American football (soccer) Golden Generation?

Bulletproof

Bulletproof

Well-Known Member
Sat watching match of the day and the Leeds v Wolves match was on. Leeds have signed a couple of Americans with one of the them looking particularly good. Had me thinking that there seems to be a lot of young Americans coming through, so are we going to see a "Golden Generation" and see them make a mark on world football??
 
Bulletproof said:
Sat watching match of the day and the Leeds v Wolves match was on. Leeds have signed a couple of Americans with one of the them looking particularly good. Had me thinking that there seems to be a lot of young Americans coming through, so are we going to see a "Golden Generation" and see them make a mark on world football??
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I suppose it depends on whether you mean on the club level or international level. I'd say 'perhaps' to the former, and 'not likely' to the latter. I think we'll see more American players under age 20 signing for European clubs and then featuring in their starting XIs, but I don't see that leading to any emergence at World Cups. We've heard similar for the likes of Belgium, Portugal, and Turkey for decades now, and we're all still waiting.

The last American team to win a knockout round of the WC was the 2002 team featuring Reyna and Beasley. An unselfish, hard-working group with almost no recognition at the international level, and not much more at home. Several players came of age at a time when it was rare that an American could even make a living playing the sport. Since then, salaries and endorsements have gotten fatter and I think they've lost the chip on their shoulders that comes with being an underdog nation.
 
Bulletproof said:
Sat watching match of the day and the Leeds v Wolves match was on. Leeds have signed a couple of Americans with one of the them looking particularly good. Had me thinking that there seems to be a lot of young Americans coming through, so are we going to see a "Golden Generation" and see them make a mark on world football??
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No
 
They will become even stronger as soccer continues to grow as a sport.

The figures show it’s completely dominating Ice Hockey and Baseball.

Only American football and Basketball are more popular.
 
Abacab said:
They will become even stronger as soccer continues to grow as a sport.

The figures show it’s completely dominating Ice Hockey and Baseball.

Only American football and Basketball are more popular.
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Im just back from Florida, the amount of "soccer" pitches there now, compared to the last time i was in Florida in 2010, was notable.

Played golf with 3 locals, during a round over there and they said its becoming huge. One of them made a point that parents view it as being safer than NFL for their kids too - which, with the truth about CTE becoming clearer, makes sense.
 
SDR said:
I've lived in California for more than 3 decades, and the son of one of my friends is on the US men's team WC roster, so I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for them. I doubt they'll go far, but remember Greece in the Euros 2004 :eek:
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Who is it
 
Hurricane Run said:
Im just back from Florida, the amount of "soccer" pitches there now, compared to the last time i was in Florida in 2010, was notable.

Played golf with 3 locals, during a round over there and they said its becoming huge. One of them made a point that parents view it as being safer than NFL for their kids too - which, with the truth about CTE becoming clearer, makes sense.
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They are utterly obsessed with the EPL over there too.

I think it’ll eventually become their most popular sport.
 
Abacab said:
They are utterly obsessed with the EPL over there too.

I think it’ll eventually become their most popular sport.
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Yep.

A lot of them don’t support American teams, and don’t like the MLS but will support teams from down south, or in my experience, us ;)
 
SDR said:
I've lived in California for more than 3 decades, and the son of one of my friends is on the US men's team WC roster, so I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for them. I doubt they'll go far, but remember Greece in the Euros 2004 :eek:
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Home crowd support played a huge role in 2004. So maybe not this year for the US, but 2026 is a real possibility imo.
 
Main Stand said:
I’ve said for a while I fancy them to go deep at the World Cup, perhaps reach the semis at the next one once the players have developed.

Reyna
Sands
Pulisic
Adams
Musah
Mckennie
Tillman
Weah
Dike
Dest

All great prospects, at big clubs.
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They won't get out of the groups
 
Don't know if anyone watched much of team USA during world cup qualifying but they were brutal to watch! Beaten comfortably by Canada and Costa Rica, struggled against absolute dross in El Salvador and Hondurus. They have some decent names on paper but are genuinely terrible.

They made an absolute meal of qualifying from a route that should always guarantee qualification such is the level of opposition they play.
 
They will be my team to watch. I think they’ll qualify out of the group but probably go out after that. I’ve watched for years and wrongly thought, “ the next World Cup”. Got a talented squad but I always feel they are missing something.
 
You are definitely seeing more American players plying their trade with European teams. The game is growing domestically too. I think it's a matter of time before they do something significant as a national team.
 
This US team is nowhere near as good as the original Reyna’s Team, at least not yet, but watch this space. Don’t be surprised if they shine at the 2026 World Cup at home though. The game is growing.
 
Bulletproof said:
Sat watching match of the day and the Leeds v Wolves match was on. Leeds have signed a couple of Americans with one of the them looking particularly good. Had me thinking that there seems to be a lot of young Americans coming through, so are we going to see a "Golden Generation" and see them make a mark on world football??
Click to expand...
The US have surpassed Scotland in international achievements. Although that hardly qualifies as making a mark on world football :)) But I think the US can become a serious contender in world football. Growing their reputation to become as daunting a prospect as the top South American teams.
 
