USA team in 15 years?

[ShiftyPowers]

I don't really care about the old players in MLS at all. The US has over 300 million people and the MLS is getting to a point where it can develop talented players into legitimate internationals. The game is hugely popular, especially among young Americans (the future players), so there is good reason to be optimistic about the game's future. Comparing the US to Qatar, a nation of 2 million, is absurd.

 

[Sir Didier Drogba]

There needs to be a salary cap. There isn't enough money in football in the US to support enough competitive clubs without one. Much like Australia. You get rid of the salary cap, a few sides spend big, and the bubble bursts when the creditors suddenly want return on investment

At this point the salary cap actually helps the prospects of the US national team - without it, the richer clubs would just fill their teams with players from Europe and stifle out the prospects of young Americans coming through. I think the US will continue to improve though I think the idea of them becoming contenders within 15 years is highly optimistic.

 

[Bobby]

Coaching has to improve, as does parent behavior at the youth level. It's hard to become a coach here (well, a licensed coach) because the licencing process is so expensive (England has a similar problem, apparently) and when someone does get involved in youth coaching it's not uncommon for them to run into belligerent, impatient, aggressive parents who cause burnout because they simply don't want to deal with them. I know a coach who was punched in the face by a woman because he dared sub her son out.

There's a lot of potential in US Soccer, a ton, but there are a lot of economic barriers that make it difficult to tap. They're slowly being torn down, but that process could certainly be accelerated. Professional and semi-professional clubs investing in development of young players and in facilities is helping a lot.

Edit: You'd be surprised where there's a lot of grassroots support for soccer. Places like Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi that you wouldn't normally associate with the sport. They're building facilities and developing teams. It's pretty cool to see. See Chattanooga FC.

 

[Pogba4Now]

Soccer is now the favorite sport of more kids ages 12-17 than baseball, the "national past time". You don't live here, don't just make assumptions. Everyone I know is watching every game of the world cup, and these are people who don't follow the sport. The popularity is rising and the MLS is getting better; career MLS players like Beckerman can now do well at this stage.

With that said, we're getting depth, but the top level of players is still about the same as it's been in the last 15 years, so who knows. I guess it all could be different if Subotic and Rossi picked the US, but that's just what I see.

You live there so you know more than me but I have seen little interest in Soccer in the US when I have travelled there. Again, its difficult to judge based on my limited experience there.

Comparing the US to Qatar, a nation of 2 million, is absurd.

Fair enough, that needs to be taken into consideration.

 

[Bobby]

It depends on where you travel. The size of the country means that the culture varies wildly from place to place. Soccer's popularity is in cities and their suburbs, it's not so popular in rural areas where (American) football tends to be *the* sports landscape.

 

[ARIAGA II]

Bobby have you ever gone to a Carolina rail hawks game ?

 

[Bobby]

Nah, Raleigh is 150 miles from me. I've been to a couple of Charlotte Eagles games.

 

[Xifio]

the MLS may never rival the European setup, but the USMNT will win a World Cup before England wins one again ...

Soccer is now the favorite sport of more kids ages 12-17 than baseball, the "national past time". You don't live here, don't just make assumptions. Everyone I know is watching every game of the world cup, and these are people who don't follow the sport. The popularity is rising

exactly! the US is a sleeping giant that has truly woken ...

With that said, we're getting depth, but the top level of players is still about the same as it's been in the last 15 years, so who knows. I guess it all could be different if Subotic and Rossi picked the US, but that's just what I see.

he *did* pick the US ... and then what happened?

it's as much a matter of coaches picking players as it is players picking the US ... but this is another matter ...

 

[regularcat]

As long as there is a salary cap and they can't participate in the UCL it won't rival europe

exactly what in europe is to rival ?

you have the cl which is obviously very popular because the idea behind it is continent wide and creates national club rivalries which is very exciting.

other than the epl what other leagues are their to rival ?

la liga for example is known but it's teams aren't that good with the exception of the top 3 and that is only because there is no salary cap which in my eyes kills the quality of the league because nobody can win the league other than the top 3.

same for the bundesliga and serie a, 3 of the top leagues in europe.

I think the MLS will be severely hindered by not being part of the champions league, there aren't really any leagues outside of Europe that are of a very high standard. The key would be to replicate Brazil and just export all their new youngsters once they are good enough? Hopefully with more success than with freddy adu...

i don't think that not participating in the cl does anything, half the teams that participate in the cl aren't better than most mls clubs.

most of the european leagues are garbage, the brazilian and argentinian leagues are better than most of the euro leagues and a majority of european clubs have lots of players from those 2 countries that are better then the european players on those clubs.

to remind you those players came up in these leagues you say are not of a high standard.

