A Sea Of Red

I thought I'd done this thread before, but I looked back and couldn't find it. I've had this discussion with people before and it is always fun to see what people think.

What if soccer was the main sport in the US? What if our best players actually played soccer as opposed to football, basketball, and baseball? Who do you think would be the best players? Who do you think would be a good coach?

For those that don't know soccer (a lot of you), here's the basics of what each position needs:

Forward - Needs to be able to read the game and be in position before the ball gets to him. Must be able to play in tight spaces, handle the ball well. Must be able to finish and score. Must be able to go up and get headers (i.e. good jumping ability and/or tall).

Midfield - Must be a good ball handler. Must be very well conditioned with good burst of speed. Must be a good distributer (think point guard, especially center mid).

Defender - Must be able to read what your opponent will do. Must have quickness, stamina, and strength. Must be able to recover quickly. Must be tough and able to take a hit and deliver a hit.

Keeper - Must be smart. Must have good footwork, and jumping/diving is a plus. Must be tough. Must be able to recover quickly. Must be able to control their body exceptionally.

You need 2-3 forwards, 3-5 midfielders, 3-5 defenders, and 1 keeper. Remember, your combination of forwards, mids, and defenders can only equal ten.

Hopefully you guys will play along. It's a fun thing to think about that's different and could liven up the board.

Interesting concept...I'll have to chew on this one. Not so sure many of the big and tall NBA guys would do well b/c you don't typically see tall futbol players.

I would say your NFL receivers and defensive backs would be great up front. A guy like Derek Jeter and Chris Paul in the mid-field as a playmaker. Someone who has great endurance like Lance Armstrong would be great in the midfield, too.

Keeper does not seem to be a big issue with the US team...but I think of athletic catchers like Joe Mauer of the Twins in the net.

On defense, I think of big and fast, particularly at sweeper. Maybe putting a LaBron Jame type at sweeper would be good. Griffey in his prime would be great in the back, as well.

Dennis Rodman would have been an awesome keeper in his heyday. Watch film of him rebounding and look at his second jump ability, it's truly masterful.

Forward - LeBron James, Plaxico Burress (Tall and athletic, both handle the ball pretty well for their respective sports, and know how to score...)

Midfield - Russell Martin (C, LA Dodgers, he is a very well conditioned catcher and good on defense/throwing), Deron Williams, Willie Parker (Quick and able to carry a large workload, so he's conditioned), Chris Paul

Defender - John Lynch, Brian Urlacher, Dwight Howard, Bruce Bowen

Keeper - Tayshaun Prince

Coach- Mike Nolan (Cuz he likes to dress nicely, as a lot of soccer coaches do )

SuperJon wrote:I thought I'd done this thread before, but I looked back and couldn't find it. I've had this discussion with people before and it is always fun to see what people think.

What if soccer was the main sport in the US? What if our best players actually played soccer as opposed to football, basketball, and baseball? Who do you think would be the best players? Who do you think would be a good coach?

For those that don't know soccer (a lot of you), here's the basics of what each position needs:

Forward - Needs to be able to read the game and be in position before the ball gets to him. Must be able to play in tight spaces, handle the ball well. Must be able to finish and score. Must be able to go up and get headers (i.e. good jumping ability and/or tall).

Midfield - Must be a good ball handler. Must be very well conditioned with good burst of speed. Must be a good distributer (think point guard, especially center mid).

Defender - Must be able to read what your opponent will do. Must have quickness, stamina, and strength. Must be able to recover quickly. Must be tough and able to take a hit and deliver a hit.

Keeper - Must be smart. Must have good footwork, and jumping/diving is a plus. Must be tough. Must be able to recover quickly. Must be able to control their body exceptionally.

You need 2-3 forwards, 3-5 midfielders, 3-5 defenders, and 1 keeper. Remember, your combination of forwards, mids, and defenders can only equal ten.

Hopefully you guys will play along. It's a fun thing to think about that's different and could liven up the board.

Forwards(3) - Diana Taurasi, Danica Patrick (I know, I know -> just did it for fun), Cappie Pondexter

Midfielders (4, diamond) - Candace Parker[up], Gino Carano [back], Lindsey Whalen & Crystl Bustos [mid]

Defenders (3) - Lauren Jackson (would you need any other defenders with her out there???), Lauren Lappin, Candice Dupree

Keeper - Holly McPeak (probably past her prime, but I bet she can still get to the ball quickly; leg would be a liability)

You ran a variation of my favorite formation. I love the 3-4-3. It's so good. You can do so much out of it.

