The US....

[ShotgunDawg]

US soccer is the Big 12 of the world.

No matter how many resources we pour into the program, we aren't to turn the corner until the culture is changed.

Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Argentina, Uruguay, & Brazil are SEC teams with real identities, toughness, & play makers, while the US is a soft, over coached team that lacks physicality & an identity.

[Beaver]

US soccer is the Big 12 of the world.

No matter how many resources we pour into the program, we aren't to turn the corner until the culture is changed.

Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Argentina, Uruguay, & Brazil are SEC teams with real identities, toughness, & play makers, while the US is a soft, over coached team that lacks physicality & an identity.

Netherlands, who made the final in 2010 and the semis in 2014, failed to qualify for the 2018 WC. Hard to qualify in Europe... Meanwhile, the US can't beat teams from countries that we send missionaries to build houses for in order to qualify.

[smootness]

US soccer is the Big 12 of the world.

No matter how many resources we pour into the program, we aren't to turn the corner until the culture is changed.

Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Argentina, Uruguay, & Brazil are SEC teams with real identities, toughness, & play makers, while the US is a soft, over coached team that lacks physicality & an identity.

If you think the problem with US soccer is that it isn't tough or physical enough, then I don't know what to tell you. The problem is that we don't have enough creative talent, and our touch still lags way behind the rest of the world.

And the problem isn't really that we haven't sent people abroad. We had an entire generation (4-5 years) that didn't develop, for whatever reason, and it is killing us. Klinsmann had a lot of great ideas about soccer development in the US, and the good thing is that we're starting to see the benefits at the 15-year-old to 20-year-old level. We have some legit talent there, and some of these guys are already starting to break through at legit programs across the world.

I am not a fan of Arena, but this is not his fault. This team just wasn't good. Period. Sure, they should have been better than they were, but the talent itself wasn't good enough. John Brooks being out hurt, because it also meant we weren't comfortable with Cameron on the back line. Bradley has declined and is no longer good enough to control things in the middle, and we have essentially no other controlling center midfielders we can turn to. Nagbe is not good enough to be starting for the US national team.

It is time to commit 100% to a youth movement. I don't want to see guys like Dempsey, Nagbe, Gonzalez, Besler, etc. ever play for the US again, and I don't care if Bradley ever does again. This is Pulisic's team; Altidore and Wood are fine up top, but it is time to start getting these young guys caps with the senior national team, even if they're really too young right now. Emerson Hyndman, Weston McKennie, Josh Sargent...they need to be playing now. And yes, guys like Kellyn Acosta do need to leave MLS.

[ShotgunDawg]

If you think the problem with US soccer is that it isn't tough or physical enough, then I don't know what to tell you. The problem is that we don't have enough creative talent, and our touch still lags way behind the rest of the world.

And the problem isn't really that we haven't sent people abroad. We had an entire generation (4-5 years) that didn't develop, for whatever reason, and it is killing us. Klinsmann had a lot of great ideas about soccer development in the US, and the good thing is that we're starting to see the benefits at the 15-year-old to 20-year-old level. We have some legit talent there, and some of these guys are already starting to break through at legit programs across the world.

I am not a fan of Arena, but this is not his fault. This team just wasn't good. Period. Sure, they should have been better than they were, but the talent itself wasn't good enough. John Brooks being out hurt, because it also meant we weren't comfortable with Cameron on the back line. Bradley has declined and is no longer good enough to control things in the middle, and we have essentially no other controlling center midfielders we can turn to. Nagbe is not good enough to be starting for the US national team.

It is time to commit 100% to a youth movement. I don't want to see guys like Dempsey, Nagbe, Gonzalez, Besler, etc. ever play for the US again, and I don't care if Bradley ever does again. This is Pulisic's team; Altidore and Wood are fine up top, but it is time to start getting these young guys caps with the senior national team, even if they're really too young right now. Emerson Hyndman, Weston McKennie, Josh Sargent...they need to be playing now. And yes, guys like Kellyn Acosta do need to leave MLS.

