What If Our Best Athletes Played Soccer?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- The Movement presented by AT&T, hosted by former MLS forward Calen Carr, is a new series from MLS Digital that explores the growing soccer movement and soccer culture in North America.
In Episode 4, Carr explores the connections between basketball and soccer and growth of soccer in New York City.
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the FIFA video games probably did more to help American soccer than MLS tbh
I only started playing soccer, because I loved FIFA so much.
I played for 10 yrs before seeing a FIFA game. FIFA helped me see the bigger game on the field. Made passing easier and helped with positioning.
The MLS is the main reason for the popularity of the sport in the US, in my opinion. They worked hard to build a league and promote the game. The 1994 World Cup wouldn’t have been in the US if there wasn’t a group pushing to build a league and make it profitable. That exposure was large enough to influence a generation and built interest, allowing for FIFA games to become accepted. It piqued an interest for the sport and few electronic outlets were provided.
Mostly relegated to games that were slow and limited, having as much appeal as a tennis or volleyball console game. It was the underlying desire for the sport that allowed you to overlook and push through the poor gameplay and look for another to fill that need.
It’s a running joke that FIFA puts out the same game every year, but compare the first five games to the last five and see how far they’ve come.
I remember standing in an elevator when I was little. Large men all around, all carrying big duffel bags, dressed like normals. Crowded ride, but nothing odd. It wasn’t until we were back home in North Carolina from getting passports in D.C. that I was told they were the US Men’s team and that the we stayed in the same hotel as a couple of the teams for the ‘94 cup. That’s how little soccer was considered in the early ‘90s. It was the sport I played. I collected cards for baseball and football, watched some form of Baseball, Hockey, Basketball and Football, but couldn’t recognize world class soccer players standing right next to me or see them as something special. I played sports, been to a lot of hotels, people with duffel bags didn’t stand out. Even while watching the cup games on TV, I never put it together that we could be in the same hotel, they’d have fancy facilities, right?
If it works then it doesnt matter how you get into it
Average distance run per game in various sports:
Football (soccer): 7 miles
Basketball: 2.55 miles
NFL: 1.25 miles for receivers and cornerbacks
Baseball: 0.0375 miles
+Laguna Top "I was always inside the box": Classic 9 fisher hahaha. The 7 miles is for a middlefield player like a 5 or 8. I guess 4 and 6 must run even more. Basketball amateur players need a lot of cardio, but pro basket player have A LOT of sustitutions.
Negrito Lindo No the 7 miles is for a box to box midfielder like kante.
Kante is what I call a number 5. Numbers are not a good choise to explain how a player plays. But yes, a box to box midfielder. I found "Who is the hardest-working Chelsea player?" have a chart with kilometers per player.
NFL players are fully sprinting every play
cross country >
america is obssessed with athletism, this sporting culture isn't condusive to suceeding in skill based sports. This is why England sucks also.
CapiTen10 America has the best basketball players in the world. I don't even watch the Olympic basketball cause America is going to win. US soccer players are strong and run forever they just don't have the coaches:
faiz abbas Not coaches. it's the culture obsessed with pace, strength and athleticism. US soccer players are similar to African players --big and strong but lacking in intelligence and technique.
It seems fairly ignorant to call baseball, football, and basketball, not skill based sports. America is the uncontested sports king of the world... just because we haven't turned our focus to soccer yet doesn't mean that when we do we won't ruin everybody in that as well.
I swear bro the world will be put on notice
So Barcelona & Real Madrid don't have a pro basketball team?? LMAOOOOO
If Americas best athletes played soccer we would be where the women are today to be honest. We would have won atleast one world cup. Also, we'll be a powerhouse like spain,france & Germany.
RedNiNo Fioz use a better argument
What if Americans best athletes played soccer they would still be average because being able run fast, jump high and being strong doesn't make you a world class soccer player. Brain and technique does.
Finally, someone who actually understands soccer.
Delboy0 you don't understand if our best athlete started playing soccer at a young age they would learn that technique and skill to play soccer on top of there unbelievable athletic skills the u.s would be top tier team
elchucofried Technique and skill comes from how your coached and raised and nothing to do with how athletic you are. Most of the world's best players come from a street soccer culture, how are these great athletes of American going to have skill when street soccer is doesn't exist in America? Just look the USA now, one of their best weaknesses if the USA doesn't create quality flair or creative players because all Americans kids grown up playing soccer in organised fields and not the streets so lack the creativity and flair street soccer produces.
Delboy0 technique and skill is learned that's why I'm saying if our youth started out playing soccer like basketball players do here we would be a top tier team basketball is a sport played in the streets just like American football
elchucofried If my aunt had balls she would be my uncle. The fact is soccer in America is suburban sport played on grass not the streets and that is the problem. Even if Odell Beckham or LeBron James had played soccer due to cultural issues they would have been the same type of robot American player the USA always produces despite their great athleticism. You can't say if you had better athletes this would change. Soccer is too much of a white upper middle class sport and that is the issue. Solve this and get a street culture in soccer and the USA won't need the best athletes to be a strong team.
Surprised me when Donovan said it's a rich mans sport. You need to know someone who owns a ball and then you can play. Even in the poorest countries on earth kids play soccer. Guess it has to do with culture.
he means that it is a "rich mans sport" in america, because you can't just play pickup like you can in england, or basketball at the park, therfore you have to play club which is expensive.
