Watching this World Cup, I wish the US was a football/soccer powerhouse
- Thread starter Dr.HannibalLecter
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Use logic, please.
ThaRealness
Superstar
Mr Hate Coffee
Veteran
If the US gave a fukk about soccer we'd dominate and then it wouldn't be any fun for the rest of the world. 
Tide Run This
Veteran
If the US gave a fukk about soccer we'd dominate and then it wouldn't be any fun for the rest of the world.
Athleticism isn't as important in football/soccer though so all comparisons with b'ball on that front are null and void.
Athleticism plays a part no doubt. Some players rely on it a lot but I dont think any national side should base their game on it.
That's not his point though.
He's right if he means - you give everyone a fair chance to get into football/soccer, train them with the best coaches and methods like they do in France - a good portion of the squad will be black like it is in France. Like it is in Ecuador or Colombia. Even English blacks are over-represented in the NT (but under represented as Captains, coaches etc.).
If a footballing country with a decent black population doesn't have many in the NT - something is wrong.
Trolling aside, there was a pretty big scandal within the French Federation when part of the management brought up in an internal meeting that they were selecting too many "tall black guys" in the youth teams. After getting great powerful players like Dessailly, Thuram, Vieira...etc they were putting athleticism above skills which was leading to pretty boring and flat out wack teams with these types of hacks getting shine in the national squad.
It also tends to explain why a good player like Griezmann had to go to Spain at 13 to get some burn and why Valbuena has basically been an outcast his whole career.
In football/soccer, basing your whole game on athleticism is not a good strategy.
ThaRealness
Superstar
I think the US could carve out a niche like that. We could do a lot of the same stuff Ghana did in the group stages, but with better tactics and discipline.
The way I envision it… we may not ever produce a generation defining player like Lionel Messi because the surrounding culture is simply not there. The way them South American prodigies come up is the stuff of legend. Kids will spend 8 hours a day juggling grapefruits and tin cans because they live in a community that absolutely worships soccer.
We will never have that, but its conceivable that in 10-20 years, we may see elite American athletes gravitate towards Soccer. I think the US would play a game geared towards athleticism and fundamentals..
bottom line is with our talent pool and resources we have elite potential
The point of the argument is that those elite athletes in the US that we're talking about are not funneled towards soccer, period. That has been the crux of the whole debate on here, I don't even understand how anyone could look at the makeup of Team USA, then look at the makeup of the NBA and NFL and argue against the impact African Americans would have if we played soccer instead of basketball and American football. Even without a world class development structure we'd still be better than what they have out there now.
Sorry, you can't have it both ways, I've seen too many of your soccer brehs on here say soccer players are the best athletes in the world. You can't turn around and say athleticism doesn't matter when other people who follow the sport are continually saying they are the best athletes in the world, which is it because it simply cannot be both. And those "ridiculous" numbers came from this -
"He's a natural, a complete athlete"
"really fast
All within the first 20 seconds of the video, so spare me all that "Athleticism doesn't matter" stuff when Ronaldo is constantly called a great athlete, he just so happens to have great technical skill to go with it. You're basically arguing that if African Americans started playing soccer, and a development system were in place on par with the rest of the world, the US wouldn't be better than they are now, that is your argument at it's core.
There's more to basketball than athleticism, especially at the PG/SG spots
Saying athleticism is useless in a sport with as much running and jumping as soccer is disingenuous, you could say it's not the most important aspect, but there's a reason dudes fall off in that sport just like they do everywhere else. How many great strikers are there past the age of 35? Are they magically losing their skills once they cross that threshold, or are they slowing down? 
You're really doing a disservice to soccer players by saying athleticism doesn't matter, I think they are great athletes.
Tallest team, Belgium 6'1"
Average height of NFL player (Without shoes)
6'1"
Average Height of NBA point guard
6'0"
If the US gave a fukk about soccer we'd dominate and then it wouldn't be any fun for the rest of the world.
Dont think this is true... you look at the socio-economic conditions in places like brazil, argentina and even places like costa rica... I dont think just money and training can compete with an entire culture engrained in one sport.
You even look at England where Soccer is the equivalent to Football+Basketball+Baseball in north america... if somehow did make soccer its number one sport i just doubt it would ever just forego the importance of these sports.
Ah la la 
Of course ! That's what I said. I was just arguing that you will not necessarily dominate nor be better than THE REST OF THE WORLD because you'd have African-Americans in your team which would somehow give you an edge against everybody.
First, I never said that football players were the best athletes in the world because the greatest athletes in the world are either decathlonians or triathletes to me.
Second, the video is an attempt to explain why Ronaldo is the best through (pseudo-)science. The premise of the documentary is stupid also because one could argue that Messi is the best player in the world and the Test to the Limit results would be different.
