One reason why the USA doesn't like soccer

Ferguson

Full Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2004
Messages
3,930
Location
Seoul, South Korea
USA v. Barbados

ESPN are televising this match on Sunday, and they keep promoting it during the Euros.

It got me thinking that part of the reason why soccer can't be taken seriously over here is that so many of our competitors over here are just so awful.

I mean the U.S. seems to qualify for every World Cup automatically because Mexico is the only decent competition among our neighbors. In fact I think the USA-Mexico match is the only match which really generates any passion over here.

All these weak Caribbean nations and minnows from Latin America don't inspire much rivalry. Canada's national team seems to be thrown together without any practice and little in the way of facilities and preparation if their best player is to be believed.

At least when it comes to hockey there are rivalries between the Canadian cities and the American cities like Detroit or Buffalo that are near the border. And when the U.S. plays Canada in hockey the rivalry is there to be felt even though we usually end up losing.

But in soccer we have one rivalry with Mexico, and in the end we both get to qualify for the World Cup.

Russia? Nah, that was always done via the Olympics or in hockey. Iran or Iraq? Maybe for them, but I don't think most Americans feel competitive towards the citizens of those countries.

Americans loved to see our hockey teams beat Russia and Canada on the world stage, but I don't think there is a nation in the world including Mexico which could inspire similar passion and make soccer become an important sport in the U.S.
 
what do you want us to do? move USA to South America?
 
What American football needs if you just ignore my pun is a mega superstar from their own ranks playing a crucial role in one of the prestigious clubs. Adu was thought to be the one with potential but he turned out to be a dud.

Maybe if they had someone to rally round there could be more passion.
 
I thought you get some decent competition in the Copa America

I mean it's only teams like Argentina and Brazil, and the fact that you get to arrange friendlies against whoever you like and every 4 years there's the world cup

But if there's no decent competition there's no decent competition
 
CockneyHammer said:
I thought you get some decent competition in the Copa America

I mean it's only teams like Argentina and Brazil, and the fact that you get to arrange friendlies against whoever you like and every 4 years there's the world cup

But if there's no decent competition there's no decent competition
Click to expand...

When they're invited.
 
CockneyHammer said:
I thought you get some decent competition in the Copa America

I mean it's only teams like Argentina and Brazil, and the fact that you get to arrange friendlies against whoever you like and every 4 years there's the world cup

But if there's no decent competition there's no decent competition
Click to expand...

Not sure but I think the USA is only at the Copa America if they a special quest, they are not in it every time, but I could be wrong.

There is no doubt the competition in CONCACAF is terrible, that's why the USA and Mexico always have high FIFA ratings, because they beat up on the little sisters of the poor. It's crazy that three teams from this zone make the World Cup.
 
With Latino's suppossedly 'taking over' the States it'll be the no. 1 sport soon

:)
 
KingDingle22 said:
With Latino's suppossedly 'taking over' the States it'll be the no. 1 sport soon

:)
Click to expand...

Most of the immigrant Latinos are from the not-very-good CONCACAF countries anyway, like Mexico, so there won't be any rise in the standard of football in the US. Football will be more popular but remain of average quality.
 
You're mad to think Canada is just a team thrown together. By all means, the US should of lost against Canada last year in the semis, the only thing that saved them was VERY VERY spotty reffing...

Yes the lack of talent to play in qualifying would hamper the US' "pride" but the numbers seem to be growing at a very solid pace and the passion is more present then ever before.

I think the likes of Adu (who's still only 19, how can he be a flop? has done wonderfully since joining Benfica and looks more confident), Altidore who's in my opinion better then Adu and will be more valuable in the years to come, Bradley who had a wonderful season last season and will probably be moving to the EPL or the German League, Edu who plays in the MLS is a solid CM who's been linked with Boro and Sunderland. As well as many other youthful talents in the MLS.

