They don't want to face the truth and see their team get destroyed by a truly continental class side. All progress comes through struggle but they just want good times and good feelings. I get sports being an escape and not wanting to watch your team get ^&%&%* but it would be good for us. Thankfully this is changing just like you said slowly but surely people are getting more passionate about the game and we don't need everyone but we need enough people in the right places to need this game like they need NFL or NHL games. No nation with a casual relationship with soccer has or ever will win the WC.
That's the spirit. I add myself to the group who'd love to see MLS clubs in the Libertadores. There you have playing some of the guys who will be the stars of tomorrow. BUT we're not going to get invited just because. We need to win something first.
USMNT overvalues experience. I keep hearing about how we need Bradley and Altidore's experience on the field but little mention of the fact that their play is a big reason we are in our position.
I had missed this enjoyable thread. Here are mine 1. Although Jurgen was practically incompetent, he delivered international notoriety and money to the USMNT. 2. Any success that we have heading forward, he will be a part of. Smiling, as I type this. 3. Love it or hate it, Major League Soccer is our dog. It's gonna be our meal ticket to long term success. 4. First and second generation Americans struggle a lot to get on board with #3. Those old loyalties and ideologies die hard. 5. Michael Bradley has a number of deficiencies, but is a far more important player and offers more quality than he is given credit for. 6. John O'Brien and Stuart Holden are names whispered about campfires. They were not as good as all that and to a certain extent benefit in memory from the tragedy of their health/injury issues. 7. The USA has the deepest pool I have ever seen. There is a bit of quality missing at the top. 8. USA coaches are generally underrated. 9. Jonathan Bornstein was quite a useful and productive player, despite being destroyed by Gio dos Santos, after coming in as a sub in the 2011 Gold Cup final. At least we made the final. 10. Jurgen Klinsmann is not going to coach in China and certainly not in MLS, but these might happen before a Bundisliga team calls him. 11. Frankie Hejduk, we could use a variation of him today. 12. The Goalkeeper position is still an area of strength for the United States. 13. Freddy Adu will play professional soccer outside of the USA in 2017. 14. Atlanta will be the most successful first year MLS franchise ever. 15. We will get 6 points out of our next two matches in the Hex and qualify as the third place CONCACAF finisher.
I think MLS should be marketing the hell out the advances MLS has made in the last 5 years, including the academy system and the focus on younger DPs. Instead the Don is on TV talking about competing with CSL for for signing overpaid semi-retired super stars, and expansion fees (he may have mentioned Pulisic). Whenever I've attended presentations by leading American businessmen they've only talked about futures, as opposed to British presenters who start with "xx years ago".
Isn't he signing for Sandecja Nowy Sącz? Through tiny TV audiences on BEiN sports and sub 10K attendances at home, while being humiliated by the likes of Guatemala and Jamaica and not even qualifying for the Olympics and the Confederations Cup You yanks will miss him.
http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2017...eview-2017-designated-players-homegrown-rules Rich teams are a bit less worried about their brand these days as well. New York City FC and LA Galaxy appear to have abandoned their former strategy of signing the biggest name Old that was willing to sign for them, regardless what they could do to help the team win. Frank Lampard has retired and was replaced by Maxi Moralez, an attacking midfielder still in his prime. Steven Gerrard has retired, opening up a Designated Player spot for 27-year-old Frenchman Romain Alessandrini. It’s likely that most Galaxy fans had never heard of Alessandrini before he signed, but he’s expected to play better than Gerrard did, and that’s what matters now. first generation of Designated Players. For every genuine superstar like David Beckham or young talent like Fredy Montero, there were three duds. Most of these players were signed because they played for a famous club in Europe, or as a cynical ploy to appeal to Latino fans. This line of thinking has gone by the wayside in recent years, and teams now sign Designated Players based on what they can contribute to results on the pitch.
Being honest, I sorta resent the Galaxy being lumped in with NYCFC as having a "strategy of signing the biggest name old guy willing to sign for them." A brief history of LA Galaxy DPs (age as of first match as a DP): Landon Donovan (23) David Beckham (32) Juan Pablo Angel (35) Robbie Keane (31) Omar Gonzales (24) Steven Gerrard (35) Giovani Dos Santos (26) Jelle van Damme (33) Romain Alessandrini (27) Gerrard is the outlier as both one of the oldest signings and a guy who turned out to not be that good for our team (JPA is the other, but he was shipped out after 20 appearances) but he was also supposed to be Sacha Kljestan. Alessandrini replaced Robbie Keane, who wasn't a huge name and is sorta considered the gold standard of DPs. So I get it; it's a fun narrative that MLS is finally collectively pulling its head out of the sand and finally figuring out that they need to get younger blah blah blah, but in reality the roster mechanisms and the extra money to get spread around for mid-salary talent is BECAUSE of the big star era (if there ever was such a thing). This was always the plan.
Bedoya is underestimated by US fans. Today, Nantes could have used him patrolling the right. He covers a lot of ground, only second to Bradley.
Getting respect abroad and actually being as good as two entirely different things. MLS will be as good as many first division leagues long before it is recognized as such. There as many good leagues that don't make the CWC. I'd say that there are a number of leagues in Europe that aren't as good as MLS. For example, I suspect the Estonian league isn't as strong, for example. And I guess the only options left is that Hyndman won't get 10 caps, but will be captain
Here's a hot take: Tab Ramos is a great coach. He's a great player's coach and a great strategic mind although his tactical adjustments in-game aren't great. It needed to be said.
Sometimes I really miss early 2000s MLS. The progress since then has been extremely impressive, but I think there was something weirdly special about those early junkier years.
Harry Potter was overrated. He did nothing to deserve the attention and respect he received. He was like the Jermaine Jones of wizards.
My 3 teams are "U", "S", and "A". I don't really pick other "favorites", in soccer or other sports. I just have teams that I dislike, so I end up rooting for "whoever is playing _______". Also, I tend to root for the underdog when I don't have any skin in the game. I wonder if there are people out there/on BS that got into the USMNT and adopted them as a favorite or second favorite team. I feel like Americans latch onto a lot of different teams (e.g one of m friends is a Portugal fan, because he's part Portuguese), and I wonder if there's a flip side to that.
1. I like Mexico and love the US/Mexico rivalry. 2. FC Dallas is the best franchise in North America 3. Klinsmann was a net positive 4. Nick Rimando is one of the best keepers in US History 5. Geoff Cameron is one of the best field players in US history 6. The US is now an underachiever where we used to be an overachiever 7. MLS is less than 10 years away from being one of the world's top leagues.
That is an interesting list! 1. not for me/yes agree 2. Agreee 3. no 4. no 5. no. Very good but too far down the list to be one of best in history. 6. yes 7. agree that it will be much sooner than most expect but would be surprised if it is within 10 yrs. It will be a top league before it is recognized as a top league.