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Why China doesn’t dominate soccer

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Re: Why China doesn’t dominate soccer

#91

Post by aaavl2821 »

padobson wrote: post #40
aaavl2821 wrote: post #2

While I think things like vision, communication and teamwork, spatial awareness and improvisational ability are critically important and can't be taught (though they can be learned through lots of play), this article definitely shortchanges the amount of physical and technical skills required for soccer / football that can be taught and developed through practice Good stamina is a prerequisite for being good at socce…

So if you look at a distribution of folks possessing the attributes required of a footballer, you can be fairly competitive amongst the general population with one or two, but the long tail of elite players requires all seven of the attributes you mention. you'll be better than most players up to probably a US division 3 college level If you really love the game, this sounds like a fairly satisfying career peak. A re…

I think that's true. I had friends I played with in high school who played D3 who were just fast and decently skilled, some who played D1 who were just very skilled and athletic but didnt have the best game sense, and some who walked on to D1 teams who werent that athletic but just disciplined, safe players -- usually central mid / defenders who could control the ball and pass quickly

As I've gotten older I've found that having decent ball control and stamina makes up for me being slower and less agile, and helps me enjoy casual pickup games with younger players. Instead of jogging I'll do dribbling exercises for a cardio workout. I love playing soccer but its harder to play as I get older, and these exercises enable me to keep playing casual pickup games

Re: Why China doesn’t dominate soccer

#92

Post by narag »

nabla9 wrote: post #37

There is a better explanation. Being talented individual is not enough. They have to play against other equally talented individuals in the highest level professional leagues from the age of 18 to develop tactically and technically. China needs a professional soccer league with top level foreigners or they need to send their best to European leagues. They can do it but it can take several generations. Soccer is the m…

They have to play against other equally talented individuals in the highest level professional leagues from the age of 18 to develop tactically and technically.

Exactly. Nothing teaches better than having your ass kicked.

A number of high profile spanish players are considering going China for their last active years, so maybe they're on the right way.

Re: Why China doesn’t dominate soccer

#93

Post by erikb »

bilbo0s wrote: post #89
qihqi wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Comparing to other athletic sport. I doubt it is more popular than LOL or Dota2 or whatever current popular eSport tho. Or even werewolves (langrensha).

Or even martial arts to be perfectly frank. We don't think of it as a sport, because it doesn't necessarily fit our western view of sport. But you'd be hard pressed to say that football or basketball is more popular than martial arts as an athletic pass time in China.

Just because Jacky Chan does kungfu, doesn't mean all Chinese do. The amount of Chinese who invest serious effort into kungfu is quite small. I wouldn't be surprised if hip-hop has a bigger hobby base in China.

However almost all Chinese I know have at least some interest in soccer. Of course they bet on European teams in lack of having own strong teams. But they are more into it than most Europeans I know (who mostly only care in special seasons like World Cup).

Re: Why China doesn’t dominate soccer

#94

Post by thesz »

eftpotrm wrote: post #43
megaman22 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was in school, we played soccer to get in shape for basketball season (we were too small to field a football team). People tried really hard to push soccer, and we were actually better at soccer than basketball, but soccer just never had the same kind of excitement. You need too many people and too much space to actually play soccer, compared to a little bit of driveway and a ubiquitous hoop for basketball - y…

Three kids, one ball, not very much space. One goes in goal (if needs be a jumper or coat on each side), the other two compete to put the ball past them x times, then rotate the goalkeeper. Continue ad nauseam. Or go to a park and practice ball skills, solo. Ex-England captain Wayne Rooney was famous for having done that for hours at a time as a kid. I'm not actually a particular soccer fan and quite enjoy basketball…

>Continue ad nauseam.

This is what we did. A great way to spend summer when you are teen.

As for practicing ball skills, the very nickname Pele was from the sound of the can Pele played instead of ball - his family was too poor to have soccer ball.

Re: Why China doesn’t dominate soccer

#95

Post by KSS42 »

nabla9 wrote: post #37

There is a better explanation. Being talented individual is not enough. They have to play against other equally talented individuals in the highest level professional leagues from the age of 18 to develop tactically and technically. China needs a professional soccer league with top level foreigners or they need to send their best to European leagues. They can do it but it can take several generations. Soccer is the m…

Another counter point is the USSR excelling in hockey. They even had star players : i.e. Vladislav Tretiak.

Re: Why China doesn’t dominate soccer

#96

Post by aekotra »

LargeWu wrote: post #11
CodeSheikh wrote: post #4

This is not specific to China but many larger countries who are good at other sports but they don't do well at soccer. Australia is very good at Rugby, Cricket but their soccer team is average and they make it to world cups only because of limited competition in their confederation (OFC). Domestic soccer leagues are just picking up in China. They mostly comprise to Chinese players and/or end up with retirees of Europ…

Nitpick: Australia is in the Asian confederation, not Oceana. Still, Asia as a whole is a weak confederation.

Yeah, but they've only been there for 12 years. OFC before then.

Re: Why China doesn’t dominate soccer

#97

Post by 628C6l0 »

ashwinaj wrote: post #50
the_af wrote: post #3

Seems pretty weak and unsupported. It can be summed up as "China doesn't excel at soccer because of authoritarianism and because the sport is not well understood by anyone and central planning doesn't help". Ok, if you say so. Where's the evidence?

Well put. Another stupid "Hate China" propaganda piece; no wonder people have lost faith in journalism.

You must be Chinese spy. Burn him!

Re: Why China doesn’t dominate soccer

#98

Post by aekotra »

kneel wrote: post #45

Having an elite soccer team requires talented players, one of the most important talents is elite running speed. To have elite running speed you need to have a higher torso/leg ratio, basically long legs and a high center of gravity. There are regional differences around the world with torso/leg ratios. China is on the lower end, much of Africa is on the high end.

> one of the most important talents is elite running speed

That would be on my shortlist for among the least important talents for team success.

Re: Why China doesn’t dominate soccer

#99

Post by 628C6l0 »

rc_hadoken wrote: post #44
ggg9990 wrote: post #39

China plays the US for the gold medal in Olympic BEACH VOLLEYBALL. They can dominate anything they want, they just haven’t invested the effort and money into soccer yet. There are more popular sports in China like basketball which they will go after first.

Basketball? Yeah, I'm all for chasing and achieving goals...dreams in this case. But China ain't going nowhere in Basketball any time in my lifetime..or two lifetimes at that.

Nuke these fucking chinks
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