***Official Soccer Thread***

[POND_OF_RED]

Creating a new thread for soccer discussion since the Euro’s are done.

Most leagues are in preseason and Sporting KC are currently in a battle for the best record in the league to win the shield. We just sent Busio who’s a young Sporting youth academy player and possible future American star to Venezia to compete in the top division in Italy for a 6.5 million dollar transfer fee with up to $11 million with incentives and a 20% future sell-on rate if they sell him to another team. Not to mention another past youth academy player from Lee’s Summit and another possible World Cup starter Erik Palmer-Brown looks to be joining him at Venezia soon as well. If you’re looking for an Italian team to start rooting for with your new Paramount+ subscription they would be a good candidate with some local flavor.

The U.S has built a little power shift in the CONCACAF region with their wins over Mexico lately in Nations and Gold Cup finals and look to be in really good shape heading into the World Cup qualifiers next month.

Messi looks to be on the move as well. Let’s hope it’s not a worthless one to PSG for everyone’s sake.

Ok, CP feel free to remind me how gay soccer is now. Don’t care. Sporting is kicking ass and so is the USA. It’s a good time to be following along. Discuss…

Spoiler!

[RollChiefsRoll]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

Canada will beat either one that comes through.

Aged like milk.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by RollChiefsRoll

Aged like milk.

I underestimated how much better they are without Berhalter. Only temporary though.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by TambaBerry

Lol Canada doesn't have shit on the US. Won't even matter who the coach is. You have two players that's it. The rest of your team is trash. Poor dudes being wasted on a Canadian team

And yet Canada outplayed them over the entirety of WC qualifying (including in the 2 head to head games), a tiny country in comparison with a fraction of the talent available. What does that say about USA soccer?

[KC_Connection]

USA has no business not being in the top 10 in the world with their talent level and you have people bragging because they were able to beat Canada for the first time in 3 matches. That may actually explain why/how Berhalter was able to hang on to his job going forward.

[Gary Cooper]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

USA has no business not being in the top 10 in the world with their talent level and you have people bragging because they were able to beat Canada for the first time in 3 matches. That may actually explain why/how Berhalter was able to hang on to his job going forward.

They're not that talented compared to the top countries. Not sure which players you're talking about. It gets even worse when comparing depth to the top soccer nations.

[penguinz]

What is with the shield for the Canadian National Soccer teams? Looks like what you would expect for a U10 rec team.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by penguinz

What is with the shield for the Canadian National Soccer teams? Looks like what you would expect for a U10 rec team.

Canada’s soccer program itself is what you’d expect from a U-10 rec team. It’s a miracle they’ve even gotten as far as they have with so little funding and such poor management. Their coach spent half his presser subtly trashing his employer after yesterday’s game.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by Gary Cooper

They're not that talented compared to the top countries. Not sure which players you're talking about. It gets even worse when comparing depth to the top soccer nations.

They have enormous talent/depth compared to anyone else in CONCACAF at this point, such that they should easily be ranked in the top 10-15 in the world if they actually played to that level consistently.

[Gary Cooper]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

They have enormous talent/depth compared to anyone else in CONCACAF at this point, such that they should easily be ranked in the top 10-15 in the world if they actually played to that level consistently.

CONCACAF has always been B-Tier. Being the best in North America doesn't mean much in soccer. The U.S. would be lucky to qualify for any World Cup in South America or Europe.

[TambaBerry]

I mean the US is ranked 13th in the world. That's pretty damn good to me. Also, in our region teams bunker it when they play us. I didn't watch much of Canada in qualifying but it's really hard to score when they're dropping 7 to 8 guys into the box when they play the US.

[Gary Cooper]

Originally Posted by TambaBerry

I mean the US is ranked 13th in the world. That's pretty damn good to me. Also, in our region teams bunker it when they play us. I didn't watch much of Canada in qualifying but it's really hard to score when they're dropping 7 to 8 guys into the box when they play the US.

FIFA ranks the U.S. ahead of Germany. The Germans struggled in their last few tournaments but they're better than the U.S. team.

They also rank Belgium 4th, which is WAY too high for a team that never wins anything.

[penguinz]

Originally Posted by Gary Cooper

FIFA ranks the U.S. ahead of Germany. The Germans struggled in their last few tournaments but they're better than the U.S. team.

They also rank Belgium 4th, which is WAY too high for a team that never wins anything.

FIFA ranking are calculated from the game records over the previous 4 years. Impossible to be ranked if you never win anything.

[Gary Cooper]

Originally Posted by penguinz

FIFA ranking are calculated from the game records over the previous 4 years. Impossible to be ranked if you never win anything.

I know how the rankings work. There's no reason Belgium should be ranked ahead of Croatia, who has outperformed them the last few tournaments. The ranking system needs to change.

[Mizzou_8541]

Lol, Mexico fired their coach after 7 games. Lose to the US 3-0 and lose your job.

[POND_OF_RED]

Folarin Balogun already has won more international trophies (1) than England's whole team (0).

Levels ���� pic.twitter.com/7S2dW6VIgK

— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) June 19, 2023