- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
re: I know it’s cliche, but our best athletes would dominate Soccer.
Posted on 7/7/26 at 7:16 am to _Hurricane_
Posted on 7/7/26 at 7:16 am to _Hurricane_
No. They wouldn’t. Our “best” athletes are often too big to be elite soccer players. Our issue isn’t an athletic one. We’re already as athletic as almost any team on earth. Ours is a technical and developmental issue.
Now if you wanted to throw 10-20% of the guys who play HS football but won’t have near the athleticism/size combo needed for college football into the developmental pool from a young age, I think that would be huge if we had the right way of developing kids.
Now if you wanted to throw 10-20% of the guys who play HS football but won’t have near the athleticism/size combo needed for college football into the developmental pool from a young age, I think that would be huge if we had the right way of developing kids.
This post was edited on 7/7/26 at 7:17 am
1
Posted on 7/7/26 at 7:16 am to sgallo3
quote:
You say this like Argentina didnt just tie Cape Verde.
Cape verde population is 500k. Argentina prioritizes soccer and still couldnt beat them in 90 minutes.
Its a game of teamwork and effort.
Brazil just got knocked out by Norway. Its not because brazil has a smaller population or doesnt care. Its because 11 players from Norway beat the best brazil could offer up
So much stupid in this post.
We would dominant teams if we had out best athletes playing the game. Trying to deny that is crazy asf
Posted on 7/7/26 at 7:16 am to saintsfan92612
quote:
No colleges in the south seem to have a men's soccer team so no NIL money going around.
The LAST thing we want is steering potentially good players to fricking college
quote:
there is no money in soccer here.
The NFL makes more on parking and concessions than the MLS makes in total revenue.
The MLS total revenue is less than 20% of the NBAs revenue and only about 30% of the NHLs.
And? You think the Brazillian, Argentinan, Belgian, or French leagues are the goal for our guys?
Posted on 7/7/26 at 7:16 am to Them
quote:
read through 3 pages of this brain-damaging thread and I still have yet to see anything resembling a convincing argument that the US wouldn’t be a global soccer powerhouse if we had trained our best athletes from toddler age on soccer.
But it’s technical you are just too dumb to understand
Posted on 7/7/26 at 7:19 am to RemouladeSawce
quote:
The US hasn’t lost a game on account of athleticism in decades. If you were familiar with our standing in the sport, you’d know we are regarded as one of the more athletic teams. It loses due to relative lack of technical skill
You’re surely aware of that, right? Cause this is basic
So why the confused manifesto above?
The training needs to chanve. The youth programs focus only on wi ning their little tournaments while in Europe they focus on technical skill and handling the ball in tight spaces. US players suck atthat. Only good at making long runs and nice passes.
Posted on 7/7/26 at 7:20 am to sgallo3
quote:
You probably think Cristiano Ronaldo is better than Messi.
You act like it’s a sick burn that we could have a team full of Ronaldos (6’ 2” genetic freak athlete)
Posted on 7/7/26 at 7:21 am to Adam Banks
People also make bad translations. I kind of did it with the LBJ comment on the past page, but he's a special case.
People think elite US star who is freak athlete and think they'd all be strikers and wingers.
Imagine Lebron and Jaylen Brown types as CBs, where the technical ability at the feet wouldn't be as necessary as a MF or winger.
For years I've talked about KG in goal. Imagine similar guys in that role.
But this all still ignores the point of the massive population of guys playing sports with no professional future who could make us elite, FAR below this Tier 1 athletic status.
People think elite US star who is freak athlete and think they'd all be strikers and wingers.
Imagine Lebron and Jaylen Brown types as CBs, where the technical ability at the feet wouldn't be as necessary as a MF or winger.
For years I've talked about KG in goal. Imagine similar guys in that role.
But this all still ignores the point of the massive population of guys playing sports with no professional future who could make us elite, FAR below this Tier 1 athletic status.
Posted on 7/7/26 at 7:24 am to St Augustine
quote:
Our “best” athletes are often too big to be elite soccer players. Our issue isn’t an athletic one. We’re already as athletic as almost any team on earth.
Zlatan is 6’5”
Haaland is 6’ 5”
Ronaldo is 6’ 2” and ripped.
Thomas Mueller is 6’ 1”
The top 5 WR yardage leaders the tallest is 6’ 3” and most are right at 6’ 1”
Posted on 7/7/26 at 7:25 am to Adam Banks
quote:
You act like it’s a sick burn that we could have a team full of Ronaldos (6’ 2” genetic freak athlete)
Dude is posting all sorts of stupid
Posted on 7/7/26 at 7:27 am to _Hurricane_
Soccer is a skill set that is different from our ball sports where we use our hands like football, basketball, and baseball. Eye-hand coordination is not the same as the coordination required for soccer.
