What's the rest of the world thinking of our performances so far this tournament?

Since A-League players are good enough to be competitive in the WC but MLS ones are not, why do everyone still think MLS is better? Plus AUS doesn't have game changers like Cahill and they still play well but the US has to make excuses for not having any dominating players or prolific goalscorers. You probably know their striker Mathew Leckie went 2 seasons in the BuLi w/o scoring a goal but our fans keep pissing on Sargent.

 

Our talent is improving faster than the perception of our talent — the perceptions of others and our own perceptions.

 

Why do any of you give a flying F*** about what the rest of the world thinks? Seriously?

 

No not golden triangle but change it slightly to Bermuda Triangle because the opponent's ball goes in but doesn't come back out. So MMA = Bermuda Triangle.

 

Since when are MLS players not good enough to be competitive in a World Cup?

 

I've seen this more than once. Adams and Aaronson are very appreciated by Leeds fans around the world.

Estoy viendo solo los partidos del Mundial de EE. UU solo por Adams y Aaaronson pic.twitter.com/qwPxwQGPVy

— Leeds United Perú🇵🇪 (@LeedsPeru) November 29, 2022

 

In general, Latin America seems to be very appreciative of Tyler

🇺🇸Tyler Adams vs Irán 🇮🇷. Un pulpo.

pic.twitter.com/1xOqOoMBzu

— Tomiconcina 🎙️ (@Tomiconcina1) November 30, 2022

Edit: also the rest of the midfield but Tyler gets the most apprecaition.

 

A- it is interesting, especially if you have watched it over the decades. Certainly adds some context versus the pretty myopic view you get just viewing US sources.

B- fan, teammate, coach perceptions abroad can make a difference in how our opponents prepare for games against us and how well our players are able to assimilate into foreign leagues. The whole thing about prior generations making it easier for the next round of US players is very true.

 

Also, most see the US having potential to get past Holland

Aaronson, Musah, Weah, Dest e Ream em nível altíssimo. Tyler Adams é jogador de topo!

Concordo plenamente com a ânsia do Mundial em casa e com as verdadeiras hipóteses de chegar a uns quartos de final já este ano.

— João Francisco (@joaopsfrancisco) November 29, 2022

 

The answer to this seems to be that we have whiny fans?

MLS players are fine, except maybe (and sadly Shaq Moore). You shouldn't judge the value of any league on the results of a couple of games.

Having to make excuses for not having dominant players (what is Tyler Adams?) or prolific goalscorers? People pissing on Sargent?

Sounds like a fan problem.

Australia is through and kudos to them. They scored more than us but had a worse goal differential. I feel like this might be your first time at a World Cup.

 

One of my students is from Norway and plays varsity soccer (Division 1). He knows Holland very well and likes our chances. A bona fide international opinion. Sample size one.

 

So half a season means he's a MLS player and not all the years in Spain? I guess Yedlin now too even with the Premier and Turkish league experience. It's why I don't get most of the criticism as players move back and forth between Europe and MLS so much.

 

Considering the historical performances of US teams that have made the WC since the Donvan era.
2002: quarters
2006: group stages
2010: R16-extra time
2014: R16-extra time

Taking into account the talent levels of the current US team vs previous US teams, rather than vs transfermarkt or some other BS, R16 is the minimum acceptable with the group.

 

Not sure where to put this, but here's the average of the ratings for our guys from whoscored+fotmob+sofascore after the group stage.

Pulisic 7.28
Turner 7.22
Adams 7.18
Robinson 7.10
Carter-Vickers 7.04
Ream 7.03
Musah 6.97
Dest 6.95
Weah 6.83
Zimmerman 6.71
McKennie 6.54
Sargent 6.51
Acosta 6.38
Wright 6.36
Moore 6.34
Reyna 6.33
Aaronson 6.32
Morris 6.25
Yedlin 6.19

As a team sofascore has us ranked 11 of 32 right now. Whoscored has us 15th. Fotmob has us 10th.