Right. The only structured way poor kids can play is until middle school teams with a shitty coach who also happens to be the science teacher. by then kids in Europe are developing into professional soccer players and are ranking up in a national level.
here's how we played in romania when i was a kid: go to the park, put two backpacks or two piles of clothes, or two rocks at a set distance from one another and that's your goal, make two goals, get your ball and play.
obviously, there were fields made specifically for playing football, but there were also lines painted on the school wall that served as goals, or there was a garrage door that could serve as a goal, i even remember using the gate of a cemetary as the goal once. all you need is balls ;)
also, just like 2 teams of 2 players can play street basketball at only one end, there are lots of minigames based on football that we played, maybe the usa doesn't know about these, they were the vast majority of the games we played. let's say we were only 3 guys, what could we play? oh yeah, 1 on 1 and the third guy is a neutral goalie. the loser gets in goal and the winner stays, first to 3 goals. let's say we were only 2 guys, pretty sad but it happened. the options were shooting penalties, or 1 on 1 dribbling, the winner being the guy who nutmegged the other guy more times, or what else we could think of.
If any sport is a rich mans sport, it's hockey
Bogdan Dumitrescu He's Talking about being able to get noticed go pro. Here in the USA, to join an academy is thousands of dollars yearly and hundreds just to play a game. Joining teams is a whole lot more difficult here..
The average NBA athlete is 6'6. 6'6 successful soccer players are almost unheard of. The notion that the best athletes go to NBA/NFL and thats why US sucks at soccer is laughable, they are not competing for the same frame of athlete.
I dont see why a 6'6" person will not be able to handle duties as centre forward or centre back though. They dont handle the ball much. They just need height, and some speed/reflexes.
MbisonBalrog nah in today’s modern game every player especially at the highest level need unbelievable technical ability with the ball, hell even goalkeepers have superb technique
Buyer Jayy isn’t Ronaldo 6,6?
@@MbisonBalrog centre backs are the field players who handle the ball the most... most touches, most passes in average... and they have to be smart tactically, wich I dont think basketball players are.
And average height of footballer is 6'0.
Goalkeeper: 6'2
Defender: 6'0
Midfielder: 5'10
Forwards: 5'11
you don't need nothing to play soccer,when I was a kid in school when some other kid lose his shoe we all turn it to a ball and play with it till he can manage to take it back
Marwan hisham hebat kau
That’s true we used to do it it a lot when we was a kid😂😂😂🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Well, in the southern europe most soccer clubs have other sports (like basketball, handball, volley..), which makes soccer fans also support those teams by association.
If Fc Dallas was also Dallas Cowboys or mavericks, it would have more impact in the community. I understand the part of having something exclusive about soccer but it will be harder.
MLS cant be an enemy of NBA or NFL, it should be an ally.
In the words of John Elrick, "Someone get this man an Asian prostitute, because he just won himself the internet!"
Seriously though, that's something that I think is very important. Although it's kinda stupid, the Yankees owning NYCFC adds to their stature. Sports like football or basketball or hockey (I'm from Chicago) aren't even in the same time frame as MLS, so why shouldn't they partner up? There are some promising signs at least on my end with the Fire and Blackhawks joking around about Andrew Shaw's "header" and the Fire and Sox having a really good relationship with the players having a kick around before almost every game. I feel like people see it as "this OR that", but you can still get both if you want to.
Also though Jiggly, you know as well as I that Chicago is one of the most diehard, if not THE most diehard sports cities in the country. I mean our bears/cubs/white sox/bulls/blackhawks fans are frighteningly loyal and supportive. This is good and bad imo, because I think it will be hard to sort of break that barrier with soccer and "join the club" if you get what i'm saying. But yes if it does then it would be huge for soccer in a city like chicago.
Growing up french in america playing soccer the biggest problem i found was a lack of innate knowledge and instinct for the game. Sure on paper american players learn everything properly and tactics and form but the problem always was a lack of creativity. always this sense of uncertainty of what to do with the ball so they turn to the classic american physicality and brute force that just doesn't work. You dont train a messi or henry to play like that. I wasnt technically gifted or extremely talented but being french i had a natural iq for the game and would control the pitch and try to run the game around me because i had that knowledge you innately gain from being surrounded by the sport growing up that the americans didnt have. Little things like creating space with slight shifts of momentum and body weight or being able to chip the ball instead of whack it. Doing an english style cross to switch the play and being able to receive that pass like the ball is glued to your feet. Working the play from your own goal instead of immediately booting it halfway across the field. Thats the difference between american soccer and the rest of the world
Well our best athletes are already involved in more popular sports here.
Jamaica would be a powerhouse in soccer if all you needed was athleticism which is all usa athletes have. You need more than that, so they'd fail miserably to answer the question
Gabriel Guerrero they have skill as well. Basketball is one of the most skill based sports on the planet
Eliot Not really. A game that uses hands, and to throw a ball into a net with ease. Height also makes a huge difference.
@@mariobarcelon3247 "throw a ball into a net with ease" It's not that easy. Make 10/10 shots in a row from the free throw line then come back and talk. You won't make 5
You're statement doesn't make any sense at all. Many English footballers are of Jamaican descent like
Ashley Young
Theo Walcott
Andros Townsend
Daniel Sturridge
Chris Smalling
Aaron Lennon
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Mark Chamberlain
Fraizer Campbell
Darren Bent
@@robinparker5731 descent....which meams they were raised in england which is where they developed the skill and talent. Which actually helps prove my point, had they been raised in jamaica all they would have would be athleticism
I live in the east village in nyc, and I've watched mls for a good couple seasons now. Seeing the culture develop and grow and find its own specific identity, is really cool to be in the middle of.
To me, the "New York" style of player, is first and foremost technically sound. Our fields are smaller, therefore ball control is a skill u learn to develop quickly if u intend to step on the field and be able to keep up. Which is why i think Henry identified with the soccer culture here.
New Yorkers seem to be mostly attracted to smart, cutting passes, and patient build up play, than being athletically imposing.
I Hope Americans gonna adopt to Football much more and see that it's a pretty cool Sport. Greetings from Germany
HaylonHarroo87 how could you possibly assume all that when you've only watched 2 seasons¿
sul moh U didn't read my comment carefully, cuz I haven't only watched it for two seasons. So I won't bother even addressing your question properly.
