re: This is why soccer will never take off in this country.

USA and Mexico breaking away to join Conmebol would do wonders for the growth of the game.

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2 CONCACAF to be dissolved and folded into either UEFA (preferably) or CONMEBOL. US fans are never going to take the sport seriously when we spend most of our international time playing countries that are fly specks compared to us.

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They’d take it even less seriously when we never qualify for the World Cup.

If french players didn't have soccer, what sport would they play instead?

Soccer is a sport where intelligence trumps athleticism. We need to become consistently smart.

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The same way basketball monopolized shoe companies to sponsor AAU in basketball so it was accessible to anyone with talent.

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AAU isn’t training players. they’re exploiting them and churning out less technically skilledplayers than 30 years ago, including guys who otherwise might become technically skilled with actual coaching. which is why while we’re still head and shoulders better than Europe/Argentina, the gap is closing as rapidly as it did with the USWNT

I played for 25 years, but I've always contended that professional soccer is entirely different than the sport American young men play in high school and college.

I played football, baseball, cross country in high school and lettered in all three. My focus was soccer and I ended up being recruited and playing in college all four years. I suffered more serious injuries playing soccer than any other sports combined - broken ribs twice, multiple concussions, a shattered ankle, torn back muscles, various cleats to all parts of my body, on and on.

High school and college soccer in the US is a MUCH more physical sport than what is played professionally or internationally. I don't know what happens between the college level and playing professionally, but the sport becomes much more about finesse and crisp ball control than sheer physicality like the lower levels in the US.

Most of it is due to the way the rest of the world plays and officiates the sport, I've always assumed. It's for this reason that I really can't stand to watch it and take no interest in the pro leagues despite playing for a vast majority of my life.

If the professional leagues and international play were not only allowed but encouraged to play with the physicality that the lower levels in the US play with, the American teams would dominate. It would also be much more popular in the States with higher level athletes and audiences.

Instead it's like we're being forced to conform and fit into this box that we really don't fit within, and the results are what you see today and in every world cup. American players that have been playing in the country for decades don't play this kind of soccer.

We don't have a deep well of players to choose from for international play despite having millions playing in high school and college. We have more soccer players nationwide than Belgium has total population. We don't play the same soccer and it always shows on the international stage.

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until organizations make soccer more accessible, we will continue to struggle

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that's why I am hoping the USL takes off. Lots of teams in smaller markets that have academies.

That can be a definite boost to the USA.

Culture is a thing too. A lot of our kids are outside playing football and basketball. It’s built into our culture. Everywhere else, on fields, on dirt, they’re playing soccer.

But again, making things more accessible will help a little with that. And if they ever make a deep run, like a semi final run, things can take off quickly