导出博客文章Jurgen Klinsmanns hiring five years ago was supposed to make America a great soccer nation.
Wholesale Basketball Jerseys .Didnt happen.Worse, its not going to change anytime soon.Klinsmann talked a great game. He promised skilled, ambitious, attack-minded teams instead of relying on the tried-and-true formula of athleticism, luck and overworked goalkeepers that marked the nations modest climb in the world rankings up to that point. And he smartly looked back to his native Germany for a plan to make soccer sexy in his adopted homeland.He vowed the U.S. teams youth programs would leave no gem undiscovered or community overlooked in its search for talent. He urged fans to hold him and his players accountable. He made clear that anyone with a valid U.S. passport would be welcomed on-board to develop a uniquely American style of playing the worlds game.What Klinsmann left behind, though, is a team with no discernible style that is even less American -- measured by home-grown-or-developed players -- and hardly more competitive than the one he inherited. Dont expect that to change under Bruce Arena, who is even more of a pragmatist than he was during his first stint (1998-2006) in charge.U.S. soccers best hope, at least for the foreseeable future, remains the Immigration and Naturalization Service.Theres no reason to blame either Klinsmann or Arena for that. The problem with soccer in America is much bigger than either man. For all the initiatives and money thats been poured into the game over the last three decades, from kids recreational programs to colleges to Major League Soccer, we still havent produced even one field player good enough to crack the starting lineup for traditional powers like Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Argentina and Brazil.Nothing will change until that does.America still hasnt developed a real soccer culture. It was supposed to happen after the 1994 World Cup was played here, or after the launch of the MLS, or after the U.S. team under Arena reached the quarterfinals in 2002, even after millions began tuning in each season to watch the matches in the Premier League and Bundesliga, and turning out in droves for World Cup viewing parties every four years.But having dedicated fans doesnt necessarily translate into developing great players. Predictions of a soccer boom has done more to hamstring the real development of the game here than all those well-organized, well-meaning parents who became youth coaches with no more than a vague idea of how its played. If you want to know how great a deficit that puts youngsters growing up here, think of it this way.If you gathered a handful of 10-year-olds from the remote corners of Brazil and dropped a ball at their feet in a 10-by-10-foot room, theyd position themselves quickly enough to pass the ball three times before rolling it through the doorway without a hitch. Hand a basketball to a similarly selected group of American kids and make the hoop the target and youd see much the same organization.Whether soccer will ever be on an equal footing with the big American sports is anyones guess. The best athletes in this nation of 300-million plus are still headed to the NBA or NFL first. Soccer is finally competing with the NHL, Major League Baseball and a few other sports for talented youngsters.But the most promising prospects -- like Christian Pulisic, only 18 and arguably already the most skilled player in the U.S. program, and a regular for Borussia Dortmund in Germanys Bundesliga -- only develop by going outside the U.S. national teams grasp.Both Klinsmann and Arena understood that long ago. Ever the optimist, Klinsmann believed he could meld all those different individual talents and playing styles in the short time the team was called in for national team duty, the way the other world powers have always done. He even doubled down on the idea by importing as many German-Americans as he could find, ruffling plenty of feathers in both the squad and the U.S. federation.Arena wont repeat that mistake. Instead of a grand plan to make America great, hell quickly cobble together a team that is long on veterans and will cut down on mistakes. Hell pack the defense, count on good-to-great goalkeeping every time out and take his chances in a sudden counterattack.It wont make anyones heart race, but it may be enough to turn around Klinsmanns disastrous 0-2 start in qualifying for the 2018 World Cup and produce the occasional upset, much as the 2002 team did.Toward the end of his re-introduction to the U.S. media on a conference call Tuesday, Arena was asked whether there was an American style of playing.You style is dictated by the qualities of your players, he replied. We are who we are.---Jim Litke is a sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.org and
https://Twitter.com/JimLitke .
Wholesale Basketball Jerseys China .ca. Hey Kerry, big fan of yours, just finished reading your book. I think that we all saw the Canucks/Flames line brawl just after puck drop. It was obvious that something was about to happen, even to the referees because the fourth lines were on to start.
Stitched Basketball Jerseys .J. -- New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his left knee.
http://www.basketballcheapjerseys.com/ . He just needed to be his best twisting, turning acrobatic self. "I didnt need to be anybody else, I just needed to be myself and be aggressive," said Burks, who scored a career-high 34 points to spark the Utah Jazz to a 118-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Esa Ahmad and No. 15 West Virginia made sure there was no drop off in performance against an outmanned opponent after an emotional road win at Virginia.The Mountaineers were solid again on defense and Ahmad led another balanced scoring attack with 14 points as West Virginia stomped Western Carolina 90-37 on Wednesday night.West Virginia (7-1) didnt slow down after Saturdays close win at No. 14 Virginia. The Mountaineers forced 34 turnovers against Western Carolina, a week after setting a school record by forcing 40 against Manhattan.We couldnt come out here and lay an egg, Ahmad said.Truth is, Ahmad and West Virginia forward Elijah Macon said the Mountaineers were aiming to force 50 turnovers.Macon said that could come eventually.With this group, you never know what can happen, Macon said. We got 40. I think we can get 10 more out of that.The Mountaineers lead the nation in scoring margin (30.3), forced turnovers (25), steals per game (13) and turnover margin (14.7).West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said he didnt like his teams energy out of the gate, even though the Mountaineers scored the games first seven points and used a 16-0 run to build a 25-point lead midway through the first half.We didnt have a lot of bounce, Huggins said. I thought we were very sluggish to start with.Western Carolina (3-6) went scoreless over the final 7:39 and trailed 46-12 at halftime. By then, the Catamounts had 19 turnovers to far surpass their season average. And West Virginias pressure defense was just getting started. A 26-4 run by the Mountaineers followed early in the second half.Jevon Carter added 13 points, Macon had 11 and Teyvon Myers scored 10 for the Mountaineers, who had 21 steals.Western Carolinas Haboubacar Mutombo was limited to six points, six under his team-leading average.We didnt give them our best punch today, Western Carolina guard Elijaah Pughsley said.
Basketball Jerseys Sale. BIG PICTUREWestern Carolina: The Catamounts simply couldnt match the onslaught of players off the bench for the Mountaineers. Western Carolina didnt help its own cause, shooting 26 percent from the field. Starting guard Devin Peterson didnt make the trip.The games really, really difficult when you cant score, Western Carolina coach Larry Hunter said. Somebodys got to put us on their back a little bit and say, `Im going to score.West Virginia: The game was an opportunity for Huggins to get his younger players some valuable playing time and to see whos ready for the start of the Big 12 schedule in three weeks. West Virginia had 13 players score and 12 who had at least 10 minutes of playing time; no one played more than 19 minutes.COACH HUGGSHuggins earned his 798th career coaching win. Hunter has 683 career wins and was inducted earlier this year into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame along with Huggins father, Charlie, who won three high school state championships as a coach.REBOUNDING HELPDespite the loss of its top two rebounders from last season, West Virginia has increased its output slightly to 40 per game this season, although its rebounding margin is down to 4.9 compared with 8.6 last season. Western Carolina managed to match West Virginia with 36 rebounds apiece.POLL IMPLICATIONSThe Mountaineers 53-point win could help them inch toward the Top 10 in the AP poll .UP NEXTWestern Carolina plays at UNC Asheville on Dec. 17. Its the final game in a seven-game road swing for the Catamounts.West Virginia plays VMI in Morgantown on Saturday. West Virginia forced 36 turnovers the last time these teams met in 2014.---More AP college basketball:
www.collegebasketball.ap.org and
https://twitter.com/AP-Top25.
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