Take care, stupid
Come to LA. Real global football culture exists here but it is disenfranchised. There is a reason why Mexican scouts come to take players to their clubs from the so cal region.
Mexicans arent good at football either
promotion/relegation is for sure the next step in MLS... dream circumstance would be a deal with NASL
MLS, need to become somewhat decent before they start relegation and promotion. Especially when it comes to producing quality players, once we consistently do that then I'm all for it. Otherwise I think it will kill the league and any attention it's bringing to the sport, unfortunately not enough people are fans of the sport in the US yet, growing, but not as big as it has a chance to be..
I'm portuguese, living in Portugal. We consistently have the best young players in europe. Is it because we have the structures? the best fields? NO.
It's simply because the only thing you need to play soccer is four backpacks (two for each goal), a used ball and some street space to act as a field. That's all.
If the US wants to have to be better at the sport it must do some simple things:
1. Make more fields in outsider the big centres. But, yu don't need to spend millions in fancy fields, just make them simple and acessible
2. The must be a relegation system. The "franchise" mentality doesn't work. When you love a club (even if just your neighbourhood one) you love it for what it represents. Not if today the club is here and next year in some other city.
And, if there isn't any relegation associated with competing, why compete then? what' the stake?
3. Forget the big and strong mentality because, not even in boxing that's the decisive factor. Soccer is a game of technique, a game of little improvised moments and not a super studied sport where each play seems to be decided on a chess board (à lá NFL). I do agree, it's much more similar to basketball
4. Stop with the mentality "it's an inferior sport just because we are not the best at it". Let's be honest, you are at least 70 years lagging to the rest of the world, specially europe, so, no, you won't be the best so soon, but you have the resources (specially the human ones) to be much better and to be a top competitor. You just won't win every year.
In soccer you only are the world champion ever 4 years, and, sorry to say, you really need to compete with the rest of the world for that title.
@ahhsnap _xbox joa felix, fransisco trincao, dalot and proven players like bernardo silva , CR7, ricardo perriera , bruno fernandes are to name a few.
@ahhsnap _xbox u mean bernado Silva is not amazing
No. The difference is we have football baseball and basketball as our big three. Other countries basically live and die by soccer. If our top athletes were soccer players from a young age, the US would dominate.
@@tehClew
Do you think if they don’t play football, they would have been the best NBA players? :
Messi, Aguero, Jesus, Tevez, Berbatov, Suarez, Firmino, Van Persie, Sanchez, Son, Ronaldinho, Neymar, Figo, Robben, Hleb, Nasri, Arshavin, Mahrez, Sane, di Maria, Iniesta, Silva, Cazorla, Mata, Eriksen, Coutinho, de Bruyne, Fabregas, Thiago, Modric, Kroos, Xavi, Busquets, Carrick, Alonso, Scholes, Zidane, Fernandinho, Gundogun.....
@@whiteben37 no not at all
The US will get a lot better at the game when they give up this obsession with athleticism. Of course being very athletic is a great attribute in football (or any other sport), look at the likes of Ronaldo, Bale, Sanchez, and Kante who are all very impressive physically. But without the required technique it's absolutely useless
If anything, Americans should be looking for everyone who isn't playing the likes of basketball and other popular American sports. Look for those players who have good technique from a fairly young age and develop those guys to be the best that they can be. Look at the likes Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, those guys are like 5'7", not 6 foot 5 inch monsters who charge around the pitch.
Pre jes
The defenders dont need as much skill with the ball, neither do centre forwards. Wingers, and Midfields are the ball handlers.
@@MbisonBalrog
Defender are getting pressed a lot in the modern game. They have little space and time on the ball, so their touch and passes have to be precise. That’s why teams in the past 10 years have been leaning towards skillful ball playing defenders, who are press resistant.
In the modern game even the goalkeeper has to be good on the ball, because many team would like to utilise that extra man to create numerical advantage, so they can play out from the back. This is a common practice for many possession based teams.
With ball playing defenders and ball playing goal keepers, the transitioning from defending to attacking will be better. Defenders are no longer just tasked to be good at the defensive phase.
@@MbisonBalrog
A lot of teams plays the false 9 which means the strikers need to be very technical, skillful and creative.
Traditional strikers are seen as a liability in other phases of the game.
This is laughable. Most of the people in the NBA have never touched a soccer ball while every other country grows up with aspirations to only be a soccer player. If you put the much more athletic and physically gifted people in soccer when they are born they would have the technique and anything else needed to succeed. We don’t a problem with technique or anything of the sorts. The problem is very simple. Our top 10% of athletes just don’t play soccer because all the other sports are much more lucrative. It’s as simple as that. And the next 5% of our top athletes still don’t play soccer, they are the people who fail at trying to get into the other leagues.
It is not pay to play. All you need is some sweaters and a ball
When you're the only kid who's playing, you won't get very good.
even with this it would take a while. because in the US soccer is not part of the culture. Soccer is more than a sport in places outside the US. it isa religion. that's why it inspires so much passion. in America nobody cries when their team loses. you don't see playeers crying when their team lose. if you use this non chalant approach to soccer u wont get anywhere. that's how difficult it is for soccer to grow here because it is not part of your culture. you have a whole of catching up to do.
They don’t cry they rage dipshit
Same o Shit! lol
And its FOOTBALL by the way not succker.
Its soccer here, bitch.
Its not about athleticism... messi is not an elite athlete, you can not make yourself good at football, you either have the talent or not, you people need world class scouting and a system to train those that get scouted, also relegation, there is a reason all the world cup winners have the same league system with relegation, after 150 years the elites have agreed thats the best model, that ridiculous draft system wont let you have a messi never, messi was playing football for a living since he was 12... same with most world class players, if you draft players of 23 years of age you waster 6 years of professional training and experience in a top club and european clubs wont spend money in ppl who are starting to play in a very average league without any kind of reputation other that bad defending at 23... thats just not a good model, and you need your players in european clubs if you want to even come close to a semi in a wc, just my thoughts.
