Youth sports in general do suck because of parents but my pushback on youth soccer programs being the main issue with our country not being great at soccer is think of how many great pro athletes don’t develop until later in life.

How do you know a kid is gonna be great or not great when they’re 12, 14, or even 20…? Not often.

Would be interested to know the percentage of hall of fame football and basketball players that were 5 star recruits coming out of high school.

Hell Scottie Pippen started as his college team’s equipment manager but then shot up to 6’7 when he was 20 or 21.

Saquan wasn’t highly recruited out of high school but was clearly the best RB in college football when he was 19.

Roughly 20 years ago or so there was a soccer player named Freddie Adu who was compared to Pele when he was 14 or 15 but ultimately had a mediocre pro career in the MLS.

It’s hard to say what the exact issue is, I think the biggest difference would probably just be more opportunities for more players.

1 hour ago, Mike030270 said:

Questionably a better player?

I meant unquestionably but got auto corrected

Sports are cultural- soccer isn't one of our cultural sports. Enjoying it once every 4 years if the US makes the World Cup is good enough.

2 minutes ago, Freshmilk said:

Sports are cultural- soccer isn't one of our cultural sports. Enjoying it once every 4 years if the US makes the World Cup is good enough.

I agree. That’s why I think it would do best in smaller cities/communities where there isn’t much else going on. Similar to college football/basketball culture.

More people would go watch the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs if they had the opportunity to play in the MLB for winning their league

11 minutes ago, Freshmilk said:

Sports are cultural- soccer isn't one of our cultural sports. Enjoying it once every 4 years if the US makes the World Cup is good enough.

unless we are talking about curling…which is tens of millions of Americans new fav and least partaken in favorite past times! I have combat waivers for anyone who disagrees.

Having the WC here should help a lot with getting kids into it. In my area it seems like a lot of school options are being gutted or removed because of funding. Soccer might soon be a preferred option compared to the entry level till they’re bored and want something fun choice.

30 minutes ago, Wentz_Era said:

From what i understand a lot of the professional leagues/clubs/etc around Europe invest a ton into youth programs in Europe (France apparently is one of the best at this). I truly don’t know if MLS operates at enough of a profit to even think about investing into the travel leagues which could be pipelines, let alone the youth level.

This.

And they have an advantage because Europe has a much higher population density than the US, so it’s easier to put together clubs, teams, programs with less money.

2 minutes ago, TEW said:

This.

And they have an advantage because Europe has a much higher population density than the US, so it’s easier to put together clubs, teams, programs with less money.

There’s a weird dichotomy here with real football…where relative to talking about density in Europe, rural Texas is on pace with half the states combined for football.

I got started in the having children game late…so it seems like the generation of kids coming out of being born the past 3-5 years i going to have a huge resurgence in ‘go outside and play’ mentality. I think we should see a good boost to things hopefully soon.

Chiefs and Cowboys would be my guess.

52 minutes ago, Wentz_Era said:

From what i understand a lot of the professional leagues/clubs/etc around Europe invest a ton into youth programs in Europe (France apparently is one of the best at this). I truly don’t know if MLS operates at enough of a profit to even think about investing into the travel leagues which could be pipelines, let alone the youth level.

They do have a youth development league called MLS Next, but the existence of a development league isn't really the issue. It's far more about how they're managed, their pipeline and competition from other leagues in lower tiers, the application process, team quotas, etc.

But if I had to really boil it down and oversimplify it all to a singular issue, the problem is ultimately the parents. Everything else can be indirectly traced back to parents wanting the status of their kid being on a travel team while being in complete denial of how good their kid really is. This attitude has become so pervasive and ubiquitous, it has led to clubs and leagues setting up incentive structures to capitalize on this sentiment. That's how you get the massive numbers of kids playing the sport at the lowest levels, with lackluster results at the highest levels.

Couple that sentiment with ineffectual governing bodies at the state and national level (don't get me started on USSF) and you get the current cluster F that is the current state of youth soccer in the US.

13 minutes ago, RememberTheKoy said:

Chiefs and Cowboys would be my guess.

We can use a backup nickel. Or, I wonder if he is interested in transitioning to safety since hes not a very good CB.

53 minutes ago, Freshmilk said:

Sports are cultural- soccer isn't one of our cultural sports. Enjoying it once every 4 years if the US makes the World Cup is good enough.

This isn't the whole story though. Boys outnumber girls at a rate of something 4 to 1 at the youth level, but the girls dominate at the highest levels, so it's somehow become cultural for them but not for boys. Some of that is because of Title IX, and some of that is because the top athletes for girls aren't being drawn to sports like football or softball (most of the better players I've seen drop out are lost to volleyball or basketball and in one rare case, hockey.) Of course other countries are starting to catch up too, but at the youth level here, soccer is far more popular among boys than girls.

2 minutes ago, we_gotta_believe said:

This isn't the whole story though. Boys outnumber girls at a rate of something 4 to 1 at the youth level, but the girls dominate at the highest levels, so it's somehow become cultural for them but not for boys. Some of that is because of Title IX, and some of that is because the top athletes for girls aren't being drawn to sports like football or softball (most of the better players I've seen drop out are lost to volleyball or basketball and in one rate case, hockey.) Of course other countries are starting to catch up too, but at the youth level here, soccer is far more popular among boys than girls.

Girls Volleyball is exploding. Softball, field hockey, and soccer are dwindling. At least what Im seeing in schools in my area and surrounding areas.

