Clearly ruined him. Can you imagine the hilarity of seeing him nutmeg defenders not only with the ball but also running between their legs himself?

His body literally would have broken. He wouldn't even be able to stay on the field nevermind excelling and standing out on a team

had no idea about this, but plenty of 5'7" dudes pay DB in HS. I mean you see some guys in the 5'9" range in the pros.

So yeah, I had no idea that Messi was literally a PED-fueled laboratory creation. If he followed the normal growth trajectory of a human mammal he could have played HS football.

midget fatty with no energy and undropped bollocks = not making it as a DB in HS

Right but unless turning midgets into superstar athletes using PEDs is somehow widespread in Euro soccerball it doesn't really seem relevant to my point. Most elite Euro soccer players would have been good high school football players.

There are plenty of short RBs. I presume Messi would have been an elite running back in high school because I presume someone with the GOAT speed/vision/elusiveness/turning circle in the world's most played sport would be incredibly difficult to stop for most high school teams. Same way Lebron, if brought up in England would without doubt be a talented high school soccer player as a goalkeeper, winger, centre back, full back or striker, also an elite bowler and batter in cricket and so on. American Messi's chances of playing in the NFL and British Lebron's chances of playing in the PL are both <2%.

Yup. Lol at people comparing against pro athletes, when the comparison should clearly be how a youth would do from 5-16 or so.

George Weah's son playing for usa #1's u17s and scoring hat-tricks uh nice

Most pro athletes in a major sport would be decent high school players in nearly any sport (excepting height freaks like basketball centers). That's not saying anything. Pretty much any random kid in Spain would be region player of the year in soccer in US high school soccer.

What folks are missing is that in the US most kids (including future pros) start playing football at around age 11-12. Messi was already a star at the age of 12, with like 6 years of club football behind him, and already having won a major international soccer tournament ...

At my high school little soccer player type guys didn't get any playing time except as RBs if they were blazing fast. Messi could have played as a RB. I am a completely ordinary athlete, about Ronaldo's size, and I was a two way all downs starter in high school football - but I was too small and too lacking in athleticism to even consider playing college ball. The difference between "high school player" and "pro" is not too different from the difference between "got an A in high school physics" and "professor of physics at Berkeley". US pro soccer players are to professors in Peru what soccer players in Peru are to professors in the US. Peru has no successful system for training professors and has to send its bright kids abroad to do PhDs in other countries ...

Some of the posts in this thread are just bizarre.

This is legit the dumbest thing I have ever read in my life.

I would submit this thread as all the reasons why our NT has fallen off the earth

This guy wants the job of coaching the USMNT

Seeing as how the other 5 favorites are all currently coaching in MLS, he can have the job.

He has forgot more about football than most people know.

Would be a great appointment if only for his shady baggage.

Thread still the worst football thread ever.

Full of delusional halfwits.

1)

it's on the DARK WEB now, but that Politics Unchained thread I started is probably extremely not good but it's good if you like seeing ikes get trolled. So actually it's really really good.

https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/2...hread-1451811/

...

plz be hiring FAT SAM

Then you know nothing about doctoral programs. Change "Peru" for any economically developed country you like and the claim is the same. Doctoral programs are inexistent, and talented future scientists go abroad to study. There's a reason half the PhDs awarded in the US in real disciplines (science) are given to foreigners.

One of the few institutionalized contexts that is really somewhat comparable to professional athletics is research science. A research scientist at a major university is comparably elite to a professional soccer/football/basketball player. Probably more so. A typical US university carries 80+ football players, but maybe 10-20 physics doctoral students. And similarly, to realize potential, a lot of training and development is required. The reward structures are different, and that matters, but some ideas are viable in both contexts. One of them is sending talent abroad to where it can receive the best training. Poorer countries tend to spend public money to send their future scientists/engineers abroad to study. The US could do the same with its soccer talent.

I would actually be ok with us hiring Fat Sam. He’s not one of the greats but he gets results. He would set us up in a way that would get the best out of the limited talent that we have and he’s always willing to say things how they are. Might shake up the soccer mom coddled MLS players.

Sam would be perfect for those ITT who want a basketball player as a target man up front.

Haha