Would USA dominate soccer if..

[WalterBenjamin]

nope

coordination, IQ, technique-minutiae, vision, the ability to play withtin the flow of the offense. The ability to stop the ball for example with the outside of your foot brings an advantage relative to what you're going to do next,the ability to stop the ball with the open-foot brings another.....these are the kind of details that MATTERS a LOT in soccer and athletic players do not have any advantage on the way they learn this stuff


athleticism is a plus, the more the better but if athleticism was the most important thing african teams would have dozens of world cups

I feel like you guys are going to far with this athleticism thing. I said the US would get to a level of skill thats similar or better than most countries. To me, with the emphasis US puts on sports and the diversity, huuuuuge pool of players and the FACT (something that a lot of people underestimate) that the US has a culture that rewards creativity and individualism, their skill level would at the top. Thats just added ontop of the athleticism edge the states would have.

I think people often forget how many people live in the US. The US has the same population as the entire Western Europe.

The America would crush the world in soccer is a pure political argument as seen frome above. LeBron cant guard curry let alone Messi.

[mademan]

nope

coordination, IQ, technique-minutiae, vision, the ability to play withtin the flow of the offense. The ability to stop the ball for example with the outside of your foot brings an advantage relative to what you're going to do next,the ability to stop the ball with the open-foot brings another.....these are the kind of details that MATTERS a LOT in soccer and athletic players do not have any advantage on the way they learn this stuff


athleticism is a plus, the more the better but if athleticism was the most important thing african teams would have dozens of world cups

I feel like you guys are going to far with this athleticism thing. I said the US would get to a level of skill thats similar or better than most countries. To me, with the emphasis US puts on sports and the diversity, huuuuuge pool of players and the FACT (something that a lot of people underestimate) that the US has a culture that rewards creativity and individualism, their skill level would at the top. Thats just added ontop of the athleticism edge the states would have.

I think people often forget how many people live in the US. The US has the same population as the entire Western Europe.

The America would crush the world in soccer is a pure political argument as seen frome above. LeBron cant guard curry let alone Messi.

It's not political at all. It's science. You take the nation that spends the most on sports and has the greatest and most diverse athletes in the world and emphasize only soccer. It's absolutely ridiculous that you think they wouldnt be ranking near the top every year. Getting rid of all the arguments based on which athletes would do well in soccer, just based on population+diverstiy alone, if the US only focused on soccer, they'd be at the top every year.

Like I said, the population is just as big as all of Western Europe and they have largest variety of athletic types that you can ask for. Like how many ridiculously explosive, quick and agile 5'10, 5'9 running backs do we see in the NFL? And then the other side of the spectrum with the inhumanely coordinated, long, fast 6'6/6'7/6'8 guys we have in the NBA? Or in the NFL playing wide receivers?

[bbms]

Thing is soccer is not at all about explosion, speed or pure power of athletes, like say, NFL. It's all about stamina, quickness, awareness and technique in general. Also, this is a sport with almost no breaks during games, and only three substitutions possible: this is a sport where a player has to make much more in game decisions than the average NFL or NBA player.

Soccer is about constant movement and adaptation. The two positions that power, explosion and positioning are key is GK and CB, uber american athletes would probably work out well more often in those positions than at other insanely tough positions to play like FB, CM or ST.

Culture is more important than focus or athleticism. Brazil and Italy had a great culture of football and dominated for decades. Lately Spain and Germany developed their own culture and way of playing football and they have dominated the soccer world for the past 10 years or so. Look at the African nations with the most elite athletes in soccer, but simply no ability to play this sport as a team.

If USA wants to dominate soccer, first and foremost they should develop an identity, a culture, a way of playing soccer they want in the long run, and then, develop youngsters since 6-7 years old fitting that philosophy, and maybe in 20-30 years they can be a powerhouse.

[AdagioPace]

nope

coordination, IQ, technique-minutiae, vision, the ability to play withtin the flow of the offense. The ability to stop the ball for example with the outside of your foot brings an advantage relative to what you're going to do next,the ability to stop the ball with the open-foot brings another.....these are the kind of details that MATTERS a LOT in soccer and athletic players do not have any advantage on the way they learn this stuff


athleticism is a plus, the more the better but if athleticism was the most important thing african teams would have dozens of world cups

I mean, 75% of the French NT is African descent they clearly have a lot of pure athleticism at their midfield and forward positions. You cannot say that athleticism is not an advantage in the sport. The difference is that for the French, it's combined with the proper skills and technique training.

point me to where I said that. on the contrary, I said,athleticism is a plus but it doesnt' bring any advantage in making you more able to learn football. Hope it's more clear now.

France is a unique case. French players play in europe and they are "technically" educated. They're exposed to high level football since the beginning

[Oscar9992]

point me to where I said that. on the contrary, I said,athleticism is a plus but it doesnt' bring any advantage in making you more able to learn football. Hope it's more clear now.

France is a unique case. French players play in europe and they are "technically" educated. They're exposed to high level football since the beginning

Yep, athleticism is just a bonus in soccer. Nothing more.

Totally diferrent sports.

[Foye]

American athletes would fail miserably in soccer.

You have to realize that upper body muscles are basically without any use for soccer except for duels.

Only thing that might translate is the quick first step of guys like Westbrook

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[Pachinko_]

I think the game of soccer would change. I dont care how much people say it's not about size; when the competition is fielding guys who are 6'5, faster and stronger and have been playing the sport just as long (assuming skill will even out), the bigger/stronger/faster one wins out (there will always be exceptions)

Certain body types are inherently more optimal at certain tasks. That's like saying gymnastics would change if Wilt was a gymnast. You need that lower center of gravity for balance.

Yeah thats what they're saying LOL
That the only reason Gymnastics doesnt have athletes that look like Wilt and Lebron is because they prefer to play american football and basketball.