The MLS can't be a feeder league, getting rid of all their best youth US players. At some point the infastructure has to be in place where they can develop the players and pay them properly.. It's getting that way but we'll see.. I've enjoyed my time in the US so far and enjoy watching the MLS grow.
 
davisjw said:
You're mad to think Canada is just a team thrown together. By all means, the US should of lost against Canada last year in the semis, the only thing that saved them was VERY VERY spotty reffing...

Yes the lack of talent to play in qualifying would hamper the US' "pride" but the numbers seem to be growing at a very solid pace and the passion is more present then ever before.

I think the likes of Adu (who's still only 19, how can he be a flop? has done wonderfully since joining Benfica and looks more confident), Altidore who's in my opinion better then Adu and will be more valuable in the years to come, Bradley who had a wonderful season last season and will probably be moving to the EPL or the German League, Edu who plays in the MLS is a solid CM who's been linked with Boro and Sunderland. As well as many other youthful talents in the MLS.

The MLS can't be a feeder league, getting rid of all their best youth US players. At some point the infastructure has to be in place where they can develop the players and pay them properly.. It's getting that way but we'll see.. I've enjoyed my time in the US so far and enjoy watching the MLS grow.
Click to expand...

Canada's shit. End of. No argument can change that. You bring up one game. How about the other games when the US has spanked Canada? And didn't the US send a team missing some of it's best players. The recent friendly against brazil gives us hope that we can do better in the future but that that was a friendly and you never know how much brazil were up for it or not.
 
American don't like football just because there are less goals scored in a game.
 
There's likely some truth in this, especially with the repetition of the same opponents. I believe Mexico feels the same way, to the extent that at one point, they wanted to charge the rest of North and Cental America a fee for the honor of playing them. Conversely, turning out to boo the US really brings folks out of the woodwork, even in the US itself. Been to a few games a while back and can confirm this. As has been mentioned before, historically it has proven difficult for the US team to secure a good, friendly venue in the States. Sounds like this has gotten better though. I've heard horror stories about away games as well, particularly in El Salvador.

As for the notion that the other squads in Canada and Central America are not worthy enough competition, I've never really gotten that impression. Yes, the US manages to qualify for the WC, but it rarely feels terribly convincing, and they still manage to lose to the likes of Honduras and of course Mexico. Wins have been just squeeked out vs. Canada, Panama, etc. Given the scale and athletics infrastructure, one would hope that these countries would not offer much competition, but they still do. Regardless, Mexico are a consistently quality side that have acquited themselves very well in World Cups recently.

Anyway, the question of why the US isn't better than they are has been asked I don't know how many times by my American friends here.
 
brad-dyrak said:
Anyway, the question of why the US isn't better than they are has been asked I don't know how many times by my American friends here.
Click to expand...
To me the main thing is how young players here develop without the guidance of a professional club setup. All over the world, the elite footballers are produced by the Academies of highly competitive clubs. Day in and day out, the youngsters train, practice skills, play competitive matches, all under the watchful eyes of the clubs Academy staff, who have several years to mold the player into someone they know will be able to hack it in the professional game. It's competitive to get into the top Academies, and once you're there, you have to compete with everyone else (all of whom are as good and as motivated as you are) every day in order to progress. Relentless competition combined with highly skilled, and highly focused coaching.

There's nothing quite like that here. At least not at a level that compares well to the bigger footballing nations.
 
Chris H said:
And yet, we like hockey.
Click to expand...
Not real hockey you don't, just that Ice hockey shite which is basically a chance to be entertained by men with 10 kilos of padding on beating the shit out of each other and playing at such a ridiculously fast pace that there can't possible be any method or tactics to the madness
 
Ronaldo07 said:
Not real hockey you don't, just that Ice hockey shite which is basically a chance to be entertained by men with 10 kilos of padding on beating the shit out of each other and playing at such a ridiculously fast pace that there can't possible be any method or tactics to the madness
Click to expand...

your ignorance of hockey is astounding.

ever watch it at the olympic level? it is breathtaking.

it is also one of the hardest sports physically to play. line changes are necessary or players would collapse quickly due to a combination of pain and exhaustion.
 