The whole concept flew over your head.
Fair point, but messi is not an elite athlete? You gotta be kidding me...his speed, agility, balance, stamina are all amazing...I think he's an elite athlete man
messi is an elite athlete. His athleticism is in his movement, speed, and agility. Messi is super explosive and agile.
+MrCaseHarts messi is not even close to being an elite athlete, compare him to lebron james, in football everybody has stamina, most are fast, some tall etc... my point was that to become the best player in the world you dont need to be an ELITE athlete, its more on talent than athleticism, this is not to say athleticism is not necessary, so this whole argument that we are shit at football cause our elite athletes are taken is pretty much bs, there are countless cases of footballers who didnt even run compared to their team mates and had the accolade of one of the best, example riquelme (which is steve nash fav player) or valderrama to name 2 out of thousands.
I think we disagree on what defines an elite athlete. Messi is super fast, super agile, and super explosive. I agree you don't have to be the greatest athlete in soccer but thats because of the roles are so diversified.
But I still think messi very much is an athlete athlete.
hey this is a really good video
The best athlete in soccer would not be the best athlete in basketball or even football. Soccer is about ball control. Basketball is largely determined by arm length and hand size as well as height.
Best player does not mean best athlete. Tom Brady is best NFL player of all time, but his position is not thought of as best athlete.
but the best athlete in basketball wouldnt be the best athlete in soccer either because different sports need different athleticism. Lebron would look stiff slow and uncoordinated playing football
I highly doubt Lebron or most other basketball players would be good at soccer - I can think of about 3 outfield pro players over 6ft 6!
Ah got it. I've had a nightmare there haven't I haha! To be fair i'd only just woken up when I watched this :)
It used to be the same in the UK, except now when the kids get placed in pro academies they get wrapped in cotton wool & treated like superstars from a young age, so they lose out on the toughness & street smarts you need. Next thing you know, you're getting knocked out of the Euros by Iceland!
Basically they meant black people, they're the best at sports. Look at the NBA and NFL
El Tico Yeah pretty much lol
Yeah I definitely misunderstood the point of what they're saying! I'd disagree with you though when it comes to soccer - outside the US it's much more even ethnically, & you definitely can't say it's because black people don't play soccer in Europe, S America or Africa! So there's no reason it should be any different in the US.
HaYouKnowItsTrue™ they are all shit...
Do a part in one of the more southern states where football is more weak at the expense of (American) football, baseball, and basketball.
Actually I've been working on fleshing out something just like that! Stay tuned + great suggestion!
that is the good thing about the mls you don't get that here. maybe they can advertise that in America athletes are highly respect regardless of where you come from or the color of your skin.
I just tweeted you and I have to ask. Don't you think its more of generally a much lower level of athlete is in american soccer? We see quite a lot of black guys in the youth system. I dont think its a lack of racial diversity though we can definitely do more to recruit inner city kids of all colors and backgrounds. I played up until high school( I paid to play went to academies, etc etc so did my older brother who played against Dempsey a bunch in hs) and switched to wrestling and went to college and wrestled. I was one of the only white guys on my soccer team. Im a bit younger than you and Landon. Its more just the quality of athletes aren't as high. The level of athletes I wrestled with in college were far and above higher than anyone I played soccer with or against. Im from the south like the guy is describing. Football dominates here.
+Salsa Bob yes but MLS is blind. setting kids up who don't have a clue about europeans and soccer. Soccer doesn't work because soccer doesn't want to win in the USA. American football had to compete with baseball, and surpassed it. Soccer wants to be a rich kid sport (white) in the USA. The pay for play is like travel baseball, and hardly no minorities. American football in the south is free, if a kid needs shoes, a ride to practice, to games, it gets done. I haven't seen that in soccer, but a lot of talking and talking.
+Ron Harris FC Dallas is doing it and they won both of the Youth Academy trophies. I would consider them a example of what the clubs need to follow. I believe that Atlanta United is also following that model with there new opening of the academy in Georgia. I don't believe that MLS is blind is just they are focusing on getting more fans and making the MLS an actual professional league in America. an example is building more stadiums that are dedicated to soccer only. where my club has not change to free play (yet...) because they are focused of moving away from RFK ( Which MLS should put in The America Soccer history book as the Renaissance of Soccer Stadium.... please @Calen Carr) and building a stadium. I bet when all the soccer teams have their own stadiums MLS will move its focused to building academies and making them free to play it just takes time. (The rumor is that once Beckham finishes building his new team he will become the next commissioner of MLS sometime in the future.)
I love basketball and it's a shame the NBA is not shown on TV more often in Sweden, but the games are probably played in the middle of the night so it's kind of understandable. We definately know alot more about basketball and its teams and players than the other sports (beside hockey ofcourse) that is popular in the States.
I think what should be done in order to make football more popular, you should abandon the closed league system and adopt one with divsions so that you have relegation and promotion with qualification matches between maybe third last in the higher divsion againt the third placed team from the lower division, while first/second and last/second last are automatically promoted/relegated. In that way it makes the game more interesting and challenging (because more is at stake) and even makes those matches that are otherwise (with existing league rules) of low importance more important.
I agree that basketball and football is similar in many ways. Not only in the sport itself and that it's very easily accessible, but also in the social aspect of being popular amongst all classes. It's a bit strange knowing how football (soccer) in USA is seen as a white man's or upper-middle class sport. In Europe it has always been (except in its very beginning), and still is, seen as a working class sport first and foremost. Although we have recently seen how the Premier League, and other major leagues, more and more tries to exchange their working class audience in favour of a more white collar audience, the practitioners and especially those that pursues a professional career tend to have a working class background.
