First step: don't avoid competition, play in good tournaments, like Copa America. In my opinion this is probably the most important things. For years US avoided the invitation to Copa America, pretending that they have better things to do, like playing MLS, NASL, all star MLS game, etc. The US needs to face the reality that the way towards winning goes through competing with the best (and losing a lot...). Even the Mexican team can learn from the South American way of playing, as it was proved in the 0-7 result...
Time and growing the game's popularity,outdoor and indoor soccer courts everywhere. Play in every Copa america.
That's a good thought, but there's one BIG problem: because the US would be a guest team, FIFA would consider all our matches to be non-FIFA-date friendlies. And that means clubs would have no obligation to release players. That's why we sent a B team in 2007. And it's also why Mexico often sends a B team or U-23 team to Copa America.
How do you win the World Cup? You don't. Wait, am I doing this right? We need to do whatever it takes to keep this Centenario format going, IMO.
Yes -- the ONLY way we'll be able to play in Copa America on a regular basis is if this format gets repeated every cycle. Otherwise, we'd be totally at the mercy of players' clubs when it comes to fielding a competitive team.
We need to ship youth coaches over to Europe and South America for a year or two of training on advanced tactics. Our coaches know all the drills for technique and can teach it well. They struggle with what to do with it. We're quickly getting to a point where our players are going to be well ahead of the coaches they will be playing for. Pulisic is just the tip of the spear.
Junk food,laziness go hand in hand with baseball and football. American kids need to eat healthy and much less of it. And of course do their school work and play soccer. It's that simple.
You should check out the Michael Moore documentary Where to Invade Next? It show the drastic difference in school lunches between European schools and American ones.
There is some luck in winning a World Cup. Let's change the question to when the USA can become a legit top 5. And there are a lot of things that need to change for that to happen. One thing that needs to change that isn't mentioned as often as it should be is removing barriers to entry in MLS. There's no good reason that our top division has far more barriers to entry than nasl.
Not at the skill positions. Is there a fitness and junk food issue? Yes. Does this have ANYTHING to do with our mediocrity in soccer? No.
Yeah there's no shortage of healthy athletes in America. Or soccer players really. It's a matter of properly developing the ones we are getting.
I've posted these sentiments before... But just how do you sell parents on sending their 14 year olds to Europe to become better soccer players, that just sounds crazy to most American parents. Our idea of progression is pegged to the way they do it in other sports, high school, college, dont really become a 'serious' pro until you are 22, the problem is that the rest of the worlds better players already have an 8 year head start on American soccer players. The Dempsey's of the world are an exception, probably the best player ever to come through the American 'college' system. For almost everyone else its been a bit of a disaster and until we get away from it, we wont be that big of a threat to win the World Cup. But again how do you convince parents to let kids focus on being a pro in a sport at 14 years of age?
You do it with proper academies here that include an education. Somehow Canada convinces its parents to do the same with their hockey kids.
We need to convince parents that college is worth skipping. Higher MLS salaries ( which is gradually happening) will help this. Most parents want the safe route. Having a traditional career until your ready to retire is more attractive than having a 8 year career as a journeyman making 80k.
I don't know, but here's why they won't. I think the US should focus on trying to emulate the team from 2002 because they will never win on skill/natural talent. Soccer in the majority of countries is played by the lower class (Spain being the exception), and these kids typically grow up playing soccer everyday on the streets all day long. It's in their blood, you think Claudio Reyna (one of US' most technically gifted player) would have been who he is if his parents were your typical suburban American family? Or do you think Dempsey would have been the same player if he grew up in a middle class neighbourhood? (http://www.si.com/more-sports/2010/06/09/dempsey) Here's the big difference between these countries and the US: Once they hit 16/17 they are actually able to get paid to play, while in the US you have to pay to play. So if you're really skilled but poor, soccer isn't much of an option because you won't have the time to dedicate to it. Your only other option is the hope of getting recruited by a college on a full ride scholarship. The only problem with the college system is that it always favors pace and power over skill and wit because the culture is all about winning no matter what. Nothing wrong with that, but there has to be at least a balance. I think the US is on the right path, trying to emulate the German system, young players should be encouraged to go to Europe. More focus should be put towards looking for the next Dempsey, Donovan, or Reyna and less focus
He goes to Bradenton? Also I remember reading that some academies have affiliate clubs that scout.. But yeah, moving your kid at 15 from home many parents won't consider.
That's more a question of what the parents will allow. MLS teams are allowed to recruit academy players from outside their area. RSL famously recruits from all over the Southwest, and Portland has had at least one academy player from the East Coast. If the parents are willing to let the kid move, it's certainly possible.
Michael Moore is the product of that laziness and poor diet. He's a tub of blubber. The answer lies with player development system structure, nor some two-bit film you saw.
A far cry from the rest of the developed soccer world where the local club is the pipeline to a soccer career. This is probably the single biggest thing that holds us back
Is the local club the pipeline, though? These days the big clubs take most of the promising kids from local clubs before they turn 15 -- which is also about the age that RSL starts recruiting kids from out of town.
Just looked at the 23 man shortlist for last year's FIFA Ballon d'Or. Only 9 were still at a club within 50 km of their hometowns when they turned 16 -- and for most of those who stayed with their local clubs it was because their local club was one of their country's biggest clubs to begin with.