I agree that many of our athletes in FB, hoops, and baseball could do well in soccer. There is absolutely no guarantee that LeBron would dominate in soccer.
Most likely as a kid given his height he would have been tried at goalie also. But in soccer a 5'7" player could run circles around him and have better footwork. I've read that having a size 15 shoe could be a disadvantage in soccer.
I agree that many of our athletes in FB, hoops, and baseball could do well in soccer. There is absolutely no guarantee that LeBron would dominate in soccer.
Most likely as a kid given his height he would have been tried at goalie also. But in soccer a 5'7" player could run circles around him and have better footwork. I've read that having a size 15 shoe could be a disadvantage in soccer.
This post was edited on 7/7/26 at 7:28 am
Posted on 7/7/26 at 7:32 am to WestCoastAg
quote:
Like I dont get where people come from when they argue against this
I don’t know anything about soccer but from what I can see the elite players are not 6’8” so I’ve never understood why people like you think stud athletes like LeBron would dominate soccer if trained from an early age. Why didn’t Jokic or Nowitski or any of the other European players that have become NBA stars? Hakeem Olajuwon did play soccer but switched the basketball because scouts thought his soccer footwork would be ideal for basketball and obviously were not wrong.
Why wouldn’t say Christian McCaffery or Reggie Bush or Barry Sanders be great soccer players? Guys that cut on a dime, strong lower bodies if they played nothing but soccer and received elite training
Posted on 7/7/26 at 7:32 am to Ralph_Wiggum
Do yall think there aren’t a shite ton of really athletic 5’7” people on America?
We have more of those than anyone too
We have more of those than anyone too
Posted on 7/7/26 at 7:33 am to Ralph_Wiggum
quote:
Soccer is a skill set that is different from our ball sports where we use our hands like football, basketball, and baseball. Eye-hand coordination is not the same as the coordination required for soccer.
At least you put words into what skill for why you think it wouldn’t work.
Unlike remelaudesauce.
Here’s the counter is. It’s all fast twitch muscle movements coordination and training specific coordination.
Would there be a few surprises where some guys can’t master the foot skill sure.
But that failure would have to be replicated hundreds to thousands of times for the US to not dominate.
Posted on 7/7/26 at 7:39 am to Adam Banks
quote:
Zlatan is 6’5” Haaland is 6’ 5” Ronaldo is 6’ 2” and ripped. Thomas Mueller is 6’ 1”
Nobody is saying Thomas Mueller is an elite athlete phenotype. He was 6’1” 160 lbs. He just had a gas tank and extreme intelligence. Zlatan had unbelievable touch and spatial awareness for his size.
Haaland and Ronaldo are the only two of the ones you listed whose physical measurements would be compared to our top football players/point guards and Ronaldo would look like a shrimp as played at around 170ish pounds at his peak and less at United.
We do have an insane athletic pool to choose from in this country. I just don’t think it would automatically look like the ones who rise to the top of our most popular sports if we started funneling more athletes into soccer.
The skill sets are just too different.
Also “dominating” is far too strong. We’d be a top 3-5 team but it’s not like we’d be winning every cup. Too weird of a game.
This post was edited on 7/7/26 at 7:41 am
Posted on 7/7/26 at 7:40 am to St Augustine
It’s. A. Numbers. Game
Our pool is the biggest be far. Over time that leads to sustained dominance
Do you think it’s coincidence the two largest soccer countries own 9 of the world cups?
Our pool is the biggest be far. Over time that leads to sustained dominance
Do you think it’s coincidence the two largest soccer countries own 9 of the world cups?
Posted on 7/7/26 at 7:42 am to lsupride87
I’m well aware. But define dominance. Because in threads like this we’ve seen plenty of posters who think we’d just boat race every completion in the world. Which is just absurd.
This post was edited on 7/7/26 at 7:47 am
Posted on 7/7/26 at 7:43 am to St Augustine
We would win the most world cups. We would be the betting favorite every year. It would be very surprising to the world anytime we lost
Posted on 7/7/26 at 7:45 am to lsupride87
For that to happen we would need an exponentially better training and development system more than we would need LeBron deciding to play soccer though.
Posted on 7/7/26 at 7:46 am to H-Town Tiger
quote:
Why wouldn’t say Christian McCaffery or Reggie Bush or Barry Sanders be great soccer players?
Reggie bush used to be the name used in this.
quote:
Guys that cut on a dime,
The reason LeBron is used is because he is massive AND can cut on a dime AND has shown elite spatial awareness for himself and others and timing of himself and others.
In other words he plays soccer with his hands
This post was edited on 7/7/26 at 7:52 am
Posted on 7/7/26 at 7:48 am to Them
quote:
I still have yet to see anything resembling a convincing argument that the US wouldn’t be a global soccer powerhouse if we had trained our best athletes from toddler age on soccer.
It’s not about the athletes, it’s about the training. We don’t have the training.
Page 7 of 13
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News