You will never get boys past the age of about 10 to play soccer because their friends will call them gay. It just isn't going to happen. Ever.

Patrick Kane...that's your example. Knowing what we know about Patrick Kane do you think he would want at all to be associated with such a gay sport? Like do you think "the beautiful game" played by a bunch of lanky Europeans who hold hands and kiss each other like burritos would appeal to somebody like Patrick Kane?

Never.

The rest of the world also doesn't care at all about women's soccer. Then again, the United States really doesn't either until we can wrap it in a flag and celebrate our status as greatest nation in the history of the world as proven by women's soccer.

Eh, Bradley was a step below world class at Roma and he's only 30. I think it's fair to say the MLS experience did him no favors. Yeah the Carribean guys got better in MLS, they'd probably have gotten even better if they played in Serie A.

I see more soccer being played by kids than any other sport. BY FAR.

I see more soccer being played by kids than any other sport. BY FAR.

It's always dominated the under 10 crowd. The same was true in the 80s and 90s. It's the only team sport you can play passably with skills that most 2 years olds have. As they get older, they move on to other sports though.

Until the US gets close to the skill of the elite nations, they will never be elite.

You are all wrong!!! Soccer in the US is in a terrible state because of the limited talent pool due to white privilege. Only rich white people can play soccer........at least thats what I heard the update person say on the score last night.

But expecting MLS to be at the level of Serie A at this point is just unrealistic. I don't think it makes much sense to fire Garber on that basis.

And yeah Bradley did fine in Roma, but he played poorly in the last World Cup and there was over a year of him bumbling around during this campaign. The reason he kept starting was as much as because there was no one to challenge him for the spot as it was a matter of just hoping he'd magically regain his form from Italy.

US Rep Brendan Boyle‏Verified account @RepBrendanBoyle
I was really disappointed the USA men's team didn't qualify for the World Cup. Then I remembered I couldn't care less about soccer.

Daniel Spaulding‏ @DPSpaulding
Replying to @RepBrendanBoyle
You’re why the world hates us

Soccer haters are like vegans, they look for every opportunity to tell you and just can't wait to identify themselves as such, even though nobody cares.

I'm not saying MLS should be as good as Serie A, I'm saying players good enough to play overseas and picking MLS instead is a problem. As I said, I don't blame the players for coming over or MLS for signing them, just understand it hurts the NT. Firing Garber is due to needless MLS over expansion and that the league's strategy is hope to continue being propped up by the generosity of some rich benefactors and not actually have a real plan.

Soccer haters are like vegans, they look for every opportunity to tell you and just can't wait to identify themselves as such, even though nobody cares.

Well, soccer lovers are also pretty obnoxious about it.

The U.S. player pool is strong. Stronger than it was two decades ago. But the obvious point is the broad one: That player pool is nowhere near what a nation of 325 million should be able to produce. The reasons for this are deep-seated and poisonous.

The main one is the youth soccer model that was established in the U.S. decades ago. Whereas talented young players in many other countries are given scholarships to soccer academies, the vast majority of children in the U.S. “pay to play.” This slashes the size of the player pool into a fraction of what it could be, because kids from low-income families can’t afford the hefty registration fees and travel-related costs. Elite coaching eludes them. The issue is far too complex for this forum, but it’s a major hindrance.

Talent identification and youth coaching have also been severely lacking. Scouting efforts ignore many under-served communities. Potential pros slip through the cracks at young ages. In many cases, kids aren’t educated properly, because they’re taught by teammates’ dads who don’t know the game. The kids, therefore, don’t develop the most relevant and applicable skills. Again, the root causes are impossible to explain in two paragraphs. But they’ve plagued the U.S. for years.

I see more soccer being played by kids than any other sport. BY FAR.

Hockey Canada is fucking terrible and is killing the game at the NHL level because kids are taught from birth that mistakes are death.

I really don't care about soccer so I'm indifferent on what course of action they take, but they really should be speaking with folks at USA Hockey in order to ask how to build a youth development program that can then be put into place at every local field affiliated with them.

Just look at what USA Hockey has done over the last 20 years. There's a reason so many of the top players coming into the league each year are American born vs. what it was in the 90s when I was a kid. They've even built on that success with the American Development Model, a program so successful that Hockey Canada is looking to copy it this year for their youth.

I use hockey as the example as it's a sport not necessarily seen as one that the US dominates in, but youth development is changing that. I would wager that the generation that grows up watching Kane and Matthews will produce players who regularly beat Canada in the Olympics. We are seeing hints as this coming as we are starting to regularly beat them at the WJC.

Hockey is only played by people who can afford the 10k to 20k it cost a year at the "elite" level. It is also taken seriously in maybe 10 countries in the entire world.

it's still a sport where the US program was largely seen as a joke until recent years. Even 1980 didn't change that. That may have sparked interest, but ultimately it has been youth development that has changed USA Hockey. It is no accident that the 3 young 1st/2nd forwards on the Hawks are all US born.