In Sweden professional basketball isn't huge, almost to the point of non-existent, compared to football, hockey and even other smaller sports like handball etc. But in the school yard and gym class it's probably the most popular and most enjoyed game beside football. In some European countries like Serbia and Greece basketball is huge and I hope one day it will become so in Sweden too. It's been growing lately now that more and more big football clubs are starting their own basketball sections.
Some ridiculous arguments being made in these comments. You can't look at the "best" athletes in the US now and judge their body types and skill sets to European Football. A professional basketball player has trained his body for DECADES to look and perform the way it does. The same with professional footballers. There are several professional European footballers that would be playing in the MLB but chose a different path. And people claiming American sports don't require skill clearly haven't played many sports. EVERY sport is different. Requiring decades of practice, training, and skill. It's nuts to think European footballers are somehow more skilled athletes than those who don't play that game. And vice versa.
From the start, I thought it was a Casey Neistat video...
And honestly soccer and basketball share a lot of the same aspects as far as movement. spacing, and tactics goes. I played basketball since I was 6 and started playing soccer at 19 and I can tell you from experience, dribbling (which was the hardest to get control of btw) and vision on the pitch and on the court go hand-in-hand. Passing a soccer ball allows for a lot more creativity thus creating as many passing lanes/options as you can recognize. Vision developed in basketball helped me "see" so much when playing soccer.
And IMO america is behind in soccer because it definitely isn't in our culture. I could play basketball and find 9 other people to play with no problem but with soccer I either can't find anyone to play with or there isn't anywhere to play unless you wanna get cited for trespassing or pay some money. Not to mention the talent just really isn't there for someone wanting to play with better competition to get better.
We'd obviously have many more brothers on the team. If soccer becomes a black sport in this country we will move up in the rankings.
Look up Marvell Wynne
America's next Lionel Messi is Andrew Carrollton. And the Nasl should be like the MLS version of the English Championship league
King_Josiah116 I absolutely agree with you about nasl. The mls needs to create competition and the way to do that is to add promotion and relegation. This would allow clubs to focus on being consistently good rather than good for one season
wth? the US never had a Messi level player ever! just because Andrew is very good doesn't mean he will be the next Messi! stop being delusional
Christian Astorga it's my opinion
King_Josiah116 yup, but you making him out to be the next Lionel Messi is too delusional! Messi is a once in a lifetime prodigy
Christian Astorga people say pulisic is the next American Messi it's their opinion it doesn't matter
If your best athletes played football it wouldn't mean dick. Most of you are literally making a comparison more absurd then what if Usain Bolt did the 10,000m at the Olympics... He may be faster then every single one of them but he doesn't have a chance in hell of coming within 10 laps of the last guy to finish. In football, you can be the best in the world and be small, slow and weak because it's a game of skill which will triumph above all else. In basketball and american football, if you aren't athletically gifted then don't even bother. There's literally players drafted way higher then they should be because every year despite having no real skill set, teams say he has the physical gifts. We can teach him the skills later. Just look at Moritz Böhringer, he had never even heard of American Football or knew of its existence until he saw an AP highlights video on youtube and yet a couple of years later despite never even playing against opposition equal to the quality of an average high school team. He's a sixth round draft choice.
The best athletes dont even need to play soccer, of course that helps, but just if more people play and show some skill and passions they can become great athletes.
The best football players are clever, they are small and agile, they move faster in short distances, Americans think athletes have to be tall and strong, trust me none of the basketball players would be able to play football they would look stupid slow with ogre like reactions
Lol basketball players are faster than you think. Even the super tall ones which you are probably referring to. But most point guards I’d say are faster than a lot of football players.
build some pitches in Chicago. fuck do we need some here. tired of the overpriced bs turf and indoor fields where you need to pay an arm and a leg to play in a league.
you dont need a pitch lol.Put 2 rocks aside to be the goals,get a ball,get a few mates and play.
Basketball and soccer are sports that you can play by yourself. Football and baseball you need a team. Soccer and basketball you can dribble around the neighborhood to get better by yourselfZ
Well thought out discussions on how to improve soccer culture to enable those at all economic levels to play!
Well they would certainly have one of the strongest soccer national teams if most of the kids focused on soccer. Now they have a decent squad but imagine all the talented kids got into soccer. Not in baseball, american football or basketball...
what should be done is build more fields around the city meant for soccer playing. Even if it's AstroTurf. Not only does it have the capacity to make things much more natural and attractive, but also build up that talent pool.
Americans really don't understand soccer, a person with a body frame of Lebron James can't endure 90 minutes of soccer, let alone 45 minutes. There's a lot that goes into being a professional soccer player, soccer is the most difficult field sport to master. Unlike Basketball, baseball or American Football where players use hands which are more accustomed to handling things, soccer is played using feet, its for this reason that soccer is the most skillful field sport in existence, its no wonder that out of the 2.65 Billion people who play soccer worldwide, only a handful make it as professional soccer players. The talent pool of soccer players is quite shallow, such that soccer clubs and nations struggle to find talent.
Playing soccer can't be learned, you can learn how to follow the managers tactics, how to read the opponents movement or things like this that are more instinctive, reflexes can be trained but one cannot 'learn' to play soccer, you either have the talent or not, you either have that certain feeling for the ball or you don't. You can't become a maths genius if you're not born that way just like you can't if you don't work very hard.
Víctor Samsonov
Any sport played with hands cannot be more difficult to master than soccer.
Víctor Samsonov
Clearly you know nothing about soccer, most soccer players reach their best at around 28 years old, that's the prime age of a soccer player, that's how long it takes to fully develop one's talent.
If you don't play soccer since you're a child, there is almost zero chance you will have the skills to be a pro. Basketball and football pros can start in their teens.
