Al Posted May 24, 2014 Report Share Posted May 24, 2014 I don't expect soccer to surpass the big four. Not for a long time at least. But it's reached a point where it's viable, and I'm perfectly comfortable with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Death From Above Posted May 26, 2014 Report Share Posted May 26, 2014 Actually, most analysts say it's only a matter of time until the US wins the World Cup. They have a far larger talent pool and the ability to produce more elite players than every other country, it's just a matter of them putting it all together. I can't remember which British analyst it was last year who said, "The US is becoming a force in our sport, and they will be a force for many years, because once they start winning, everyone else is in trouble." Literally not a single analyst in their right mind believes this is going to happen. Maybe around when Germany is destroyed by a black hole created in a Hadron Collider accident and Brazil crushed by a toxic waste rainforest mutant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KB8 Posted May 26, 2014 Report Share Posted May 26, 2014 The "once ___ starts ___, they/he/she/it won't stop for a long, long time" line seems to be retroactively thrown at everything these days. "Once Spain start winning they won't stop for a long, long time." "Once Aaron Ramsey starts scoring he won't stop for a long, long time." "Once Andrea Pirlo grows a beard he'll be even better." (might've made that one up) I'm going to Florida in three week's time and will be there for most of the remainder of the World Cup. Will American interest be high right from the start, or will they somehow need to make it out of the group they're in before folks really start getting excited about it? I'd like to go to a bar and watch at least one USA game, so what kind of atmosphere can I expect? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted May 27, 2014 Report Share Posted May 27, 2014 A little off-topic, but I'd probably go gay for Pirlo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchistxx Posted May 27, 2014 Report Share Posted May 27, 2014 Does wrestling have an equivalent to Pirlo? A good looking, impossibly cool, suave veteran who pretty much everyone admires and purrs over? Pirlo has been on top of the card for years and still hasn't got stale. The booking has been excellent, with well times peaks and troughs. The only mark against him is his lack of work in other promotions - he is more of a Sting figure in that respect, staying loyal to his roots even though his particular promotion is declining. and spurning the advances of the big stage to do his own thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KB8 Posted May 27, 2014 Report Share Posted May 27, 2014 Reading his book I get the sense he'd be a great promo as well. "I lifted my eyes to the heavens and asked for help because if God exists, there's no way he's French." "I took a long, intense breath. That breath was mine, but it could have been the manual worker who struggles to make it to the end of the month, the rich businessman who is a bit of a shit, the teacher, the student, the Italian expats who never left our side during the tournament, the well-to-do Milanese signora, the hooker on the street corner. In that moment, I was all of them." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stiva Posted May 27, 2014 Report Share Posted May 27, 2014 Reading his book I get the sense he'd be a great promo as well. "I lifted my eyes to the heavens and asked for help because if God exists, there's no way he's French." I've really got to pick that up soon. Maybe once England have beaten them in their first group game Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted May 28, 2014 Report Share Posted May 28, 2014 I don't expect soccer to surpass the big four. Not for a long time at least. But it's reached a point where it's viable, and I'm perfectly comfortable with that. I think one could argue it's passed Hockey. I don't know if I'd go quite that far... but a reasonable case could be made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted May 28, 2014 Report Share Posted May 28, 2014 Does wrestling have an equivalent to Pirlo? A good looking, impossibly cool, suave veteran who pretty much everyone admires and purrs over? Pirlo has been on top of the card for years and still hasn't got stale. The booking has been excellent, with well times peaks and troughs. The only mark against him is his lack of work in other promotions - he is more of a Sting figure in that respect, staying loyal to his roots even though his particular promotion is declining. and spurning the advances of the big stage to do his own thing. I guess Leagues are promotions and Teams are "stables"? Since he has jumped stables, and taken success with him from one to the next. The World Cup is an odd bird: Wreslemania Starcade Rumble all together. Zidane to a degree was the Hogan of 2006, though the funny thing was Italia and Pirlo kicked out of the legdrop to get the win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steenalized Posted June 3, 2014 Report Share Posted June 3, 2014 I don't expect soccer to surpass the big four. Not for a long time at least. But it's reached a point where it's viable, and I'm perfectly comfortable with that. I think one