STOKE NATION:

Culture of competition: To Americans, soccer is just a beautiful bore: World's most popular sport gets lukewarm reception in US (Jonathan Zopf, 8/02/09, Gainesville Times)

According to Allaway, in order to produce the best players, the U.S. has to rethink its development program, especially when it comes to youth soccer.

"American style of play emphasizes teamwork instead of individuals," he said. "My impression of youth soccer is an awful lot of regimented drills run by adults, which tend to produce machine-like teams and not individual flair. I don’t think we’re going to produce big superstars with that system."

One way to produce superstars, and thus a better national team, is to get Hispanic and African-American athletes to play soccer. Two such athletes, Jozy Altidore and Charlie Davies, are making a name for themselves on the national level and promoting the game to the African-American community.

"They bring that size and speed that we need," Dexter said. "A lot of the African-American athletes are gonna grow up and play football, basketball or baseball. It’s hard to keep them interested in soccer."

More African-Americans are playing on the national team than ever before, with one (Oguchi Onyewu) playing so well that he became the first American to sign a contract to play with A.C. Milan.

"That’s a step in the right direction," Allaway said. "It’s not a leap in the right direction, but a step in the right direction is better than a step in the wrong direction."’

While increased African-American involvement has improved the sport, Allaway and Vega believe that success at a world level will ultimately lie with the Hispanic community.

"I think the Latino immigration is going to help," Allaway said. "The U.S. system isn’t really set up to take advantage of that, but I think the U.S. Soccer Federation realizes that they have to change that and they are trying to. The powers that be in American soccer are recognizing the asset the Latino population can be and are trying to change the way things are in order to take advantage of that."

What happened to U.S. soccer? (William C. Kashatus, 8/02/09, Philadelphia Inquirer)

First, there were serious problems with player development. The ODP coaches responsible for developing our nation's soccer talent tended to promote midfielders as the best "all-around" players, ignoring position-specific qualities, such as the pure goal scorer or the exceptional defensive marker. In Europe, those are the players who ensure the success of the top teams.

In addition, the ODP coaches were identifying players who just entered puberty and did not always consider changes in physical and mental development. [...]

Second was the failure to develop the sport's infrastructure. Those players who were selected for the ODP came from the youth level where parents shoulder the operating expenses. In Europe, each town has a feeder system, and teams are almost always supported by local and national businesses.

The USSF was naive to believe that it could invest a mere $50 million to develop the talent to compete effectively on an international stage.

The Olympics and World Cup are for professional players. That means national team players must be professional players. And the business of developing professional players belongs to Major League Soccer, not the colleges, or the youth clubs.

Had MLS been allowed to pay for the identification, recruitment, and development of national team players, it would have ensured professional talent and avoided the maturation problems.

Finally, USSF still needs to improve its image. An entire generation has passed since soccer claimed to be the "Sport of the 1980s," and it's still no closer to competing with basketball, football, or even baseball for popularity.

While there are more youngsters than ever before competing at the amateur level, professional soccer is not a popular spectator sport. Americans enjoy high-scoring contests that are played with the hands, while a good, competitive soccer match is low-scoring and played primarily with the feet.

All that flair and creativity stuff would take USA soccer in exactly the wrong direction. All it does is reward prima donas and make it difficult for a team to play with any coherence. In particular, coaches end up having to adjust their attack to guarantee goals for certain spoiled players rather than making the players perform within a system, like the rest of their teammates. In fact, it was running their entire team through Giorgio Chinaglia that destroyed the NY Cosmos, who took the NASL and American soccer with them down the drain.

America can succeed instead by making our version of soccer determinedly a coaches' game, like football is especially, and by exploiting our superior size and physicality. Playing against the US should be difficult because they grind you down, are disciplined, and have a superior game plan.

Now, obviously, America doesn't currently have the sorts of soccer coaches who can implement such a system. And developing them will take a while. But there are two things you could do immediately. First, hire someone like Tony Pulis--of Stoke in the EPL--whose team plays that style of game, and make him the national coach. Second, forget soccer coaches. Bring in Bill James, Billy Beane, Bill Belichick, Pete Carril, Monte Kiffin, Buddy Ryan, Mike Martz, etc. to break down the game and rebuild it. Jonathan Wilson has recently published a book about the history of soccer tactics, Inverting the Pyramid, and what really stands out about it is how primitive those tactics still are after over a century of organized soccer. "Innovation" basically consists of moving players forward or back.

Bringing the best offensive and defensive minds from baseball, football, basketball and hockey to bear on the game would revolutionize it. Bringing in sabremetricians to generate meaningful statistics would enable coaches, for the first time, to understand what players are contributing on the field, free of the lies our eyes tell us.

Just because soccer is decades away from being popular in America, or may never be a major sport, is no reason we shouldn't be the best at it. And that means playing a better game than other sides, not having more "spectacular" players.

MORE:
Soccer in Seattle: A New Kind of Football Team Woos Fans (Tiffany Sharples, 8/02/09, TIME)

If it all seems a bit contrived, it is, but the owners are unabashed about their tradition-building. Drew Carey's enthusiasm for "the march to the match," a pregame procession to the field led by the Sounders' very own 53-piece marching band, is evident. "The march from Pioneer Square, that's going to be great 20, 30, 50 years from now," Carey says. "Your kids are going to be like, 'Oh, we can't miss the march! We've got to go there!'" His inspiration for creating the team's own instrumental cheering squad came from years of watching Los Angeles Galaxy games, which Carey said at times had a lackluster feel. In contrast, the persistent thumping of the bass drums, and triumphant declarations from the horn section ensure that there's seldom a dull — or quiet — moment during Sounders games. "Why not a marching band?" Carey says.

Carey owns the team along with Adrian Hanauer, the former owner of the United Soccer League Sounders, Hollywood producer Joe Roth, and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. There's no doubting the franchise's business clout. But it's Carey and Roth who are the most prominent faces of the team, and devoted soccer fans as immersed in the U.S. game as in the goings-on in England's Premiership, Spain's La Liga or Mexico's Primera Division. They know that the Sounders' survival will depend on generating the devout following that keeps the cash flowing in. And while the U.S. as a whole works its way to a higher caliber of play, buttressing the game with ritual is part of the strategy. "We're not Chelsea or Arsenal," Carey says, recognizing that most of the game's deepest devotees in America know that the European Champion's League are really the "majors" as far as soccer is concerned. "But you can see good quality play and have the experience of being at a good professional soccer game."

So far, it's working. Each of the 11 home games has been sold out, and Sounders paraphernalia is flying off the shelves, with replica jerseys costing $70 and up. Before the team even played a game, they'd sold some $850,000 worth of merchandise through one online store. Teaming up with the NFL Seahawks to share Qwest and front-room resources has helped defray costs, of course, but beyond savvy business tactics and smart marketing — another exhibition game is scheduled for early August against European champions Barcelona — timing has been everything. For one, soccer tickets are cheaper than the other main seasonal sport, baseball, and with the Mariners playing nearly every other day, Sounders games feel like a bigger deal. And for a city so recently wounded by the departure of their decades old basketball team, the Sonics, being able to root for a new, dedicated franchise is a restorative tonic. "That was one of the planets that lined up in the eclipse," Roth says.

Posted by Orrin Judd at August 2, 2009 7:38 AM