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Message: [QUOTE="gtcam, post: 2751971, member: 2844"] I'll be rooting for England but I know perfectly well that it isn't going to happen France is the dark horse in this race - the talent on that team at every position is very high. The coaching though is suspect but the value of actual coaching at this level is over rated. Usually the bench managers and position managers are more important. As far as the comments on the MLS being sloppy - the MLS is an infant compared to most any European/South American club team. That being said, there are a few MLS teams that would be quite competitive in the EPL, Bundesliga etc If you follow European soccer you will understand that as in most competitive sports, there is a plateau of strong teams and after that there is mediocrity throughout. This World Cup should be interesting and full of upsets The USA National team will be very good and prepared for the next WC - I have no doubt [B][I]The USA soccer team is in shambles. They play boring soccer. The whole system needs to be redone. From getting rid of the playoffs and having relegation and promotion, getting rid of he turf, allow creativity, etc. [/I][/B] This statement is mistaken in many areas . Having enough teams and enough talent to create a system to allow relegation process will take decades, there are teams in Europe who play on artificial turf but the real reason that they have grass in most European and S American stadiums is that these venues only have 1 purpose - soccer, not shared with baseball, football etc. How many cities/teams can afford to build a soccer only stadium in the MLS? The US team appeared in shambles because of the rough patch it went through in the qualifying leg for the current Cup. Coaching stubbornness with player choices and some tactical approach not conducive to talent level was the culprit. There is a wealth of talent in the 17 through 21 age group right now and the skill level of those playing in the ODP and higher levels now in the U- 14 through U-17 is very high in comparative to 4 years ago, although the numbers or those participating has definitely decreased. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach