Concacaf WC Qaulifying

4. There is no reason that we can't have at minimum a soccer equivalent of a little league world series with every state having a team to represent them. It puts youth on the national stage and the USSF gets a chance to look at kids that they normally would ignore. Give the kids a chance and stop focusing on bringing all of these European teams over here in the summer, just to make some money. I am mentioning the kids because when you watch the LLWS, you see the passion, the anger, the frustration and the joy of playing the game. I didn't see that last night from the US team. Perhaps a tournament like this would be a reminder of how much heart is needed to play this game.

This already exists and has for years.

http://championships.usyouthsoccer.org/

 

Who would have thought that losing to T&T would lead to a thoughtful discussion about the inability of American youth to function independently?! But much of what was said rings true...

Totally agree. I was surprised to discover this when my son started playing scholastic soccer last year. The most appalling difference in PA is that they play with two refs (and they wear zebra stripes!) but with no line judges so that the officiating is structurally configured to stink. Refs end up on the peripheries so that they don't have a good view of the middle of the field and they aren't hugging the defense's back line to correctly call offsides.

I've noticed that many of the best players in the youth leagues I've been involved in have parents who play soccer with their kids. While not a substitute for pick-up games, there is something to be said for non-structured time on the ball. I've noticed that on many teams a lot of practice time is spent waiting in line for a drill. At least with non-structured time everyone is moving.

When my kids were younger they wanted to play with other kids in the neighborhood, but everyone had so much stuff scheduled that even free-play had to be scheduled. Interestingly, there are kids in our neighborhood now who do play pick-up games. I guess enough parents in this area have rejected over-scheduling. Plus to @HatterDon 's point, they all play in the FRONT yard of a farm house that existed before the neighborhood grew up around it. Maybe there is the start of some push-back on the idea that you must get your kids signed up for all the activities. Parents follow "good parenting" trends like lemmings so maybe this will become a "thing" and then end up horribly abused in some way.

I'm still not sure how all this ties into getting a team that can regularly compete for one of the top 2 spots in CONCACAF. Successful US teams in the past had to develop players in even worse conditions so the point about MLS helping other players in the region makes a lot of sense. I also wonder if it comes down to just not fielding the right players. We seem to have stuck with a number guys who were good at one point, but past their prime. Why did we stick with them? Was there some pressure to keep the big names to maintain fan interest? Just habit? Was our system built for a less popular sport and we now have too many available players without an adequate way of finding the right talent?

 

Arena has resigned.

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/10/13/bruce-arena-resigns-head-coach-us-mens-national-team

 

Grant Wahl below. I like his endorsement of Julie Foudy as president; smart, a winner and has executive experience. Then look at his choices for next coach...

https://www.si.com/soccer/2017/10/1...-president-usmnt-world-cup-qualifying-failure

 

Sam Allardyce has apparently thrown his hat in the ring. No. Just no.

 

Am I the only one who thinks that maybe we put too much faith into Pulisic? Did it actually get to the point that coaches and players were trying to force everything through him? Historically, the US has almost always played better than the sum of its parts. But I feel like, recently, that cohesive team mantra has shifted more toward promotion of a superstar.

Hopefully our new coach will be able to manage the (newer and younger) players and build a cohesive team around Pulisic.

 

I believe you have to go back a few years to get to US teams that played greater than the sum of their parts. Personally I think the team has been overly reliant on Dempsey since shortly before the last World Cup. I haven't gone back and looked at the stats but in one half of play against T&T Dempsey may have put more shots on goal than the rest of the team combined.

I like some of the youth coming up but with Dempsey reaching the end of his career there is little in the creative cupboard other than Pulisic. Other than Dempsey and Pulisic has there been anyone US opponents should game plan for since Donovan's departure? Not in my opinion.