here is a post i found with a reply (from another thread) "Is there any current young player in the EPL who is as slight in build as Bobby? Hope he gets stronger and bigger by next summer." the reply "DCU has him listed as 5"8' 160. How much bigger do you want him? this isn't American football. He is fine the way he is." this proves the ignorance of some american coaches and fans. This is soccer and not the nfl or baseball. Soccer players shouldnt be too big because this game has a lot of running to it and you need to have quick reflexes. Obviously american coaches dont know better and because they see every other sport has huge guys they think soccer has to have them too. They have little knowledge of how things are in europe or south america. mls would be a lot better than it is now if instead of spending so much time lifting weights they spent that time practicing. Nobody from europe is going to say "oh look mls players have some of the best physique anywhere even than european leagues so lets hire them" because soccer is not about physique, it's about skill and too much of a physique takes away from skill in this sport and it hurts mls. Mls could be faster and better.
Care to provide us with any credible support for this position, or are we supposed to take your word for it? BTW: Check out the San Jose boards for a detailed discussion of Landon's abs.
If you have 2 guys on your team and one is bigger and stronger and they both have the same skill who do you choose? Lifting weights prevents injuries and helps muscle weaker guys off the ball. You don't want to be a bodybuilder, but having muscle is not a bad thing.
Well we certainly know Clint Mathis isn't in danger of being too muscular (Calm down, I'm not serious) It agree that there's isn't the focus on physical size that you see in other sports, but sometimes it does matter. I think Convey and Landon are a decent size for thier height. However when you look at Martino or DMB (and don't get me wrong DMB is the man- I love watching him play) you have to wonder if they wouldn't benefit from a few more lbs of muscle when coming up against larger defenders. It might help them stay on their feet when they are pushed or tackled. Overall (IMHO) I would say that MLS players physiques are in line with any other league around the world. The USMNT certainly can match almost any team in size. I this region we're probably one of the larger teams. However, we might lose out on size to some Euro or African teams. The Germans are frickin HUGE.
i think the ability to hold and protect the ball is the key to strength training. (i have neither professional experience or written citations to support my opinion however.) i think the emphasis is STRENGTH as opposed to physical size. i think strength-wise, Mcbride is the prototypical soccer player, European or otherwise. a quality that both martino and dmb lack at the moment. and when being considered for other leagues around the world, it's their strength that holds them back, not necessarily their build. ps -- i'm getting really fed-up with these world vs. america (MLS) comments. okayyyyyyyyyyyyyy every other league is the best and MLS does not stand a chance -- we got it foreigners and eurosnobs. can you guys go back to your Latin-centric and euro-centric caves and brothels and give-up.
No in fact, i wish the MLS would be the first league to allow all performance enhancing substances,you can never have too much speed,power or muscles!!
Actually, we can't match teams in size outside CONCACAF... not at the moment. I remember seeing someone post the average heights of all 32 World Cup teams, and we were the 4th-shortest team in the tournament. However, two of the three teams below us were Mexico and Costa Rica! (The other was Saudi Arabia.) Our players are probably the biggest in CONCACAF, but small compared to players anywhere else in the world.
Del Piero went on a massive weightlifting program about five years ago and has become a highly competent Serie A striker. In 1997, he was a genius.
Hell yes American players are small by the Worlds standards muscular? I think not McBride is 6'1 170 he is about as big as we have but he is by no means a physical presence on the field just look at how he got knocked around in the World Cup(props to Brian for being able to take a punishing but he does not give back as much as I would like to see) Carrying too much muscle is a problem but our mid field is soo small and will not win physical confrontations speed is our game right now but young guys like Adu (who is almost as big as the Olsens, Conveys, Landons right now) have speed and strength-I would say we need to find kids who are more ready to lift seriously in order to become more physical. Speed and size are possible to acheive just look at most NFL cornerbacks Imagine a guy like Champ Bailey or Troy Vincent being as skilled in futbol as they are in American football it would be scary. A point in case for size is Sanneh he has good speed and just flat out punished people in the World Cup he was very difficult to disposses. Out.
I remember a Jeff Bradley article when he stating y mls players cant compete with world players. He said something about when he looks at euro players faces He sees "bones and tight skin" and when he sees MLS players faces he sees "puffines and a 'couple' double chins. p.s wtf does IMHO mean?
Two extremes on the physique chart are DaMarcus Beasley and Carlos Bocanegra. Beasley is fast as lightning but he is dangerously slim. He does a great job of avoiding contact but when he makes the move to Europe he is going to have face more hard challenges and the question is whether he will hold up. Bocanegra looks huge for a soccer player and at times it looks funny seeing him trying to stay with leaner forwards. It makes you wonder just how much better Bocanegra would be if he dropped some of that muscle.
