming up through the MLS academies (like D'Andre Yedlin), this will change.
We need to invade Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, set up permanent bases there and then in 30+ years we can start talking about USA as world Champions.
Your state league approach is the only way I see chances for US Football getting competitive. You can copy Belgiums youth development at FA level, but you wont see a quarterfinal.. You still lacking the basement... take belgium or holland or germany or slovenia or whatever country .. even the smallest villages have their football club and more important all this clubs have youth teams which start at U6 and compete in leagues .. these are the places where top stars get born ..
How long does it take to get good? It didn't take Belgium very long at all. Look at 2010 to 2014. Year ELO rating 1974 1842 1978 1747 1982 1836 1986 1762 1990 1814 1994 1792 1998 1782 2002 1795 2006 1666 2008 1590 2010 1561 2011 1640 2012 1677 2013 1809 2014 1824 According to the Grantland article that everyone's quoting, their youth level overhaul started in 2004. So ten years is about right to see results, if you work at it. Edit: 2010 to 2014 is the same as our improvement from 1992 to now, according to the FiveThirtyEight article.
Given that MLS owns Chivas, now might be a good time for US Soccer, MLS, and the Galaxy to team up in the LA area.
This... I think we are too focused on the top down... Well the cream will rise to the top process of thinking. I believe that's why we have stagnated and not moved into the best in the world category. The thing is the US is different than the rest of the world. When we think of the US, we have to take into account our massive size. When we talk about markets to expand to, we often will say oh said market is too small... But has a metro population of over a million. Seriously, upstate SC has a metro population of over a million, has anyone ever thought they would be in MLS? Yet, we have these rinky dink cities in Europe with a population of 50,000 in their top tier. But, we all know that a town like Anderson, SC or Gainesville, FL whose population is double or triple that are never going to be in MLS... and probably never NASL or USL pro... Therefore, we need to get creative and figure out not only how are we going to make MLS grow, but what are we going to do to improve the sport at the grassroots level? I believe that this is the missing ingredient to moving us past this stagnate point. For reference, do people often notice a parallel that larger nation, doesn't always equal better players? And I believe it is because those nations grassroots foundation sucks compared to other nation. Perhaps, it might be easier to develop a grassroots approach in a smaller country, but again, if we are going to become a soccer power, we need to bridge this gap.
It's hard to force this change, because it requires a significant demand in the market to fund it, and to populate it with interested young players. We've used the "top-down" approach because, thus far, it's all we could afford. We had a limited special interest trying to push a largely unpopular sport. Grassroots support creates thriving local clubs, not the other way around. The idea was to set in place a national team, and a domestic league, that was legitimate and marketable, to create interest and grow the soccer market in the USA. After a certain point, the organic growth of soccer would start to take care of itself. We've passed that inflection point over the past decade. It's no coincidence that soccer is the #2 sport among millenials, and that MLS has created it's own DAs. It's also no coincidence that our U-17s are starting to demolish their opponents. The revolution is happening, we are just barely beginning to see the fruit.
What happened in Belgium is that their influx of immigrants grew up. The old Belgian teams were always good for 3-5 top players. They just lacked the depth for the long WC runs and much of that was due to their population size. That said, they were semifinalists of the 1972 Euros, finishing it ranked 11th in the world. They got as high as the 6th in the 1982 WC, 11th in 1986 and 12th in 1994.
They made the semis inthe 1986 world cup. Only two pieces of maradona brilliance kept them out of the workd cup final that year.
ridiculous, we have deep young talent in foreign countries. This has never been seen before in American Footyball. 2018 , 2022 are the years to watch. Youngsters such as Yedlin, Greene (Bayern) , Lederman ( old Barcelona), Palmbaum ( Boca ), Joshua Perez ( florentina), Pynadath ( real madrid), Junior Flores ( Dorthmund) and several more will be in the 18- 22 squads. Patience. A wave of talent and depth is about to hit U.S soccer.
I have the 1/16 vs. USSR somewhere on the VHS. The game is followed by the Stevie Ray Vaughn "Austin City Limits" concert.
The 4-3 game? Man, Russia looked unbeatable in the group stages. I was so scared that the "commies" would win the world cup. AAAAH .... the cold war.