Nothing more American than looking at a problem the entire first world has solved with ease for decades and going “well what is there to be done? who will pay? where are the answers?”
Extremely funny. Buddy all of the solutions are readily available, tested, and proved out.
Cristiano Ronaldo begged for hamburgers outside McDonalds. He’d never turn pro in America
Messi’s parents were factory workers. He’d never turn pro in America
Lalas went to boarding school. Failed to get into college until his dad made a call to Rutgers. He went pro in America
I used to ask myself when I played if I was actually good enough to be at the club I was at, or if I could just AFFORD to be there. If you have kids in this country asking themselves that question, the foundation of player development in this country has already failed.
Youth soccer (youth sports) is a competitive market with businesses selling a product that obviously customers are willing to pay for. I’d love if soccer was free to all. But who is going to pay for all this free soccer?
aaaaaaaaand THAT attitude from the "old guard" of US soccer is why the round of 16 is our ceiling
"who's gonna pay for all this free soccer?" is about the dumbest response to all this that I've seen... not shocked it comes from Alexi Lalas
You can get into all the team logistics after the loss but individually, this guy here has a lot of fault. Anyone that genuinely convinced themselves that James was an actual winning piece to a contender has a lot to learn about this sport lol.