Guys, there are tall athletic guys outside of the US as well. And they'd love to make millions playing soccer, but they're just not suitable. Being low on the floor all the time is an advantage in soccer, and after a certain point too much height just makes it too hard.

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[HIF]

USA would dominate "soccer" if their skill level was like their population's ego.

Would China dominate American football if they ate more McDonalds?

[Merc_Porto]

No, look at the best team of all time, at least for me...

Xavi, Iniesta and Messi... Enough said

[Ted Lasso]

And then the other side of the spectrum with the inhumanely coordinated, long, fast 6'6/6'7/6'8 guys we have in the NBA?

That's a function of the sport that they're playing. They wouldn't look as coordinated if they were playing soccer, even if they were raised playing it. Foot size alone is a critical detriment.

[trevm37]

If soccer was the number one focus in the US, there would definitely be more talented US players and the US soccer system as a whole, would be much, much stronger. Growing up in the US, there are too many options when it comes to sports, and very rarely does a young kid pick soccer, mainly because its just not as popular in the states. Most kids end up on a baseball field, football field, or basketball court, where as in other countries (like Argentina/Brazil) all they know is Soccer.

[Spens1]

Maybe but its more complicated.

You need the youth set ups and everything. If their was the appropriate coaching to turn these 'super athletes' into fantastic players then yeah, sure they would. You can be athletic as you want but if you don't have the technique, you're not beating the south american nations and you're not beating the european giants.

Also you'd see the sport retain players such as OBJ (who was a soccer player before going to american football).

Even if it was the number one sport, not everyone will go play it. I'm sure you'd still get people being drawn toward the nba and toward baseball and the nfl cause that's ingrained into american culture. It takes a lot to change that (in Australia its very much the same with the AFL in the south and NRL in the north, its only now that things are changing a bit).

[Ted Lasso]

If soccer was the number one focus in the US, there would definitely be more talented US players and the US soccer system as a whole, would be much, much stronger. Growing up in the US, there are too many options when it comes to sports, and very rarely does a young kid pick soccer, mainly because its just not as popular in the states. Most kids end up on a baseball field, football field, or basketball court, where as in other countries (like Argentina/Brazil) all they know is Soccer.

One quick look at the population disparity between the United States and, say, Belgium or the Netherlands demonstrates that this argument is false. There are more than enough young athletes in America whose main focus is soccer to develop an elite pool of talent. The reason it's not happening is the lack of top quality youth coaching.

The number of kids interested is not the problem, facilities are not the problem, funding (as far as i know) is not the problem, and 6'7'' giants choosing to play basketball is sure as hell not the problem.

[trevm37]

If soccer was the number one focus in the US, there would definitely be more talented US players and the US soccer system as a whole, would be much, much stronger. Growing up in the US, there are too many options when it comes to sports, and very rarely does a young kid pick soccer, mainly because its just not as popular in the states. Most kids end up on a baseball field, football field, or basketball court, where as in other countries (like Argentina/Brazil) all they know is Soccer.

One quick look at the population disparity between the United States and, say, Belgium or the Netherlands demonstrates that this argument is false. There are more than enough young athletes in America whose main focus is soccer to develop an elite pool of talent. The reason it's not happening is the lack of top quality youth coaching.

The number of kids interested is not the problem, facilities are not the problem, funding (as far as i know) is not the problem, and 6'7'' giants choosing to play basketball is sure as hell not the problem.

Population isn't the end all be all when it comes to popularity. It doesn't matter how many people there are in the US, when most of the population doesnt play soccer. Belgium and the Netherlands most popular sport is soccer, its still not in the top 10 in the US.

[Ted Lasso]

If soccer was the number one focus in the US, there would definitely be more talented US players and the US soccer system as a whole, would be much, much stronger. Growing up in the US, there are too many options when it comes to sports, and very rarely does a young kid pick soccer, mainly because its just not as popular in the states. Most kids end up on a baseball field, football field, or basketball court, where as in other countries (like Argentina/Brazil) all they know is Soccer.

One quick look at the population disparity between the United States and, say, Belgium or the Netherlands demonstrates that this argument is false. There are more than enough young athletes in America whose main focus is soccer to develop an elite pool of talent. The reason it's not happening is the lack of top quality youth coaching.

The number of kids interested is not the problem, facilities are not the problem, funding (as far as i know) is not the problem, and 6'7'' giants choosing to play basketball is sure as hell not the problem.

Population isn't the end all be all when it comes to popularity. It doesn't matter how many people there are in the US, when most of the population doesnt play soccer. Belgium and the Netherlands most popular sport is soccer, its still not in the top 10 in the US.

Once again, most of the population may not play soccer but certainly enough of it plays in a serious enough way to develop an elite pool of talent. Except they don't know how to develop an elite pool of talent.

[JDR720]

If soccer was #1 here, yes.

The players would have the IQ and technical abilities if soccer was #1.

The big NBA players would still be basketball players though, maybe the Pg sized guys play soccer but most are too big.

some NFL players would make really good soccer players tho.

[Cactus Jack]

USA would dominate "soccer" if their skill level was like their population's ego.

Would China dominate American football if they ate more McDonalds?

Well, we did elect Donald Trump as our President, so...

[Cactus Jack]

You have any idea how cocky it sounds when you expect your country to be the best at the most popular sport in the world "if they just tried harder" ?

That's cause we are the BEST.

...At least that's what we're constantly told.

[The_Brecht]

They would just call the MLS champions the world champions.

[Stanq]

You have any idea how cocky it sounds when you expect your country to be the best at the most popular sport in the world "if they just tried harder" ?

That's cause we are the BEST.

...At least that's what we're constantly told.

Green font is always appreciated.