 

Becomes? Where you been for the last 40 years, homie?

 

Can you provide some examples from 40 (20?) years ago of American politicians targeting soccer in their remarks? Homie.

 

We can quibble, but 11th, 15th, 10th overall? Sounds about right to me.

 

because much of the media I consume comes from outside the US and it will be great when the discussion doesn't come with a condescending sneer and a discussion of "soccer." Speaking of that, and Australia, they call their team the "Socceroos" ffs.

 

15-20 years ago before he became the penultimate cranky,, self-aggrandizing old man cliche. He used to actually be thoughtful and creative at times w/his takes in the 90's and early 2000's. That's been gonezo for at least a decade. It's the opposite of the "I don't know what happened to that guy" scenario. I know exactly what happened to that guy. The best and the worst parts of his personality and temperament were rewarded, and then later punished, and all he has to console himself with now is $ and misdirected anger at an evolving society.

 

Agree with you that he was pretty funny and witty a few decades back. His turn isn’t completely shocking since a lot of his humor involved racial/sexual stereotyping, etc., but for the most part it seemed to be more intended to be funny back then than the outright ignorant bullshit he spouts now.

And not to defend him, as he is a pretty crap person these days, but he has also recently produced a couple of very good documentaries on auto racing - one on Ford’s success at LeMans (that to me is more enlightening and entertaining than the Ford vs. Ferrari movie that covers the same subject); and one on Willie T. Ribbs, a successful Black race car driver. Both are really good and worthwhile, which makes it more disappointing to see the overall path he’s pursued.

 

I'm finding a lot of broken links due to age but here's a Jack Kemp quote from 1988

“I think it is important for all those young out there, who someday hope to play real football, where you throw it and kick it and run with it and put it in your hands, a distinction should be made that football is democratic, capitalism, whereas soccer is a European socialist sport.”

Here's a collection of quotes from the runup to the 2010 WC:

https://www.mediamatters.org/legacy/world-cup-starts-conservative-media-declare-war-soccer

As a soccer fan since 1976, I've lived through a lot of soccer denigration. It was too un-American, too un-manly, etc.

 

This thread has gone decidedly political. Can there not be one corner of the social landscape that is reserved for pure enjoyment of a past time that can potentially bring us together?

I haven’t watched a single news program (scouts honor) since 2016. I just think anything available is a corporate sponsored echo chamber. Regardless of your side of the aisle. I really don’t see the benefit, however, in a sporting sense, of potentially alienating 50-ish percent of the population who might develop a love for the game by perpetuating egregious stereotypes and claiming this sport as the sole provenance of Northern California progressive hipsters. It’s as ridiculous as the Jack Kemp idiotic statements.

My entire worldview is informed by having lived the vast majority of my life in many different places overseas. Believe it or not, most of the world could give two shits about the Red versus Blue culture wars. They, to the extent they have any interest at all, are interested in seeing the development of a sport they hold dear in the worlds most influential country. Almost with the attitude of “what took you so long.”

If you support US Soccer as a political stance, a ******** you to the bigoted jocks from the red states, you probably hate this post already and we won’t have much common ground. But in the never ending mother loving culture wars between Red and Blue, my solution has always been Purple. And this particular group of piss and vinegar, multi-cultural, motivated kids are tailor made to bring us together as a nation once again.

So let those too-tall, wooden shoe wearing, tulip sniffing, Heineken swilling, polyglot speaking, total football playing, Caravan driving, legal drug sniffin’, Louis Van Gaal adoring, orange wearing euro-snobs be forewarned. This young, Red, White, and Blue conglomeration of nationalities, ethnicities and backgrounds are about to open a can of whoop-ass and advance to the quarters.

 

I agree. We live in a period where I think we all should make a special effort NOT to provoke/engage in the kind of snarky and divisive political commentary that spoils so many things. I've been guilty of it. Hopefully, the USMNT will give us something we can all be cool about.