OT: The Real Failure of USMNT
Excellent article by the other "Brian" on USMNT here.
If you don't know Brian Phillips's sportswriting, it's quite good (google around for more).
Here's a quote from this article:
Christian Pulisic, the 19-year-old who’s currently the 357th anointed savior of American men’s soccer, played pretty well. The rest of the team? Well, I’d say it was like watching a group of vacationing dentists try organized sport for the first time, but there are reasons to fear dentists. Dentists know how to hurt people.
October 15th, 2017 at 12:15 PM ^
Not done with the O'Korn bashing...please try again later.
October 15th, 2017 at 12:54 PM ^
Pretend that O'korns and Speights are the last names of all the USMNT players.
October 15th, 2017 at 12:38 PM ^
October 15th, 2017 at 12:39 PM ^
October 15th, 2017 at 12:52 PM ^
October 15th, 2017 at 1:23 PM ^
October 15th, 2017 at 1:24 PM ^
MGoBlog has a tradition of talking about soccer going back years. Here is one of Brian's first posts in 2009: http://mgoblog.com/diaries/ot-usmnt-going-get-boned-friday
You may not like it and that's fine. But it's not like this is a new thing. People on this Board care about it and want to talk about it.
October 15th, 2017 at 1:42 PM ^
October 15th, 2017 at 1:56 PM ^
So here is the off topic post:
On TOPIC
Michigan sports (obviously).
Big Ten stuff, or stuff about future opponents.
Meta posts about the blog itself.
University & Ann Arbor-related items.
Major collegiate news: Tim Floyd resigning is on topic.
SORT OF ON TOPIC
College sports in general... at your discretion.
OFF TOPIC
Things that are obviously off topic.
Pro sports.
Now "Pro Sports" was declared off topic in the beginning. You were around back then. That post was four months before you joined.
But wait look: Lions v. Saints thread! A post for the NFL.
That's because people care. The Board went with it. Soccer has been around from the beginning of this website and Board. If you want to make your case, go to the moderators and make your case.
Otherwise, just admit to yourself that you don't like soccer so you find it irritating. And that's okay. Can't you comment on another post?
October 15th, 2017 at 2:05 PM ^
October 15th, 2017 at 2:14 PM ^
October 15th, 2017 at 2:29 PM ^
October 15th, 2017 at 1:50 PM ^
October 15th, 2017 at 2:20 PM ^
...Would you prefer bowling?
And would it bother you if I said I don't give a shit about the NFL, but don't really care if others post about it?
October 15th, 2017 at 1:07 PM ^
October 15th, 2017 at 1:20 PM ^
Jermaine Jones went on this 15 minute rant here
One point he makes is that the players should want to play in Europe (around the 8 minute mark). MLS is hurting us. It makes a lot of sense. The best basketball players want to play in the NBA. We should want to play in the La Liga, the Premier Leauge and Bundesliga -- not the MLS. This is want Jürgen Klinsmann said.
Also, I wish we adopt something like the Iceland model. "There is an artificial pitch next to every school in the country." and
"The licensing structure has done a great deal to standardize the level of instruction players receive, and in general, the more qualified coaches a country has the better that country is at soccer."
October 15th, 2017 at 1:31 PM ^
October 15th, 2017 at 1:37 PM ^
As somebody who was following the USMNT before 1986 (not easy), I thought this article was spot on.
I don't follow the politics of US soccer much though. Who exactly is it that votes in February for / against Gulati?
Is it a real election by a cross section of legitimate constituencies? Or is it just a politburo-style rubber stamp committee of Gulati's cronies?
Given that this is international soccer, I don't have my hopes up for any real change.
October 15th, 2017 at 1:47 PM ^
October 15th, 2017 at 4:01 PM ^
How do you manage to win all those "elections"?
October 15th, 2017 at 2:23 PM ^
October 15th, 2017 at 3:54 PM ^
October 15th, 2017 at 2:29 PM ^
"For me, and I think for many American fans, the immortal flub of this qualifying campaign has driven home the fragility of my faith in the team’s path. For a long time I was willing to tell myself that the professionals knew what they were doing. Now I think we’ve given too much trust to leaders who’ve done a better job selling their own competence than demonstrating it."
If that doesn't sum up the hubris of the United States right now - in nearly all of its aspects - I don't know what does.
US Soccer is the off-topic canary in the coal mine.
October 15th, 2017 at 4:07 PM ^
October 15th, 2017 at 5:12 PM ^
That is your fault for watching CONCACAF, which, in my opinion, is the worst qualifying group with automatic places (excluding Asia). The UEFA tourneys and the CONEMBOL qualifiers have entertaining matches.International soccer will not be as mesmerizing as club soccer mostly because the time to develop chemistry is not there; but to say the players don't care is hogwash--did you not watch/read about Messi and Roman Torres delivering for their respective countries?
October 15th, 2017 at 6:27 PM ^