That's rubbish, of course you can learn football. Natural talent makes up for 20% max. The other 80% is having a nurtured tactical mind. Also there's tons of talent in London alone... it's just very competitive at the academy level... there's definately not a lack of talent... not really sure where you're getting that from. Come to London mate and you'll see.
Zachary Sylvester
What competition? you English people make me lough, you get clouded with your own hype. Name one English world class player today, just one?
I am German and i am pretty sure that if Americans would have given Football(Soccer) a chance from the start , they would have been one of the Top Countrys since they tempt to have some outstanding players in every sport they really focus on. I think it's just a matter of time until America takes his place among the Top Football Nations.
Action Jackson thank you I'm German and think the exact same
it will never happen. soccer has to be part of your culture in order to develop. soccer is not like basketball or gladiator hand egg or baseball. Soccer is not part of the US culture and Americans see it as a "sissy"sport for reason known to them alone. Soccer is learned from the streets and the average American kid has no inclination for it. I live in America so i know what I'm talking about. Kids do play soccer but it's a luxury sport here. They see it as some exotic sport patronized by the upper middle class. it would never work like that. Only immigrants and perhaps the children of immigrants hold they key to soccer in America but even with them the sports culture in America does not permit them to be world class players. If you don't believe me come and live in America for a few months
Nope. The US is great in sports where athleticism is key. American Football, Basketball, Tennis, swimming, Gymnastics etc. Football is a skill based sport.
The most practical example I can give is African players. Am African, African players have larger body frames, the CAF Africa Cup of Nations is the most physical soccer tournament in the world, but no African team has ever gone further than the quarter finals at the World Cup, that's because at some point in soccer technique prevails over physic.
+Tyrone Brown
You're talking utter shit.
LOL HE SAID IT! "If our best athletes (you know, black people)..."
Calen Carr looks like the poor man's Philippe Coutinho
In a good way
"Where's our next Lionel Messi?" lol you've never had a Messi
costeeta have you not been reading. Landon Donovan is American Messi 😂😂😂 Jesus that’s fucking tragic
Bro, for me to be able to play at my local park in a pitch i have to pay 50$ for a little as field and only 1 hour. the bigger ones cost more i think there is up to 160$ ones
David C just play on the street or park like people in other countries. it's a working class game, you just need a ball !
Best video yet. Nice work
It’s good that their doing this. Making mini fields in suburban areas really does help to produce more talents. Cause that’s what the other top soccer countries have in their own cities as well. Having people to play random soccer anywhere is just a good way to start a good soccer nation.
The term soccer makes me sick 😷
All beats from this episode done by myself. Be sure to check out more on my page!! Thank you, MLS!!! Beautiful episode.
You can teach skill. You can’t teach athleticism. If Americans took soccer as seriously as the rest of the world then everyone would be in trouble. The whole dynamic of the soccer game would be shifted. MLS would be the premier league in the world and the US would always be heavily favored in the World Cup. It’s the truth.
great video
I hope we continue with things like these. I believe the U.S. has so much opportunity for untapped talent, especially in Texas.
It’s a shock for me to hear that in the US football (soccer) is a rich people’s sport. Cause it’s really the opposite to the rest of the world. All u need is just a ball to kick around and mark somewhere for goals and your set!
We would be the best in the world.
Don't believe me look at our women's team. Soccer is the 2nd most popular sport for women and look how good they are.
And dont give me: well its women doesn't count.
1. That sexist
2. Not USA's fault other countries treat women like 2nd class citizens
The US does not produce soccer stars because the sport has to compete with baseball, basketball, American football and Hockey. The US will not produce superstars until soccer is the most popular sport.
They're only considered the best athletes because they play the most popular sports in America lol
If LeBron James played football his control would be horrible. Way to tall. I mean, look at Zlatan. Ppl are amazed at his ball control because of his height and he is 8 cm/more than 3 inches shorter than LeBron. LeBron would be Peter Crouch on steroids.
The first issue that Americans don’t understand is that the physical means nothing in football. Just need to look at Messi, Neymar, Kante, Hazard all guys who are tiny. Its a sport that puts skill, creativity and intelligence at the forefront. The physical comes second to these.
Second, in football there traditionally has been no middle ground. You have players from impoverished backgrounds who use this as a vehicle to bring their families out of it poverty or you come from a country who’s structure creates enough talent to have non stop competition. Here in where lies the issue for the US. A) kids from more impoverished areas see basketball as a more viable option to “make it” especially because the cost for player soccer cuts 3/4s of your talent pool out as well. Now, people may look at this as a physical /athletic thing but its not. Its a hunger thing. B) Soccer is not a sport that gets the money as well have a good infrastructure to create the talent needed to be properly competitive.
Lastly its an attitude thing with the US. Your two most popular sports are basketball and football. Basketball has been since its inception typically been dominated by the US and American football is a sport that not one cares about at all other than Americans so with the giant ego that the US has they will always be invested in sports that they do well in. Due to the fact that they will never be the best in soccer there is an attitude of dismissal because they aren’t the best at it. This is their biggest downfall and unfortunately this is an American personality trait and will never go away. Arrogance never bodes well.
jaja this is funny... from mexico all the way to brazil no matter where you go there is always futbol everywhere, here in the us sucks , the only place you fin futbol is in the park every weekend for only 2 hours everywhere else is ilegal
If our best athletes played the country would be better, same as Europeans and Africans finally learning to play basketball. They still cant touch america but they are getting better its the same with us and futbol. Once it becomes as much apart of our culture as football and basketball we will see US soccer surge.
"If Lebron James played soccer he would be great" is similar to say "if the best sumo in the world would play tennis he would be great" The black dude on the video was right, the skills don't match at all, a guy who bounces balls and throws them at a hoop all the game is as prepared to kick strong, painfully precise and fast shots to beat a skilled goalkeeper (and generally use his feet and not his hands for a plethora of other skills) as is the average professional physicist. That phrase just shows that the person making that asinine statement is ignorant to the mechanics of one or both sports and perhaps the most athletical daily activity he makes is raising his arm to drink a beer.
