OT: World Cup 2022 (Human Rights Optional) - Let's Get Stoned!

[Starat327]

Kinda feels like it won't happen as long as (American) football is still King of the fall sports in the States. It's hard to compete in a global sport where your best athletes aren't playing the sport. Not to go full ESPN, but just think about some of the freaks we see play on Sundays. In any European country, they are playing soccer.

They are definitely weak on the back end and I don't know a lot about the prospects, but how they can't find a competent striker is harder to believe for me. Maybe Pepi is a guy, but it feels like if he was a guy, at his age, he would have made a squad like with a glaring hole. Even so, need more than that. I feel like it's easier to cover up deficiencies defensively than it is to create an attack if you don't have the talent up front, but I don't know the sport well enough.

Yeah, the biggest part of this is that Football isn't a major enough sport here in the states and the revenue/cash draw isnt there. You generally want tall(er) defenders, and what's the point of trying to become a MLS defender making 90K and hope for a path to a bug 4 league when you can be a practice squad receiver and make the same if not more? Or push for a career in basketball where you'll dwarf that money?

As you mentioned in a previous post, our best bet is to find a dual citizenship player and hope we can convince them to switch on playing time, a la Dest.

I think the team has some attacking talent, and could get by on a committee approach. Lots of teams have won major trophies by being solid defensively. This may be recency bias, but look at Belgium - on paper, great attacking talent. But you look at their defense and it looks like a Spurs special from 2017. If you habe a world class attaching player you can probably go the offense route, but I don't see anyone in the US system that fits that bill. Unless, of course, we can remind time and fix Freddy Adu.

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

 

[Captain Dave Poulin]

Kinda feels like it won't happen as long as (American) football is still King of the fall sports in the States. It's hard to compete in a global sport where your best athletes aren't playing the sport. Not to go full ESPN, but just think about some of the freaks we see play on Sundays. In any European country, they are playing soccer.

They are definitely weak on the back end and I don't know a lot about the prospects, but how they can't find a competent striker is harder to believe for me. Maybe Pepi is a guy, but it feels like if he was a guy, at his age, he would have made a squad like with a glaring hole. Even so, need more than that. I feel like it's easier to cover up deficiencies defensively than it is to create an attack if you don't have the talent up front, but I don't know the sport well enough.

What's more important than anything is their collective attitude. They need to stop talking about "respect" and what they "deserve," shut the f*** up, and start watching, listening and learning from people who are infinitely better and more experienced at the top level than they are. It would also help if braying jackasses like Alexei f***ing Lalas gave the jingoism a rest, and the masses stopped nattering on with infantile shit like "iT's cAlLeD sOcCeR durrr," because they are just reinforcing the idea that the US is "too big to fail." They obviously aren't.

 

[FLYguy3911]

I don’t see that ever happening. The money funnel into basketball and football in this country will prevent it. Those two are a path out of poverty for a lot of people and high level soccer in this country requires too much cash.

Yeah, it's not happening in this lifetime unless in fact the MLS becomes the best league in the world by 2026.

 

[Starat327]

Yeah, it's not happening in this lifetime unless in fact the MLS becomes the best league in the world by 2026.

Jeff Bezos could make this happen if he really wanted. It would require a wild overhaul of the MLS transfer rules though. The MLS would have to move to the European model where the owners can spend whatever (within some limits obviously) to make their teams competitive. A cap limited soccer/football league will never be the largest in the world because you won't be able to attract the talent to do so.

Who is ready for the 2024 MLS presented by Amazon with the Amazon Cup?

 

[Halladay]

The Aussies have started the way the US should have. Not open at the back and much more defensive. Neither team has had a chance yet 30 minutes in.

Messi scores 5 minutes later on their first chance.

 

[Jack Straw]

I may prefer Lalas to Donovan.

That’s crazy talk. Just stop.

 

[Hollywood Cannon]

That’s crazy talk. Just stop.