could argue it's passed Hockey. I don't know if I'd go quite that far... but a reasonable case could be made. I'd say it depends on the area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheapshot Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 It's most of them, American and foreign. When the USA puts their resources behind an international sports endeavor there's really no one else who can compete, that's why often times they still put on good showings with less than quality athletes. Maybe it won't happen, but I'm not about to go against a bevy of people within the sport who know way more about it than I do. This is the most ill informed post I've read on here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillThompson Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 It's most of them, American and foreign. When the USA puts their resources behind an international sports endeavor there's really no one else who can compete, that's why often times they still put on good showings with less than quality athletes. Maybe it won't happen, but I'm not about to go against a bevy of people within the sport who know way more about it than I do. This is the most ill informed post I've read on here. It's actually not. Look at amateur wrestling as an example. We've pulled resources and money away from our amateur program for years now, to the point where it's now one of the least funded programs out there. Yet, because of the size of the nation and the talent pool that naturally produces America is still able to produce world class amateur wrestlers who can compete with anyone and win on the big stage. And again, I'm not even putting forth my own opinion, but the opinion put forth by analysts, which basically means it can't be ill informed as I'm speaking about something they've informed me on. Either way, I'm not a huge football fan, probably won't even watch one World Cup game, so it's doesn't matter to me in the end whether the analysts were right, wrong, or completely crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 They aren't very good analysts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stiva Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 It's most of them, American and foreign. When the USA puts their resources behind an international sports endeavor there's really no one else who can compete, that's why often times they still put on good showings with less than quality athletes. Maybe it won't happen, but I'm not about to go against a bevy of people within the sport who know way more about it than I do. This is the most ill informed post I've read on here. It's actually not. Look at amateur wrestling as an example. We've pulled resources and money away from our amateur program for years now, to the point where it's now one of the least funded programs out there. Yet, because of the size of the nation and the talent pool that naturally produces America is still able to produce world class amateur wrestlers who can compete with anyone and win on the big stage. And again, I'm not even putting forth my own opinion, but the opinion put forth by analysts, which basically means it can't be ill informed as I'm speaking about something they've informed me on. Either way, I'm not a huge football fan, probably won't even watch one World Cup game, so it's doesn't matter to me in the end whether the analysts were right, wrong, or completely crazy. Yeah, dude, the major mistake here is trusting football analysts. They're constantly the most ill-informed, knee-jerking people paid to talk about sport. The US throwing money at a sport doesn't stop other nations from producing the players and coaching methods they have for decades now. If talent pool was an issue, The Soviet Union would have won the World Cup. Instead, the last World Cup final was Spain vs. Holland who have a combined population of around 60 million. I don't doubt the US COULD put together a pretty great international set-up but it involves an insanely well-structured system that involves extensive youth coaching, the quality of your national league, the number of coaches produced and their methods. Throwing money at something isn't the answer in a sport where the biggest leagues in Europe already have more money than you can possibly spend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 Obviously the problem is that with soccer, unlike football, the youth leagues in the States aren't about winning but just being included and having fun. You can see why the Soviets never dominated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riggsen Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 I think there has been a steady progress since their world cup debut in 1990. Everybody thought they were a joke back then. By now they are seen as a considerable threat on a good day. There needs to be an american star player, and I am not talking about Landon Donovan, who is barely an average player. I am not sure about Klinsmann as the coach. He is a good motivator, but not much more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbo Slice Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 For such a good motivator and not much more, he sure figured it out with some of his best going down. What a win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riggsen Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 