I could not disagree with you more. The US has the best coaches and athletic trainers in the world. Our soccer players, like our basketball and football players, should be the most fit in the world. I read about soccer players in the EPL taking a few months to vacation in the offseason. I read about NFL players taking one or two weeks for vacation in the offseason. Weight training and fitness is a spot where I believe our players can be supeiror to european players at. Weight Training changes the game. If an average player works his butt off, he can become good. The mental and physical aspects gained of lifting and training hard are underated. Sorry, thats one of my rants.
The lower body is most important to soccer (duh). Hamstrings, glutes, hips, quads and calves should all get a high-intensity training routine. Do 4 sets of squats. Do 2-3 sets of everything else. Mix up the workouts with higher and lower number of repetitions, i.e., 8-12 reps one workout and 4-6 on the next. Don't forget the upper body because of the need for agility and rotation of the body. But not as intensly. Arms and everything. The Scottish midget in Colorado may have gone too far though.
The old 'muscle makes you slow and kills reflexes' fable. BS. Weighing 180 pounds won't make you a bad player as long as it's muscle.
how often do you see saviola hold his own ground? or how about joe cole? strength training has a place in the game, but not to much in S america, as compared to the Euro leagues...esp epl thanks
As long as muscle does not impair a players balance, flexibility and endurance - I think it is an advantage for a soccer player to be well-built. But if the extra muscle makes them subject to cramping or infringes on the mobility of their joints too much (especially hips and knees) - it is not an advantage. Even in the NFL, there are players who suffer by becoming too large or muscular. Many guys are fast enough to play cornerback - but the stamina - and especially the hip flexibility - required for the position mean that same players cannot remain at the position. They have to be able to accelerate fast enough to stay with a receiver even when they are looking back towards a quarterback. This type of rotation requires tremendous flexibility. If a cornerback bulks up or his physique changes as he grows older, he is often forced to move over to safety (where he plays facing the line of scrimmage). Various positions in soccer make the same type of demands on a player as a cornerback. A cornerback has a good body type for a wing-type player. A safety has a body type similar to a center defender. A basketball point guard has a good body type for an attacking midfielder etc. Explosive running backs are built similarly to forwards. Tight ends and Quarterbacks look like goalkeepers, etc. I don't think the physiques of soccer players are so different from players in these types of positions in other sports - especially when you take into consideration the additional running. If Deion Sanders played soccer - he might have dropped 10 - 12 lbs and played at about 175. He wouldn't look out of place compared to a Patrick Kluivert or Djibril Cisse. And plenty of NFL running backs would be similar-sized if they didn't bulk up their upper bodies to the extent that they do now (even a guy Walter Payton's or Barry Sanders's size would not look out of place on a soccer field). And people often make fun of soccer players for being so short, but there are plenty of short running backs and cornerbacks. Soccer does not emphasize size as much as other sports, but certain positions do. A central defender or goalkeeper can succeed, but will have to compensate for a lack of height if he is not 6' or taller. A midfielder who is taller (i.e. a German) may struggle to keep up laterally with a shorter, quicker player with a lower center of gravity (i.e. a Central American). But he will also have an advantage at winning the ball due to his leverage or ability to get higher in the air. There are tons of athletes throughout the spectrum of American sports who have exceptional physiques for soccer: Allan Iverson (just about any NBA point guard I would think), most NFL defensive backs, many hockey players (a more natural "cross-over" sport as many Scandinavians demonstrate), etc would all look very appropriate on a soccer field.
That's fair enough and an interesting point but take a look at the length of an NFL (16 games plus the postseason) and compare it to the EPL (38 league matches, worthington cup, FA Cup, and possibly the Intertoto and UEFA cup, or the European Champions League)
More muscle = more weight. More weight = more energy expended. More energy expended = more oxygen consumed. More oxygen consumed = greater demand on your respitory system. In anarobic sports adding more muscle wont hurt you because you will be in oxygen debt anyway. In aerobic sports there is a fine line where adding muscle just increases the amount of lactic acid you build up without improving performance signifigantly. Soccer is a more aerobic sport than most other ones played by americans, and so it shouldnt be a suprise that soccer players tend to be leaner.
So since soccer gets athletes that are representative of the general population (in size) they would be considered the best athletes as opposed to the best large athletes (NBA or NFL).
Dear lond2345, Yes this thread does prove the ignorance of some american coaches and fans. Especially you. I would think, given your inclinations, that you would notice how small American soccer player's butts are compared to the rest of the world. Our sport requires extrodinary strength in the midsection and legs with the corrdinated strength in the upper body. Is it NFL linebacker type strength? Duh No. It is soccer strength and it can only be developed through a proper weight lifting routine. Here is a good link of what American players have to do when they go overseas. https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45500