The performance he put on as I posted that was a mess. Stuttering. Reading off of his hand. Just brutal.

 

[Jack Straw]

The performance he put on as I posted that was a mess. Stuttering. Reading off of his hand. Just brutal.

He’s still not an annoying self-important jackass.

 

[Hollywood Cannon]

He’s still not an annoying self-important jackass.

I’ll allow it.

I think Lalas just plays a character though.

 

[Jack Straw]

I’ll allow it.

I think Lalas just plays a character though.

I’ve read some stuff that supports that, but I don’t care what he’s like off-camera. I only get exposed to his awfulness.

 

[Halladay]

Terrible blunder, this match is over.

 

[kudymen]

Whoa this was a beautiful counter solo effort by the Aussie

 

[Halladay]

I turned to TCU, missed a goal. Woah.

 

[Halladay]

Lautaro and Lukaku cant hit the goal. Must be agonzing to watch at Inter. Especially Lukaku.

 

[flyerslducks]

Huge miss by Argentina there

 

[kudymen]

That ref is going to punch someone

 

[Halladay]

That was it for Australia. Wow. Emi Martinez!

 

[Appleyard]

Kinda feels like it won't happen as long as (American) football is still King of the fall sports in the States. It's hard to compete in a global sport where your best athletes aren't playing the sport. Not to go full ESPN, but just think about some of the freaks we see play on Sundays. In any European country, they are playing soccer.

They are definitely weak on the back end and I don't know a lot about the prospects, but how they can't find a competent striker is harder to believe for me. Maybe Pepi is a guy, but it feels like if he was a guy, at his age, he would have made a squad like with a glaring hole. Even so, need more than that. I feel like it's easier to cover up deficiencies defensively than it is to create an attack if you don't have the talent up front, but I don't know the sport well enough.

Tbh I dont think that is totally true...

everyone plays here, that is true, and as a result the talent pool is massive... but because it is such a "skill" sport and we have other sports that promote being a freak more, well, freaks often go into other sports!

Like, the best athletes at my school ended up playing rugby pro actually. Also become millionaires.
I also knew better athletes who became cyclists, pro boxers, water polo pros, handball pros, Euro basketball pros!

The average Premier League guy is a good athlete, no doubt, but I don't think too many are "freaks". Having played against and with several as a teenager, and being arguably a better athlete than all but one of them... but without close to the skill level aha.

But there are 15,000 professional football players in the UK alone. The pool is enormous. And cream rises to the top most often. Maybe not the best athletes or freaks, but the technical ability you have to have to be one of the ~200 Brits who plays in Premier league each year?

The "competition" is just immense and I think far more cut-throat than in the UK and Europe. 10 year olds being cut from teams etc.

And it helps that the demographic is mainly people from the poorest places tbh. While in the US it seems far more "middle class".

The hours that are put in are just silly... like from the guys who made it pro from my school and neighbouring schools... they must have played for probably ~40 hours a week every week from age ~4-5 years old until they made it. Maybe only ~15 hours of those were "organised" at clubs. I doubt many guys across the pond are playing that much, but every town in the UK you have that opportunity at the local cage or local park, as hundreds of kids in every neighbourhood want to.

 

[trostol]

Tbh I dont think that is totally true...

everyone plays here, that is true, and as a result the talent pool is massive... but because it is such a "skill" sport and we have other sports that promote being a freak more, well, freaks often go into other sports!

Like, the best athletes at my school ended up playing rugby pro actually. Also become millionaires.
I also knew better athletes who became cyclists, pro boxers, water polo pros, handball pros, Euro basketball pros!

The average Premier League guy is a good athlete, no doubt, but I don't think too many are "freaks". Having played against and with several as a teenager, and being arguably a better athlete than all but one of them... but without close to the skill level aha.

But there are 15,000 professional football players in the UK alone. The pool is enormous. And cream rises to the top most often. Maybe not the best athletes or freaks, but the technical ability you have to have to be one of the ~200 Brits who plays in Premier league each year?

