US Soccer Catch-All

Prederick wrote:
Prederick wrote:

The USMNT's Brightest Dual National Is Suddenly On The Fence

Can't blame him in the slightest, the Oranje >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> USMNT.

Still though: :(

Well hot damn.

Guess we’ll see what it’s like to have a competent right back.

Prederick wrote:
Prederick wrote:

The USMNT's Brightest Dual National Is Suddenly On The Fence

Can't blame him in the slightest, the Oranje >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> USMNT.

Still though: :(

Well hot damn.

I was more than a little surprised to see that.

BlackSheep wrote:
Prederick wrote:
Prederick wrote:

The USMNT's Brightest Dual National Is Suddenly On The Fence

Can't blame him in the slightest, the Oranje >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> USMNT.

Still though: :(

Well hot damn.

Guess we’ll see what it’s like to have a competent right back.

I'll have you know DeAndre runs VERY fast.

(The kicking and tackling part, not so much but still!)

Heh, that's unexpected to say the least. Although I thought he looked adrift when he played for us a month or so ago.

Then again, the whole team looks adrift so he's fitting right in.

But yeah, good news I'd think?

Very nicely done Seattle. I'm interested to see how this ends (probably with back-to-back Atlanta titles but still).

@GrantWahl wrote:

If it’s the last thing I ever do, it will be to get them to officially change the name from “MLS Cup” to “MLS Cup final.” (The last games of the World Cup and FA Cup are not called “the World Cup” and “the FA Cup.”)

Agreed. Congrats to Seattle though!

Zlatan out, Thierry Henry in.

G'luck to Thierry, he walked into a sh*tstorm at Monaco and it did not work out (he wasn't great either) and I hope he makes it work here.

Prederick wrote:

Zlatan out

“Now go back to watch baseball.”

Hahaha. Like him or not, he definitely lives boldly.

Here we see the USMNT twitter account calling 2019 "a resurgent year" for the team.

That is definitely an adjective you can use.

Prederick wrote:

Here we see the USMNT twitter account calling 2019 "a resurgent year" for the team.

That is definitely an adjective you can use.

Hahahaha. The comments on that tweet tell the true story.

Prederick wrote:

Here we see the USMNT twitter account calling 2019 "a resurgent year" for the team.

That is definitely an adjective you can use.

Some have theorized that they meant it was a resurgent year for Zardes' national team output, but the text was ambiguous.

U.S. Soccer defends controversial hiring policy as numerous youth coaching jobs sit vacant

CHICAGO — On the third floor of U.S. Soccer House, an old mansion that serves as the headquarters for the U.S. Soccer Federation, there’s a bunch of clustered desks in one small room with whiteboards on the walls. This is where Gregg Berhalter and the coaching staff for the U.S. men’s national do their jobs: all together, face to face, in the same room.

Not only is the coaching staff working from the same office, which is new, but the USMNT staff is in the same building as most of the federation’s employees, having casual water cooler run-ins with U.S. Soccer’s press officers, legal counsel or social media gurus.

That’s exactly how Earnie Stewart, U.S. Soccer’s first sporting director, and president Carlos Cordeiro want it. It’s the result of the federation’s new “Chicago policy,” which asks everyone to move to Chicago and work at U.S. Soccer House or risk losing their job.

“In my mind, it’s unbelievable that our coaches are not together all the time,” Stewart told a small group of reporters Friday. “It’s one thing have formal conversations with each other, and these days you can do everything by computer and wifi, but we’ve now seen with myself, Kate (Markgraf) and the coaches, when you go to the coffee machine — and I know it sounds very simple — you’re talking about soccer once again.”

For Stewart, who vows the U.S. will build a cohesive style of play across every team at every age group, it’s a necessity. But the policy has been controversial within the American soccer community since it was implemented last year.

“It's ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous,” former USWNT coach Anson Dorrance told Soccer America this week. “Why narrow your coach hiring pool down by having all these ridiculous hurdles you have to clear?”

It may only exacerbate a problem where U.S. Soccer has more youth coach vacancies than coaches, critics say. These are the coaches responsible for developing the next players for the senior national teams, and it’s hard to build a style of play without any coaches to do it.

GNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGH

@GrantWahl wrote:

The last 4 USMNT coaches pre-Berhalter lived in Southern California, Southern California, Southern California and Southern California. They all had USSF offices and training sites there. But now they’re all required to live in frigid Chicago without USSF training sites?

GNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH

Is Chicago a hotbed of youth soccer? US Soccer House has been there for a while, longer than Cordeiro and Stewart, I believe.

I do understand that it's hard to coordinate remotely. We had a pipe break in my office and flood several floors this year, so we worked remotely for two and a half weeks. I worked from home. It sucked for teamwork, and productivity in general.

On the other hand, I'm not at all sure that US Soccer is better off than it was four years ago, to borrow a phrase from politics.

Here's a fun question: Is Pulisic already the best American player ever?

I think he's absolutely Top 5, right now.

Prederick wrote:

Here's a fun question: Is Pulisic already the best American player ever?

I think he's absolutely Top 5, right now.

Best talent? Possibly. Best career? It's certainly possible in the futute.

Fedaykin98 wrote:
Prederick wrote:

Here's a fun question: Is Pulisic already the best American player ever?

I think he's absolutely Top 5, right now.

Best talent? Possibly. Best career? It's certainly possible in the futute.

Howard and Dempsey are really the only two that have been more successful overseas. I suppose you could include Bradley with his successful stint in Bundesliga.

BlackSheep wrote:
Fedaykin98 wrote:
Prederick wrote:

Here's a fun question: Is Pulisic already the best American player ever?

I think he's absolutely Top 5, right now.

Best talent? Possibly. Best career? It's certainly possible in the futute.