At this point the salary cap actually helps the prospects of the US national team - without it, the richer clubs would just fill their teams with players from Europe and stifle out the prospects of young Americans coming through. I think the US will continue to improve though I think the idea of them becoming contenders within 15 years is highly optimistic.

the salary cap does help the league in more ways then showcasing american players talents.

as far as us not being a top side in 15 years, as of june 5th usa are ranked 13th in the world by FIFA, 1 rank above the netherlands who just killed the top ranked spainards.

i'd say we are better than most people think and definately better than 75% of the european sides who have been playing the sport for much longer than we have with twice the passion and
dedication to the sport.

 

[Back Door Skip]

You're actually using the rankings to prove a point? Are you serious?

The same rankings that have the newly eliminated Spain at 1, the team that barely got into the World Cup Portugal at 4, England at 10 and the boring ass Greeks at 12?

The rankings are a complete joke.

 

[Back Door Skip]

Anyway, I don't know what to think of US soccer. I think that there won't be any drastic improvement in that time as the culture is developing at a snail's pace and the MLS is an extremely weak league.

The US tends to be solid at the youth level, but unless there's an extreme emphasis on technique and tactics at an early age in the coming years, I just don't see any world class talent developing. There will be depth, and Americans jumping abroad due to that, but we're gonna wait a looooong time for the "American Pele" to emerge.

 

[Bobby]

FIFA rankings .

 

[Sir Didier Drogba]

The same rankings that have the newly eliminated Spain at 1, the team that barely got into the World Cup Portugal at 4, England at 10 and the boring ass Greeks at 12?

Yeah I agree, England should be ranked much better than that.

 

[RobbieD_PL]

Yeah I agree, England should be ranked much better than that.

First?

 

[Mus]

exactly what in europe is to rival ?

you have the cl which is obviously very popular because the idea behind it is continent wide and creates national club rivalries which is very exciting.

other than the epl what other leagues are their to rival ?

la liga for example is known but it's teams aren't that good with the exception of the top 3 and that is only because there is no salary cap which in my eyes kills the quality of the league because nobody can win the league other than the top 3.

same for the bundesliga and serie a, 3 of the top leagues in europe.



i don't think that not participating in the cl does anything, half the teams that participate in the cl aren't better than most mls clubs.

most of the european leagues are garbage, the brazilian and argentinian leagues are better than most of the euro leagues and a majority of european clubs have lots of players from those 2 countries that are better then the european players on those clubs.

to remind you those players came up in these leagues you say are not of a high standard.



the salary cap does help the league in more ways then showcasing american players talents.

as far as us not being a top side in 15 years, as of june 5th usa are ranked 13th in the world by FIFA, 1 rank above the netherlands who just killed the top ranked spainards.

i'd say we are better than most people think and definately better than 75% of the european sides who have been playing the sport for much longer than we have with twice the passion and
dedication to the sport.

MLS teams would get their shit pushed in at the Europa League nevertheless CL, if you've ever played a sport you know you need to perform and test yourself at a high level to develop fully, you can't play with kids, America's best players all have to move abroad because their league isn't good enough to give them that push, you say titaly Spain and Germany's league is bad but each of their squads have players from outside the top 4 and have won the world cup.

South American players have their best development in Europe, look at the Brazil squad for example and compare the domestic talents with the abroad ones, it's a well known fact to them that they aim to make it to Europe, even shakhtar is better than sao Paulo and Corinthians for example

 

[ShiftyPowers]

You make that assumption about the USA, but our greatest ever player spent nearly his entire career in MLS, Dempsey didn't go abroad until he was like 24, and several other successful players were at least brought up in the US system through their 18th birthday. Hell, Neven Subotic played a year of NCAA soccer for USF, so he DEFINITELY came up through the US youth system and he's one of the better defenders in the world. The problem for me is that most players either haven't been spotted at a young age because perhaps their fitness level trails their technique and fitness is preferred for youth teams, and as a result most don't get good coaching. I firmly believe 1 top youth coach in each major metropolitan area heading a city feeder club would completely change the landscape in this country. I believe we do have national team feeder clubs in many cities (I know Milwaukee did when I was growing up and probably still does), but do kids know that's what they are? I didn't know why they were called "Nationals" until I was like 16. Get every decent kid to try out for one of those teams with a legit talent spotter picking the players and the talents won't get left behind.

 

[yoyo913]

half the teams that participate in the cl aren't better than most mls clubs.

You think teams that didn't make it out of the groups this year, like Juve, Benfica, Napoli, Ajax, Shakhtar, Sociedad, CSKA Moskow and Marseille aren't better than most mls clubs? Or are you referring to teams that play in the pre-group preliminary stages?

 

[Mus]

And you don't think that if the domestic league had more money and was higher profile more kids would get involved? I'll make an assumption and say the statistics of all the kids playing soccer is because the main nation sport (football) is deemed as too rough by parents of young children which boosts soccer's participation like in Australia which gives you inflated figures because these kids aren't fully committed

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Participation statistics have always been high. These are fan statistics. The nation is getting behind the sport.

 

[Mus]

When do you think you can make a final?