How dominant USA would be in comparison to Brazil, France or Spain if their main sport is football?

Red Keane

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If the United States had the sort of Academies/Youth Development/Youth Coaching/Local Football + Government Support for Youth Development as lets say France or Germany. Then surely they would be able to make the most of the potential (Association) Football playing Talent base they have which in my view has yet to be fully capitalised under the current academy/youth system, especially those from less well-off/Hispanic backgrounds.
 

Red Keane

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How dominant would UK be if their main sport was NFL?

I mean, they got more than half of US's Olympic medals last olympics, with 1/6th of the population.
Which is the end result of decades of investment in our sporting infrastructure (via the National Lottery) and said investment being used properly. Now if the United States applied a similar policy in terms of the development of it's (association) football infrastructure, then it not be hard for them not to replicate similar success in the long-run. Especially when alongside its own local talent base, it can (so long as they get the bigots of their poltical system) capitalise on the fact that it is an attractive nation for would be immigrants (from Latin America especially) who are looking to better themselves, which might well include becoming a professtional football player or seeing their kids become one.
 

criticalanalysis

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If football was dominant in the United States their national team would have been a multiple world cup winner and MLS would compete UCL. Americans run everything including politics and sports like business. That's why they are so efficient as a State, Army, entertainment you name it.

They would have turned football in big brand business as early as 1950s. Super Bowl is the most expensive marketing event (per unit of time) globally if I remember correctly. Imagine if instead of Super Bowl day it would be MLS final match featuring Ronaldo for NYC on one side and Messi for LA Galaxy on the other? US market + billions of people watching globally. The sheer amount of money in that league would attract star players from South America and Europe. P

Plus domestic talents from University leagues, school training, etc. Americans have excellent bottom up infrastructure. Football equivalents of LeBron and Jordan would play in MLS only and for the national team.

Thank God, US lives on its own planet regarding sports))) On the other hand, a 600 hundred million European Union would have been forced to create its own MLS. And World Super Cup would have been hell of a match
What you've written is perfectly reasonable with plausible situations but it reads like a Black Mirror episode :lol:
 

Eli Zee

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The flip side is though, if more nations in the world took a big interest in sports which are the biggest in the US, there may be less dominance, Hakeem Olajuwon for example was a centre with unique technique to couple with his athleticism, he aides that partly to his upbringing as a Nigerian playing football as a goalkeeper, in fact he didn't even pick up a basketball till his late teens.

How many people start playing football at 16, and go on to become the best player in the world? None.
Welll it just hasn’t happened, but it’s still possible... doesn't take away from the sport in any way
 

Righteous Steps

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Sanders was every bit of 200.

But you touch on my point here. These NFL guys, had they trained for soccer their whole lives, would be leaner and be more conditioned for continuous running rather than short bursts. When folks say, “I think (_____) would have made a great footballer”, I don’t think any of them mean that athlete in the exact same state as they are/were in the sport they actually trained for. (At least I don’t)

Wait just one second with this Hakeem Olajuwon stuff...

He was good, a HoF guy, but he wasn’t even the best player in the draft the year he went pro.

1984 man... Michael Jordan
He wasn't even the best player in the draft year he went pro, no shit, he was in the draft with the greatest NBA player of all time.

But Hakeem is generally considered a top 10 player of all time and arguably the greatest centre, also in 94 who was the best player in the NBA,? The point is there isn't any way a player starts playing football as late as Hakeem did and goes to the very top, as in become a ballon d'or winner and arguably the best player of that year.
 

ThinkTank@Cafe

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What you've written is perfectly reasonable with plausible situations but it reads like a Black Mirror episode :lol:
English is not my native language. I learned it by reading books mostly and mainly read and write in English. Haven’t had a chance to practice a normal daily talk for years. So, my posts may sound a bit dramatized for a native speaker. My bad :D
 

FootyCrew

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New Zealand is the only country on Earth that prioritises rugby. It’s meaningless.
Not actually.

