Soccer will never be popular in America.

Discussion in 'USA Men' started by PJ234, Dec 12, 2024.

  1. Girt

    Girt Member

    Jun 18, 2019
    You are totally wrong. MANY countires across the globe love these sports and maybe the goal for them is to play in USA but FC Porto and Real Madrid have a basketball team?
     
  2. ShayG

    ShayG Member+

    Celtic
    United States
    Aug 9, 2021
    Typical whining that I’d expect from a non-alpha male who has not been selected by the high-status females.

    /s
     
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  3. I think you didnot get what I ment with my post.
     
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  4. Mahtzo1

    Mahtzo1 Member+

    Jan 15, 2007
    So Cal
    ?
     
  5. superdave

    superdave Member+

    Jul 14, 1999
    VB, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    He is directing snark at @NietzscheIsDead , whose childhood was depicted in the Netflix series Adolescence.
     
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  6. ShayG

    ShayG Member+

    Celtic
    United States
    Aug 9, 2021
    Sounds less funny the way you say it
     
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  7. BOSNAINTER

    BOSNAINTER BigSoccer Yellow Card

    krajina
    Bosnia and Herzegovina
    Feb 17, 2006
    Nat'l Team:
    Bosnia-Herzegovina
    #1557 BOSNAINTER, Jun 13, 2025
    Last edited: Jun 13, 2025
    american sports culture is not alpha male but i am bigger so i everybody follow me. there were so many videos of mma beating up that mentality out of football players in usa. first those two mma figters that beat two oklahoma ollege football players on party where they had that"alpha male" mentality of i am biger you do what i say and follow and funniest one was brian urlacher got into argument with bas rutten and told bas he will beat him and bas was smaller then him well brians buddies told him who the guy he wants to beat is he came and appologze go watch best damn sport show period and inserr bas rutten into it search engine.and only guy in football that had that same mentality was gooch guy though he is tough everytime he played for milan or benfica nobody was intimidated by him and that was his all he had. he even went and insulted flamish guy in belgium he thought he could be insulting people guy called him n-word and guydid nothing just complained he called me this and that
     
  8. NietzscheIsDead

    NietzscheIsDead Member+

    NO WAR
    United States
    May 31, 2019
    NO WAR
    I’m not sure what you are saying here exactly, but MMA has a different niche in the alpha culture. They’re like the extreme alphas here that are a little too violent for the high status women. The Venn diagram where MMA and soccer meets is a really small group, but you’re much more likely to find American football players and wrestlers who spend time in MMA.
     
  9. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Madrid basketball attendances aren't bad.
    Liga ACB: 8,592 and EuroLeague: 8,914. The Spanish domestic league has the fourth highest attendance after NBA, Euroleague and WNBA.

    But you don't see many people wandering the streets of Madrid wearing Real Madrid basketball jerseys.
     
  10. Metropolitan

    Metropolitan Member+

    Paris Saint Germain
    France
    Sep 5, 2005
    Paris
    Club:
    Paris Saint Germain FC
    Nat'l Team:
    France
    In the US, scouting young talent tends to prioritizes athleticism (speed, power, explosiveness) over technical skills. There seems to be a common belief that physical traits can’t be taught, while technical abilities can be developed later.

    That mindset might explain why many Americans assume, as I regularly read, they're not good at soccer because top athletic prospects are often steered into other sports early on. The thing is, while athleticism does matter in soccer, you simply can’t reach the top without solid technical abilities. In soccer countries, dribbling is highly regarded. Being able to beat defenders one-on-one is the way to earn respect. I don’t feel that kind of skill is as appreciated in the US, but I may be wrong.

    Maybe that's part of why soccer isn't fully understood in the US as a sport, and therefore why mainstream Americans don't get the appeal.
     
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  11. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That happens in England too.
     
  12. Master O

    Master O Member+

    Jul 7, 2006
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    And as long as that's the case, the USMNT will forever remain an average to poor national team.

    I suppose the U.S. will continue to not learn this lesson and will continue to lose over and over again until they do.
     
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  13. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    German scouting has also been criticized domestically for focusing on physical maturation over skill level. The Germans are going through an introspective phase.
     
  14. superdave

    superdave Member+

    Jul 14, 1999
    VB, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Whenever I watch our U 17s or U 20s, I see the literal exact opposite…our players are small and slow compared to the opponents, pretty good technically…and absolutely woeful tactically.

    How often do you watch our youth teams? Like I said, it’s the complete opposite of what you wrote here.
     
  15. Metropolitan

    Metropolitan Member+

    Paris Saint Germain
    France
    Sep 5, 2005
    Paris
    Club:
    Paris Saint Germain FC
    Nat'l Team:
    France
    You certainly know better than I do. I'm referring to the 2022 World Cup, which was indeed a while ago. I remember the US national team as a very athletic and powerful team, but with a very stereotypical style of play. Now if this has changed, good for you. :)
     
  16. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I thought the US team looked physically small compared to England and the Netherlands.

    The US squad had the 17th highest average height in Qatar.
     
