This game was a perfect example

[jsnbuckmaster]

of why the USA will never seriously compete for a World Cup Championship until we start teaching our youth a less direct and more possession/international style of soccer. As much as it pains me to say it, the better team won tonight. They dominated us throughout the game and their style of play was beautiful to watch!

 

[philliu]

There could not have been a worse game plan. Zero offense.

 

[GeddyHoosier]

Sucks to lose like this, but this IU team really over achieved this year. This was not one of their great squads and had they played a full season, would have probably had 3 or 4 more losses. All American Spencer Glass was lost mid year to a broken leg and making it this far without him was a real accomplish. Time to reload and get back out there in a few months.

 

[mcmurtry66]

of why the USA will never seriously compete for a World Cup Championship until we start teaching our youth a less direct and more possession/international style of soccer. As much as it pains me to say it, the better team won tonight. They dominated us throughout the game and their style of play was beautiful to watch!

Remember these aren’t our best players anymore. They’re already in Europe by college or if they’re the next tier down on homegrown mls contracts sitting on mls benches or playing on the 2nd team. Pulisic didn’t go to Maryland he went straight to Dortmund by way of example. Reyna’s kid and others as well same deal

 

[hoosiers94]

Remember these aren’t our best players anymore. They’re already in Europe by college or if they’re the next tier down on homegrown mls contracts sitting on mls benches or playing on the 2nd team. Pulisic didn’t go to Maryland he went straight to Dortmund by way of example. Reyna’s kid and others as well same deal

This^^^.

 

[jsnbuckmaster]

Remember these aren’t our best players anymore. They’re already in Europe by college or if they’re the next tier down on homegrown mls contracts sitting on mls benches or playing on the 2nd team. Pulisic didn’t go to Maryland he went straight to Dortmund by way of example. Reyna’s kid and others as well same deal

I agree and understand this, but have you watched our National Team play lately? We still play a lot of long ball direct attack soccer. Very rarely do we ever take the ball from the goalies hands / feet in the defensive third and build an attack from the back. Instead, just like IU last night, we turn possession opportunity into a 50/50 ball by punting it downfield.

 

[mcmurtry66]

I agree and understand this, but have you watched our National Team play lately? We still play a lot of long ball direct attack soccer. Very rarely do we ever take the ball from the goalies hands / feet in the defensive third and build an attack from the back. Instead, just like IU last night, we turn possession opportunity into a 50/50 ball by punting it downfield.

Our coach sucks. He doesn’t match the quality of our players. We’re going through a transition as a soccer country. The future is much brighter. For years my old teammates and I used to joke that Xavi and iniesta would never make an acc team. Bigger stronger faster is slowly but surely giving way to more technical players which as you know will replace long ball play. I went through the mls combines when I was in grad school. The head of my combine was the Ohio state coach. Think how far we’ve come from that! Now we have Man U people at combines

 

[mushroomgod_1]

Our coach sucks. He doesn’t match the quality of our players. We’re going through a transition as a soccer country. The future is much brighter. For years my old teammates and I used to joke that Xavi and iniesta would never make an acc team. Bigger stronger faster is slowly but surely giving way to more technical players which as you know will replace long ball play. I went through the mls combines when I was in grad school. The head of my combine was the Ohio state coach. Think how far we’ve come from that! Now we have Man U people at combines

Question--Why do you care where we are at as a "soccer country"? I don't care. That's why I say Americanize the sport by increasing the size of the goal so you have 3-2 or 4-4 games instead of 2 OT 1-0 games. Very simple. It would make the game much more interesting.

 

[mcmurtry66]

Question--Why do you care where we are at as a "soccer country"? I don't care. That's why I say Americanize the sport by increasing the size of the goal so you have 3-2 or 4-4 games instead of 2 OT 1-0 games. Very simple. It would make the game much more interesting.

It’s the most popular sport in the world and it’s popularity here is growing...fast, particularly among younger generations. I wouldn’t change a thing. I think it’s perfect. I appreciate a well played 0-0 match as much as 6-5.

I hate baseball. I think it’s slow and boring. But I understand there are details that I miss and don’t appreciate.

 

[IU_Hickory]

or better yet, put a huge magnet being the goal and get enough metal in the ball and we can really see how good the goalie is lol.

I don't think we should be changing up the rules.

"All-star teams fail because they rely solely on the individual's talent. The Soviets win because they take that talent and use it inside a system that's designed for the betterment of the team. My goal is to beat 'em at their own game." - Herb Brooks

We need to learn to beat them at their own game.

I started watching the last portion of the first half but never did it seem like we put together any kind of offensive attack. It was just about keeping them from scoring.

 

[jsnbuckmaster]

Our coach sucks. He doesn’t match the quality of our players. We’re going through a transition as a soccer country. The future is much brighter. For years my old teammates and I used to joke that Xavi and iniesta would never make an acc team. Bigger stronger faster is slowly but surely giving way to more technical players which as you know will replace long ball play. I went through the mls combines when I was in grad school. The head of my combine was the Ohio state coach. Think how far we’ve come from that! Now we have Man U people at combines

I definitely agree with a lot of what you’re saying. We have come a long ways as far as soccer popularity as a Country but like yourself I’ve been involved in soccer for a long long time ... I played big time travel soccer when the players got recruited to play and didn’t have to pay upwards of 10k a year to play...I went to college on a soccer scholarship, my daughter and son turned down college offers, my son played on a 3 peat Indiana State Cup Championship team, my daughters travel team played in Europe for 2 weeks, my nephew ( last name) played for the DA, IU, NY Red Bull’s, and now Indy 11 , and several other nephews either played or turned down college offers .. soccer has been in my family for almost 40 years and while I do see us getting better at soccer, I do not see us getting better because of our style of play. Plain and simple better athletes are playing the sport now than in the past, but as a Country from the ground up we still are teaching our kids to play a style of soccer that won’t consistently win against a team that possesses the ball 70-80% of the game and gets the ball in the attacking third under control 2-3 times as much as we do. The OP said it best, Americans (fans) want results - in other words they want goals being scored. Most ( I think you and I are different ) would rather see us win 7-5 and posses the ball 10% of the game , whereas I would rather win 1 nil and possess the ball 70+ % of the game

 

[mcmurtry66]

I definitely agree with a lot of what you’re saying. We have come a long ways as far as soccer popularity as a Country but like yourself I’ve been involved in soccer for a long long time ... I played big time travel soccer when the players got recruited to play and didn’t have to pay upwards of 10k a year to play...I went to college on a soccer scholarship, my daughter and son turned down college offers, my son played on a 3 peat Indiana State Cup Championship team, my daughters travel team played in Europe for 2 weeks, my nephew ( last name) played for the DA, IU, NY Red Bull’s, and now Indy 11 , and several other nephews either played or turned down college offers .. soccer has been in my family for almost 40 years and while I do see us getting better at soccer, I do not see us getting better because of our style of play. Plain and simple better athletes are playing the sport now than in the past, but as a Country from the ground up we still are teaching our kids to play a style of soccer that won’t consistently win against a team that possesses the ball 70-80% of the game and gets the ball in the attacking third under control 2-3 times as much as we do. The OP said it best, Americans (fans) want results - in other words they want goals being scored. Most ( I think you and I are different ) would rather see us win 7-5 and posses the ball 10% of the game , whereas I would rather win 1 nil and possess the ball 70+ % of the game

Agreed on all fronts. But I do think it’s improving. The club coaching at the top (academy) is largely still just guys who played D1 in the states and as you make your way down in the club to the “classic” teams etc you even still have guys who only played high school or D3 etc. so our youth coaching is still really bad. Hell Messi had pep for a coach when he was a kid. Until we get really good professional coaching throughout the ranks we will still play a lot of kickball. These mls academies will help immensely.

 

[Seyton]

Question--Why do you care where we are at as a "soccer country"? I don't care. That's why I say Americanize the sport by increasing the size of the goal so you have 3-2 or 4-4 games instead of 2 OT 1-0 games. Very simple. It would make the game much more interesting.

Football games are 3-1 games masquerading as 21-7. Just when you think about it.