The "competition" is just immense and I think far more cut-throat than in the UK and Europe. 10 year olds being cut from teams etc.

And it helps that the demographic is mainly people from the poorest places tbh. While in the US it seems far more "middle class".

The hours that are put in are just silly... like from the guys who made it pro from my school and neighbouring schools... they must have played for probably ~40 hours a week every week from age ~4-5 years old until they made it. Maybe only ~15 hours of those were "organised" at clubs. I doubt many guys across the pond are playing that much, but every town in the UK you have that opportunity at the local cage or local park, as hundreds of kids in every neighbourhood want to.

i notice a lack of cricket in there lol

i also assume cricket, while not to the level of hockey, is a more expensive sport to get into than footy or rugby

 

[FLYguy3911]

Tbh I dont think that is totally true...

everyone plays here, that is true, but because it is such a "skill" sport and we have other sports that promote being a freak more, well, freaks often go into other sports!

Like, the best athletes at my school ended up playing rugby pro actually. Also become millionaires.
I also knew better athletes who became cyclists, pro boxers, water polo pros, handball pros, Euro basketball pros!

The average Premier League guy is a good athlete, no doubt, but I don't think too many are "freaks". Having played against and with several as a teenager, and being arguably a better athlete than all but one of them... but without close to the skill level aha.

But there are 15,000 professional football players in the UK alone. The pool is enormous. And cream rises to the top most often. Maybe not the best athletes or freaks, but the technical ability you have to have to be one of the ~200 Brits who plays in Premier league each year?

The "competition" is just immense and I think far more cut-throat than in the UK and Europe. 10 year olds being cut from teams etc.
And it helps that the demographic is mainly people from the poorest places tbh. While in the US it seems far more "middle class".

I didn't mean freaks to minimize the skill aspect of soccer, but having the best athletes in the country playing the sport is a good start. It's the same with football. There are countless wide receivers that could run 4.2 who didn't have ball skills or didn't know how to run routes that never amounted to anything. But get enough of the best athletes in the country together and you are bound to find the physical freaks who also have the technical abilities to excel in soccer. Unicorns would have been a better term.

And I only mention football because in the US HS system, the soccer and football seasons overlap so kids have to choose one or the other and obviously the financial incentive is much better in football as has been pointed out. Looks what the US Women's team accomplishes internationally where football obviously isn't an option.

 

[cheesesteak]

What I’d like to see for the MLS is for the champion to go into the Champions League. Feels like that would make the MLS more appealing to elite players in their prime and would create more fans.

Might not make sense because it’s a European thing or if the timeline works…but how about a new league with the champions from every major league in the west.

On the bright side I do notice more young people watching soccer and watching European leagues than I did when I was younger. It also seems way more accessible to watch. The whole soccer is gay thing definitely was bad for the growth of it here in the 90’s-00’s too.

 

[Starat327]

What I’d like to see for the MLS is for the champion to go into the Champions League. Feels like that would make the MLS more appealing to elite players in their prime and would create more fans.

Might not make sense because it’s a European thing or if the timeline works…but how about a new league with the champions from every major league in the west.

On the bright side I do notice more young people watching soccer and watching European leagues than I did when I was younger. It also seems way more accessible to watch. The whole soccer is gay thing definitely was bad for the growth of it here in the 90’s-00’s too.

They have that. It's the concacaf champions league. The sounders are the current champions (which goes to show little this cup really means).
It doesn't mean much because there isn't any elite talent in the west. If it exists, it goes to Europe very quickly because of the pay variances and the opportunity. There isn't a single league in the west thay can compete with the leagues in Europe. Salaries are tied to revenue. Revenue tied to viewership.

Apple paid 250M for TV rights to the MLS. The premiere leaguebalone coat 5 billion.

Until thay gap closes, it will continue this way.

 

[Chinatown88]

Les Bleusssssss

 

[Jack Straw]

All he does is score goals