Chris H said:
To me the main thing is how young players here develop without the guidance of a professional club setup. All over the world, the elite footballers are produced by the Academies of highly competitive clubs. Day in and day out, the youngsters train, practice skills, play competitive matches, all under the watchful eyes of the clubs Academy staff, who have several years to mold the player into someone they know will be able to hack it in the professional game. It's competitive to get into the top Academies, and once you're there, you have to compete with everyone else (all of whom are as good and as motivated as you are) every day in order to progress. Relentless competition combined with highly skilled, and highly focused coaching.

There's nothing quite like that here. At least not at a level that compares well to the bigger footballing nations.
Click to expand...

That's a good point. The first look most players in the states get at a real coach that knows what they're doing would not be until college. Probably also explains why they've been unable to reap much from the non-college going crowd. A big country yes, but the actual talent pool is severely limited.
 
Chris H said:
And yet, we like hockey.
Click to expand...

hockey scores are on average much higher than football scores. close to 2x or 2.5x.

Year season playoffs
2000-01 5.510 4.802 -0.708 -12.85%
2001-02 5.240 4.767 -0.473 -9.03%
2002-03 5.310 4.708 -0.602 -11.34%
2003-04 5.137 4.404 -0.733 -14.26%
2005-06 6.051 5.651 -0.400 -6.62%
2006-07 5.760 4.951 -0.809 -14.05%
2007-08 5.440 5.365 -0.075 -1.38%

07/08 average goals a game for premiership was 2.64. in 05/06 it was 2.48.
 
Ronaldo07 said:
Not real hockey you don't, just that Ice hockey shite which is basically a chance to be entertained by men with 10 kilos of padding on beating the shit out of each other and playing at such a ridiculously fast pace that there can't possible be any method or tactics to the madness
Click to expand...
Over here, ice hockey=hockey. It's not shite, and there is plenty of method to the madness, as well as a large amount of skill involved. And no, I don't play. But dismissing an entire sport like that is as pointless as the halfwitsat ESPN who can't show soccer (football) highlights without making fun of the sport for being second-rate.

Are you referring to field hockey? We don't play it much over here. However I'm not going to tell you that it's shite.
 
Americans dont like football because they have a very short attention span. A 45 min half without time outs is too long for them. They need a break every 5 mins to be entertained by tv adverts and to fetch more beer and snacks. No wonder they are such a fat nation.
 
Chris H said:
Over here, ice hockey=hockey. It's not shite, and there is plenty of method to the madness, as well as a large amount of skill involved. And no, I don't play. But dismissing an entire sport like that is as pointless as the halfwitsat ESPN who can't show soccer (football) highlights without making fun of the sport for being second-rate.

Are you referring to field hockey? We don't play it much over here. However I'm not going to tell you that it's shite.
Click to expand...
I'm sure there is a large amount of skill and physical ability required for ice hockey but having watched it at international level as well as some NHL games and having played field hockey for many years I can see much less in terms of tactics in ice hockey than in field hockey due to the fast pace and I find the brutality of the sport a bit offputting although at international level that seems to disappear.
 
Raven_Blade said:
Americans dont like football because they have a very short attention span. A 45 min half without time outs is too long for them. They need a break every 5 mins to be entertained by tv adverts and to fetch more beer and snacks. No wonder they are such a fat nation.
Click to expand...

That hits it right on the head. It's true. Add to that,all parents right now didn't grow up on football,so the best chance for the sport to be big in the US is the kids staying in youth football programs and not be taken out when they reach ten and switch to baseball because their parents think football is "gay". And that is what most parents over 30 think over here.
Another way for it to grow a little at least is limiting the region to 2 teams into the world cup,or feck it - 1 team. The US would have to improve then.
 
