Soccer

[Dodds]

I did hear a rumour that Murrinho was being lined up for a return. I doubt that, I think the Hiddink (spelling?) and Van Basten partnership would be interesting though.

And Torres will come good again, he is the best striker in the world when on form. His head is a mess though. He needs to sort that out before he can get back to anything like his best.

[Slakemoth]

I would love Mourhino back, but my wife hates him... too funny. I agree too about the Hiddink / VanBasten combo could be good. Hiddink did a good job with them a few years back... I wish he would just take the job, but he likes his gig with the Russians.

[Grogybear]

I actually buy the english media line that getting rid of Ray Wilkins (assitant manager) half way through the season was a big boo-boo. Chelsea will always find sustained success difficult if the millions they get have the string attached of allowing abramovich to play football manager..

The Utd team that won the title this season is worse than the won that was easily defeated by barca 2 seasons ago and the barca team is even better.

The fact that Utd's midfield is so weak and that Barca's is one of the best in a long time would suggest that they'll be overrun in midfield.
Their strength for quite some time hasn't been about controlling games or playing pretty paterns around the edge of the box - it's been about pace, power and ruthless finishing that all lends itself to their counter-attacking and incisive wing play.
Having none of the possession is something they're used to when playing the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal over the past few seasons but that doesn't affect their style too much because they can cause such horrendous damage with Rooney, Nani, Hernandez and Valencia on the break.

My prediction is 3-1 or maybe 4-2 to barca - they're just so much better than Utd across the park with the exception of left back - evra, although he's had his poorest season for Utd is still top class and I'd put the 2 CB pairings on equal footing.

[Dodds]

Good pointgroggy, I forgot about that.

And I agree with you about the CL final. But Fergie might go with a flat back 9 and Rooney formation.

[Slakemoth]

I can't argue with a thing you said there...

and lord knows the 9 guys back, long ball to Chicharito sure worked against Chelsea in the last match....

[Grogybear]

I can't argue with a thing you said there...

and lord knows the 9 guys back, long ball to Chicharito sure worked against Chelsea in the last match....

I wouldn't overstate it too much.. it's fair to say that Chelsea weren't as pathetically awful in the recent league game as they were in the champions league but they were still pretty dire.. they have an awful lot of work to do in the summer to even stay in the top 4.


Because this thread is the "soccer" thread in general I thought I might ask what our North American friends think of football (american football requires very little "foot" and so I think the one that almost exclusively involves "foot" (soccer) should get to be called football)?

Everybody knows about the problems with diving, general on the pitch cheating, the corruption of FIFA and there is a large amount of gambling corruption in east Asia. Is that what turns Americans off what is I think the most popular sport on the planet? What do they see that the rest of the world doesn't?
Is it just that both the US and Canada have so many domestic sports that they don't need to divide their attention?

[Slakemoth]

Just some background on me... I grew up in Florida, began playing soccer at about 8 or 9.. played all the way through high school, was asked to go walk-on for my College ( Clemson).. I went out and kicked around, but quickly realized I was over my head, and there was no way to balance Architecture school with collegiate sports.. after college I kept playing in adult rec leagues, and for the last 11 years have coached recreational and competitive boys and girls teams in Texas.

Soccer is huge in Texas... and really in the whole US, but as you noted it gets very little fan support and air time on tv. We pay extra for the "Fox Soccer Channel. Gol tv, and Fox Soccer plus (formerly Setanta) on our satellite... and that's where we watch 99% of the games. We can pretty much see it all on those three channels ( La liga, EPL Bundesliga, Seria A etc..) . ESPN will typically show an EPL match or champions league matches on a given Saturday or during the week., but unless you are willing to pay extra, its tough to watch good soccer on tv.

Texas has lots of Mexicans living here, so there is a strong base of support for professional teams to play, and pass through on international tournaments. ( Barcelona will play Club America here soon). And as I said, even in football crazy Texas.. there is a massive amount of kids playing soccer at all levels.

But to your overall question of "why isn't soccer bigger in the US?".. here are my theories.

1) tough to catch on tv. Unless you really search it out, or pay extra, you will not see much soccer on "mainstream" tv channels. Yes the Champions League final, and World Cup games get good exposure... but the week to week matches are sorely missing.

2) Way too many sports to choose from. Baseball, Football, Basketball, Soccer, Hockey, tennis etc... as you said "divided attention"

3) "its boring".. I've never understood this argument at all... especially when it comes from the same people that can watch friggin golf or baseball on tv... the absolutely most boring things on earth. Football isn't much better.. booooring.

4) Lack of understanding or poor marketing. Most folks have a hard time grasping the subtleties of the game. A perfect example was the hoo-ha around Beckham coming to the LA Galaxy.... when he didn't immediately score 5 goals a game, people lost interest and thought he sucked.... What they didn't get was that beckham was never a goal scoring machine... he is a goal creating machine.. he's the guy that gives the perfect cross or feed so your strikers can finish... except that most all the MLS strikers suck and couldn't finish if the net was wide open... but I digress.

Part two of that is the average American expects to win everything... and simply cannot fathom why we don't sweep the World Cup every four years.

The good news is that it is absolutely growing and getting more popular.. and its the kids that are driving it. Go to my kid's school and you see jerseys all over the place... from Mexican clubs to EPL, italian, Spanish German etc.. I can carry on a great discussion about the Chelsea v Man U game with a 12 year old.... People know who Messi, Rooney, Ronaldo, and Lampard are, and the Mexican community here in Texas LOVES Chicharito follows his play. As much as I poop on them, the TV folks are trying.. for the last two years there has been a concerted effort to get big matches shown on the big networks and ESPN. International friendlies with the US team playing get good exposure on the main channels. Little girls follow the Women's national team and are responsible for dragging their parents into the world of soccer..

So its not all bad.... we're getting there slowly but surely.

[ruincrow]

personally, i support Manu. ! haha

[Dodds]

Personally I think Americans just dont get it.

Exhibit a:

[Offeror]

So who do you think will win this weekend? ManU or Barcelona?

Barca all the way. They keep the ball all the time.

ManU's only chance is to defend well, absorb the pressure, and hit on the counter.
If ManU tries to match Barca's game, then Barca will win for sure.

[tinybear]

We Americans have got it wrong from day one. See, we play football with our hands and then we call the game which is really played with the feet "soccer". I never quite understood why.

[Offeror]

We Americans have got it wrong from day one. See, we play football with our hands and then we call the game which is really played with the feet "soccer". I never quite understood why.

And I've always thought that maybe the Americans always wanted to stand out from the rest, so they intentionally tried to do things differently.

The world was playing football with feet, they used hands.
Of the sports i've seen worldwide, they play a game of two halfs, but Americans play in Quarters.