Two reasons two be excited about US in Germany 1) Donovan's leg strength and physical maturity in 2006 compared to Donovan's leg strength in 2002 (when he won Best Young Player in the WC) (damn, he looks young!) 2) Whens the last time you saw guns like these (Onyewu) on a soccer player?
Re: Two reasons two be excited about US in Germany Exhibit B Then: Now: Can't contain my enthusiam for this WC and the our Nat's.
Re: Two reasons two be excited about US in Germany Big muscles will only slow a footballer down. If i were you, id worry about Onyewu's recovery pace in stead of foolishly acting as if this was a BB contest
Re: Two reasons two be excited about US in Germany The award was just created this year. He did not win it in 2002. He's listed on FIFA's site on a page of "past young players," but there was not an official award back then.
Re: Two reasons two be excited about US in Germany Man, I love the attitude on Bigsoccer. Actually, since he's our central defender, I'm much more concerned about him being able to keep up with opposing teams forwards at a full sprint and muscle players off the ball than whether he can make full field runs for 90 minutes.
Re: Two reasons two be excited about US in Germany read my quote: it says footballer, not sprinter oh, i know this one, its the "what if our best athletes would play football" argument
Re: Two reasons two be excited about US in Germany I thought it started last WC, but I'll take your word. Either way, there is only one "past young player" selection for each world cup, and Donovan was the official selection for '02 by whatever staff/committee made the list. http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/w/bypa/pastp.html
Re: Two reasons two be excited about US in Germany Ha ha ha, you got called out and this is the only BS you can come up with? Typical euro, folding it in at any sign of pressure.
Re: Two reasons two be excited about US in Germany I think this is a much more interesting topic than a discussion of whether noticing a player's physical development means you'd secretly like to grease his weasel. Your statement is a very European point of view on physical development, and a good reason why we're catching up. It ain't skill, it's because we're bigger, stronger and faster. The old myths about muscles slowing you down died out long ago in the US but they're still widely believed overseas. It's simply not so. Overall physical development, including upper body, improves physical performance. It's simply not even debatable any more. I'm not talking that ridiculous "Mr Olympia" kind of powerlifting-enhanced musculature. Clearly that's a good thing taken to extremes.
Re: Two reasons two be excited about US in Germany Your logic: Big biceps/muscles are detrimental to a soccer player because they decrease stamina. My logic: Onyewu is a central defender, so stamina is not a priority, the combination of HEIGHT, SPEED, and STRENGTH are. The physical prototype for a central defenders is:
Re: Two reasons two be excited about US in Germany the notion that soccer players wouldn't want to be strong is just... ...impressive in its stupidity. isn't there a collision approximately every three seconds in soccer? maybe you'd want to be the one who doesn't fall down more often than not. the only reason gooch's strength is a disadvantage is that opposing forwards will hit the ground through faking and being outmuscled, then idiot refs will buy the drama, as they continue to do worldwide with un-muscular, faking, flopping, "professional" soccer players.
Re: Two reasons two be excited about US in Germany As a former NCAA Division I Cross Country and Track competitior, I will weigh in a bit on the "muscles only slow you down" contention. It's a true statement for marathoners and it has some legitimacy for the 10k (6.2 miles for the non-mathmatical out there). Beyond that, it's bunk. All runners I knew had some form of lifting training. The better runners tended to lift more (not real heavy, though). And, logically enough, the shorter the distance of the race, the more and heavier most competitors lift. My strength coach's conclusion was that upper body strength is very important in events where acceleration counts. Of course, our English bretheren know infinitely more about soccer than we Americans will ever know. So, if they tell us that footballers are quite special and the laws of physics apply differently, I will believe them. It it possible, though, that someone heard that field players run 7 miles in a match and, thus, started equating footballers to distance runners. To my (obviously untrained) eye, it looks like footballers do a lot of sprinting and what matters most is their ability to go from a dead stop or slow jog to their highest speed as quickly as possible (acceleration) rather than maintain an unbroken 5:15 mile pace for 45 minutes at a time.
Re: Two reasons two be excited about US in Germany I believe he was talking about biceps, not shot guns, pistols and hunting rifles.
Re: Two reasons two be excited about US in Germany That guy in the middle is ripped. French Cuffs and everything.
Re: Two reasons two be excited about US in Germany you seen the latest video on the us soccer site? the "ice bath" segment of the video should be of interest to EastBayGrease .
Re: Two reasons two be excited about US in Germany Actually I believe this to be correct - for many reasons - personal experience to be one. For example the fastest guy on my team is ripped not just cut but big muscles all over upper and lower body. He may not have the best endurance (although in the top 5) on the team but he certainly is the fastest. I highly doubt the size of his biceps slow him down any. I'd also imagine that stonger shoulder muscles help his speed as well -- world class sprinters (think 400 m) pump their arms for a reason. Muscles get bigger as they get stronger and we all know that stronger muscles perform better. I am not saying that Gooch's big biceps and Landon's quads are any reason to get excited about our chances at the world cup. But it does mean that they have improved as physical specimens over the past few years.
Re: Two reasons two be excited about US in Germany Yes. That's why world-class sprinters are the only track and field athletes who are never suspected of steroid use.
Re: Two reasons two be excited about US in Germany So muscles speed up sprinters but slow down footballers. Gotcha.
Re: Two reasons two be excited about US in Germany Of course, it's unclear what good Gooch's biceps will be against Jan Koller. The only advantage Gooch will have here is that he's got a lower center of gravity than Koller. Koller's legs, however, more closely resemble a horse's than a man's. He's not getting muscled off the ball.
Re: Two reasons two be excited about US in Germany It's all about the balance between your physical build and your muscle growth. You should add as much muscle as your frame can support, specialized for the sport you're playing. Adding too much muscle can hamper performance and increase the likelihood of injury. A guy like Gooch has to be careful not to go overboard - he can easily (relative term) build himself into a tight-end's body. Wish I had that problem.
Re: Two reasons two be excited about US in Germany I'd compare them to American football - a half-back shouldn't be a full-back ... and a wide reciever shouldn't want to be a tight end (OK, so much for avoiding homoeroticisms). There's appropriate bodybuilt for every position. More muscle/more weight doesn't mean an improved performance. The soccer players have similar requirements. Gooch may bulk up until he is immovable but then he'll not be able to catch up to a 5'10" speedster with a tight turn ratio. Likewise, Donovan may turn into a great sprinter but I'd rather he maintained his dribbling skills, which are opposite of the straight-ahead run. His speed was fine as it was.
Re: Two reasons two be excited about US in Germany I have noticed Donovan's increased..err...bulk, lower & upper body. In my case I'm safe from the gay accusations. The pictures in the first post really show the change. He appears to have been working out like a fiend. Maybe he was ticked that Frankie won the beep test in January (I know, I know, weight training isn't the same). Anyway, my observation this MLS season is that he's a lot harder to push off the ball than he used to be. Jacob Thomas of the Crew found that out to his detriment. I hope that helps us in the World Cup. And I agree with the poster who noticed that Beasley doesn't appear much bigger. Maybe it would help him to bulk up a little. And McBride definitely looks thinner than usual. Rough season, maybe?