Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

What Makes a Country Good at Football.

Collapse
X
  •  
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    What Makes a Country Good at Football.

    Interesting article from the Economist.


    https://www.economist.com/internatio...od-at-football

    #2
    I know everyone's talking about the investment China is making in soccer. But if they train them like they do their gymnasts, with no creativity and passion, they'll just be robots (like DA on steroids). It's not just about dollars and cents but intangibles like the quality of leadership, coaching, national pride, personalities.

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
      I know everyone's talking about the investment China is making in soccer. But if they train them like they do their gymnasts, with no creativity and passion, they'll just be robots (like DA on steroids). It's not just about dollars and cents but intangibles like the quality of leadership, coaching, national pride, personalities.
      They値l win it all in 8 yrs.
      We値l still be trying to qualify-but we値l have all the intangibles covered

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
        They値l win it all in 8 yrs.
        We値l still be trying to qualify-but we値l have all the intangibles covered
        We can't develop 20 quality players in a nation of 300M. Maybe China can with over 1B.

        Comment


          #5
          I don't need to read the link.
          Because I know IT'S THE ACCENT, MATE. THE BLOODY ACCENT.

          Comment


            #6
            It's just cultural. If the residents of Massachusetts cared as much about soccer as they do the Patriots, then Massachusetts could be a world power in soccer.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
              It's just cultural. If the residents of Massachusetts cared as much about soccer as they do the Patriots, then Massachusetts could be a world power in soccer.
              That's part of the problem. No one cares about soccer. The other top sports attract the athletes, fans and money

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                It's just cultural. If the residents of Massachusetts cared as much about soccer as they do the Patriots, then Massachusetts could be a world power in soccer.
                There are genetics and ethnicity at play as well.
                Our best pure athletes play basketball.
                In the rest of the world, they play soccer, regardless of color.
                Soccer in the US has become a lily-white experience. Not sure why, but I知 sure the pay-to-play model has something to do with it.
                Until we see a shift in this paradigm, throwing all the Huddinks in the world at it won稚 change a thing

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                  There are genetics and ethnicity at play as well.
                  Our best pure athletes play basketball.
                  In the rest of the world, they play soccer, regardless of color.
                  Soccer in the US has become a lily-white experience. Not sure why, but I知 sure the pay-to-play model has something to do with it.
                  Until we see a shift in this paradigm, throwing all the Huddinks in the world at it won稚 change a thing
                  But it's also cultural - kids aspire to be their heroes who tend to be people like them. Basketball and increasingly football is predominantly African American. When their friends all play sports other than soccer, or their parents follow certain sports, it's more likely they will as well. Basketball, football, track still offer chances to get noticed by college coaches. With soccer it's almost exclusively pay--to-play club soccer and costly showcases.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                    There are genetics and ethnicity at play as well.
                    Our best pure athletes play basketball.
                    In the rest of the world, they play soccer, regardless of color.
                    Soccer in the US has become a lily-white experience. Not sure why, but I知 sure the pay-to-play model has something to do with it.
                    Until we see a shift in this paradigm, throwing all the Huddinks in the world at it won稚 change a thing
                    Disagree completely with boy's/men's soccer. Take a look at Bayside or Bruno teams based in Providence and they are heavily "minority". Take a look at any club with Boston-based regional teams and they have plenty of minorities on the roster. Same with Revs.

                    As to tired argument of "our best athletes play other sports", I never hear of kids who make NPL/ECNL/DA who then decide to quit soccer and go play football or basketball and become pro. I see plenty of good athletes at lower levels decide to pursue other sports, especially Lax. The US has always fielded athletic teams. It was technical skill and tactical understanding that was lacking compared to the Europeans. All that is easily explained by our poor grassroots coaching at younger levels when technical skills are taught and our emphasis on college soccer when European teenagers are committed to going pro and making a first team. There also isn't enough money in MLS currently to incentivize more families to forgo college for pro soccer, but that is slowly changing.

                    Now, change your premise to girl's soccer is a lily-white experience and I'll support that statement, but outside of college, there is no money in women's soccer. There are few free academies and ECNL is about as expensive a league as you'll find in youth sports.

                    Comment

                    Previously entered content was automatically saved. Restore or Discard.
                    Auto-Saved
                    x
                    Insert: Thumbnail Small Medium Large Fullsize Remove  
                    x
                    Working...
                    X