RSE is right

[Two Gap Penetrator]

When it comes to soccer, the US is too focused on conditioning

I know this from firsthand experience. That's what happens when you don't know how to teach skills. You focus on something you know: conditioning. "OK guys, let's run around all of the backstops 5 times! Let's do wind sprints!" Soccer is a game of skill and finesse and we have to find people who can come here and teach it.

[Snakebitten]

I don't think you can be too focused on conditioning in soccer. Their condition was the biggest reason for their success. It's really just a case of the skillset not being there. They can bring anyone they want in here to teach them. I just don't think the talent is there.

[Two Gap Penetrator]

So these little sh*t countries have a huge talent base and....

.....a giant country like the United States of America just doesn't have the talent. I don't following your reasoning. In one sentence you say "the skillset" is not there. What does that mean?

[Two Gap Penetrator]

I'm also trying to understand this "success" you're.....

.....talking about. What success? They backed in to the round of 16 and yesterday they were getting smoked all day. That game should have been 10-1.

[Snakebitten]

Our best athletes don't gravitate towards soccer. We don't have a Tiger Woods or Lance Armstrong (pre-dope) that can peak this country's interest. These athletes see the fame, the money, and all the perks other sports in this country have. Why bother with soccer? I actually played soccer in Belgium and can assure you they don't have other options.

[nor'easter]

TGP, yes the US has a much bigger talent pool but there's also a lot more sports vying for the interest of that talent. In the States you have American football, baseball, basketball, hockey in the Northeast and Upper Midwest and now lax is the hot sport for youth. In the little sh*t countries futbol is it. For a lot of foreign players it's their ticket out of poverty.

Take Vincent Kompany, captain of the Belgian side. He's 6'4" and weighs 185. If he was American, a youth coach would not have said 'he'll make a great center back some day.' They would have said 'he's got shooting guard potential' or 'we'll beef him up and he'll be a fastball LB and play for Andy Reid.'

If Jellybean had stayed in Italy would Kobe have played soccer there or basketball?
Soccer is still low on the sports/culture list in the States but it's growing in spite of Ann Coulter's comment that it's a sign of the moral decay of the nation.

[slag]

Well, duh ... but that doesn't mean the "skill set" doesn't exist in American athletes.

America needs the guys we have and 3 or 4 guys who would have been all pros in the other sports to choose to play soccer and play overseas.

Not saying it's happening any time soon, but it's there.

[slag]

PS - Exhibit A for this concept may be Jim Brown

He was so unstoppable in college lacrosse, they revised the rule about minimum stick length.

[RSE]

There is something quintessentially American about the USMNT that I hope we never lose. The USMNT is always greater than the sum of its parts. We play as a team. We don't have prima donnas. Klinsmann, a World Cup champion from a culture where the national team is very similar in its spirit (but with way better players than the US), really tapped into this, which may be why he made an example of Donovan.

[slag]

I hear what you're saying, but I think I'd chance dealing with a prima donna or two if they were all-world players.

[Snakebitten]

I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. Altidore, Donovan, Bradley, Dempsey all played in Europe but they aren't superstars in the sport (I'll leave Howard out of this). The 'skill set' I'm referring to is they don't see the game the way top players do. They can't put together a few good passes in a row. They don't know when to run to a flag versus making errant passes. They don't know how to spread the field. The list is endless. The 'skill set' lacks between the ears. It's not a physical deficiency, it's mental.

Like most sports, it starts with that one special player. Until this country produces a Messi or Ronaldo, it will always be a second rate team. They need a Freddy Adu that can actually play. It will happen.

[slag]

It appeared you were saying American athletes aren't athletically gifted enough with a skill set to play soccer at the world-class level.

I disagreed.

Now it appears you're saying they're not mentally gifted with enough of a skill set.

I disagree about this also.

[Snakebitten]

It's both but it's clear the biggest deficiency is between the ears. I thought it was pretty obvious.

[slag]

PS - Let me ask a question:

Are you saying that even if an American world class athlete who would otherwise be, say, an all pro NFL skill position player couldn't be a world class soccer player because he couldn't get taught the mental component in the US at the youth stage, so even if he went to the Premier League, it would be too late to teach him world class international skills?

[slag]

It appeared that Ballack and Van Nistelrooy were implying this when they said the US team isn't good enough in the "technical" aspect of the game.

However, I think they meant it's not just the mental component, but it's also ball handling skills and passing skills.