Excellent post.

I was speaking more to the culture problem than actual physicality

[smootness]

Excellent post.

I was speaking more to the culture problem than actual physicality

Gotcha.

[Liverpooldawg]

If you think the problem with US soccer is that it isn't tough or physical enough, then I don't know what to tell you. The problem is that we don't have enough creative talent, and our touch still lags way behind the rest of the world.

And the problem isn't really that we haven't sent people abroad. We had an entire generation (4-5 years) that didn't develop, for whatever reason, and it is killing us. Klinsmann had a lot of great ideas about soccer development in the US, and the good thing is that we're starting to see the benefits at the 15-year-old to 20-year-old level. We have some legit talent there, and some of these guys are already starting to break through at legit programs across the world.

I am not a fan of Arena, but this is not his fault. This team just wasn't good. Period. Sure, they should have been better than they were, but the talent itself wasn't good enough. John Brooks being out hurt, because it also meant we weren't comfortable with Cameron on the back line. Bradley has declined and is no longer good enough to control things in the middle, and we have essentially no other controlling center midfielders we can turn to. Nagbe is not good enough to be starting for the US national team.

It is time to commit 100% to a youth movement. I don't want to see guys like Dempsey, Nagbe, Gonzalez, Besler, etc. ever play for the US again, and I don't care if Bradley ever does again. This is Pulisic's team; Altidore and Wood are fine up top, but it is time to start getting these young guys caps with the senior national team, even if they're really too young right now. Emerson Hyndman, Weston McKennie, Josh Sargent...they need to be playing now. And yes, guys like Kellyn Acosta do need to leave MLS.

Most of the national team guys came home the last 4-5 years.

[dawgs]

If you think the problem with US soccer is that it isn't tough or physical enough, then I don't know what to tell you. The problem is that we don't have enough creative talent, and our touch still lags way behind the rest of the world.

And the problem isn't really that we haven't sent people abroad. We had an entire generation (4-5 years) that didn't develop, for whatever reason, and it is killing us. Klinsmann had a lot of great ideas about soccer development in the US, and the good thing is that we're starting to see the benefits at the 15-year-old to 20-year-old level. We have some legit talent there, and some of these guys are already starting to break through at legit programs across the world.

I am not a fan of Arena, but this is not his fault. This team just wasn't good. Period. Sure, they should have been better than they were, but the talent itself wasn't good enough. John Brooks being out hurt, because it also meant we weren't comfortable with Cameron on the back line. Bradley has declined and is no longer good enough to control things in the middle, and we have essentially no other controlling center midfielders we can turn to. Nagbe is not good enough to be starting for the US national team.

It is time to commit 100% to a youth movement. I don't want to see guys like Dempsey, Nagbe, Gonzalez, Besler, etc. ever play for the US again, and I don't care if Bradley ever does again. This is Pulisic's team; Altidore and Wood are fine up top, but it is time to start getting these young guys caps with the senior national team, even if they're really too young right now. Emerson Hyndman, Weston McKennie, Josh Sargent...they need to be playing now. And yes, guys like Kellyn Acosta do need to leave MLS.

Good post. I was telling someone last night we are kinda in between generations. Our best talent is all 30+ or <22. Somehow we ****ed up in between big time and that?s what brought the team down. I?m not familiar with who is coming down the pipeline, but everything I?ve read is the U-17 team is loaded. This team wasn?t gonna do shit in Russia anyway, but it would?ve been nice to get pulisic and a couple other young guys experience. But maybe this triggers a revamping of the USMNT. I think the system in place now is definitely better than it?s ever been, but it takes time for the talent to work their way up from pre-teens and teens to being world class soccer players. We need to update our style of play and turn over the roster to the young talent now. Give them 5 years to gel and develop and gear up for 2022.