  17. That's not a good sign, if true.
     
  18. Metropolitan

    Metropolitan Member+

    Paris Saint Germain
    France
    Sep 5, 2005
    Paris
    Club:
    Paris Saint Germain FC
    Nat'l Team:
    France
    #1568 Metropolitan, Jun 15, 2025
    Last edited: Jun 15, 2025
    Physicality isn't a matter of height to me. It's more about the physical intensity that is brought on the field. Now the games are quite old, but I think I remember a team starting in giving a lot of physical impact in their first half and getting out of gas in second. Maybe I remember wrong?
     
  19. BOSNAINTER

    BOSNAINTER BigSoccer Yellow Card

    krajina
    Bosnia and Herzegovina
    Feb 17, 2006
    Nat'l Team:
    Bosnia-Herzegovina
    CL final proved you need both old guys of inter could not handle vitinha kvaradona and so on
     
  20. Mahtzo1

    Mahtzo1 Member+

    Jan 15, 2007
    So Cal
    It is kind of hard to generalize about a countries development system from one world cup.

    In a developing soccer nation (which I think most agree that we are), watching the full national team and comparing to developed nations is not necessarily reflective of what the goals and methodology of the youth system. At any level, Physicality and athleticism can compensate to some degree for a lack of technical ability.

    The reality is that the top players generally are BOTH highly skilled AND athletic freaks. One can compensate somewhat for a lack of the other but it one is lacking, than greatness will be lacking as well. The top teams have rosters filled with players combining both qualities. Everyone else has to compensate the best that they can by using what they have.

    If a nation is lacking in skill and technical ability, then they will compensate with athleticism when possible and appropriate. The lack of technical ability compared to developed soccer nations is reflective of our stage of development. All that being said, I am sure that there are plenty of players that get more attention and support than perhaps they should because they are athletically gifted.
     
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  21. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    You're missing the context that several key players hadn't fully recovered from injury and and with the short recovery between games they struggled for fitness.
     
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  22. superdave

    superdave Member+

    Jul 14, 1999
    VB, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    Paul is right.

    One thing our then-coach was criticized for was using the same midfield every match, and using them in a high energy, pressing style. Most fans felt he wore them out, leading to a poor performance against Holland (who, to be fair and also obvious, were better than us and clear favorites anyway. But our fatigue made an upset much less likely.)
     
  23. madvillain

    madvillain Member+

    Aug 28, 2011
    Club:
    Brooklyn Knights
    Fact is that soccer outside maybe like 10% of families is the 3rd of 4th sport down the totem pole. It doesn't help that it's also played mostly during the same season as both travel baseball and organized school FB. I know personally I gave up soccer as soon as I started played travel baseball. It just was a lesser priority and I couldn't do both in summer. Fall in our school all the best athletes usually did football and track, maybe both.

    I'm old enough to have thought that by 2025 this would have changed and maybe soccer would have passed baseball and basketball as participant sports for kids but it just hasn't seemed to happen. One thing working against soccer is that seemingly for AA kids in the south if their parents don't want them going into the potential danger of football they are now having them do baseball, not soccer.

    I don't know, it just doesn't seem possible anymore that soccer becomes big here. It's had a ton of time to cook, our domestic league is almost 30 years old and in many ways we seemed to have a better player pool relative to the world from 94-2008.
     
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  24. Paul Berry

    Paul Berry Member+

    Notts County and NYCFC
    United States
    Apr 18, 2015
    Nr Kingston NY
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Still can't believe there are so many schools not offering soccer.

    NFHS

    2023-24 boys high school participation

    Baseball
    Schools: 16,146; participants 471,701
    Soccer
    Schools: 12,754; participants 467,483
     
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  25. Mahtzo1

    Mahtzo1 Member+

    Jan 15, 2007
    So Cal
    I don't know how old you are but I am old enough to have had similar beliefs on how long it would take us to become one of the better teams in the world. I began playing in the early late 60's and early 70's and by the time I was in my twenties and later 30's I was seeing far more young kids that could play the game and weren't just kicking. I thought that by the time 90's came around we would be competitive. My error was not simple but multifold. Among other things, I failed to truly understand the importance of and what is meant by a soccer culture in terms of soccer development. I failed to understand the total picture of how long it takes to develop a soccer culture from scratch; it is a generational process but like population curves, it is exponential.

    The first part of the curve is relatively flat due to small numbers and quality of players in the first generation(s). With each succeeding generation, the population increases exponentially but at the same time, the quality of knowledge and instruction etc from the parent also improves. My son, if he has children, will have a much broader and deeper understanding of the game than I did with him. Another huge factor is the density of the culture. It started with a small number of players scattered in pockets around the country but the size of those pockets is growing in size and density.

    I know many disagree but taking the full picture and comparing where we were in the late 60's/70's to the current state I believe it is difficult not to say that soccer will stop growing in popularity...and if it doesn't stop, it will eventually become "popular" (use whatever definition you want for "popular"). The problem many people have (not saying you) is being too young and not having the necessary full picture. Of course I am sure that there are some as old or older than me that have the opposite opinion
     
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