Rugby is a main sport in France,England,Ireland,Scotland,Australia,South Africa,Japan, and Fiji.

Pretty competitive game, football players seem like ladies comparing to rugby players.
 

AlwaysRed66

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Starting with a competitive league would be a good start. Instead of one which buys failure, & no reason to compete.
 

mitchmouse

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Yes. Not enough money and effort has been put in to defeat Panama, with their population of 4m and a GDP probably the size of a small American town.

By the way, football isn't Panama's national sport either .. that's baseball. Followed by basketball and boxing. I'm not even sure football is top five.

Let's make a new thread all about how Panama would be dominant if football was their number 1 sport.
and when England lose to a lower-rank side.... what then? and not sure how boxing is a team game but let's not get to factual about things
 

Carolina Red

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He wasn't even the best player in the draft year he went pro, no shit, he was in the draft with the greatest NBA player of all time.

But Hakeem is generally considered a top 10 player of all time and arguably the greatest centre, also in 94 who was the best player in the NBA,? The point is there isn't any way a player starts playing football as late as Hakeem did and goes to the very top, as in become a ballon d'or winner and arguably the best player of that year.
I’ll forgive you.
 

SquishyMcSquish

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and when England lose to a lower-rank side.... what then? and not sure how boxing is a team game but let's not get to factual about things
If we don't qualify from a group as easy as that American one then feel free to call us utter shit and not predict we'll be a powerhouse. It'll be 100% true.

So? It's still taking away potential athletes from other sports, the same excuse Americans are making in here. Football isn't the main sport in a lot of countries who are still competitive at it, countries who have far lower populations and much less money to spend.

Obviously 'it's not our main sport' is a fair reason why they aren't a top 5 side, but the fact is that with a country of their size and sporting talent, you'd expect them to still be a lot better. They're behind the likes of fecking Northern Ireland, Japan are also ahead of them despite (again) the fact that about 5 or 6 sports are more popular than football. They also have nowhere near the talent pool.

I think if you made it their most popular sport then within about 20 years they'd probably be like England. Some good players, consistent quarter final team, maybe the odd semi. They certainly wouldn't dominate the sport.
 

Eli Zee

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He wasn't even the best player in the draft year he went pro, no shit, he was in the draft with the greatest NBA player of all time.

But Hakeem is generally considered a top 10 player of all time and arguably the greatest centre, also in 94 who was the best player in the NBA,? The point is there isn't any way a player starts playing football as late as Hakeem did and goes to the very top, as in become a ballon d'or winner and arguably the best player of that year.
Being a center is different than any other position... center is arguably the least skilled position, especially in that ERA. It had a lot to do with physical ability and physical attributes.


Find me a PG thats one of the best that started at 16. Or 15. Or 14.


I bet you can find a great fecking goalkeeper in football that started playing at 18. Just saying.
 

MackRobinson

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Exactly hence why Hakerm can play basketball at 16 and become the best player in NBA, the concept of that happening in football is nearly impossible.
Most of this has to do with height. At most skilled positions (PG or SG) most of these guys have been playing basketball at a very young age. Look at the amount of NBA players with parents or relatives who were professional basketball players. Hakeem is an outlier.
 

Bobski

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Basketball is an easier sport to master the basics of than football. I say that having played both to a decent level. That is not a criticism of Basketball, it is just a simpler game and manipulating a ball with the hands is much easier than with the feet. That is why physicality matters so much in basketball.
 

RochaRoja

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Not actually.

Rugby is a main sport in France,England,Ireland,Scotland,Australia,South Africa,Japan, and Fiji.

Pretty competitive game, football players seem like ladies comparing to rugby players.
It's a minor sport in pretty much all of those countries with the exception of France (which still prioritises football). If the US scrapped the NFL and put all of those resources into union, of course they'd dominate but they'd be dominating a tiny field of much smaller nations, most of whom focus on other sports themselves. It'd hardly be something to write home about.
 

