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Why isn't the U.S. better at soccer?

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Re: Why isn't the U.S. better at soccer?

#241

Post by Detrytus »

dpark wrote: post #136
Detrytus wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, nfl/nba are focused on big guys, 6’3 and above. In soccer your height/mass doesn’t matter much so the talent pools don’t overlap. And baseball is the old man’s game that does not require any athleticism at all.

> In soccer your height/mass doesn’t matter much so the talent pools don’t overlap. This is untrue and also just silly. The talent pools for horse jockeys and NBA players don't overlap. The talent pool for soccer and football is probably 90% overlap. Smaller players are certainly more likely to be successful in soccer than football but tall players can do great in soccer and average height guys can do well in footbal…

Taller players do great in soccer, to a point. I mean, goalkeepers are the tallest, typically, about 6'4, 6'5. For field players, they usually max out around 6'3, but that's only for certain specialized positions like a striker, or central defender. Above that and you are too big and too slow, smaller players will quite literally run circles around you. I think overall average height of soccer player is below 6 feet.

Lionel Messi, the greatest soccer player of all time is only 5'7 - that should tell you something.

Re: Why isn't the U.S. better at soccer?

#242

Post by troupo »

cuttothechase wrote: post #225
troupo wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the demand is for high-scoring, high-production-value entertainment. What part of American football or baseball is high-scoring or high-production-value or entertaining?

It's hard to keep track of how many times American football or Baseball is used as a back drop of some TV shows or a hollywood blockbuster. How many US pop culture figures have performed at half time shows. How many U.S. heads of states have mentioned about their favorite teams and stadiums etc.,

Doesn't answer my question.

If curling was traditional American sport, you'd get curling instead.

An average NFL game is 11 minutes of action. High production and entertainment lol.

Re: Why isn't the U.S. better at soccer?

#243

Post by beepdyboop »

puelocesar wrote: post #240
jasonwatkinspdx wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, this difference occurred to me while traveling in rural Mexico. To play soccer all you need is a ball. So you can go into the poorest villages that have little in the way in infrastructure and all the kids are playing soccer in the dirt road or a random field, etc. And often enough adults join in because they were once the kids too. So it's this very pervasive, almost universal shared experience there. Totally…

A ball? When I was a kid we rolled a bunch of socks together and played with it in the middle of the street and we defined the goal area with a pair of flip flops. No need of a ball and infrastructure when you really want to play

Rolling a bunch of socks together is.. a ball? Right?

Re: Why isn't the U.S. better at soccer?

#244

Post by emadda »

I think this comes down to higher competition and practice in Europe.

A football is the default “toy” given to young lads, and you can play anywhere with anyone.

So much so there are custom “no ball games” signs in many neighbourhoods due to noise averse residents getting annoyed.

There are also many supporting elders who try to improve and guide skill development.

Re: Why isn't the U.S. better at soccer?

#245

Post by venzaspa »

confidantlake wrote: post #85
SamBam wrote: post #19

I don't think the article really tried to answer the question, though maybe that wasn't its intent and the author was genuinely asking. I think an answer would need to look at the difference in how kids and teens play soccer in the US vs other countries. In the US soccer is mostly a younger kids' sport, and is generally highly structured, with kids playing on teams once or twice a week. Compare to Europe, where many…

I think you are overlooking the more obvious answer. All the talent gets sucked up by the nfl/nba/mlb.

I think you're probably underestimating just how much time kids in other places spend playing football in their spare time. When I was a kid, we were out 2-3 hours every night after school playing it.

Re: Why isn't the U.S. better at soccer?

#246

Post by lukan »

Mallory_Ringess wrote: post #76
lukan wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Soccer is like the metric system of sports." No. Not at all. It doesn't make any more sense to chase a ball to kick it just with feet, than to chase it protected hands allowed or to chase it using only hands to touch it. Different sports. (I am from europe and did play, but think soccer is highly overrated. Unlike the metric system that actually has a clear logic behind it and makes handling scientific numbers more…

I think you're looking at the comparison from the wrong angle. The parent poster meant the USA does not take up the metric system because the imperial units are seen as part of their culture while metric is a 'foreign' thing . Typically American sports like baseball, American 'football' and basketball are seen as part of American culture as well while football (which for some unexplainable reason is called 'soccer' i…

Yes, your angle is more interesting.

Re: Why isn't the U.S. better at soccer?

#247

Post by venzaspa »

athenot wrote: post #158

Money. Typical amount of commercials time per game: NFL 60-65 min NBA 40-50 min MLB 40-50 min NHL 25-35 min MLS/Premier League/World Cup 10-20 min

I watched a game of American football once and was blown away by how many adverts there were. It's such a slow game too - so much stopping between tackles for deliberation (seemingly). Don't get it personally.

Re: Why isn't the U.S. better at soccer?

#248

Post by venzaspa »

bananamogul wrote: post #8

Because we have 4 other sports that originated in the Americas: basketball, gridiron football, hockey, and baseball. If you like soccer, perhaps you'd like to try our faster, more kinetic version, called hockey. It's the same sport (goals and such), and you get to watch it in air-conditioned comfort. Or if you still like the "players are fragile" model of soccer but want more goals, we also have basketball. It's the…

American football originated from Rugby and Baseball originated from Rounders.

Re: Why isn't the U.S. better at soccer?

#249

Post by bjohnson225 »

misterinfo wrote: post #115
SamBam wrote: post #19

I don't think the article really tried to answer the question, though maybe that wasn't its intent and the author was genuinely asking. I think an answer would need to look at the difference in how kids and teens play soccer in the US vs other countries. In the US soccer is mostly a younger kids' sport, and is generally highly structured, with kids playing on teams once or twice a week. Compare to Europe, where many…

At my high school and college, the best athletes were playing Football or basketball not soccer. If some of those athletic running backs were playing soccer all their life they would've been a problem.

If those running backs played soccer they'd all be asked to slim down. Soccer requires a mix of strength, agility and endurance.

Re: Why isn't the U.S. better at soccer?

#250

Post by uhfraid »

uhfraid wrote: post #229

some good points such as lack of promotion/relegation but ultimately misses the root cause Requirements to forming a division 1 league, as determined by the ‘US Soccer Professional League Standards’: - minimum 12 teams (14 by year 3) - each team’s principal owner has individual net worth of $40M - 75% of teams located within major metro markets (at least 1M people) - 15,000 seat stadium (and enclosed) - teams located…

As for how these requirements were determined… no clue. Never received an answer. Jury’s still out on that…

https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-soccer-must-face...

https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/23/23-120/274688/2023...

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