SDR said:
I've lived in California for more than 3 decades, and the son of one of my friends is on the US men's team WC roster, so I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for them. I doubt they'll go far, but remember Greece in the Euros 2004 :eek:
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You’ve lived there to long, it’s a squad you heathen.
 
For those that have a distaste for the word soccer, note it's a British term, coined around the time when abbreviating words was in vogue, hence association football became soccer.

Rugger is from the same time.
 
A nation of 300m people and great sporting facilities means it’s a matter of time before they become a serious football nation.

A lot of people will laugh but if we were able to join a league outwit Scotland it would be the mls for me. Growing massively and will be s major league in the next 10/15 years. Would be great to be a part of
 
As a Rangers fan and American, I think that football (or soccer since the NFL exists) is surely growing. The MLS is in the best spot that any footballing organization has been in the US, and is starting to get transfer attention from European teams looking for bargains on youth talent. Hell, look at Sands to see that. Million dollar/pound deals for players are becoming much more common, and the attention from specifically younger people in the US is growing. I think that attention on the EPL will overall hamper the development of the MLS, as they don't get the same sorts of TV deals as other American sports due to it, but I think as it grows there will be more of a natural draw to support local teams. I also think it's very stupid to assume MLS or football in general will ever be the most popular sport on TV in the US for at least for another 20 years, if ever.
 
Richard Gough said at the weekend that although the amount of teams have increased in their leagues over the last few years he thinks the standard has dropped. I’m assuming that all the decent players now play in Europe.
 
They’ve been saying this since the 80s and it’s never happened. The current squad is pretty average and not even as good as it was a decade ago

The best athletes are still choosing to play basketball, American football and baseball - as a result America doesn’t have the ‘talent pool’ you’d think
 
TheMarbleStaircase said:
I wonder if we can get them obsessed with the Scottish game and it might generate a bit more money for our game.
B-)
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probably had our chance when our marketing teams never took advantage of our colours being the same colour as their flag and when we had Beasley, Bocanengra, Reyna, Edu in our squads

almost a slam dunk for promotion, captain of America as Reyna was playing for Rangers. We do have Tillman and Sands now but I wouldn't expect much
 
bar72bear said:
A nation of 300m people and great sporting facilities means it’s a matter of time before they become a serious football nation.

A lot of people will laugh but if we were able to join a league outwit Scotland it would be the mls for me. Growing massively and will be s major league in the next 10/15 years. Would be great to be a part of
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%^*& getting the bus to la galaxy away.
 
Phantom limb said:
I don't think there are any good examples in the last 100 years of football growing to become a major sport in a country in which it wasn't already hugely popular.
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Japan maybe? It’s grown there to be one of the major sports though I believe it still lags well behind baseball.
 
Smkz23 said:
Japan maybe? It’s grown there to be one of the major sports though I believe it still lags well behind baseball.
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The baseball fields here sit mostly empty outside of little league season. The soccer fields are used all year round.
 
bar72bear said:
A nation of 300m people and great sporting facilities means it’s a matter of time before they become a serious football nation.

A lot of people will laugh but if we were able to join a league outwit Scotland it would be the mls for me. Growing massively and will be s major league in the next 10/15 years. Would be great to be a part of
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The facilities and setup they have at high school level is incredible but I'm in two minds whether it's of much benefit to a football player at the moment.

It works in American Football and Basketball because there are clear pathways through high school then college then the draft to NFL or NBA, which is the elite level of the sport. But football doesn't work the same way and a player going through high school and college teams would be 21 or 22 before he's played a pro game and would be 3 or 4 years behind his European counterpart. Obviously they can play in the MLS if they're good enough before that age but as the quality isn't there just now it's possibly not the best education. Would the best pathway for a US player be to move to Europe at a young age and join an established academy.

As the sport grows more talented players will naturally come through but I think the country might struggle to get the conveyor belt going on properly and consistently producing their own top level players.
 
Phantom limb said:
If population size was a measure of footballing success, China and India would be the best teams. Neither have populations who are fanatical about the game though so it doesn't take off. America is the same, they do not have a history or culture that supports the emergence of a new sport. I don't think there are any good examples in the last 100 years of football growing to become a major sport in a country in which it wasn't already hugely popular.
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the difference with america is the infastructure that they have. Even the smallest school has brilliant sporting facilities and increasingly 'soccer' is seen as a safe sport to play compared to the others.

If you take the MLS even 20 years ago compared to now you can see that most of the teams now have decent stadiums and they are attracting good crowds far bigger than just about every league in the world. They now have players playing for some of the biggest teams in world football.
 
bar72bear said:
the difference with america is the infastructure that they have. Even the smallest school has brilliant sporting facilities and increasingly 'soccer' is seen as a safe sport to play compared to the others.

If you take the MLS even 20 years ago compared to now you can see that most of the teams now have decent stadiums and they are attracting good crowds far bigger than just about every league in the world. They now have players playing for some of the biggest teams in world football.
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Very true. MLS keeps growing every year.
 
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