Soccer/Football random discussion & other leagues thread

[Franchise 60]

Originally Posted by ThaSaltCracka

Let me put it this way, if you are a serious soccer player, and your choice is between playing for the US or Italy, France, England, Spain, etc... its a no brainer. Sucks for us, but whatever.

Yea I agree. But don't you think this more of an exception to the norm than something that will happen more and more in the future?

I mean not every young American star is going to have european immigrants and a dad with Italian football ties. Isn't his grandfather a well known coach in Italy too or something?

And I'd like to hope that most will have enough national pride to play for their own country. Obviously the great young players from the states should try and get burn for in the European league.

[mmbt0ne]

Losing Rossi was real rough. There are a couple more young guys on the horizon too who could have a big impact going one way or the other. Edgar Castillo got capped for Mexico this year, which also sucked. Hopefully Neven Subotic sticks with the US and helps sure up the back line.

[ThaSaltCracka]

Originally Posted by apple11

I don't think so Europe will always be #1 when it comes to football

So Europe has a monopoly on producing world class talent?

[Franchise 60]

And since when is Europe a country? I know its hard that England's national team is an afterthought nowadays, but its pretty laughable to compare the US to the combined talent of 49 countries.

[valenzuela]

Btw Conmebol has 9 world cups and UEFA has the same 9.

[valenzuela]

Btw fun idea for a pool.
You need 16 guys, you write each team on a piece of paper, and then each person gets randed a team. If you dont have 16 ppl, you can make it winner take all and leave 1 or 2 teams as an " everybody gets their money back". When we did it for the 2006 WC in my class everybody went wild ( 29 ppl played I ended up with Ecuador and Holland was an "everybody gets their money back" team)

[Franchise 60]

Regarding TSC's 15 years down the road view, I think there will be a difference in the level of talent on the national squad. But it still won't be fair to expect them to be able to catch the world powers (not that anyone is really saying they will).

A much better question is will the US pass England in the next 10-15 years?

[valenzuela]

A much better question is will the US pass England in the next 10-15 years?

lol

[ThaSaltCracka]

I think its hard to say right now where we could be, with any certainty. However, if you compare to where we were in 1994, to now, the difference is stark. We now have academies around the country and pro teams at many levels.

I am really looking forward to the USMNT playing both England and Spain in the coming months. Maybe the US loses, but at least they are out there playing.

I think people are really sleeping on the US team. Bradley and Nowak have done a great job so far with the national team.


Finally, big FYI to everyone, the USMNT won the very first WC game way back in the day! Holla!

[Franchise 60]

Originally Posted by valenzuela

lol

I'm not saying its likely, but you don't even think it can be argued as a possibility?

The amount of English players in the Prem is declining, and is going to continue to decline. You have no idea what the EPL will look like in 15 years. If English players as a whole aren't getting first team football for competitive teams than how are they going to have a quality national team?

Now lets look at the US. Obviously MLS isn't going to compete with the Prem, but it doesn't have to. What it is going to do is going to give more exposure to the sport to talented young athletes. Add that in with the fact that the next generation of teenagers are going to grow up with the ability to watch soccer from all around the world on their digital cable. This is something my generation didn't have, and we still have a handful of very talented young players.

Plus the MLS will give a chance for US players to play, and the more the league grows and improves, quality in players will coincide. The best players will go to Europe or wherever the money is highest, and that is fine, that needs to happen.

Why is it so hard to think that the US could catch England in terms of strength of a national squad in 10-15 years? The decline in England is apparent, and I don't see it magically stopping. Especially considering the explosion of foreigners playing in the EPL. If the US can slowly improve, and England continues to slowly decline than it can definitely happen.

Lets not forget that England isn't even in the Fifa top 10 at the moment, its not like we are talking about Brazil or Argentina.

[ThaSaltCracka]

Honestly, surpasing England wouldn't even be that big of an accomplishment IMO. However, they do have some good young players. Guys who are playing at the top level, which is something the US lacks.

Walcott
Agbonlahor
Young
Most of Tottenham and West Ham
Prolly some others I can't recall.

Anyway, the three I listed above are leaps and bounds beyond anything the US currently has.

However, England suffers greatly from a smaller population, and will likely continue to decline against their other Euro rivals.

[GuyIncognito]

So Spain/Italy/Germany have caps on the number of non-EU players on their domestic teams, whereas England doesn't have any restrictions, is this correct?

[Entee]

England is not necessarily declining against their other Euro rivals in the long run. They haven't exactly been dominating Europe in the past either.

There's variance between generations, and countries move up and down the rankings, but I think it's pretty safe bet that US won't be better than England in 15 years.

[KDawg]

Originally Posted by ThaSaltCracka

To add on that, I think if things progress the way they have, the US could be maybe 15 years from producing talent like that.

i don't know about that as a player like that can crop up, but as far as the US constantly producing top talent, yea, at least 15 years away

Originally Posted by SABR42

Giuseppe Rossi had a choice to play for the US but chose Italy obv.

He would have been the best forward the US has ever had.

the funny thing is that he probably won't get that many senior caps for italy

[eighty6]

little OT post but could interesting nonetheless..

ive seen the recent rumors of the big two from the SPL moving over to the EPL. this would be awesome iyam for many reasons.

the SPL is a two horse race consistently. no other teams with the exception of MAYBE hearts have the financial backing or support to compete constantly throughout the season with celtic and rangers. these teams are old rivals, and since the SPL is so small the entire season is weighted on the games against each other. The rest of the table this year with the exception of Gretna in the relegation zone is very tight..always good competition top-down. however, no one plays for the title as its almost out of the question anymore.

It would be good for the EPL to get two more solid 8-12 place teams which is where i think they would settle. there aren't any really consistent middle of the table finishers anymore in the last few years of the EPL. The major benefit would be to drop the teams that tend to be in limbo with the premier league and championship like watford, derby, charlton, and west brom permanently down. These teams kill the championship and get destroyed in the premier league due to lack of funds available for signings and stadium improvements, etc. Competition would be more intense top down and relegation battles would be better because there wouldn't be incredibly outmatched teams like derby locking up a relegation spot with 10 games left.

i think this would be a cool transfer, only downside is the SPL would lose almost all credibility that is has now.