Why US soccer is not on par with the rest of the world

[sitting bull]

With his hand-eye coordination and competitive zeal, Michael Jordan would have been a great soccer player, I guarantee you.

:doh:

How many great soccer player Tall 6'6 ??!!

None...

M. Jordan is basket ball type player... not a soccer type player.

You can't translate a basket player or a football player to a soccer player it's totally ridiculous... The quality required are not the same

To think that i think you never play soccer in your life...

[jbooma]

Drew Bledsoe doesn't have sub 4.6 speed, either.

I agree that dribbling skills are highly specialized; even in professional soccer, not all have mastered it. But its just like dribbling a basketball. If you train your entire life at dribbling a soccer ball, 10 years every day you go play with friends like Kilmer said, then you'll get good at it. I could be good at dribbling a soccer ball if I had done it every day for my entire life. Combine that with the natural speed and strength of some of the players I mentioned and bam, instant soccer player. I don't see how you can argue that.

A perfect example is Magic Johnson. He wasn't the greatest dribbler, so to get better he dribbled a basketball everywhere he went. On his bike, on the way to school, everywhere. What if instead of a basketball it was a soccer ball?

.

First off the point about the athlete not being able to dunk a 6 foot rim is true. The problem is he is not good with spacial ability. If you do not know what this means it is the ability to judge the relations of objects in space. This is how Jordan can accurately predict where to jump to dunk wherever. Some people have an issue when their body is in space and how to handle objects around it. My friend who can do everything except dunk a ball has an issue when he jumps he feels he has to jump before he actually needs to since his spatial ability is a little off.

When he tries to dunk the rim he flies by all the time, now he can dunk by jumping straight up, not when he is on the run.

I do not agree with you that NFL stars are great athletes, some are, the rb's, wr's, some lineman te's, and some qb's, but I would say the majority are not.

I feel all the weight some of these guys put on so they can take the contact hurts their ability.

Now most NBA players though I would say are great athletes, they play so many games, and are running non stop, in a smaller area and not as much as NFL players, who get to take a lot of time off and not playing, unlike NBA stars and soccer players.

Your point about Magic is interesting, yes he can dribble a ball with his HANDS anywhere, but doing it with your feet is a complete different story. Some people are great with hands, but a complete klutz with their feet. I am not a specialist on brain activity but do believe there are different parts of it that can control foot coordination then your hands. These are skills that you can not just learn, unless you already born with the ability.

[Ancalagon the Black]

I think that what a lot of people are missing is the difference between being very good at a sport and being elite in a sport. I direct this mainly towards the "good athletes are good athletes" contingent.

Yes, I'm sure that Barry Sanders could train for a marathon and kick all of our asses, even if we had trained for marathons all our lives. Yes, if Deion Sanders had trained for soccer at a young age, he would be a pretty darn good player.

But they wouldn't necessarily be elite players. Barry Sanders would never hold the world record for a marathon, even if he had been training for one his whole life. Deion would never be as good as Ronaldinho, even if they had had the exact same upbringing.

Why? Because at the elite level, you get into levels of specialization that are beyond what a general natural athletic ability confers. Someone who has natural athletic talent could no doubt be very good at almost any sport, but they could probably be elite in only a couple of sports. The combination of specific skills required of the sports in question naturally thins things out at the top level. That's why Ben Graham, who played Australian football his whole life and is regarded as a great player, retired when he was over the hill and then went to the Jets with a $7 million contract as a punter--because his elite sport used exactly the same skills as the position of punter demands.

Of course American soccer would be better if it were one of the big sports and more people played it at a young age, but I don't know that it would be best in the world.

[jrockster21]

But they wouldn't necessarily be elite players. Barry Sanders would never hold the world record for a marathon, even if he had been training for one his whole life. Deion would never be as good as Ronaldinho, even if they had had the exact same upbringing.

I guess this is where the debate dies, because I just disagree. I believe if Barry Sanders, Deion Sanders, Clinton Portis, etc. trained their whole lives to play soccer instead of football, they'd be just as good at soccer as they are in football. jbooma's point about the weight gain to absorb contact is a good one, but if they're playing soccer their entire lives, you'd probably see much slimmer versions of them. They'd focus more on their leg muscles than their upper bodies in the gym.

Why? Because at the elite level, you get into levels of specialization that are beyond what a general natural athletic ability confers. Someone who has natural athletic talent could no doubt be very good at almost any sport, but they could probably be elite in only a couple of sports. The combination of specific skills required of the sports in question naturally thins things out at the top level. That's why Ben Graham, who played Australian football his whole life and is regarded as a great player, retired when he was over the hill and then went to the Jets with a $7 million contract as a punter--because his elite sport used exactly the same skills as the position of punter demands.

Another area that I disagree with you. While there are certainly things a soccer player has to do that a football player doesn't, there are a lot of similarities in the skills they need as well. They both need quickness, they both need agility, they both need great field & peripheral vision, and to some extent they both need speed. The only difference between Clinton Portis and Ronaldinho is that CP has trained with his hands his entire life, and trained for short bursts of speed, while Ron has trained with his feet and trained for high-endurance type running. Just my :2cents:

Of course American soccer would be better if it were one of the big sports and more people played it at a young age, but I don't know that it would be best in the world.

