@TaylorTwellman The soccer folks arguing for these ideas are making a different argument than the one that Taylor & others are knocking down. It’s a both/and argument. Population & coaching/culture/develpment. If population doesn’t matter then why isn’t Luxembourg there w/Belgium & Netherlands?
@DocLibertarian All the coaching, culture, $$ stuff is a part of it. Probably the biggest part. But if you increase our pool you get more special ones that have the right soccer athleticism that are the perfect ball of clay for the stuff in the article
@socialtism@Chris_in_MA@TaylorTwellman 1000% agree that those things you said are the most important. My point is if you add millions of players to the potential pool on top of culture tactics, coaching, etc... it dramatically increases the chances of unearthing multiple Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Beckenbauer, Maldini, etc
@brianhgibson I tried to have a reasonable conversation with this guy earlier in the week. He’s not interested in any kind of nuanced conversation. Same insults. Same refusal to actually read anyone’s response if it isn’t sycophantic. I appreciated your thoughts
@Chris_in_MA@TaylorTwellman It’s a numbers game. Throw in 10 million more 5-11” athletes and you’re more likely to find 10 more creative, intuitive, height weight speed guys that can dribble, receive, play imaginatively and run all day as well as be developed by our best minds
@RyanSoccerAA@PaulSpacey I remember being a WC cycle casual fan 8 years ago & thinking the LeBron stuff myself. Thankfully I've continued to learn and understand the game and the naivety of that specific idea. Some making that argument are just dummies but some (me among them) are still trying to learn
@RyanSoccerAA@PaulSpacey AI is telling me 1-4 mil boys btw 5-16 are playing competitive soccer and 22-25M that are playing other sports will not ever play competitive soccer. Of course there are great athletes that would be terrible at soccer. And all the ones usually cited as potentials are among them
@RyanSoccerAA@PaulSpacey Of course theres talent here. I just think there are so many levels to discuss & that if soccer reigned supreme in the US that our standing in the world stage would be drastically different. Not just b/c of the athletes added but I don't think you can dismiss that entirely either
@PaulSpacey Kinda feels like you're the one being petulant here. You've belittled me at every point of this "discussion". But maybe I'm being childish, dumb, and immature by trying to have a discussion on twitter. Let's both just go and try to enjoy the world cup. Cheers.
@PaulSpacey I agree with you. But I also think its low level thinking to presume that if our entire pool of athletes prioritized this game as well as all of the money/media/national attention.. that the results would just be the same because the game calls for a different kind of athleticism
@PaulSpacey@RyanSoccerAA would develop the creativity and foot/eye coordination that futbol demands. And I just think there's an interesting discussion around that. But clearly X isn't the place to have it. Nice try and congrats on knocking down weak arguments
@PaulSpacey@RyanSoccerAA This is b/c of so many reasons. Our culture does not celebrate or reward futbol players like it does those from our big 3. Kids grow up playing other games on the streets and in parks. We also have stunted lines to develop coaches. Nobody knows if all those fast/strong players..