Alex Freeman outed as a Soccer lover:
AUSTIN, Texas – United States and Orlando City SC fullback Alex Freeman said he had a “secret love for soccer” growing up after not following the same sporting footsteps as his father, former NFL player Antonio Freeman.
Guessing this happens a lot more than people think, especially in certain parts of the country and in certain 'murican societies.
This has been going on for a good 15 years or so.
Other countries cope with this by having a HUGE pool of players, and can find the ones that want to play and who can come in to the system knowing what to do.
So, really, we’re not THAT kind of soccer country. Probably never will be.
Infantino would disagree.
But I agree with DTNF on this.
https://www.reddit.com/r/MLS/comments/1lhkwsq/fifas_gianni_infantino_says_soccer_will_be_no_1/
It won’t be #1 until other sports are banned.
And then it would be another 20 years before the kids who have no choice but soccer weed themselves out to get a good USMNT Team.
Now, if the “new league” (USL) started gaining traction and USSF started giving them Champions League slots because they’re a “top tier league” and stuff like that, maybe, just maybe the MLS would either fold into oblivion or their teams would get a spot in League 2 and work their way up. Helps not to have salary caps and other shit that makes the league artificially “more competitive” so owners don’t have to do as much.
Meanwhile, every town in the country will need to want a team so that a true pyramid system of 700 teams (FA Cup has about that every year) can happen.
None of this going to happen in my lifetime.
And another thing about The MLS and other Murican sports is the playoff system. In The MLS, you need to have X points to get in, and then it’s a whole new tournament that counts more (to “people” than the whole regular season. Planning and strategy pointed to that goal instead of trying to win every match becomes paramount. What is the point of watching regular season matches if they barely count for anything. Wake me when the playoffs come, so I can take shit, eat something, and then go back to bed.
Without playoffs, and maybe with a smaller league of 18 or 20, every game will count. Play each other twice, standings are final. Logistically, five years warning at a minimum for the pussy owners who prefer to sell than to risk playing in a lower league working hard to get back up.
Mostly I wonder what the “hopes” are for the USMNT:
First, the team will play in the World Cup, which, according to history, is not guaranteed every time.
Minimum Hope #1 is that they get to the Round of 32, which means being in the top 32 out of 48. Third in Group D play in Foxborough (v winner of Group E) or Kansas City winner of Group K). Hope should die there.
Getting second in their Group should be an achievable goal. Runner-up in Group D (USMNT) will play the runner-up in Group G. Hope to be the better team in that match. Then on to ATL!
Also, I hope some matches are set up in Europe during the upcoming season’s breaks, instead of the real stars having to fly back and forth.
To be successful, I think it will also be important for Canada and the US to play non-CONCACAF teams leading up to 2026. Most CONCACAF matches seem to feature chippy, rather than flowing, play.
After the Gold Cup, the U.S. has South Korea and Japan in the September window, then Ecuador and Australia in the October window.
Canada has Romania and Wales, then TBD and Colombia.
That leaves windows in November, March 2026, then June 2026 right before the World Cup.
There are some Qualifying Groups in UEFA with an odd number of teams, so one team has only one match in a window. Should work to schedule tougher teams.
12 teams in the November window with an open slot, in Groups G-L.
In March, the 12 Already-Qualified Teams will be available. That will be tougher competition.
Now someone is going on about USMNT players transferring clubs or else the WC is doomed. DOOOOOOMED!
No, the USMNT will play in the WC. That much is certain. No doom there.
Worst that could happen is they end up last in their Group and do not advance. No doom there. Might be in a Group Of Death, with three better teams.
Second worst to happen is they end up 3rd in their Group, play the top team from Group E. No doom in losing to a top team.
Etc.
Not sure who has any expectation of the team after getting dumped in the Nations League, going 1-1-2 in September and October.
The October 2025 match vs Ecuador could be interesting, though possibly devastating. Ecuador qualified for the WC and are 2nd in CONMEBOL Qualification.
Anyway, the article discusses an interesting theory of learning:
what the paper found is that the ideal level of difficulty to produce learning is something that produces an 85% success rate and a 15% fail rate. What USMNT fans want, then, is for every player to find his 85% club.
OK, so we want players to play at their level 85% of the time, or something like that. They need to get better, obviously, though Poch should have learned that long-term, the team gets better by poaching eligible players from other countries.
Like Jonathan David who was born in Brooklyn?
Canada has done a decent job in recent years in recruiting players who could have played for other countries.
This guy understands the challenge of playing a sport in an entertainment-first country:
(My bolding)
Pochettino’s confirmation was there in a lengthy, insightful response.
"As you said, this is a culture that is very proud of its nation, and we saw the July 4th shows of patriotism, but I think that this sport is still not properly understood in the deepest sense, in how it originated. This isn’t an ‘entertainment’ industry," he said.
He paused and carefully searched for context.
“If you play NFL or basketball or hockey in this country, you always play within the same culture, where the entertainment idea is fundamental,” he said. "The teams or franchises play amongst themselves within America – it’s entertainment. And if soccer was a USA-originated sport, played within this nation, for entertainment, then fine. But the problem is that you have to go compete with people who play for their lives, for survival, for a lot of things that go beyond simple entertainment. Of course soccer needs to be entertaining, but in other countries, it is a religion, and that always gives you extra when it comes to struggling hard to win.
"We face teams of players who cry when they stand to attention for their anthem prematch. I’m saying absolutely nothing critical about the patriotism of the U.S. player or fan in general, but if the focus is currently more like, ‘We are going to entertain the crowd … and if we win, then, terrific,’ then I think that is what my players are trying to change. That’s what we’re all changing. And of course we have to transmit all this to our fans so that they feel the same way and come to push us onwards.
“The legacy we can leave for the future is that the next time we qualify for a Concacaf final here in this country, the stadium is full of 90% USMNT fans and only 10% are the rival supporters. That’s what we want to transmit to U.S. soccer fans, that’s the legacy we want to leave.”
Question is, will he be the coach next year, or will he take an unrefusable offer before then?
OK, here is someone’s idea of the 26, the hangers-on/waiting-for-an-injury/outs.
I think the “others” need to be separated by “waiting for injury” and “no chance barring several injuries.”
Re Sargent:
In Norwich City’s 2-1 defeat against Millwall to open the Championship season, Sargent scored the Canaries’ only goal with his butt, blocking an attempted clearance from Millwall keeper Steven Benda and watching it loop into the net.
That’s using your head!
With the USMNT, Sargent can’t beg, borrow or steal a goal, having gone more than five years since his last national team tally.
As Forward, you’d think he’d have more goals. What’s he doing instead of scoring?
U20 World Cup starts this weekend in Chile.
Looks to be on FS1 and FS2. Telemundo for you Jesse’s who prefer the Spanish mode.
USMNTU20 play on Monday on FS1, 10/2 and 10/5 on FS2.
Should get through the Group with France. New Caledonia and South Africa are the other two. Top four 3rd Place teams also go to the knockout
Poch forgot one of his jobs: to poach eligibles from other countries, because our home-grown aren’t good enough:
If he is good enough to play for Germany he is good enough to play for USA!
If he is good enough to be on the bench for Germany he is good enough to play for USA!
CONMEBOL already finished with Oct and Nov international breaks to go. No stupid-ass Nations League for them. Ecuador finished second despite a 3-point deduction. This will be a big test for the USMNT, depending on the team that ECU send. Keeping it to a one-goal loss would be a success.