Soccer

[MDS]

jk doesnt deserve to get fired for this specific performance or what happened in this tournament

but 6 years removed from peak bob bradley....the farg is better?

[Rome]

I really don't know.  I don't see how a head coach can make mediocre talent good enough to compete against the likes of Argentina, Germany and Spain.   They looked inferior in every way tonight.  They certainly missed Wood and Jones but neither of them would have made any difference.  They'll keep qualifying for the World Cup and occasionally pulling off a big upset against a ranked team, but the bottom line is we don't produce great soccer players in this country, and until we do, we'll continue getting thoroughly embarrassed.

[QB Eagles]

Can't really complain about advancing further than Brazil and Mexico. It'd be nice to see them win one they aren't supposed to for once, but there was no way it was ever going to be against Argentina.

[MDS]

its not that, its the fact that theyre no better than they were the last time they fired a coach. in fact, they may be worse.

i know jones and wood were out, but to start beckerman and wondo in this match is an abomination. whether jk didnt trust pulisic and nagbe or whether those 2 are really the best options is irrelevant. the fact that it came to this is telling of where the program is -- not remotely close to sniffing world class football.

[Rome]

He played it safe.  That's really all there is to say.   He could have shown some balls and taken a shot with the kids but he's like a high school football coach that *refuses* to play freshmen even if the freshmen have all-state talent. 

Honestly, though... who are they going to replace Klinsmann with who'd be any better with this collection of marginal talent?

[QB Eagles]

It's not really a secret by this point that Klinsmann hasn't revolutionized the program. The US isn't set up to nurture soccer talent. Even if some prodigy like Messi happens to be born in America, and manages to reach 18 without his development being stunted by the subpar soccer environment here, the rest of the US team will still be the crap you see today.

[ice grillin you]

just saw the us had zero shots....what a garbage ass sport

[Rome]

Do you say the same thing about baseball when a pitcher throws a no-hitter?

Or when a football defense totally dominates an offense?

For someone who claims to detest ignorance, you sure seem to be a fan of it yourself. 

[ice grillin you]

football is no comparison because even in a defensive game you still have sacks and turnovers and tackles and fg's and a touchdown or two...so there is still watchable excitement...shtein really in football the equivalent to no shots would be i guess no first downs or maybe no first downs with no completed passes...and a no hitter is exciting as shtein

also these things in other sports never happen....how often does no shots happen in soccer...they mentioned it on sportscenter but it didn't seem like a big deal...it wasn't presented with the exciting rarity of a no hitter...so im assuming no shots is a semi regular thing in soccer?

[smeags]

the simple fact is, soccer is never going to be a big enough in the US where the country produces a world class team.

its a huge youth sport but there's no real draw beyond local rec teams and school.

[ice grillin you]

yeah because we have these little things called baseball basketball hockey and football and words cant come close to describing how much better sports they are

in the rest of the world soccer competes with cricket and jai lai

[QB Eagles]

Zero shots isn't that unusual in international soccer. Sometimes even both teams have zero shots. In a league with more evenly matched teams, like the EPL, zero shots would be a lot rarer. The game isn't hockey, and shots aren't the same thing as chances to score. The team with more shots wins far less than in hockey. A lot of shots are hopeless, and a lot of great chances to score are broken up by the good plays by the defense or the keeper before they result in a shot statistic. The US could have taken shots like Mexico took against Chile, but those Mexican shots were totally worthless. The shots thing on its own is not that relevant. Possession % (68-32 in this one) is probably a little better way of determining the level of dominance.

- Prior to the game it wasn't impossible for the US to win, but it was close. Like <2% chance. That's a much lower chance than you'll see in any professional North American league, no matter what two teams are playing. The right sports analogy for this match was a top college football team playing one of their cupcake games.
- It was even more dominant than expected because Argentina was playing at the top of their game and the US was worse than they usually are, probably due to the suspended players.
- The US isn't competitive with the top teams, but they aren't the worst team either. They will come away with 3rd or (probably) 4th place in this tournament. The team got their ass beat but it's not an embarrassment on par with what Brazil or Mexico suffered. They beat the teams they were supposed to, and lost to the teams they were supposed to.

[smeags]

- The US isn't competitive with the top teams, but they aren't the worst team either. They will come away with 3rd or (probably) 4th place in this tournament. The team got their ass beat but it's not an embarrassment on par with what Brazil or Mexico suffered. They beat the teams they were supposed to, and lost to the teams they were supposed to.

this would pretty much sum it up for me. they aren't world class, but they aren't trash either. I just don't know if that will change anytime soon.

[QB Eagles]

It won't.

[ice grillin you]

Zero shots isn't that unusual in international soccer. Sometimes even both teams have zero shots. In a league with more evenly matched teams, like the EPL, zero shots would be a lot rarer. The game isn't hockey, and shots aren't the same thing as chances to score. The team with more shots wins far less than in hockey. A lot of shots are hopeless, and a lot of great chances to score are broken up by the good plays by the defense or the keeper before they result in a shot statistic. The US could have taken shots like Mexico took against Chile, but those Mexican shots were totally worthless. The shots thing on its own is not that relevant. Possession % (68-32 in this one) is probably a little better way of determining the level of dominance.

you are supposed to be defending soccer and explaining why its an awesome sport...everything you just said makes it somehow sound even worse than I thought it was...

ive watched enough of it to know I will never like it but I truly want to know why real fans like it...and im not talking about American fans who like just dressing up funny and going to a party...who base their fandom on nationalism or just want to be different cause so many people hate soccer...I get the appeal of all that...im talking about the real fans around the world who truly think its a great sport...is it because they just grew up with it and are used to it?

for example I would never try and defend baseball to someone who doesn't like it because there is no real defense...but I grew up on it so I love it...is that an apt comparison to what real soccer fans would say and how they feel....or would they try and say some shtein like soccer is truly a better (or even in the same galaxy) sport than say football or basketball?