cenj Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 Some interesting discussion here. I'm a soccer fan and watch the World Cup pretty religiously, but I believe soccer will never become more than a small-niche sport in this country for the foreseeable future. Culturally, there is too much against American ideas of fairness and rules (yes -- the flopping, but more than that). Now, in the more distant future, as the foreign-born population grows and there is no majority anymore, Soccer will have a chance. We'll probably adapt culturally. I think that's a long way off though, and that sort of growth is independent of anything the US is currently doing to increase popularity with people who didn't grow up with soccer. That isn't to say soccer hasn't grown, because it has and it continues. Thinking about where this country was in the early 90s to now, go compare that to other countries where soccer was introduced, or even US football's growth rate, and it's pretty remarkable. I just think the ceiling is limited for now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OILERMAN Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 Completely ridiculous. The fact that a hotdog-eating contest came immediately after tells the story of how far away soccer is. The hot dog eating contest actually interests me Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cenj Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 Regarding the US team's performance -- I think we were absolutely atrocious against Ghana. They dominated us. The Portugal match was a much better showing even if it ended in a tie. There is some youth talent coming up and I think we did look better than I've seen the last few World Cups (even the 2002 surprise), but I'm of the opinion that we're pretty far away. We have athletes and some decent talent, but our game lacks the touch, control, confidence that you see in real World Cup competitors like Germany, Brazil, Netherlands, etc. It isn't even close. There's nuance there -- an understanding of where people are without looking, a one-touch flick -- that top teams do with regularity. The thing is, they make it look easy, crisp. Guys get one or two opportunities a game and finish the goal. Defenders never miss or get caught out of position. Mistakes the US team makes with regularity, top teams don't. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsntLifeFunny Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 The only thing quality wise where we were dominated throughout the tournament was on our first touch. We never consistently got the first touch under control and it lost us a lot of opportunities, especially against Belgium. Teams like Ghana will always have superior athletes. Teams like Belgium and Germany will always have more finesse. I think we can find a nice middle ground, though, as we had better athletes than the other three teams we played, so if we can up our first touch control I think we'll do more than compete next time around. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pragidealist Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 Regarding the US team's performance -- I think we were absolutely atrocious against Ghana. They dominated us. The Portugal match was a much better showing even if it ended in a tie. There is some youth talent coming up and I think we did look better than I've seen the last few World Cups (even the 2002 surprise), but I'm of the opinion that we're pretty far away. We have athletes and some decent talent, but our game lacks the touch, control, confidence that you see in real World Cup competitors like Germany, Brazil, Netherlands, etc. It isn't even close. There's nuance there -- an understanding of where people are without looking, a one-touch flick -- that top teams do with regularity. The thing is, they make it look easy, crisp. Guys get one or two opportunities a game and finish the goal. Defenders never miss or get caught out of position. Mistakes the US team makes with regularity, top teams don't. This is true but not true. The difference between top Teams is that all of their 11 plus at least half their subs have technical skill and s degree of elite to their athleticism and skill. He us players that make that mark of the starting 11 were Besler Howard Cam, Johnson, Bradley Jones and Dempsey. And before the injury Jozy. (I would say Beasley too) that's a far cry from previous years, That's not a full eleven. What Klinsiman did different than the coaches before him was that he made technical skill over athleticism a priority. So we got Beckerman, Zusi and David. The only player that ,made the 23 that did not have elite tech skill was Bedoya- who made it on workrate. Just be making that priority and getting out do the group stage was a huge success. The nxt cycle needs to b filling the gaps to have a complete squad. I think with the volume of promising youth- that should happen. What killed the Us more then anything was confidence. They too quickly fell Into conservative defensive mentality - that will just take a lot more friendlies and tournaments against elite teams. They actually have improved on this as well. If anyone can remember the friendly against Brwzil it was the same problem but worse. The us have come a LONG way. Much further than I think most realize. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamalisms Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 Neymar ruled out of the rest of the Cup is a death blow barring... a dramatic change of form for the rest of that team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pragidealist Posted July 4, 2014 Report Share Posted July 4, 2014 I also think the "success" of the sport is a moving target. The more success the sport has in revenue, ratings, international wins, elite steer playing in the MLS, etc - the more that the bar will rise. For example - I never once considered national interest in games not played by the US a benchmark or success. The rising benchmarks are a degree of success on its own. It's not like there is going to be a "Mission Accomplished" party ....ever. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cenj Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Success will be when the Quarterfinals of the World Cup don't get relegated to ESPN 2. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamalisms Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 The ratings have been great. The channel is irrelevant unless you're debating the wisdom of those setting programming. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Neymar ruled out of the rest of the Cup is a death blow barring... a dramatic change of form for the rest of that team. Silva is out for the Germany match too. I think Brazil is done. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 The ratings have been great. The channel is irrelevant unless you're debating the wisdom of those setting programming. It's absolutely relevant that as soon as the U.S. team lost to Belgium the Nation lost interest in the World Cup. ABC knew it and and it was reflected in their programming decision. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 The only thing quality wise where we were dominated throughout the tournament was on our first touch. We never consistently got the first touch under control and it lost us a lot of opportunities, especially against Belgium. Teams like Ghana will always have superior athletes. Teams like Belgium and Germany will always have more finesse. I think we can find a nice middle ground, though, as we had better athletes than the other three teams we played, so if we can up our first touch control I think we'll do more than compete next time around. Ill ask again. Did you watch any matches? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamalisms Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Was the programming pre-scheduled to ESPN2 or did they move it there? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsntLifeFunny Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Ill ask again. Did you watch any matches? All of them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pragidealist Posted July 5, 2014 Report Share Posted July 5, 2014 Success will be when the Quarterfinals of the World Cup don't get relegated to ESPN 2. Lol ok - good to know there is one metric to measure success. So when that happens we can have the mission accomplished party .. Always good to have concrete goals i guess Personally us soccer success internationally, more teams where most Americans can have a local team, and ratings and revenue comparable to the top three sports would mean a bit more. But if World Cup quarter finals is the metric - guess that works too.....if a bit random Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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