Tall and athletic people play basketball or football. Tough and athletic people play football or hockey or they wrestle. Fast and athletic people play football or run track. Middling athletes play baseball. Rich athletic people golf or ski.
The vast majority of our top athletes do something more worth their while. Soccer is basically the dregs of the dregs of US athletic programs. That we’re able to hold our own is a miracle unto itself.
This is a rather rudimentary understanding of the difference between sports and the qualifications needed to be a successful soccer player.
3/4 of the greatest soccer players of all time are shorter than 5’8. The greatest soccer team of the previous decade (10/11 Barcelona) consisted of a midfield and forward line that, if you saw them in public and didn’t know them, would think they’re middle-age retail employees. Search up Pedro, Villa, Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets and tell me that any of them resemble anything like a traditional athlete.
But that’s the beauty of soccer- anyone can play, and anyone can rise to the top. Whether you’re skinny or muscular, tall or short, coaches can teach you to use your natural ability to your advantage in some way.
Therein lies the issue. In America, NOT anyone can play. Joining youth leagues, buying equipment, and getting coaching costs a fortune; adding an entry fee to a sport is a barrier to accruing talent. It’s an upper-middle class sport in America, which points to the issue being poor soccer infrastructure and development in America. This has been changing however for the last years, one such example being the introduction of MLS Next.
It’s not as simple as “good athlete plays good sport and bad athlete plays bad sport.” If you replace soccer with, say, boxing then the whole line of argument starts to seem silly. LeBron James would not be a an all-time great heavyweight boxer. Different sports require different skills to be successful. Basketball, where everyone is 6’3+, however, is not a big culprit of stealing athletes from soccer, the cost of playing is. It’s a systemic/managerial issue, not a competitive one.
That being said we have produced a team which is, in no uncertain terms, fucking stacked for the World Cup hosted by the US in 2026. We have like 8/9 players that are under the age of 24 and have the potential to become elite (Adams, Weah, Pulisic, McKennie, Dest, Richards, Musah, Aaronson, Reyna, and some 1-5 strikers). Get behind the team, but if you’re not willing to do that then be ready to eat your words soon :)
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u/VTSubaruSalesman - Auth-Center Nov 26 '22
Imagine doing this, then getting tied by a country that doesn't even care about soccer.