How far off timewise is the U.S...

[Tktd]

from producing it's first proper global superstar?

From producing a steady stream of solid and able players capable of competiting in Europe regularly?

I'd say Dempsey, McBride, Bocanegra, Howard, Keller and a couple of others have done reasonably well but none hav set the world alight and these players are all in the autumn of their career arguably.

The standards - whilst improving - in america aren't really very solid at the moment, but with the way the sports developing surely it's only a matter of time..?!

[Rambling_Syd_Rumpo]

it might of happened already,it might never happen-your born with that level of talent,Pele,Best,Maradona, Eusebio,Puskas,Moore,Cruyff  and Messi didn't suddenly become great,they were born great,you can't practise what these people did,you can do it or you can't  do it-it's as simple as that 092.gif

[TonyGilroy]

Their religious fundamentalists are about 200 years behind us.

The rest about 6 to 8 hours.

[mhatc]

Their religious fundamentalists are about 200 years behind us.

My fiancee's sister still believes in courting. I think she read too many Jane Austin books.

But we are still far away as long as our best athletes play our major sports.

[Crede15]

It depends. Technically, we may already have (if you consider somebody that's good enough for Barcelona to spend 30 million dollars on a global star). He just doesn't play for our national team.

[Crede15]

anyway, could we produce a truly great player? Sure, but I don't think our youth setup is equipped to produce them consistently.

[clintclintdeuce]

Hopefully our little 10 y/o youngster who was the first ever american admitted into the barca academy will be this player.

[jarv]

I have been coaching here inthe US for 20 years. Individually, the boys are just as good as the British lads. Collectively, they don't have the spacial awareness, where to run and when to run (10 to 14 years old or even older).

Coaching is too hung up on "winning" and the game is fragmented. (Town teams, club teams, state teams, school teams, independant academy teams, etc). They all compete for the same players, some have good coaches, some don't. Meddling parents don't help their child's development either.

However, the opportunity to play on one or many of the above teams is good. A decent player can get a lot of matches, then add on the indoor games in winter in the north east. Unlike the UK there is no such thing as non league (or even decent adult leagues) where a 16 year old can play at a high standard with adults, really start to learn the game and toughen up.

[clintclintdeuce]

I have been coaching here inthe US for 20 years. Individually, the boys are just as good as the British lads. Collectively, they don't have the spacial awareness, where to run and when to run (10 to 14 years old or even older).

Coaching is too hung up on "winning" and the game is fragmented. (Town teams, club teams, state teams, school teams, independant academy teams, etc). They all compete for the same players, some have good coaches, some don't. Meddling parents don't help their child's development either.

However, the opportunity to play on one or many of the above teams is good. A decent player can get a lot of matches, then add on the indoor games in winter in the north east. Unlike the UK there is no such thing as non league (or even decent adult leagues) where a 16 year old can play at a high standard with adults, really start to learn the game and toughen up.

This is what I did from age 6 until highschool. Played indoors and outdoors, and school, travel, and city teams. But when the highschool years come youre forced into making a choice between football and soccer, in which the vast majority of the top athletes choose football. Soccer is still considered a girls game in US culture here in my humble opinion.

[Ron Sheepskin]

I'm sure Freddy Adu was supposed to be the best thing since the game was invented  :hook:

Where did it all go wrong?

[PaulUMD]

As long as our best athletes continue to become point guards and corner backs and running backs, it won't happen.  God help the world if that ever really changes.  But it probably won't.

[finnster01]

I think the answer to that question is tightly correlated with when England wins the world cup the next time. i.e. Most likely never in my lifetime on earth.

[MrCheviot]

He went to Benfica and rotted on their bench.

Re: the US, you have to keep in mind that the second iteration of a professional footy league is just 16 years old at this point; compared to the consecutive years of professional leagues in the European and South African powers it's still a babe. You could make the point that the African nations have underdeveloped professional leagues as well, but with so fewer sporting options available it's almost a certainty their most promising athletes are playing soccer.

