German legend Jurgen Klinsman made some great comments after the Germany v England game about the state of US soccer. The federation should have done everything in their power to appoint him as their manager when they had the chance, now he has been living here too long and seen what is at his disposal he may not want the job anymore. In short he said the system in this country is messed up compared to the rest of the world. He was referring to where players here pay to play to try and get a scholarship and in the rest of the world they do not as clubs are doing all they can to get players to play at a professional level for their respective teams. 

In countries in South America and Europe most of the soccer players are from inner cities and come from modest families. In this country these players cant afford to play soccer and will go and play another sport or activity and therefore the talent will be lost forever.

He also mentioned that the players aren't good enough technically, especially with first touch. This is one reason we here in Charleston play barefoot soccer to replicate the inner city style where first touch means everything. 

I think players simply don't 'play' enough on their own. Due to everything being organised and run by a coach or worse; a clueless parent, there is not much 'play-time' for these players to experiment and not have that fear of failure brought by these coaches and parents. Here in Charleston we have training during the summer where the players just come and play pick-up with different ages and abilities. It is a time where they can come out and be free and have no restrictions. Even the speed training we do is about having fun and letting the athletes have a say in what they want to work on and what games they want to play.

The National team did generate a lot of publicity and hype during it's brief but entertaining stay in South America. This can be seen as a great success. Almost everybody knows there is a World Cup going on. Americans always know how to get behind their team, no matter what sport it is. Hopefully this will get those young American athletes interested in the game and excited about soccer instead of the many other sports they have at their disposal. 

England however have bigger problems. They had the coach, the golden generation of players, the marquee player in Wayne Rooney, the perfect group but yet again they failed to deliver. One of the biggest things I find with England apart from their players being too slow and not skilled enough is their press. They are so intent in bringing the team, players and coach down that they are jeapordising their teams success. You would think the paparazzi are foreign football haters but they are all obviously big fans of the team but are so intent on selling papers or their columns they don't care what they're are doing to their national team and heroes. 

In Italy is the same way, some say it's actually worse. They put so much pressure on the players that they play with this fear of failure and that is what exactly happened. The expectations are so high that the players cant cope with it. Of course if they won they would be forever National heroes and they would be the first ones patting them on their backs saying I told you so. If they got behind their team I am sure the players would play with a lot more freedom and belief. 

If you compare that to Maradona's Argentina where they just want to play to make the fans happy. You can see how united the team is as they are given the freedom to express themselves.

I still think Spain will win the whole thing as their football deserves to. The movement and speed of play is at times spectacular, they showed against Portugal that the loss to the Swiss was just a blip and they are back to their best. Portugal's counter attacking game was no match for the technical ability and speed of movement of their European rivals. 

 

Anyway that is my rant about the teams so far and it didn't even include the referees or implementing technology. I will save that for another day.  

Congratulations to Aislyn Sullivan for being last weeks Athlete of the week. Aislyn showed a great desire to learn our speed training techniques, especially our skill sets when teaching deceleration. Learning these different speed techniques will make her a faster and more dynamic soccer player. Good job Aislyn especially so as it is getting hot down here in Charleston, SC.