re: Why Can't the United States Assemble a Championship Soccer Team?

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one messi

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Obviously. No one else would want a stupid name like that.

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i picked ronaldo b/c of the longer strides, fwiw

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I know. He's just not who I immediately think of when I think of a truly top dribbler. It's probably one of the few activities where midgets have privilege. I also don't know how well someone who is 6'9" would fair bounding around like Ronaldo does. Yaya Toure, maybe.

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i don't know about this. if anything he may lose some jumping but he'd develop better explosiveness running

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Those two aren't mutually exclusive. He basically spent his childhood doing plyometrics with a ball. Basketball obviously attracts naturally explosive athletes, but it's not a bad sport to play if you're looking develop it, either.

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well 6-0 isn't some outlier in soccer

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It isn't, but is he stylistically similar to smaller dribblers? (I'm serious. I don't follow basketball too well)

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i think this is part of an older style of thinking that could possibly be changed by our guys

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To an extent. I don't think that Lebron would be Jan Koller if he developed into a good player, but everyone has limitations, even Lebron James. He just has less of them.