OT: USA-Guatemala

[kgilbert78]

I was at the match last night. Second row to the left of the south goal. What a blast. Glad Mrs. KG and I went. We had a great view of the first two goals. The US came out like angry hornets. They were not able to keep up that pace the entire game, but they were up 3-0 by that point.

A bonus--got to meet and talk with Kasey Keller for a bit pregame. My old Gladbach/Keller scarf didn't hurt.... I've been a Gladbach fan for over 40 years, so getting to meet a former player was very exciting for me.

 

[royboy]

Hey!

Pulisic got into the game. I am really excited to watch this kid develop.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...t-United-States-World-Cup-2018-qualifier.html

Yeah, here's some background info on 17-year old Christian Pulisic from wiki:

Pulisic grew up in Hershey, Pennsylvania. His father Mark Pulisic played professional indoor soccer for the Harrisburg Heat in the 1990s. Pulisic grew up playing for local youth club PA Classics as well as sometimes training with local professional club Harrisburg City Islanders during his teen years

 

[Alphabets]

The real shame is once again the US will not be represented in men's soccer at the Olympics.

 

[21Guns]

The real shame is once again the US will not be represented in men's soccer at the Olympics.

For the second straight time. It runs counter to what we thought about America gaining ground in the world standing of the sport. We were clearly inferior last night to the Columbian team.

Hard to blame ALL of this on Klinsmann

 

[Alphabets]

For the second straight time. It runs counter to what we thought about America gaining ground in the world standing of the sport. We were clearly inferior last night to the Columbian team.

Hard to blame ALL of this on Klinsmann

It was a miracle to come out of the 1st leg in Colombia with a draw. They dominated us in that game as well. It's demoralizing not seeing any real progress with the men's teams. Complete opposite of what we have seen with the women's side.

 

[kgilbert78]

It was a miracle to come out of the 1st leg in Colombia with a draw. They dominated us in that game as well. It's demoralizing not seeing any real progress with the men's teams. Complete opposite of what we have seen with the women's side.

I'm concerned about the women as well, frankly. They stuck with a lot of the older players a bit longer than they should have (to be fair, they did win the cup) and then came up with the "Victory Tour" when we should have been working with the younger players to get ready for the next cycle.

 

[bmw199]

For the second straight time. It runs counter to what we thought about America gaining ground in the world standing of the sport. We were clearly inferior last night to the Columbian team.

Hard to blame ALL of this on Klinsmann

It was a miracle to come out of the 1st leg in Colombia with a draw. They dominated us in that game as well. It's demoralizing not seeing any real progress with the men's teams. Complete opposite of what we have seen with the women's side.

A lot of young and talented players. Will be very frustrating if it leads to nothing. US will always be at a disadvantage though as the best athletes in this country do not grow up playing this sport. It is a 4th or 5th option for young athletes, where in the rest of the world every young athlete wants to grow up to play professional soccer. I remember articles a few years ago that speculated what a US mens national team would look like if all of our athletes grew up training to play soccer.

That said, Pulisic is tied to the US, Zelalem has chosen the US, Miazga was signed by Chelsea, Yedlin is becoming a fixture in an EPL starting lineup, so they just need to bring it together.

 

[TCFA-Nit]

I honestly think this factor is way over-stated. The real problem as I see it is the ridiculous pay-for-play system that we've built in this country. My local neighborhood travel club is modest in comparison to some of the clubs we play against, but I still end up paying A LOT of money every year once you figure in league fees, uniforms, tournaments, etc. And again, we are probably the least expensive club in our area. I know parents who pay thousands per year just to have their kids in a "better" club.

And what does this do? It essentially tells lower-income kids/families they can't play and aren't welcome. How many talented kids have we missed out on through the years because they simply couldn't afford to pay for even a decent travel league?

In football and basketball, if you're a good player, you WILL be found. That's because our infrastructure is such that pretty much every kid in pretty much every neighborhood has access to those sports. With soccer, they don't. And that's what costs us.

A lot of young and talented players. Will be very frustrating if it leads to nothing. US will always be at a disadvantage though as the best athletes in this country do not grow up playing this sport. It is a 4th or 5th option for young athletes, where in the rest of the world every young athlete wants to grow up to play professional soccer. I remember articles a few years ago that speculated what a US mens national team would look like if all of our athletes grew up training to play soccer.

That said, Pulisic is tied to the US, Zelalem has chosen the US, Miazga was signed by Chelsea, Yedlin is becoming a fixture in an EPL starting lineup, so they just need to bring it together.

 

[bmw199]

I honestly think this factor is way over-stated. The real problem as I see it is the ridiculous pay-for-play system that we've built in this country. My local neighborhood travel club is modest in comparison to some of the clubs we play against, but I still end up paying A LOT of money every year once you figure in league fees, uniforms, tournaments, etc. And again, we are probably the least expensive club in our area. I know parents who pay thousands per year just to have their kids in a "better" club.

And what does this do? It essentially tells lower-income kids/families they can't play and aren't welcome. How many talented kids have we missed out on through the years because they simply couldn't afford to pay for even a decent travel league?

In football and basketball, if you're a good player, you WILL be found. That's because our infrastructure is such that pretty much every kid in pretty much every neighborhood has access to those sports. With soccer, they don't. And that's what costs us.

