quote:
The argument isn't that LeBron or Odell or whoever would be a sick EPL player specifically. Rather, something like this is indicative of a structural disadvantage we as a country impose on ourselves.

It is true but that

quote:
the youth systems are arse backwards

is why people get tired of hearing the "great athletes that don't play soccer" thing.

13 years old is already past the age that any elite talent will be developed which will actually bridge the gap between the USA and the truly elite nations.

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Posted by glassman

Next to the beer taps at Finn's

Member since Oct 2008

116244 posts

Posted on 12/14/14 at 8:27 pm to wm72

quote:
13 years old is already past the age that any elite talent will be developed which will actually bridge the gap between the USA and the truly elite nations.

Yep. European elite talent are in academies being coached by elite coaches and living away from their families at that age. Most don't make it, but the level of coaching is so much higher. Same with South America.

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Posted by mynamebowl

Houston

Member since Jun 2012

1712 posts

Posted on 12/14/14 at 8:54 pm to wm72

The US produces more elite athletes than probably the entire rest of the world combined. There are plenty of them to go around. The problem is that many of them are guys you've never heard of that are sitting on a bench somewhere for college football/basketball and NFL/NBA teams. When our domestic league gets big enough so that it can close the pay scale gap that currently exists between MLS and our other major sports, more of those guys will have chosen soccer at an early age and the sport will continue to grow and grow.

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