[washingtonismoney]

agree overall on skill versus q&a.  first touches are telling.  in MLS, first touches often are uncontrolled ricochets; Premier League is the other end of the spectrum.

Yeah. To be fair, I wonder whether American coaches are too influenced by national archetypes of what makes a good athlete -- a lot of "good athlete" American players don't necessarily have soccer-specific athleticism. (e.g. a player like Zardes is fast, but because he's a long-strider, it takes him too long to get up to speed. Messi, on the other hand, is quicker than fast -- and that's most important in soccer. Coaches, I think, could stand to focus more on change of direction, acceleration, and balance rather than outright top speed or height.)

[washingtonismoney]

agree overall on skill versus q&a.  first touches are telling.  in MLS, first touches often are uncontrolled ricochets; Premier League is the other end of the spectrum.

Yeah. To be fair, I wonder whether American coaches are too influenced by national archetypes of what makes a good athlete -- a lot of "good athlete" American players don't necessarily have soccer-specific athleticism. (e.g. a player like Zardes is fast, but because he's a long-strider, it takes him too long to get up to speed. Messi, on the other hand, is quicker than fast -- and that's most important in soccer. Coaches, I think, could stand to focus more on change of direction, acceleration, and balance rather than outright top speed or height.)