Lots of people good at predicting the future here. Like this thread. https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/th...ing-one-of-the-great-players-are-wrong.67336/
jvgnj, The discussion was in context of developing American youth soccer players. Can you be specific in why you are not optimistic?
Whats your agenda? You cite a quote of yourself. Is there any specific soccer thoughts, ideas, opinions mentioned in your posts? Put yourself out. Out there.
Sure. It's not that I don't think we could produce players or that some of the ideas presented over the years in that thread couldn't work. I mean I'm not optimistic about them making any real changes to the current system. Seems like the same arguments have been going on for a while and nothing has changed. In theory, a colossal F up like not qualifying for the World Cup after all the time and money spent by the current group implementing their vision would be cause to take a critical look at how they're approaching everything from the ground up. Maybe it was a throw away comment in the aftermath of the game, but Arena's "nothing has to change" comment was unbelievable and doesn't inspire confidence that there will be a whole lot of self-reflection from the group in charge.
No agenda, I just have a hard on for condescending jackhammers who think they are smarter than everyone else…it’s a personality fault on my part… Put myself out there?…voice a soccer opinion or two?…lol…
I'll try to be constructive. Do you want to learn? Understand? Do it this way. Go to Amazon, buy all and read in this order: The Italian Job by Gianluca Vialli My Turn by Johan Cruyff then, How to Watch Soccer by Ruud Gullit (his libtard stuff becomes distracting, but it reinforces what I believe needs to focused on) None of these guys say anything that I haven't been posting for over ??? years (my posting on big soccer started under another name long before the member date under Pete Bond). Having your kids develop to their full potential as soccer players isn't rocket science. But, if you read 95% of the information on Big Soccer, and worse yet, trust the english model American soccer culture, you will be very disappointed. Read and think about it. You will end up understanding more than 90% of all the soccer people in this country.
Most of here are looking for a conservation, preferable a civil and respectful one, not a lecture or a syllabus on how to be “proper” soccer parent/fan….
There's a lot more diversity of opinion on the state of the game here than Mr. Bond appears to be aware of.
Did you like this book? I thought it was going to help me get more out of watching soccer, but it really didn't hit the mark for me. Had the book been "Ruud Gullit's Guide to Soccer" or "That's Soccer to Me" or something, it would have been easier to appreciate. There was certainly insight to be gained, but it wasn't what I expected. I don't know that I understood the game any better for having read it.
So I read these books and think I have a better understanding of Pete Bond's position. Of the 3, I found Vialli's book the best read. It was better written, included more research and had a nice theme with more direct comparison between the English and Italian games. The other 2 had some very interesting parts, but tended to read like stream of consciousness rambles. To MonagHusker's point, I thought the Gullit book was pretty good, but mis-titled. More a collection of observations than a "how to" book. Given the differences highlighted among the English, Italian and Dutch systems in these books, I'd be skeptical of anyone touting "European-style" training without more specifics. The descriptions of the English and Italian cultures and systems describe by Vialli and the Dutch views presented by Cruiyff and Gullit are all very different and are a result of strong cultural forces in place for many years. There are lessons to take away and ideas to implement, but you need to factor in the cultural realities of the U.S.