I don't know....its really impossible to predict this sort of thing, but I think you're not giving our athletes enough credit.

[Ancalagon the Black]

I guess this is where the debate dies, because I just disagree.

Yeah, when it comes down to it, it's just a matter of opinion.

The only difference between Clinton Portis and Ronaldinho is that CP has trained with his hands his entire life, and trained for short bursts of speed, while Ron has trained with his feet and trained for high-endurance type running.

True. And Portis is a fantastic running back, but he doesn't have the best hands in the world--no matter what his training. Not all elite athletes have elite skills in everything. I think a lot of people here are saying "elite athlete->elite in all athletic skills," and I think that's patently untrue.

I don't know....its really impossible to predict this sort of thing, but I think you're not giving our athletes enough credit.

I've said it's possible that they'd be the best in the world, but I'm not sure. I think that's plenty of credit.

[herrmag]

Wow, I thought this thread was doomed for nothing but bashing of soccer, but I have to admit, this conversation about whether our star athletes could be soccer studs is very thought provoking. However, I don't necessarily believe that an athlete that is good at one sport could possibly be good at another. In fact, let's just look at positions in football. Could a GREAT fullback play linebacker? Could a GREAT runningback play WR? Oh crap, I just took a dump all over my own argument........:doh: Hmmm, like I said, I find this argument very intriguing.

[jrockster21]

So....those of you who say that soccer players aren't that tall, how do you explain England's Peter Crouch?? He is 6'7....that's pretty damn tall. Let's not forget that he scored a goal....The other English player that scored??? 6'2 Steven Gerrard.

But whatever....let the ignoramuses of this thread continue to think that height or weight has something to do wth soccer skills...:doh:s

[Trippster]

The reason we're not good in soccer is because we just don't care. Very few Americans play soccer, therefore the pool of talent to draw from is very small.

[Trippster]

Why are we even discussing the US competing with the rest of the world? Why do we want to? SOCCER'S GAY!!!!! The only reason the rest of the world likes it is because they're too dirt poor to afford basketball goals or some other athletic equipment. The NFL is so much more advanced in terms of strategy, game planning, etc. That's where our focus should be. Why are we trying to follow the rest of the world? They eat cats for crying out loud!!!!!!!!!!

[jbooma]

So....those of you who say that soccer players aren't that tall, how do you explain England's Peter Crouch?? He is 6'7....that's pretty damn tall. Let's not forget that he scored a goal....The other English player that scored??? 6'2 Steven Gerrard.

But whatever....let the ignoramuses of this thread continue to think that height or weight has something to do wth soccer skills...:doh:s

you might be able to count all the guys above 6'5 on your hand, for every soccer team, so to me that is not a lot :laugh:

please try again :cool:

no one said there were not any tall players, just not many at all, according to someone in this thread if every player were tall then they would have an advantage, well if that were the case then every team would have 6'5 players, but they don't

[EersSkins05]

Why are we even discussing the US competing with the rest of the world? Why do we want to? SOCCER'S GAY!!!!! The only reason the rest of the world likes it is because they're too dirt poor to afford basketball goals or some other athletic equipment. The NFL is so much more advanced in terms of strategy, game planning, etc. That's where our focus should be. Why are we trying to follow the rest of the world? They eat cats for crying out loud!!!!!!!!!!

[jrockster21]

you might be able to count all the guys above 6'5 on your hand, for every soccer team, so to me that is not a lot :laugh:

please try again :cool:

no one said there were not any tall players, just not many at all, according to someone in this thread if every player were tall then they would have an advantage, well if that were the case then every team would have 6'5 players, but they don't

That may be true, but a 6'7 World Cup team member obviously proves that athleticism is what is important. Some people were saying tall people had no chance....I just noticed this guy on sportscenter and wanted to bring it up.

[justin_totti10]

Why are we even discussing the US competing with the rest of the world? Why do we want to? SOCCER'S GAY!!!!! The only reason the rest of the world likes it is because they're too dirt poor to afford basketball goals or some other athletic equipment. The NFL is so much more advanced in terms of strategy, game planning, etc. That's where our focus should be. Why are we trying to follow the rest of the world? They eat cats for crying out loud!!!!!!!!!!

u are a disgrace mankind.

[Prosperity]

That may be true, but a 6'7 World Cup team member obviously proves that athleticism is what is important. Some people were saying tall people had no chance....I just noticed this guy on sportscenter and wanted to bring it up.

Maybe it is the same way short people have no chance in the NBA? Though you will find a few short players every once in a while.

[jrockster21]

Maybe it is the same way short people have no chance in the NBA? Though you will find a few short players every once in a while.

EXACTLY. If you're athletic enough, it doesn't really matter how tall you are. Same with Santana Moss and other < 5'11 WRs.

Also....US athletes are just plain tougher....Italy disgraced itself today because they were acting like whiny p*****s....:2cents: