OT: Gooooooal!! The Association Football Thread #124 - USMNT, PL, MLS, etc.

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VaxjoDevil

No kids - Still a person
Nov 11, 2009
8,955
471
Princeton, NJ
A 0-0 tie in a game where one opponent outshoots the other 20 to 1 is pretty much why soccer's never taken off in America.

Agreed, but this doesn't happen if you have a Messi, Ronaldo or Zlatan on that team with 20 shots. The team creates the dominance, the top player creates the finishing touch.

I guess it's a catch-22 kind of thing. The best players won't play in the U.S. (until their quasi retirement age) because soccer is not big enough in the U.S., and the lack of the best players in the world keeps the U.S. from being more interested in it.
 
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New Jersey

(pacmanghost x) sad again
Sep 7, 2009
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I guess it's a catch-22 kind of thing. The best players won't play in the U.S. (until their quasi retirement age) because soccer is not big enough in the U.S., and the lack of the best players in the world keeps the U.S. from being more interested in it.

Nailed it. The United States is not where you go if you're a top player in your prime.

You go full Giovinco and go to Canada. :sarcasm:
 

Zippy316

aka Zippo
Aug 17, 2012
19,489
4,476
New Jersey
Nailed it. The United States is not where you go if you're a top player in your prime.

You go full Giovinco and go to Canada. :sarcasm:

It's going to have to be a slow build to eventually attract top talent in their prime.

Their current plan (or it so it seems) to start with U24 South American players is smart. Then you hope they can continue to develop their own academies and these young players benefit from playing with and against more skilled players.
 
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Basement Cat

Frank Drebin
Nov 3, 2008
12,510
531
Hoboken, NJ
I'm very happy with where MLS is right now - would I love it if the league were among the powerhouse leagues? Of course. Would I love it were producing more Pulisic-level (hell even prime Jermaine Jones-level) talent for the USMNT? Of course.

But at the end of the day, as fans we can only control as much as we can control. It still is just entertainment for me. I am happy that I get to watch the Almiron's, Valeri's, Nikolic's, Alessandrini's of the world battle it out with the likes of Giovinco, Vela, Dos Santos', etc. with a sprinkle of elite level out of prime talent (with some juice in the tank) like the Henry's, Villa's, Ibra's, Keane's of the world.

And I get to see it for an extremely reasonable price.
 
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VaxjoDevil

No kids - Still a person
Nov 11, 2009
8,955
471
Princeton, NJ
I'm very happy with where MLS is right now - would I love it if the league were among the powerhouse leagues? Of course. Would I love it were producing more Pulisic-level (hell even prime Jermaine Jones-level) talent for the USMNT? Of course.

But at the end of the day, as fans we can only control as much as we can control. It still is just entertainment for me. I am happy that I get to watch the Almiron's, Valeri's, Nikolic's, Alessandrini's of the world battle it out with the likes of Giovinco, Vela, Dos Santos', etc. with a sprinkle of elite level out of prime talent (with some juice in the tank) like the Henry's, Villa's, Ibra's, Keane's of the world.

And I get to see it for an extremely reasonable price.

I know, I don't doubt it, and it's because you are knowledgeable enough to watch a 0-0 game and still see good things being done in the game. But to the "new fan" they are like ¨scoring chances and goals equals action"
 

Basement Cat

Frank Drebin
Nov 3, 2008
12,510
531
Hoboken, NJ
I know, I don't doubt it, and it's because you are knowledgeable enough to watch a 0-0 game and still see good things being done in the game. But to the "new fan" they are like ¨scoring chances and goals equals action"

No, you are right about that. Circa 2010 me was very concerned about getting the average casual sports fan to like soccer (and then specifically to support MLS which is another can of worms in and of itself). 2018 me couldn't care less. Just like 2010 me gave a lick about Devils attendance and couldn't stand barbs from our rivals. Now, whatever - I enjoy telling Rags/Flyers fans that they're the only people on Earth that brag about paying a higher price for less value. I guess that's just part of growing up.

One thing that 2010 and 2018 me have in common...frustration with the Red Bulls' propensity for underwhelming in crucial home games.
 
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Devils Dominion

Now we Plummet
Feb 16, 2007
48,509
3,716
NJ
Overheard some guys talking this morning in the caf saying a large group of Mexican fans jumped a bunch of people inside and out of the stadium .

It's not a family friendly environment over there and they need to do something about it.
 

BenedictGomez

Corsi is GROSSLY overrated
Oct 11, 2007
40,436
7,745
PRNJ
Overheard some guys talking this morning in the caf saying a large group of Mexican fans jumped a bunch of people inside and out of the stadium .

It's not a family friendly environment over there and they need to do something about it.

Simple; just call ICE.

They'll each scatter like Carl Lewis in his prime.
 
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sabremike

Friend To All Giraffes
Aug 30, 2010
22,539
33,780
Brewster, NY
I really don't like clubs from Mexico. At all.

And yes I know I probably had to word this carefully, but I really just don't.
Just those fans indulging in that homophobic gay bashing chant on the goal kicks alone completely validates your opinion to me.
 

OmNomNom

Taco is Love, Taco is Life
Mar 3, 2011
22,973
15,826
In the Church of Salmela
oh, you mean the highlight of the blue****e's season? not losing to liverpool in the league? in between liverpool smashing man city 5-1 over two legs to advance to champions league semis? i'll survive. :naughty:

it's hilarious how that was literally the biggest game of their season, while it wasn't even liverpool's biggest game of the week.

oh and liverpool still knocked everton out of the fa cup. :laugh:

this thread can be about how the yankees suck and the mets are taking back new york in april or something tho.

life as an everton support hurts :(

f*** our manager and terrible signings
 

VaxjoDevil

No kids - Still a person
Nov 11, 2009
8,955
471
Princeton, NJ
So, just for fun, opinion on best player of all time?

Maradona for me. Mostly because he had to protect the ball through tackles which are considered illegal today, and did so better than anybody, ever.
 

BalticDevil

Registered User
Mar 27, 2018
84
87
Wismar, Germany
So, just for fun, opinion on best player of all time?

Maradona for me. Mostly because he had to protect the ball through tackles which are considered illegal today, and did so better than anybody, ever.

From the the players I've seen play in my lifetime it's Zidane. Love these players who are not only perfect technically but think the game better than anyone else in their generation.

I'm too young to have seen Maradona or Pele play though.

BTW it looks like me Bundesliga team Werder Bremen is saving my weekend right now.
 
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New Jersey

(pacmanghost x) sad again
Sep 7, 2009
24,369
4,376
*intro to the sopranos*
twitter.com
So, just for fun, opinion on best player of all time?

Maradona for me. Mostly because he had to protect the ball through tackles which are considered illegal today, and did so better than anybody, ever.

From the the players I've seen play in my lifetime it's Zidane. Love these players who are not only perfect technically but think the game better than anyone else in their generation.

Speaking on the implied generational gap that seems to exist in these discussions, for me it's gotta be Leo Messi.

By the time Zidane's career as a player at Real ended, I still was very much ignorant to the European football scene. I didn't start following the Premiership and Champions League religiously until high school, which, for perspective, I attended from 2008 to 2012.

Good ol' Fox Soccer Channel, watching Liverpool play the likes of Blackburn, Bolton, Wolves, and Blackpool.
 
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