4 minutes ago, we_gotta_believe said:

This isn't the whole story though. Boys outnumber girls at a rate of something 4 to 1 at the youth level, but the girls dominate at the highest levels, so it's somehow become cultural for them but not for boys. Some of that is because of Title IX, and some of that is because the top athletes for girls aren't being drawn to sports like football or softball (most of the better players I've seen drop out are lost to volleyball or basketball and in one rate case, hockey.) Of course other countries are starting to catch up too, but at the youth level here, soccer is far more popular among boys than girls.

I’m convinced all of our female sports at the highest level are the best because the USA is flat out the most progressive country the last 40-50 years. Our girls who grew up in the 80s and 90s were encouraged to play sports much more than other countries world wide.

Some of those female soccer players can whine and cry all they want but there’s no doubt that this country gave them way more opportunities than any other country would have.

Youth soccer is also getting way more intense fwiw. I have 2 nephews in the thick of it right now. In order to make it to even the college level academies and prep schools are pretty much the norm. A lot of them will "reclass" near the end highschool them reenter a prep program for extra years to get the experience/exposure. They are in constant contact with coaches pretty early on. It's pretty nuts.

End result is the quality of player coming out of the US should theoretically get better. It's also turning it into a rich kids sport at the higher level which kind of blows.

2 minutes ago, DEagle7 said:

Youth soccer is also getting way more intense fwiw. I have 2 nephews in the thick of it right now. In order to make it to even the college level academies and prep schools are pretty much the norm. A lot of them will "reclass" near the end highschool them reenter a prep program for extra years to get the experience/exposure. They are in constant contact with coaches pretty early on. It's pretty nuts.

End result is the quality of player coming out of the US should theoretically get better. It's also turning it into a rich kids sport at the higher level which kind of blows.

This is a huge issue. Lower middle class and rural areas (most of the country) will not get the opportunities. It’s turning into hockey or lacrosse

Feels weird to watch a "home game” in Seattle. That place is a house of horrors for our Eagles.

7 minutes ago, EaglePhan1986 said:

I’m convinced all of our female sports at the highest level are the best because the USA is flat out the most progressive country the last 40-50 years. Our girls who grew up in the 80s and 90s were encouraged to play sports much more than other countries world wide.

Some of those female soccer players can whine and cry all they want but there’s no doubt that this country gave them way more opportunities than any other country would have.

Yeah that's what I was getting at with Title IX. But the current stars of the USWNT are all born after 2000. And I bet if you look at the numbers now, there are more girls playing competitive soccer in countries like Spain, France, Italy, or England than here.

Like I keep saying though, it's not just about the quantity of players or money involved, it's more so the systemic issues at the macro and micro levels. That's how you get a team like Cape Verde perform at a level that far outstrips their population or resources.

2 hours ago, eagle45 said:

I'm fascinated by the push back on the reversal.

The fundamental reality is that he should not have been red-carded in the first place. The means leading to the reversal are understandably controversial and political. (and can stay out of the blog). However, what a loser mentality from Belgium. You protest the reversal of a red card that everyone universally agrees should not have been handed out? Let the media talk about how this shouldn't have been reversed and that it's inappropriate. As a team, why protest the availability of a player that never should have been suspended in the first place? Just strikes me as a spineless loser mentality.

Imagine if Devonta Smith were suspended for something he didn't do. He gets reinstated because Gov. Shapiro circumvents the NFL's protocols with Goodell and gets it overturned. Jerry Jones protests the week before an Eagles / Cowboys MNF game. We'd all lose our minds calling them cowards.

The difference to me, is that FIFA is just a deeply and blatantly corrupt organization. The NFL has plenty of problems sure, but this kind of insider treatment/bribery/coercion etc etc is pretty par for the course with FIFA.

Sure the card was BS. Sure going against their own standards and reversing it after political pressures is kinda BS too. But are people really going to pearl clutch over inside baseball from that the organization that literally constructed the last world cup using slave labor in a desert because Qatar was the highest bidder? That's the brand baby.

I think soccer will get better 10-20 years. Now that more kids are playing, theyll turn in to adults who can actually coach it. Like I said earlier, we have kids now that want to play, but a lack of adults who actually know the game so the kids arent learning very well until they get to high school.

The pay to play, travel ball culture here is another big hurdle that keeps a lot of talent down. But thats not just a soccer issue. Feels like eventually someone will come up for a solution with that because it affects a lot of sports. You hear people speak out about it. Eventually someone will come up with an actionable idea to change it.

Thats not just holding players down. Its affecting the quality of coaching in schools. Where high school jobs dont pay nearly as much as a travel coach gets paid it becomes hard to find coaches for school programs as well.

58 minutes ago, Wentz_Era said:

There’s a weird dichotomy here with real football…where relative to talking about density in Europe, rural Texas is on pace with half the states combined for football.

I got started in the having children game late…so it seems like the generation of kids coming out of being born the past 3-5 years i going to have a huge resurgence in ‘go outside and play’ mentality. I think we should see a good boost to things hopefully soon.

Oh, definitely. I actually have noticed the difference since COVID ended. Lots of kids are running around, riding bikes, and playing sports outside in my neighborhood the past few years. I didn’t see this nearly as much in the 2010’s.

So far Belgium is in an entirely different league here. Its only 10 minutes and this game doesnt feel close at all.

USA soccer is the Vikings. Looks great against bad teams then looks soft and overmatched the second they play a good team

1 minute ago, EaglePhan1986 said:

USA soccer is the Vikings. Looks great against bad teams then looks soft and overmatched the second they play a good team

that is what this feels like so far.

Are we… good at set pieces now?

BIGLY!