More importantly, it individualizes a team's performance and completely disregards the impact of the team's formation and the tactics (because unlike american sports (I take basketball as an example), the two teams are not symmetrical). Most of all, there are 10 players (excluding the goalie) in a team and a soloist can't express himself. A guy like Kobe or Lebron (with their 50+ pt games) can dictate a game without passing the ball simply through shooting or driving in the paint because of the size of the pitch and the number of players on it. It's impossible in football because the individual is a less important factor and therefore so are the abilities regarding said individual (athleticism then).
Third, when I stated that your numbers were ridiculous, I didn't mean they were wrong, I meant they were useless to determine how good could a player be. Vision, positioning and passing/shooting abilities are the most important skills in football.
Four, strikers are the most known players because they score goals and seal victories but what about the other players ? The only reason Ronaldo is regarded as (one of) the best player(s) is because he plays upfront. This year, Di Maria and Modric were objectively better than him (in the impact of the game) and it's a no contest. And both of them are way worse than him athleticism-wise.
No. My argument is that US wouldn't be better THAN THE REST OF THE WORLD just because you have more African-Americans in it. I told you already that the US could be way better if you focused in football
Why you tweaking my words ? Re-read my posts please.
Let me finish by showing you one video which is an example of how athleticism is not a factor at extremely high level. Barça 5-0 Real in 2011. One of the greatest collective football display. Real was the most athletic, more physical, fastest, strongest side but took a beating of exceptional proportions because in front of them were midgets whose passing, positioning, timing of passes and runs were exceptional. Iniesta who is 5"7 tall, weighs 140 lbs, is not fast, doesn't jump high and is basically an average athlete (lemme play the stats game) reigned supreme over that match.
Look from 13:00 to 15:00, it's the perfect example : the passing team never sprints, never jumps, never tackle. The other one presses, tries to tackle, makes fouls and can't get a hold of the ball. Great positioning and passing annihilates any physical and athletic superiority, simple as that. Athleticism doesn't matter if your collective expression is top notch because the ball goes faster than the player, above all on a pitch that big.
You, a Spurs fan of all should understand that concept. Can I rest my case now ?
Of course ! That's what I said. I was just arguing that you will not necessarily dominate nor be better than THE REST OF THE WORLD because you'd have African-Americans in your team which would somehow give you an edge against everybody.
First, I never said that football players were the best athletes in the world because the greatest athletes in the world are either decathlonians or triathletes to me.
Second, the video is an attempt to explain why Ronaldo is the best through (pseudo-)science. The premise of the documentary is stupid also because one could argue that Messi is the best player in the world and the Test to the Limit results would be different.
More importantly, it individualizes a team's performance and completely disregards the impact of the team's formation and the tactics (because unlike american sports (I take basketball as an example), the two teams are not symmetrical). Most of all, there are 10 players (excluding the goalie) in a team and a soloist can't express himself. A guy like Kobe or Lebron (with their 50+ pt games) can dictate a game without passing the ball simply through shooting or driving in the paint because of the size of the pitch and the number of players on it. It's impossible in football because the individual is a less important factor and therefore so are the abilities regarding said individual (athleticism then).
Third, when I stated that your numbers were ridiculous, I didn't mean they were wrong, I meant they were useless to determine how good could a player be. Vision, positioning and passing/shooting abilities are the most important skills in football.
Four, strikers are the most known players because they score goals and seal victories but what about the other players ? The only reason Ronaldo is regarded as (one of) the best player(s) is because he plays upfront. This year, Di Maria and Modric were objectively better than him (in the impact of the game) and it's a no contest. And both of them are way worse than him athleticism-wise.
No. My argument is that US wouldn't be better THAN THE REST OF THE WORLD just because you have more African-Americans in it. I told you already that the US could be way better if you focused in football
Why you tweaking my words ? Re-read my posts please.Obviously, it plays a part. I didn't say it didn't, I said it was a minor part of the sport and that's why you giving that much of an importance to athleticism and stats was useless as it covers only a minority of the game.There's more to basketball than athleticism, especially at the PG/SG spots
Let me finish by showing you one video which is an example of how athleticism is not a factor at extremely high level. Barça 5-0 Real in 2011. One of the greatest collective football display. Real was the most athletic, more physical, fastest, strongest side but took a beating of exceptional proportions because in front of them were midgets whose passing, positioning, timing of passes and runs were exceptional. Iniesta who is 5"7 tall, weighs 140 lbs, is not fast, doesn't jump high and is basically an average athlete (lemme play the stats game) reigned supreme over that match.
Look from 13:00 to 15:00, it's the perfect example : the passing team never sprints, never jumps, never tackle. The other one presses, tries to tackle, makes fouls and can't get a hold of the ball. Great positioning and passing annihilates any physical and athletic superiority, simple as that. Athleticism doesn't matter if your collective expression is top notch because the ball goes faster than the player, above all on a pitch that big.
You, a Spurs fan of all should understand that concept. Can I rest my case now ?