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Americans may never have passion for soccer the way the rest of the world does
The Key word here is Passion, unlike Football, Baseball and Basketball, soccer does not create much Passion in Americans like it does to Europeans or South Americans. In Europe and South America babies are born with a soccer ball in their crib and take that ball to school with them starting in kindergarten, they develop a PASSION for the game since the second they are born. Soccer (Football) is in the fabric of many European and South American countries, it is their pride and joy, ask Maradona about it!
The Key word here is Passion, unlike Football, Baseball and Basketball, soccer does not create much Passion in Americans like it does to Europeans or South Americans.
There are some of us Americans who do care about soccer just as much as Europeans and South Americans.
Maybe you should have tried to organize "soccer" the same way the rest of the world does. Only in the US you have these "closed" leagues and franchise systems. A lot of the passion in football stems from the fact that the teams represents different areas of cities. There is seldom no room for derby games in US sports. In my city, Stockholm Sweden, we have three major teams, all from different parts of the city. My team is the pride of south Stockholm, and when we meet for example our rivals from the north side of town the atmosphere is electric. All three teams in Stockholm has been around since the 1890s, so you can imagine the rivalry that has built up through the years.
To move a team from one part of the country to another would be virtually impossible. The local fans IS the team. Most teams also have a Hockey section, so i couldnt imagine supporting another team in other sports.
Last fall my team finished last and was relegated to the shi**y second division. God knows how many years it will take us to win the second division to earn promotion to the first again. The supporters of the other two teams really thrive in this. We are being ridiculed at workplaces and on the streets relentlessly.
BUT, when we eventually will return to the top flight...Jeez, people will storm the pitch, party for days. Euphoria to say the least.
When you cant be relegated like in the US, you take away a big part of the game. To hit rock bottom from time to time builds character, builds passion.
And skip the drafting system. If Chicago produces great players, well, then Chicago should have a great team. Period.
Well, this is how things are done in Sweden. Our teams aren't very massive on a European scale, but our passion is still the same.
My team is Hammarby IF
capturing some of the passion before and during derby games, invading the other part of town etc:
Americans will never truly be good at soccer because it isnt their culture. They dont even have a national team people will want to rally around.
Their players go to europe and are uncoachable(Adu,beasely..ect)
They lack the patience to build up effective offense(as proven by WC 2006)
typically dirty players(As seen by their tackles and Donovans attack on ashley cole recently)
American players are kinda like their fans, they lack heart.
The gooch is a big man...but look at the way he submitted to little Dos santos. This was a qualifier match too...no heart. A home game for americans dosent exist. Their fans see this lack of heart from their players and they wont show.
Giuseppi Rossi was smart to jump ship from this country long ago...He'd probably be on some middle of the road English team without passion if he didnt. No kid dreams of playing for the US national team. I remember as a kid over here only a few of us liked soccer, and all of us dreamed about growing up and playing for teams like france,Spain,england, and Brasil. Atleast they have passion
The closest analogy to soccer in sports has to be ice hockey, if you ignore the substitutions and time outs. Similar flowing action end to end, and scorelines as well. Americans tend to be obsessed with statistical driven sports. I love basketball and football, barely tolerate baseball but have issues with all of them.
Assists in ANY sport - Has to be the dumbest stat invented. Don't get me wrong, I love the skills exhibited by a point guard that can run rings around other players the length of the court then dish it for a score, but I'm even more impressed when that player stops on a dime, with a pull up jumper that hits nothing but net, or kisses it off the glass. Somehow being credited for the pass that led to a score seems absurd. Pele scored something like 1100 goals during his career, some spectacular game winners along the way, but I wonder how many remember, or even care,who passed the ball for those scores.
Tackles - Oh boy! John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic feel really left out in this category. Especially when their tackles lead to a 'pick'/'fumble' and 'assist' for goals. :-)
Catch- Can't find any fault with this particular stat. In fact I applaud anyone that can run full speed to a spot, turn and catch the mini-missile coming out of the cannon(QB) pointed their way, hang on to the ball as a 200 lbs + missile tries to pulverize them into oblivion, spin and canter into the end zone for a score. I however have a problem with the cannon(QB) being at fault(incomplete pass) when the receiver is separated from the ball because the 200 lb missile succeeds in doing it's job. Or worse yet, when the receiver has a serious case of the dropsies (T.O)...:-)
Steals/Turnovers - Bad passes count too! What a concept! I bet defensive midfielders would love to have that stat in soccer. Jon Obi Mikel and Michael Essien would become the kings of that stat.
Hits - I applaud the hand/eye co-ordination of Ichiro, but a slap hit to get him to 1st is silly especially when it's done once every three at bats. If he hits it out of the park, Bravo, that's what the game is all about, the score, not just getting into scoring positions. Horst Hrubesch, former German international striker, was great at getting into scoring positions but his strike rate was appalling.
The only thing I'd change about soccer is the draw outcome. No more ties/draws!!! Play 90 minutes, if no winner, penalties to decide the winner.You get 4 points for a 90 minute win and 2 points if the game's decided by penalties. That should scare the defensive minded teams enough to have a clear winner in regulation.
Americans will never truly be good at soccer because it isnt their culture. They dont even have a national team people will want to rally around.
Americans are not a top-class soccer country because it isnt in our culture currently. But, neither you or anyone else can say with certainly that it will never happen.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nasuba
Their players go to europe and are uncoachable(Adu,beasely..ect)
Really? Is that why more and more European clubs are paying transfer fees for American players and pulling players straight from American universities? There are tons of Americans playing in Europe now.
David Moyes and other managers would completely disagree with you on that statement.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nasuba
They lack the patience to build up effective offense(as proven by WC 2006)
I'm not going to necessarily disagree here but I would say it is more a problem of finishing rather than building.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nasuba
typically dirty players(As seen by their tackles and Donovans attack on ashley cole recently)
This is just a ridiculous statement. American players have never been labeled dirty. The tackle on Cole was not that bad and Landon is not a dirty player.
Central American and Mexican players are dirty, US players do not fit that mold.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nasuba
Giuseppi Rossi was smart to jump ship from this country long ago...He'd probably be on some middle of the road English team without passion if he didnt. No kid dreams of playing for the US national team. I remember as a kid over here only a few of us liked soccer, and all of us dreamed about growing up and playing for teams like france,Spain,england, and Brasil. Atleast they have passion
Rossi is a bad human being such as yourself. He takes advantage of the wonderful opportunities offered by the US and then when it is time to return the favor, he bails.
Tons of kids dream of playing for the US. I did and so did my friends growing up.
You know, you can move out of the US since this is such a horrible country.
Funny how an american who likes soccer automatically becomes a mexican
All that antagonistic crap you've posted before leads me to believe such. Odd how I reply to a broad generalization with another generalization, but I'm the only one in the wrong.
Let's not forget that Nasuba stated that Freddy Adu is the best American player. That should say a lot.
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