How Football (soccer) can be white man sport? Is this a common idea in whole U.S.?
Bro not now soccer is huge now n outgrown other sports. That's the only language the whole world Wana heat period even in United states
I think America has the potential to become a great football nation. If you look at countries where basketball is big outside the US like Spain and Serbia, these countries produce many technically gifted footballers. Countries where Rugby is big (Britain, Australia) produce more hardworking more physical players. This cannot be a coincidence. Basket
Best episode yet. Props, Calen! More cowbell...
Still trash because soccer requires SKILL
From 8:18 to 9:10 Landon Donovan basically spoke my mind. This is why he's my all time favorite player!
Really? That's a first. No hate though, I'm a Clint man myself..
KNuckleZification Haha, it's ok :) You could be a Clint man and I won't judge!
he used to play in my team for a while efc... :)
mattyy101 He was on loan, yes that's correct.
mattyy101 On loan but yeah he has! ;)
0:10 wtf was that for a catch
When I thought of American Soccer I always thought of it as too technique based and too much systematic based 'practice' and always imagined the only time they played soccer is at 'practice' and that was that. Where as the rest of the world you kick a ball where and wherever. They make that point in this video and point out how it is similar to the basketball culture. You learn to play football / soccer not so much in 'training/practice' but by you and your friends going outside on the streets or the local park and putting down the jumpers/sweaters as goalposts or even just using a wall. I never imagined American kids to play soccer in the streets. I would actually go a level further with what he said in this video. The basketball culture is not really like the soccer culture as for basketball they tend to play on actual court. With soccer you literally play anywhere. The street. The garden. The park. Concrete. Grass. Sand. Anywhere. And you pick up the game intuitively. The best, most gifted players are usually picked up by academies between the ages of 8 - 12 and their skills and football brain taken to next level. I grew up near Wayne Rooney and the day he broke the Premier League's youngest goalscoring record at 16 years of age he went home and played football on the streets of Croxteth. I honestly believe hard work beats talent in virtually all things in life, and I don't want to burst anyone's bubble but I believe soccer is something you have or don't have. This is just my opinion of course. But even if have natural talent you got to practice still.
More like this please!
The best thing about "soccer" is everyone can play it. You don't have to be tall to do it. In fact, probably the greatest player ever, Messi, is slightly taller than a mobile phone. What matters in his case is intelligence, vision and skill.
one problem the us has is the draft system. you play for a school, college, you get drafted. all the talents get taken and i belive a lot of talents get overlooked.
The non athletic kids play soccer. Ping pong players and badminton players.
Averege soccer player run more than football or basketball my dear
why the myth doesn't die
Ted Lasso cameo at 3:01
they will all loose big time .hahaha.
Landon Donovan grew up playing soccer on the streets...yeah, good story. People need to go research his actual bio.
Maybe I am just an ignorant American but I truly believe the United States has the best athletes in the world and I think we would have the best national team in soccer if our best athletes played soccer. If you didn't grow up in the States you won't understand but legit, soccer even today is still an afterthought for most kids when it comes to sports. Its all about football basketball and baseball. If the majority of the kids in our country grew up only playing soccer we would have the best team, in my opinion.
Well, England is another country with elite athletes and they just got a World Cup looooooong time ago and never won Euro Cup. England breathes football, its league has rich teams and they still don't make in champions league.
Its not about you having the best athletes its about you having the most athletes because america is basically the size of all of europe. And just because you're good at another sport doesnt mean you would be good at another.
Athleticism (at least the NFL, NBA type) hardly helps in soccer. Jamaica has an extremely athletic national team. That doesn't mean they are any good. Meanwhile Brazil's team has no players that would be able to make the NBA or NFL in terms of athleticism. How many 6'6" soccer players are there? Not many.
Thats a pretty stupid comment Austin.
Athleticism isnt really the key to soccer it helps with wide players and defenders but Take pirlo for example slow not athletic in anyway. But was an absolute magician. Or muller not very gifted very boring and basic some would say but a master of space. Football is special because there are so many types of people with different physical atributes and skills that can excell. Its not a game only for 6ft 3 and above or those who can run 100m in 10.5 seconds
I disagree with Donavan because NFL will never be on the decline maybe baseball tho
funny cause the MLB enjoyed the kind of success NFL is enjoying now! and with all the things happening in the NFL now, never say never!
It's about $$$. Americas best athletes will follow the money. Millions to ride the bench in the NBA, NFL, or MLB will churn out future basketball, football, and baseball players for the foreseeable future. Money needs to be the incentive for kids to devote to MLS clubs. Look at the current structure. The top paid players are people from somewhere else.
If the kids make it overseas they can earn way more money than in the nfl etc
If you look back at sports history in the US, specifically looking for where things took off for the popularity of various sports, so much of it has to do with marketing. Sometimes it comes down to one really good decision, or one really special playoff game that captures the imagination of an entire generation, but in general it comes down to marketing. That's really what it comes down to.
Now, for soccer, with this generation and with the changing landscape of media in general, there may be a couple of ideas to look at. Social media gives you some opportunities to do good things, and MLS is trying on various platforms. But something like Netflix or Hulu Plus might give you something else to do. One idea- see if there's a way to make live games and other content available over a streaming service. There may be an opportunity to do something there that no one else is really doing.
Another idea- see if there's a way to do a reality TV type of show involving young soccer players coming up through the youth system. You could focus on underprivileged kids as they navigate the system and try to make it. You can't try to do everything at once or be everywhere at once, but it gives you an opportunity to focus on just one place and really define what's happening there. There are some very real issues to work through in the youth development system, and especially with the mechanisms that allow youth programs to get (or not get) pieces of transfer fees once someone really makes it, so perhaps there could be something like a reality program that focuses up really hard on Harlem FC, for example, while also examining the various issues in the youth development landscape. Then in season 2, you move on to a different place and tell a different story. Maybe you come back to some places a second time if there's an interesting story to tell.