SuperJon wrote:You ran a variation of my favorite formation. I love the 3-4-3. It's so good. You can do so much out of it.

A ball into the box from Whalen to the likes of Taurasi, Pondexter, or even Parker.......chills

Lauren Jackson is Aussie. But I enjoyed the female angle.

Well, I have Russ Martin, who is Canadian, French Canadian, to be precise, but he's staying.

I spent way too much time thinking about this and thought about it way too in-depth.
As you can see, I'm running a modified 3-4-3 and going 3-4-1-2. Here's the break down:

Striker: Terrell Owens (6'3 218) and Randy Moss (6'4 210). I want these two at the front for a few reasons. They're both very fast so they could out run defenders on long through balls. They're both tall and extremely athletic so they could go up for balls in the air and have the athletic ability to either put them away or control them. While being tall, both of them are strong enough to hold their own in the box and not lose their way bumping with somebody.

Center Forward: Chris Paul (6'0 178). The CF is kind of a point guard position. It's main responsibility is to attack and set up the two strikers. He can score if he has the chance. That's Chris Paul. He's quick and shifty enough to drop back and play in the midfield if needed (3-5-2).

Center Mid: Dwyane Wade (6'4 216) and Adrian Peterson (6'2 217). The center mid doesn't have to be the fastest player on the field, but he needs to be quick and shifty to get the ball out of crowded spaces and into space. They also have to be strong enough to get through double teams and over power opposing mids for the ball. They need to have good stamina and good bursts of speed because one second they may be on the offensive end and they have to recover and defend on a counter-attack.

Outside Mid: BJ Upton (6'3 185) and Jacoby Ellsbury (6'1 185). For my outside mids I went with pure speed. I want my outside mids to be able to take a ball and carry it up the sideline on a counter and beat the defense back. They've got to be fast enough to do that and then get back on defense if need be. With there only being three defenders, the outside mids are going to have to get back and help more than in a 4-4-2.

Outside Backs: Antonio Gates (6'4 260) and Shawne Merriman (6'4 272). Yeah, these guys are big, but they're also quick for their size and very athletic. I don't expect them to be making runs up the sidelines any. Their job is to keep guys out of the box, and get the ball away from them before they get in deep. They're going to be stronger than most forwards, and while a little slower, they'll be able to use their bodies to slow down the forward and knock the ball away.

Center Back: AJ Hawk (6'1 247). It's the middle of the defense, so you need a middle linebacker. He's fast enough to catch up with a forward who breaks on a through ball. He's strong enough to battle for balls in the air. He can direct players where to go in the field, just like a middle linebacker would.

Keeper: Chauncey Billips (6'3 202). He's the general on the field. He has good court vision which would transfer over and can see things before they develop so that he can read an attack coming at him. He has long arms which while work well for blocking shots.

I had LeBron James at center mid and Julius Peppers at center back and Dwight Howard at keeper but they're all just too tall. All of my players are between 6'0 and 6'4 which is a normal height for most soccer players.

Yes, I thought way too much about this, but I had nothing better to do and it was fun for me.

Wheres Mike Tyson?!

I've seen this discussion before and I came to the conclusion that Roy Williams (the WR) is the best Keeper the world has never seen. Nobody is better at concentrating on the ball or controlling his body.

There is no reason why Allen Iverson couldn't have been the next Pele.

Goalie? Shawn Marion.

LUconn wrote:I've seen this discussion before and I came to the conclusion that Roy Williams (the WR) is the best Keeper the world has never seen. Nobody is better at concentrating on the ball or controlling his body.

I covered the state track meet in Austin when Roy was a senior in high school for Permian (of Friday Night Lights fame) and he ran like a 10.25 100m, long jumped like 25'+, triple jumped over 50' and high jumped like 6' 8" ... all without barely breaking a sweat. I was following him around because he had signed with UT and I have never witnessed someone who more of a true natural athlete. He would've been great in any sport. But when you grow up in Texas you really have little choice.

Frankly I could see him as a forward. Just try to outjump him on crosses.

Interesting thread.

Could you imagine trying to stop Owens or Moss (or LBJ for that matter) in a two on one situation? It would be a goal everytime.

Ed Dantes wrote:There is no reason why Allen Iverson couldn't have been the next Pele.

Goalie? Shawn Marion.

Thought that but he's too tall. If you kept the ball on the ground you'd eventually get it past him.

Sly Fox wrote:Lauren Jackson is Aussie. But I enjoyed the female angle.

oh, I know, but she spends half her time now in the states, so I figured we could claim her as ours.

I like her too much, she was one of the first names I put down.