Howard and Dempsey are really the only two that have been more successful overseas. I suppose you could include Bradley with his successful stint in Bundesliga.

Brian McBride?

Hrdina wrote:
BlackSheep wrote:
Fedaykin98 wrote:
Prederick wrote:

Here's a fun question: Is Pulisic already the best American player ever?

I think he's absolutely Top 5, right now.

Best talent? Possibly. Best career? It's certainly possible in the futute.

Howard and Dempsey are really the only two that have been more successful overseas. I suppose you could include Bradley with his successful stint in Bundesliga.

Brian McBride?

I’d put Landon Donovan up there before McBride. It’s an interesting conversation though.

BlackSheep wrote:
Hrdina wrote:
BlackSheep wrote:
Fedaykin98 wrote:
Prederick wrote:

Here's a fun question: Is Pulisic already the best American player ever?

I think he's absolutely Top 5, right now.

Best talent? Possibly. Best career? It's certainly possible in the futute.

Howard and Dempsey are really the only two that have been more successful overseas. I suppose you could include Bradley with his successful stint in Bundesliga.

Brian McBride?

I’d put Landon Donovan up there before McBride. It’s an interesting conversation though.

... and I guess we’re not considering women players because then all five would be women first for best American players at this moment.

Okay, I'm all for growing the game, but Charlotte will make 30 MLS teams, which is a lot.

I know I'm viewing this from the perspective a fan used to the European model, while the MLS is clearly trying a model that is more akin to the North American leagues. But 30 is still a lot.

Prederick wrote:

Okay, I'm all for growing the game, but Charlotte will make 30 MLS teams, which is a lot.

I know I'm viewing this from the perspective a fan used to the European model, while the MLS is clearly trying a model that is more akin to the North American leagues. But 30 is still a lot.

There is definitely room for concern over whether the rate of expansion is sustainable. Hopefully, the businesspeople involved are making smart decisions. We've had plenty of failed franchises and even leagues in the US, including soccer.

As a 5 Stripes fan, we can only hope that Charlotte will give us more of a rivalry than Orlando.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

Hopefully, the business-people involved are making smart decisions.

I'd feel better if I could there was a single North American league with 30 competent owners. Now i'm kinda curious to see whic one of these dudes will be revealed to be a complete clownfraud nitwit first.

Prederick wrote:

Okay, I'm all for growing the game, but Charlotte will make 30 MLS teams, which is a lot.

I know I'm viewing this from the perspective a fan used to the European model, while the MLS is clearly trying a model that is more akin to the North American leagues. But 30 is still a lot.

Eh, most American sports are constrained by talent. The NBA only has so many 7 foot guys wandering around North America. The NFL can barely field a handful of competent quarterbacks (though that's arguably on the NFL for never bothering to put together a real development program). Either of those leagues would be pushing 40 if they thought they could get away with it. Soccer's always going to have enough not-quite-Bundesliga caliber players to fill out a continent's worth of teams.

I think there's also a good argument that when you're a league who doesn't have great TV ratings, then it's worth covering as much physical territory as possible. They got to 36. Might even get to 40. Hasn't caused any problems yet. Talent's only getting stronger.

So they are trying to go for a game day payout model, where the TV money is small compared to the game day sales. Not sure how small a market you can get to and still pay the salaries needed to put players on the field that will attract enough viewers. Because even at 30k a year average salary for the minimum 20 professional people involved that's 600k a year or about 18k per game just for salary. Which I guess is doable if you get 6k people willing to pay more than 30 dollars per game, assuming your TV deal and sponsorships can cover everything but salary.

More of an investment/prestige model. Merritt Paulson paid something to the tune of 20 million for the Portland Timbers. They're worth 168 million now, and that's without a stadium. There's also a bit of a pyramid scheme aspect in that all the owners get a cut of the expansion fees.

But I think a lot of the current group think soccer will become a Big Three/Four sport in this country in the near to midterm future, and they want to get in if not on the ground floor, then before franchises start being valued in the billions. And yes, I'm aware people have been touting the rise of American soccer for fifty years, however in recent years it looks like it might actually be true.

kazooka wrote:

More of an investment/prestige model. Merritt Paulson paid something to the tune of 20 million for the Portland Timbers. They're worth 168 million now, and that's without a stadium. There's also a bit of a pyramid scheme aspect in that all the owners get a cut of the expansion fees.

But I think a lot of the current group think soccer will become a Big Three/Four sport in this country in the near to midterm future, and they want to get in if not on the ground floor, then before franchises start being valued in the billions. And yes, I'm aware people have been touting the rise of American soccer for fifty years, however in recent years it looks like it might actually be true.

I don’t really worry about ascendancy into the big 3/4 of sports. Selling your product - at stadiums primarily by selling out and then proving to tv markets that you’re a viable pickup for contract is perfect. I think they’re all doing a great job of growing the league right and not pressing terribly to over expand or overspend. The USLF was a comet, the biggest players in the world showed up but that’s not sustainable for team sales. You need people that follow the jersey and not necessarily the superstar you’ve signed.

Every FC Dallas game I go to is very well attended each and every game - they’re fun and exciting and affordable.

I'd actually prefer it land at a level somewhere around where NHL is right now: successful enough to be financially stable, but not burdened with all the bullsh*t of the bigger leagues, and still cheap enough for families to go without wrecking their vacation budgets.

That said, I think you can definitely look at baseball and football right now and conclude that there is some pretty solid opportunity for competitors to take market share in the mid-long term future.

1-0 over a decent Costa Rica. Not a good Costa Rica, but a decent one, and from where we've been recently, I'll take 1-0 over decent.

A win over a country of 5 million people.

USMNT! USMNT! USMNT!