That would really have to happen on a streaming service, I don't think that's a good fit for broadcast TV or even cable. But it is an idea that could potentially be developed in the streaming environment, and it could become something more important if the talent is there, if things develop in interesting ways, if it becomes something more than it currently is. It could also be a valuable source of footage and content years down the line, when some of these kids wind up making it as pros. You've got a story to tell, and you've got footage to roll somewhere in the course of broadcasts or commentary or a SC 30 for 30 program- you start by telling a story and telling it well, then you've got something more than just the live broadcast to market.
ive always said it, we need to put soccer goals on every basketball court in america and we will win the world cup in 20 years.
they will never understand.Soccer there feels forced,like we need that and that and that.All you need is 2 rocks a side for the goal a ball and a few friends to play.Thats it.
Soccer is just boring. 90 minutes no goals nobody has time for that
Hahahaha, well, a touchdown is not that exciting if it is supposed to happen. Boring is game that takes houuuuurs considering the real time it is played. You lose your time too.
3.5 billion people have time for that. Damn
The most important characteristic in soccer is resilence. I can see martial artists being good at soccer because they know a deadly strike can mean the end of the fight just like a goal can mean the end of a soccer game. While as in American Football, Baseball and Basketball that's not the case.
Big mistake ... soccer is not a sport for athletes
Average distance run per game in various sports:
Football (soccer): 7 miles
Basketball: 2.55 miles
NFL: 1.25 miles for receivers and cornerbacks
Baseball: 0.0375 miles
It's too expensive to make it in soccer here in the states. You need to join a reputable traveling team =$$$, travel expenses = $$$, hopefully make an ODP team $$$, more travel = $$$, College Soccer = $$$$$$$ and maybe make it to the MLS draft and get paid shit.
I respect NYC FC for what they are doing in new york
Respect for what the RBNY has been doing for over a decade in New York & New Jersey
What I mean is how they are making pitch's I'm not even a supporter
the illusion of security and control plays against North American soccer because soccer develops in the middle of chaos!
Soccer a white sport? Ummm, dude, it's the most popular sport (indeed, pretty much the only major spectator sport) in literally every single country in Africa...
My friends and I get together and play in my backyard or at my school at events my friends and I play with kids from other grades.
Peer learning is the most powerful way of learning and that happens in open public spaces where people from different backgrounds and ages come spontaneously and play together. Rules and conditions must be created by the participants and there must be a sense of adventure and risk for facing the unknown rival
I understand focusing on the urban areas, but what they always seem to miss is rural areas. I went to rural school in Ohio and we never had a soccer team and no one cared or knew anything about it. I just see this focus on urban areas but why not rural areas also? or is it the color thing?
You got to come to Chicago. Our soccer personality is like none other. A lot of kids like me who have been told they can't in the soccer communities but keep working.
The answer, no better than any other country, while a sport being prominent means more sport oriented people will play the sport, it doesnt mean you will have good players, there are examples of football mad countries not doing great at internationals, like Mexico, they dont do great but have a large population but dont produce many superstars as opposed to Wales or Slovenia who have some outlying brilliant talents. In larger countries it is harder, as the academies will find it harder to co-ordinate, Germany is the ideal country for a academies, a well connected, not massive country where there is ease in travel, making it easier for young talent to go to X city to become a football player without feeling like they are leaving their lives behind them because their hometown is only 2 hours away on an autobahn.
come to England go to any school at break time you will see kids playing on any old patch of concrete using school bags and coats as goal posts. we played in the middle of the road growing up in my neighbourhood you'd have to fish the ball out from under parked cars climb walls to get it back when some big toed idiot over hit it and stop for traffic and Americans talking about pitches being built for kids
All of you saying Lebron is too big to play soccer and can't learn the technique, did you ever consider that he would just play goalie? The best analogy for American athletes to play soccer are Allen Iverson and Steph Curry. Guarantee they would become world class soccer players.
Just look at xavi, not strong or fast, just the brain and his controll with the ball and the passes. The thing in fotball (soccer) is that everyone can play no matter how small or tall or thick or thin. As long as you start when you are a child you can play pro.
my whole childhood I played on a little field probably 20x30 meters big with 2 metal sticks on each side rammed into the field and I loved playing on it every day. When we were in school we played football against each other and used our bags as goals. You don't need all this bullshit to play football you can just go out and play. One of my friends I used to play with, plays now in the 3rd bundesliga, so it just proves that you don't need a big field in your youth to play football and be good at it, just do it and stop looking for excuses.
They should have included Eddie Johnson and Marlon Hairston in this video, to get their opinions as Inner city blacks
There's a reason why people choose rugby union, rugby league, cricket, athletics, hockey, basketball and so on and so on. A 7 foot tall guy is not the right size for football nor is a 300lb plus guy with no stamina. A non ending production line from toddler to teenager to adult is what is needed and not the break of going to college. You also need the working classes playing the sport and getting coached if good enough, that's only now developing in North America which has years to make up.
The irony is people call soccer here in the states the rich mans sport but the reality is soccer is actually the most accesible sport and least restrictive... all you need to play is a ball. Pele started playing using just a bunch of rolled up socks for a ball, that's how poor they were where he grew up. But he became great due to his love for the game and his natural talent. We have alot of talent in the US but not much love for the game overall.. Solution? Better marketing, better commentary, more of an emphasis on exciting skillful players over just athleticism. That's what will make soccer more "cool" in kids minds and what will cause them to love the game.
I think schools should start having Junior High soccer/football teams. Not only does it help with the HS coaches decide who makes the team, it also helps in development.