Hey, I am cheering for the US team as well. But I don't see how that disproves my point. I think he is good to motivate a team for a short term goal like the world cup, but longterm development is another thing. He sparked a new enthusiasm in the german team 2006, but everybody was aware, that the tactical part was Jogi Löw and Hansi Flick. His Munich stint wasn't that great. I do think the US team might upset Portugal, but I think Germany is out of their league. But I am biased on that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indikator Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 If you want to look at a small country with excellent talent scouting then Holland is your best target. Mostly I only know about East Germany, but it was apparent that the best players didn't necessarily make it. You had to be in the party first and foremost. Talent was secondary at best for your career. Spy on your teammates, suck up to the party officials and you will be "successful" by socialist/communist standards. And what happened after the German reunification? East German players saved our ass from 199X-200X. And West Germany had 4 times the population. I really don't think that US amateur wrestling should be looked like that, it neglects the fact that the other countries don't necessarily have invested more money into it and often enough they are also lacking knowledge. It was interesting for me to read Karl Gotch letters, he stated that he had no chance as nobody in his camp had the knowledge and WWII had eliminated many of his (potential) trainers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoS Posted May 8, 2015 Report Share Posted May 8, 2015 I would have posted this sooner, but I did not realise that there was a football thread here. Can I just say that Messi's performance against Bayern a couple of days ago is one of the greatest performances I have ever seen in sports history? (Please bear in mind that I do not follow American sports, so my sample size is limited.) I know we can all be prisoners of the moment and it is too soon and presumptuous of me to say that, but I do stand by it. In terms of sheer individual performance, it is probably the equivalent of Ric Flair carrying a very green Lex Luger to a 3-3.5 star-match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted May 12, 2015 Report Share Posted May 12, 2015 I'm not even sure it's one of the 10... or 20 best Messi performances that I've seen. *That* is how good Messi is. I'm not sure what the best I've seen Messi in. This is always high on the list: * his pass on the opening goal sublime - perfectly weighted to be instride with Iniesta but not reachable by Iker (the keeper) * the paintbrush deft touch on the second goal (his first) * sliding volley late to win the Cup and cause Madrid to completely lose their shit afterwards (fucking Ramos which isn't in this package) He had another of other terrific plays in the game that aren't on this. If anyone wants to see Barca at the height of their powers, the two legs of this Super Cup along with the league Classic before the winter break are the places to start. They're actually *better* than they were in May 2011 when they kicked the crap out of my team. Then there's this one: It's technically a "friendly", but when Brasil and Argentina get together, it's an Unfriendly as these two teams hate each other more than any US-based rivalries. A slew of goals by both teams, a slew of goals by Messi, with another "we're not settling for a tie... let's end this fucker!" late goal that just busts the balls of Brasil. One of his best "slalom run goals". Anyway, the best of Messi tends to be when you get both the sublime goals and also some of his perfect passes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoS Posted March 16, 2016 Report Share Posted March 16, 2016 It's 4 A.M in my part of the world, and I am really not thinking clearly. Neymar has Windham-like potential, and is Kobashi-like in his awesome rookieness. Hopefully, he goes on to realise his potential. Football is beautiful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ButchReedMark Posted March 21, 2016 Report Share Posted March 21, 2016 It's not when you're standing in the rain with no cover on a Tuesday night in Grimsby or somewhere freezing to death watching your team capitulate to a grim 2-0 defeat while burning your mouth on an atomically warmed Chicken Balti pie, all the while knowing you're not going to get home until after 3am. Football is hell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotJayTabb Posted March 21, 2016 Report Share Posted March 21, 2016 Yeah, considering there are 92 teams in the Football League, and only one gets to be champion (never mind the countless teams in the non-leagues), for most football fans it's ultimately depressing. Especially when your team is the football equivalent of Barry Horowitz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Redman Posted March 21, 2016 Report Share Posted March 21, 2016 I love football with all my heart, but it is the most frustrating sport I've ever played. I think it's because the in-game effort-to-reward ratio is so depressingly lopsided. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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