jim wrote:Is that a fair assessment? (besides the goalie thing, I'm sure it's harder then it looks)
Haha, of course it's not a fair assessment.
I would say more than any sport other than basketball, soccer rewards having a wide array of athletic skills. The best players in the world all have elite speed, strength, balance, coordination and conditioning. It's just a lot more subtle and tougher to evaluate since there are so few individually isolated 1v1 events. Baseball is the easiest to break down because everything is isolated. In soccer, you have to find the order within the chaos. That takes a more refined scouting eye.
I'm not saying that the athletes themselves don't have more varied skills, I'm saying that specialization doesn't seem to be permitted. Little kid in the U.S. growing up who isn't very big and slow as hell might throw the ball pretty well and dream about being a pitcher. Kid with a weight problem might dream of being a linemen. But unless you are pretty physically gifted across the board ... how do you find a place on the soccer field? Aren't they all pretty much fast, agile, ... in other words, no loogies or linemen or low post men out there.
jim wrote:Is that a fair assessment? (besides the goalie thing, I'm sure it's harder then it looks)
Haha, of course it's not a fair assessment.
I would say more than any sport other than basketball, soccer rewards having a wide array of athletic skills. The best players in the world all have elite speed, strength, balance, coordination and conditioning. It's just a lot more subtle and tougher to evaluate since there are so few individually isolated 1v1 events. Baseball is the easiest to break down because everything is isolated. In soccer, you have to find the order within the chaos. That takes a more refined scouting eye.
I'm not saying that the athletes themselves don't have more varied skills, I'm saying that specialization doesn't seem to be permitted. Little kid in the U.S. growing up who isn't very big and slow as hell might throw the ball pretty well and dream about being a pitcher. Kid with a weight problem might dream of being a linemen. But unless you are pretty physically gifted across the board ... how do you find a place on the soccer field? Aren't they all pretty much fast, agile, ... in other words, no loogies or linemen or low post men out there.
Ok, I misunderstood you. You're totally right, outside of elite speed, there really isn't one talent you can go far with. You have to have balance. Someone like Skip Schumacker would be a much better soccer player than Albert Pujols.
I would guess that if you aren't running a 4.5-4.6/40, you can hang up your cleats. I would think speed would be an absolute prerequisite for any player. After that there are other things, but I would think if you can't flat out run you can't play.
I coached a kid when he was 14 who lives down the street who ended up going to Michigan State and was a 4 year starter for their soccer team and spent a year playing professionally somewhere. Guess what position he played for us?
Well... I don't know about that. Pujols would be a Oneywu. Skip a Bradley.
Speed is a must all over the field, but the defenders can sometimes get away with being a step or two slower if they're big enough and have good instincts.
Oh yes, and England...congratulations on continuing your proud tradition of underachieving and playing like a bunch of individuals instead of a team. You should have and easily could have won this game 2-0
This is so true. My friends who are English fans have got to be pulling their hair out right now. I love it.
And yes, thrill, I'll gladly provide my prognostications from here on it. It's really too bad that I'm going to be all over the midwest during the next two weeks. Why did everything have to be scheduled during the freakin' world cup?
Who is next and what time? I'm watching. Count me in on this whole world cup thing.
What is a c.ock-up?
A [expletive] up is a f up.
Next game is Friday v Slovenia at 9am central. http://www.marca.com/deporte/futbol/mun ... glish.html
Click the link and hover over either a country or a date and you can see when all of their group matches are.
Fat Strat wrote:
This is so true. My friends who are English fans have got to be pulling their hair out right now. I love it.
Every English person I know is bald. You really know a Brit with hair?
LOL. Actually, last I saw him -- which was at least 3 years ago -- it was graying dramatically and receding dramatically. I'm guessing he's a dome now.
I have no idea what "c.ock-up" is.
Next match is the 18th against Slovenia, 9:30 et.
Then against Algeria on the 23rd, 9:30 et.
Slovenia is ranked 31 by FIFA. Algeria is ranked 26th. For reference, we're ranked 14th and England 9th.... at least that's what they were ranked on the list that I got from ESPN that also had the schedule. It might not be as accurate as it was in Jan.
How much "luck" (I hate that word, but I think you know what I mean) is there in soccer. When a 31 plays a 14 in baseball, nobody would be surprised in the least if the 31 ranked team beat the 14th. In soccer I assume it's less likely for "luck" to come into play?