JPRouve

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It's a minor sport in pretty much all of those countries with the exception of France (which still prioritises football). If the US scrapped the NFL and put all of those resources into union, of course they'd dominate but they'd be dominating a tiny field of much smaller nations, most of whom focus on other sports themselves. It'd hardly be something to write home about.
France as a country do not prioritise Football, that's not how it works. It's a region by region and city by city consideration but to make it simple professionally Rugby is the main sport in the southern half.
 

Righteous Steps

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Being a center is different than any other position... center is arguably the least skilled position, especially in that ERA. It had a lot to do with physical ability and physical attributes.


Find me a PG thats one of the best that started at 16. Or 15. Or 14.


I bet you can find a great fecking goalkeeper in football that started playing at 18. Just saying.
That went onto be the best goalkeeper in the world? Who?

Or a cb who didn't play football till they were 17 and went onto be the best cab in the world? Who?
 

Righteous Steps

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Most of this has to do with height. At most skilled positions (PG or SG) most of these guys have been playing basketball at a very young age. Look at the amount of NBA players with parents or relatives who were professional basketball players. Hakeem is an outlier.
Yes but in football regardless of position, any player that goes onto be the best player in the world or in their position has been playing before they were 17...
 

RochaRoja

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France as a country do not prioritise Football, that's not how it works. It's a region by region and city by city consideration but to make it simple professionally Rugby is the main sport in the southern half.
Football is still by far the biggest sport in France, despite what eggchasers try to convince us. Yes, we all know many people in the provincial south prefer rugby but even then, the major cities are football places. Many of the great French clubs have come from the south: Saint Étienne, Lyon, Bordeaux, and OM is historically the best supported club in the country.

There’s a reason why France is world class in the most competitive sport in the world and still fares much worse than the British nations (only one of which could legitimately be described as a rugby nation) let alone the Southern Hemisphere in a far less internationally competitive sport.
 

JPRouve

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Football is still by far the biggest sport in France, despite what eggchasers try to convince us. Yes, we all know many people in the provincial south prefer rugby but even then, the major cities are football places. Many of the great French clubs have come from the south: Saint Étienne, Lyon, Bordeaux, and OM is historically the best supported club in the country.

There’s a reason why France is world class in the most competitive sport in the world and still fares much worse than the British nations (only one of which could legitimately be described as a rugby nation) let alone the Southern Hemisphere in a far less internationally competitive sport.
Mate, I'm from the south. Marseille and ASSE are basically the exceptions, Lyon is divided between the LOU and OL with the LOU being the older club, Toulouse and the South west are entirely about Rugby, the rest of Occitanie is also about Rugby with the exception of Montpellier who is divided between Rugby, Football and Handball while Nimes is mainly about football/Handball and Sète about Volley Ball. On the south east, Marseille is about football but the rest like Toulon, Aix en Provence, Grenoble, Chambéry or Cannes are divided between Rugby in Rhones Alpes, Volley Ball and Handball for the most part. Nice is a strange one, you could give them football but it's not actually that popular and no sport really is.
And finally you have the Massif Central, that's an other Rugby region every city not named Saint Etienne is about rugby, Clermont, Brive, Aurillac, etc.

In France there are no priorities in terms of sports, like I said in the previous post it depends on the city and the region with some exceptions where one sport may be be king. And France is pretty successful in Rugby, with 17 six nations in far less participations than the British-Irish nations and currently U20 world champions, they kept the title last month.
 

Eli Zee

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That went onto be the best goalkeeper in the world? Who?

Or a cb who didn't play football till they were 17 and went onto be the best cab in the world? Who?
Idk look it up.

The point is.... no player in a skilled position is going to start at 18 and be the best in the world (at that position.. Jordan was a better player), in either sport.


Goalie tends to be a less skilled position than a midfield player(the same way Center is less skilled than a PG). It relies on reflexes, diving, parrying, catching, and the occasional kicking, among a few other things.


If you find a big enough and fast enough guy, and train him... if he has good reflexes and a good brain, he can become one of the best goalies in the world.