re: True or False: soccer players are second tier athletes

People don't even agree on what "being more athletic is"


But the way I view athleticism I would switch that around. When I think of someone being athletic I think of the guy that can go shoot some buckets, makes some catches, make some throws, kick around the ball all while looking coordinated and not like a fool. Maybe he is not elite at any of the things not involved with his respective sport but he can hold his own when playing the other sports with amateurs

I see athleticism as simply having the fitness, stamina, coordination and agility to transition from sport to sport without looking like a toddler learning to walk

So while many maybe view NBA players as the most athletic of the pro leagues, I view them lower on the spectrum than most professional leagues as far as athleticism

If you cherry picked the players with the best soccer style athletic build in the NBA and NFL and gave them two years to do nothing but play soccer with elite coaches and trainers they could probably be a lower tier MLS team.

Baseball GTFO. Those guys are no more athletic than soccer players, and in often cases less athletic. Soccer and baseball are similar in that they're very skill based sports, pitching and hitting are developed over time and help you very little in other sports.

NFL you're talking just skill position players and some scat backs. NBA you're basically only talking PG's and SG's. Anyone over about 6'6 is gonna be too slow to play anything other than goalie and a very one dimensional striker.

So within the three sports you idiotically made blanket statements there's only about a couple hundred players out of thousands that would even have a shot. And even then the best they would become is MLS level. They wouldn't stand a chance against elite competition.

Also, I don't know when/what school you went to, but any school with a decent middle-upper middle class population now is going to have soccer players who are absolutely playing soccer by choice and not bc they don't have other options.

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If you cherry picked the players with the best soccer style athletic build in the NBA and NFL and gave them two years to do nothing but play soccer with elite coaches and trainers they could probably be a lower tier MLS team.

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No, just no. Y'all have no clue the talent it takes to play pro soccer and the years it takes to develop that talent.

ETA: Or by lower tier did you mean worst in the league and wouldn't win a game? Because that would be an attainable goal.

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If you cherry picked the players with the best soccer style athletic build in the NBA and NFL and gave them two years to do nothing but play soccer with elite coaches and trainers they could probably be a lower tier MLS team.

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It's all about perspective. If you would take this group and put them into a time machine to travel back to the toddler age and let them train their entire lives at only soccer, then this would be the best team in the world.

Mike Trout
Andrew McCutchen
Earl Thomas
Odell Beckham Jr
Jarvis Landry
Adam Jones
Manny Machado
Eric Berry
Darrelle Revis
Jordan Burroughs
Jordy Nelson
Randall Cobb
Tyrann Mathieu
Patrick Peterson
Dez Bryant
Julio Jones

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If you would take this group and put them into a time machine to travel back to the toddler age and let them train their entire lives at only soccer, then this would be the best team in the world.

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They are stud athletes so they would automatically be great at soccer?

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do you know why there arent that many 6'0+ soccer players on the field?

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Sorry, I had to comment on this because it is a common myth for many countries. I haven't looked but I can pretty much guarantee you more than half of the US men's national team is 6 feet or taller in height.

Even the Asian teams nowadays have decent height, especially on their backline.

That said you are kinda right, other than keepers you don't see many soccer players taller than 6'4"

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If you cherry picked the players with the best soccer style athletic build in the NBA and NFL and gave them two years to do nothing but play soccer with elite coaches and trainers they could probably be a lower tier MLS team.

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No they couldn't. It's too skilled of a game. You think you could teach Christiano Ronaldo how to be an MLB level shortstop in 2 years?

The MLS is some poo. I very much have an idea, I promise I have just as much soccer experience as anyone on this board.

I'm not making the same blanket statements as everyone else. Two years is a long time for elite athletes to do nothing but play soccer. If you literally picked the 18 best guys from the NBA and NFL, the ones with the best soccer build and the ones who took to it naturally the best, and put them through a two year, no vacation, intensive tactics, technique, training regiment, they wouldn't be embarrassed against most of the MLS teams.

Play disciplined, long balls, and crosses. I think they wouldn't be embarrassed. Don't even know if they would win a game, but they wouldn't lose 10-0 every time. Which is what would happen in the initial hypothetical

Do u know any of the baseball coaches at Ponchatoula high?