Raven_Blade said:
Americans dont like football because they have a very short attention span. A 45 min half without time outs is too long for them. They need a break every 5 mins to be entertained by tv adverts and to fetch more beer and snacks. No wonder they are such a fat nation.
Click to expand...
:lol:
 
I don't understand how the Yanks could have failed to produce an outstanding player by now. There's probably more young Americans playing football than there are in Spain or England.
 
Melbourne Red said:
I don't understand how the Yanks could have failed to produce an outstanding player by now. There's probably more young Americans playing football than there are in Spain or England.
Click to expand...

They're also playing 2 or 3 other sports at the same time.
 
Chris H said:
To me the main thing is how young players here develop without the guidance of a professional club setup. All over the world, the elite footballers are produced by the Academies of highly competitive clubs. Day in and day out, the youngsters train, practice skills, play competitive matches, all under the watchful eyes of the clubs Academy staff, who have several years to mold the player into someone they know will be able to hack it in the professional game. It's competitive to get into the top Academies, and once you're there, you have to compete with everyone else (all of whom are as good and as motivated as you are) every day in order to progress. Relentless competition combined with highly skilled, and highly focused coaching.

There's nothing quite like that here. At least not at a level that compares well to the bigger footballing nations.
Click to expand...

Bingo. The youth structure in the US is shit. The coaching, scouting, officiating, organizing, et al is horrendous. And the travel select squads can only get the rich kids to sign up as us regular folks can't afford our kids to play for those clubs. So the inner city kid is left out, so is the kid from the barrio. And so he goes a different route (other sport) or ends up getting a regular job when he could have been playing academy football and possibly made it to the professional level. And the college system is total shit. I see some real quality 20 year olds in my local league and you just know a couple of these really could have made it at the academy level with proper coaching, mentoring, and conditioning.
 
Raven_Blade said:
Americans dont like football because they have a very short attention span. A 45 min half without time outs is too long for them. They need a break every 5 mins to be entertained by tv adverts and to fetch more beer and snacks. No wonder they are such a fat nation.
Click to expand...

Class. You're more right than you know and are actually delving into an issue quite dire for the 'Land of the Free and Home of the Brave'. To add a bit of philosophy to your line of thinking which is of far more logic than that of the nonsensical allusions to weak American continental competition, it must also be mentioned that the average US citizen is quite the moron on the whole. The consumptive nature of our nation and availability of immediate gratification has set in motion a dehumanization of which in history, only Sodom and Gomora rivals. It's not only a cultural decay, but also moral as well as intellectual. Business is the new religion as business can bring about these things which Americans 'need' so. The dollar then abolishes any standard set of culture, morale or knowledge. It's only the thing that they choose to make a living at which they then must become useful at performing which more times than not is trite and unfulfilling. But no worries. As they neglect their heritage, salvation and even their families, business affords them the opportunity to buy big, shiny SUVs and gigantic faux houses which look as if they were built by contractors with no licenses. No mind is paid to what they're actually getting for their money which they've sold their useless souls for in the first place, only what neighbors will think and how long they may have to stay where they are before they gain enough equity in the current residence to make the next upgrade. No one is a just 'John' anymore. They're 'John the fecking insurance salesman' or 'Betty the fecking CPA'. Hence, there is no sense of self anymore. There is only what can be attained for consumption to feed the selfish nature. Which as you so eloquently put it, leads to the inability to appreciate anything of value in more than three minute intervals. Hence, no football.
 
Raven_Blade said:
Americans dont like football because they have a very short attention span. A 45 min half without time outs is too long for them. They need a break every 5 mins to be entertained by tv adverts and to fetch more beer and snacks. No wonder they are such a fat nation.
Click to expand...

Please explain why Britain is the fattest nation in Europe. :smirk:
 
njred said:
Another way for it to grow a little at least is limiting the region to 2 teams into the world cup,or feck it - 1 team. The US would have to improve then.
Click to expand...

Rather see COMMEBOL and CONCACAF combined into one qualifying group of 10-12 with top 4 advancing to the World Cup and 1-2 in a playoff with some of those crap nations from Oceania and the Far East.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.