You didn't notice the size difference between most of the Colombian players and the US U23 team. We have kids 18-22 that size, but they wear pads and play on Saturdays

 

[21Guns]

You didn't notice the size difference between most of the Colombian players and the US U23 team. We have kids 18-22 that size, but they wear pads and play on Saturdays

I noticed that also. It looked like boys vs men out there.

 

[PSU87]

I honestly think this factor is way over-stated. The real problem as I see it is the ridiculous pay-for-play system that we've built in this country. My local neighborhood travel club is modest in comparison to some of the clubs we play against, but I still end up paying A LOT of money every year once you figure in league fees, uniforms, tournaments, etc. And again, we are probably the least expensive club in our area. I know parents who pay thousands per year just to have their kids in a "better" club.

And what does this do? It essentially tells lower-income kids/families they can't play and aren't welcome. How many talented kids have we missed out on through the years because they simply couldn't afford to pay for even a decent travel league?

In football and basketball, if you're a good player, you WILL be found. That's because our infrastructure is such that pretty much every kid in pretty much every neighborhood has access to those sports. With soccer, they don't. And that's what costs us.

I honestly think you're very wrong.
Look, we can agree that the "pay for play" system sucks, and this player card nonsense where a club thinks they "own" your kid is an abomination.
However, the system is no different for girls than it is for boys. Yet we produce the best women's team in the World. I think the fact stands- in most countries the best male athletes are gravitating towards soccer. In the US that talent is highly diluted by other sports.
Plus, pay for play is starting to take over kids baseball too.

 

[Woodpecker]

The real shame is once again the US will not be represented in men's soccer at the Olympics.

So why didn't Pulisic play with the U23s? Would that have also tied him to the US? Seems they could have needed him more than the USMNT.

 

[kgilbert78]

You didn't notice the size difference between most of the Colombian players and the US U23 team. We have kids 18-22 that size, but they wear pads and play on Saturdays

I thought some of the Colombian players had already suited up, the way they were playing.... Not that it mattered (the gap was that large), but the officiating was pretty poor too. One of our kids drew a yellow/red and didn't even touch the fouled player (the second red, however, was correct).

 

[kgilbert78]

So why didn't Pulisic play with the U23s? Would that have also tied him to the US? Seems they could have needed him more than the USMNT.

You can change after playing youth for one country. Jermaine Jones is one example. Neven Subotic is another. You are only tied after an official FIFA competition, BTW. For example. Tony Tchani of the Crew played for the US this year in a friendly. But he became tied to Cameroon when he played in a World Cup qualifier this weekend.

 

[Erial_Lion]

There are a lot of issues with the Olympic qualification. First off, it's only a 16 team tourney (with the hosts guaranteed a spot), so there just aren't that many spots to go around. Then, none of the clubs are obligated to release players for the qualification tournaments (plus you have situations like last night where guys are playing for the full national team the same day that the U23s have a big game). I was even questioning how full strength our Olympic team would have even been with the Copa America this summer and more qualifiers in September (might have been without Yedlin, Brooks, and Morris/Rubin for starters, and then the overage players probably wouldn't have been top choice guys). Sucked that we didn't get the result we needed last night against Colombia, but the Guatemala game was about 100x more important.

 

[TCFA-Nit]

First, the assumption that because somebody is a great football player they would also be a great soccer player is flawed.

Second, the U.S. has never lacked for athletes in its soccer set-up. At the senior level, at least, we are almost always the most athletic team in any tournament we enter. But athleticism only takes you so far. What we have always lacked, and continue to lack, are skilled soccer players.

You didn't notice the size difference between most of the Colombian players and the US U23 team. We have kids 18-22 that size, but they wear pads and play on Saturdays

 

[bmw199]

First, the assumption that because somebody is a great football player they would also be a great soccer player is flawed.

My argument isn't that if LeBron walked out on the pitch today that he'd be the best striker in the world, but if he had been only working at that his whole life, since he was a little boy in Akron, then yes he'd be the best striker in the world. But he grew up in America playing football and basketball. You're telling me that if since the moment Sean Lee and Luke Kuechly could walk they were kicking the ball around the street that they wouldn't form the best international center back combination in the world?

What we have always lacked, and continue to lack, are skilled soccer players.

Because, our best athletes do not grow up focusing on soccer their ENTIRE lives. Sure our national team is athletic but do they possess half the hand eye coordination of Bryce Harper, no not even freaking close.

It doesn't make me happy to say this, it's just the truth and it isn't changing. I wish we were beating the rest of the world at the most popular sport in the world, but it's just not our focus.

 

[TCFA-Nit]

No, he wouldn't.

And no, they wouldn't.

My argument isn't that if LeBron walked out on the pitch today that he'd be the best striker in the world, but if he had been only working at that his whole life, since he was a little boy in Akron, then yes he'd be the best striker in the world. But he grew up in America playing football and basketball. You're telling me that if since the moment Sean Lee and Luke Kuechly could walk they were kicking the ball around the street that they wouldn't form the best international center back combination in the world?

Because, our best athletes do not grow up focusing on soccer their ENTIRE lives. Sure our national team is athletic but do they possess half the hand eye coordination of Bryce Harper, no not even freaking close.

It doesn't make me happy to say this, it's just the truth and it isn't changing. I wish we were beating the rest of the world at the most popular sport in the world, but it's just not our focus.