Soccer here is indeed fragmented, and until it adopts an approach similar to tennis with full-time youth academies and less competing organizations the sooner we'll have the proper foundation for development. The growth of MLS has been pretty decent considering it's not a top 4 or 5 sport here, but the evolution should continue. The fan base and money in the sport are growing, but to expect a 16 year old league to produce young talent on par w/ England, Germany, Spain or France is too much to hope for at this stage.

I'd guess that within the next 20 years the US will produce 1-3 players who'll be in demand by the top clubs in UEFA (non-goalkeepers at that). Clint, Landon & Tim Howard represent the apex of the current generation for all intents & purposes, which gives a certain measure of the gap that yet remains.

[Jimbobob]

 086.gif
Light years.
As others have mentioned the coaching is not great and the goal is to "play" a game and win and give "soccer" moms something to do when they are not driving their behemoth SUV's while talking on their cell phones turning left against traffic..but that is another issue.
Skills are not stressed enough and kids do not grow up kicking a ball they grow up playing basketball or throwing a football. Our best atheletes do not play the game and if they do they stop as others have mentioned around high school. Also it is a rich persons game here...if you want to go anywhere in the sport you have to "pay to play" as with my soccer mom comment. You have to pay -  so it becomes/is a rich white persons sport...FACT!
I think our only hope which I thought would have born more friut by now is our immigrant population that considers it "their" sport and loves it but that really hasn't happened either.
Just look at who we have playing...it is the lollipop guild...really small guys on the whole. Our best atheletes just don't play the game. The structure has worked well for the womens game but is does nothing to build a good mens game. We should be better in theory but until the culture changes we will just not get better and that is a shame. Also the MLS playing on artificial turf in what seems every stadium doesn't help either as do their ugly kits and awful goal tending....rant over....

[Logicalman]

I think the answer to that question is tightly correlated with when England wins the world cup the next time. i.e. Most likely never in my lifetime on earth.

Just to confirm, you did mean never in your lifetime again  :011:

[Jimbobob]

As long as our best athletes continue to become point guards and corner backs and running backs, it won't happen.  God help the world if that ever really changes.  But it probably won't.

Ditto...we should rule the game but it is a long way away.
Also ranting again-the media here does not report on the sport AT ALL!!!
If it wasn't for FSC we would never see the matches. ESPN has finally started showing some games which is great. Perfect example. I live in Charlotte NC where two Gold Cup matches were held. It was not mentioned in the paper that I can remember UNTIL THE DAY OF THE EVENT!
It was never mentioned on the local talk radio that I ever heard. You will not see scores in the paper from the leagues in paper.....long way to go...........

[Whiteroom]

it might of happened already,it might never happen-your born with that level of talent,Pele,Best,Maradona, Eusebio,Puskas,Moore,Cruyff  and Messi didn't suddenly become great,they were born great,you can't practise what these people did,you can do it or you can't  do it-it's as simple as that 092.gif

I am afraid that I totally disagree with that one. These guys are great because they were born with a talent, but they built on it, and played, and trained. No successful footballer didn't work very very hard to get there. There will have been guys born in the US who would have been as good as Messi if they had lived his life and done what he has done.

[Jimbobob]

it might of happened already,it might never happen-your born with that level of talent,Pele,Best,Maradona, Eusebio,Puskas,Moore,Cruyff  and Messi didn't suddenly become great,they were born great,you can't practise what these people did,you can do it or you can't  do it-it's as simple as that 092.gif

I am afraid that I totally disagree with that one. These guys are great because they were born with a talent, but they built on it, and played, and trained. No successful footballer didn't work very very hard to get there. There will have been guys born in the US who would have been as good as Messi if they had lived his life and done what he has done.

Wow so correct!!!! If Messi and Pele and Maradona were born in the US they would not have been world class football players....maybe world class basketball football(our game) or baseball players not football. Yes they were "born" with the genes etc.. to excel but it was their determination and work ethic that made them great and the fact that was the only game to play........

[YankeeJim]

Ok, lets stab back at our English cousins.
I'd say the US will produce a superstar on the order of Messi or Pele in about as long a time as it has been since England has produced one.  :hook:   :027: