Off Topic · World Cup 2010! (page 29)

nyk4ever wrote:

jimimou wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

jimimou wrote:btw - coach otto resigns yesterday as greece's head coach.

wheres the passion from this guy? i guess some stereotypes just aren't true..

are you kidding, my post above was just OOOOOZING with passion!

haha i was talking about the greek coach.

Hes German. That explains it. If he was Greek, his passion would never have allowed him to quit. Hed still be breaking plates in the dressing room now!!

firefly wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

jimimou wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

jimimou wrote:btw - coach otto resigns yesterday as greece's head coach.

wheres the passion from this guy? i guess some stereotypes just aren't true..

are you kidding, my post above was just OOOOOZING with passion!

haha i was talking about the greek coach.

Hes German. That explains it. If he was Greek, his passion would never have allowed him to quit. Hed still be breaking plates in the dressing room now!!

OOOPPPAAAA!!!

firefly wrote:

jimimou wrote:

bitty41 wrote:

I get what your saying Bitty, but the US won't be in that kind of position for decades, if ever. It's a simple calculation of talent pool. While the US has a huge population, the amount of kids playing serious football is minimal and therefor it is much harder to discover real quality. You may have to get used to not being world-beaters at something. Besides, football ebbs and flows. The greatest team in the world today is tomorrows garbage unless there is a constant influx of top-class players and no team outside of Brazil can boast that.

*readying for tomatoes to be thrown*

I think if the US put as much resources and development behind soccer the way they do for football, basketball, hockey, and baseball the US would become a international powerhouse. Excuse my fierce nationalism but I think there could come a time when International Football observers talk about the short list of teams who could make it to the WC finals the US could become apart of that conversation.

i been saying this for years.. it makes too much sense, yet hasn't been done yet. i'm not sure the people who run the MLS really know what they are doing to be honest.

Yea MLS management leaves a lot to be desired they spend 200 million on an aging and often-injured Beckham instead of putting more money into player development.

agree with your points bitty - i think the bekham signing (and now henry if the trade happens to NY) is part of trying to globalize the game in the states. the mls figures if it can get some household international names, that will open up awareness - while it's one approach, i dont think it's the best either. investing in developing the sport in the US is a start, but the major problem with americans and soccer has always been the lack of scoring. americans like to see alot of scoring (i.e.: football, bball and recently with baseball). it's too bad too, b/c soccer is a brilliant game and the action is not necessarily in the scoring but in the beauty in which some teams can spread the field and make plays.

IMO the Beckham signing is value for money and more. Beckham is an absolute global superstar....and not just because of the football he plays. For whatever reason, he is loved and adored the world over. England are using him for their 2018 bid and the FIFA delegates were ALL desperate to meet him. Having Beckham around just gets more people looking at you, and thats exactly what the MLS is looking for. OT, interesting stat, in a very wide poll in the UK, 1 out of 10 men would allow Becks to sleep with their wife. Thats how loved the guy is.

Oh, and Henry is a brilliant, if slightly ageing player. You guys will be lucky to wath him every week if he signs.

Also, I think it would be great for the US to be an international powerhouse but it takes a LOT of money and organization for that to happen, to the extent that fully established nations like ENgland still havent finished teir grass-roots infrastructurre programmes for youth players. Its a HUUUGE project that will take many many years.

great points fly

2-1 right now...

italian player crying there...

they will surely hear it when they go home...

last in their group!

the problem has been partially how we develop players.

there were two very good articles about this...

one on espn soccernet:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/s...

and one recently in the ny times about dutch club ajax's youth program (which has a history of developing stars, even though the team isn't as good as it used to be...partially due to the limits of money they have to spend):

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/magazi...

the first obstacle is that almost all amateur leagues, which is what most of american soccer is focused around, exist in what is called a "pay to play" system.

basically, you have to pay thousands of dollars just to get a chance to play in this world, which is automatically going to eliminate lower income individuals who may have skills and potential.

american youth sports, in general, are also mostly focused on winning rather than development, which can be an issue for a sport where american players need more skill development by those who have the training and experience to properly coach young players, because not as many young people play soccer casually with their free time or see top players consistently perform as say sports like basketball, baseball, or football.

the other thing is that us youth soccer is dominated by players playing a gazillion games, rather than training, which is what the top
nations do with their players. the good news is now clubs like dc united are trying to address these issues.

also, there are friendlies between mls teams and big european clubs, and we also host tours of big european clubs over the summer that sell out giants stadium, etc.

there is also a CONCACAF Champions League where the top clubs from north america and the caribbean region play each other...

problem is CONCACAF is a weak region, in general.

firefly wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

jimimou wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

jimimou wrote:btw - coach otto resigns yesterday as greece's head coach.

wheres the passion from this guy? i guess some stereotypes just aren't true..

are you kidding, my post above was just OOOOOZING with passion!

haha i was talking about the greek coach.

Hes German. That explains it. If he was Greek, his passion would never have allowed him to quit. Hed still be breaking plates in the dressing room now!!

LOL! well there we have it. great detective work fly.. i knew there was a reason he was lacking passion

nyk4ever wrote:

firefly wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

jimimou wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

jimimou wrote:btw - coach otto resigns yesterday as greece's head coach.

wheres the passion from this guy? i guess some stereotypes just aren't true..

are you kidding, my post above was just OOOOOZING with passion!

haha i was talking about the greek coach.

Hes German. That explains it. If he was Greek, his passion would never have allowed him to quit. Hed still be breaking plates in the dressing room now!!

LOL! well there we have it. great detective work fly.. i knew there was a reason he was lacking passion

If you knew Otto Rehhagel you would know, that he is one of the most passionate coaches to at least ever coach in the Bundesliga!!! ;-)
He is an aged and a little bit shrewed guy though and I guess after 9 years of coaching the Greek team understands, that its time to go!!!
A good comparisson to him in pretty much every aspect would be Giovanni Trappatoni...

dodger78 wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

firefly wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

jimimou wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

jimimou wrote:btw - coach otto resigns yesterday as greece's head coach.

wheres the passion from this guy? i guess some stereotypes just aren't true..

are you kidding, my post above was just OOOOOZING with passion!

haha i was talking about the greek coach.

Hes German. That explains it. If he was Greek, his passion would never have allowed him to quit. Hed still be breaking plates in the dressing room now!!

LOL! well there we have it. great detective work fly.. i knew there was a reason he was lacking passion

If you knew Otto Rehhagel you would know, that he is one of the most passionate coaches to at least ever coach in the Bundesliga!!! ;-)
He is an aged and a little bit shrewed guy though and I guess after 9 years of coaching the Greek team understands, that its time to go!!!
A good comparisson to him in pretty much every aspect would be Giovanni Trappatoni...

Yeah, but a passionate German is still not as passionate as a comatose Greek!

This world cup is really really a weired one...
Glad I didnt bet on anything...

the first obstacle is that almost all amateur leagues, which is what most of american soccer is focused around, exist in what is called a "pay to play" system.

basically, you have to pay thousands of dollars just to get a chance to play in this world, which is automatically going to eliminate lower income individuals who may have skills and potential.

I'm glad you posted this article Pres, this kinda of pertains to my point but only taking it a step further. I grew up playing soccer and it's pretty much a middle class to upper middle class sport in this country. Sure anyone can buy a ball and play in the park but to get into the exclusive clubs and have the opportunity to be recognized on a national level you need to have a solid financial backing. Your parents or guardians have to be prepared to spend thousands throughout your youth soccer career. So this significantly limits the amount of kids who are going to have access to a big club. But sports like basketball AAU programs, Summer Camps, high schools, etc will go just about anywhere to bring a kid in and develop him.

firefly wrote:

dodger78 wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

firefly wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

jimimou wrote:

nyk4ever wrote:

jimimou wrote:btw - coach otto resigns yesterday as greece's head coach.

wheres the passion from this guy? i guess some stereotypes just aren't true..

are you kidding, my post above was just OOOOOZING with passion!

haha i was talking about the greek coach.

Hes German. That explains it. If he was Greek, his passion would never have allowed him to quit. Hed still be breaking plates in the dressing room now!!

LOL! well there we have it. great detective work fly.. i knew there was a reason he was lacking passion

If you knew Otto Rehhagel you would know, that he is one of the most passionate coaches to at least ever coach in the Bundesliga!!! ;-)
He is an aged and a little bit shrewed guy though and I guess after 9 years of coaching the Greek team understands, that its time to go!!!
A good comparisson to him in pretty much every aspect would be Giovanni Trappatoni...

Yeah, but a passionate German is still not as passionate as a comatose Greek!

Got to bow to truth whenever you find it!!!!! ;-)

dodger78 wrote:By the way... the European "power houses" are getting their butts wiped this time...
France and Italy gone... England and Germany with a number of non convincing games...
The teams from the American continent with strong showings and the "small" eastern Europe countries like Serbia and Slovakia showed they are good for some stunners too...

This world cup is really really a weired one...
Glad I didnt bet on anything...

What about Holland? They are undefeated and haven't won a WC and it seems that a lot people are sleeping on them.

Very well produced IMO. Takes photoshopping to a new level.

bitty41 wrote:

dodger78 wrote:By the way... the European "power houses" are getting their butts wiped this time...
France and Italy gone... England and Germany with a number of non convincing games...
The teams from the American continent with strong showings and the "small" eastern Europe countries like Serbia and Slovakia showed they are good for some stunners too...

This world cup is really really a weired one...
Glad I didnt bet on anything...

What about Holland? They are undefeated and haven't won a WC and it seems that a lot people are sleeping on them.

Offensivley Holland might have the best talent in quantity in the whole field of competitors I think. Guys like Snijder, van der Vaart and van Persie are crazy aaaand they couldnt even play Robben due to injury yet who is on par with the best wings of the world.
The holding midfielders are also pretty good and if at all their only "weakness" are their central defenders.

But talent was never the issue for Holland... thing is they never seem to play up to expactations...
Same as Spain they had some subpar showings this worldcup but will have to step it up during the course of the tourney.

Silverfuel wrote:firefly, thats a cool video but you guys cant blame Green for the situation England is in. There is no way you should draw 0-0 against Algeria! Not with the talent on the national team. This is not Greens fault.

Eh, it may not all be Greens fault thats true, but if you expect him to get away scott-free after a blunder like that, you havent met the English media. They make NYK media look like kittens. The knives were out and sharpened. If we hadent gotten through to the last 16 the players might as well have stayed in SA. And Capello too.

firefly wrote:

Silverfuel wrote:firefly, thats a cool video but you guys cant blame Green for the situation England is in. There is no way you should draw 0-0 against Algeria! Not with the talent on the national team. This is not Greens fault.

Eh, it may not all be Greens fault thats true, but if you expect him to get away scott-free after a blunder like that, you havent met the English media. They make NYK media look like kittens. The knives were out and sharpened. If we hadent gotten through to the last 16 the players might as well have stayed in SA. And Capello too.

Is Rooney getting heat in the media?