Iceland
- Thread starter jsmaxwell
- Start date
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The look on Messi's face after the game told the whole story. He looked really frustrated. I thought the Mexico vs Germany game was similar to the Iceland game. Mexico used a similar strategy against Germany that Iceland used against Argentina. This is the World Cup, so whatever works to get the win is okay. It is okay for teams to play long direct ball and packing in the defense to get the win or tie. I thought the Brazil vs Switzerland game was a good game except for Neymar rolling around on the ground faking an injury every 5 minutes. It is nice to see the favorites either lose or tie teams that everyone thought they would beat.
A few years back, Iceland started a concerted effort to develop a better National Team. They constructed sheltered training facilities just about everywhere people live (otherwise they would have about 60 days a year for a playing season). Youth players pay almost nothing, and the part-time players' employers understand what is going on and cooperate with training times and time off for travel for competition.
USSF - are you listening?
You bring up an interesting point, the time to develope a competitive team for the 2026 World Cup starts now. What are the pressing obstacles that need to be addressed?
Some issues I consider are as follows; Who has the best ability to judge / identify talent, Domestic coaches or European coaches?
What is the target age to start quality development and who is going to coach the coaches in developing this talent?
Can the developement be broken down into regional areas and not be exclusive?
Some issues I consider are as follows; Who has the best ability to judge / identify talent, Domestic coaches or European coaches?
What is the target age to start quality development and who is going to coach the coaches in developing this talent?
Can the developement be broken down into regional areas and not be exclusive?
Actually, it starts in about 6 years. Because the National Team draws from professional ranks AND because the average professional player doesn't reach their "peak" until age 26-27, we (the USA) are not developing anything.
The target age to "start" quality development is 11-12, at which point those players need to be identified an put into local academies (using the European and Latin American models).
The obstacles are numerous, but here are the biggest:
- Fifa's Article 19 prevents US minors from joining non-USA based programs, thus, delaying development for about 5-6 years until the player turns 18 (or unless the player can obtain dual citizenship).
- The federation refuses to administer Solidarity and Training fee payments, thereby, stripping any monetary incentives from the professional teams. (Google Article 19 solidarity and training fees to learn more).
- The Professional Teams in the U.S.A. (namely the MLS) suck and most MLS teams/players would not qualify for League 2, thus, the USA is not in a position to develop talent internally.
Thus, the solution is relatively simple, if the goal is to field a competitive National Team we:
1) Look almost exclusively to US Nationals that play in Europe and Latin America for the next 8 years (Olympics, WC, Olympics, WC).
2) Select National Team coaches that understand the MLS is soft and detrimental to building a winning US National Team, and who make selections for the National Team based on skill, rather than familiarity.
3) Encourage clubs to invest in players by enforcing Article 19 fees (thereby eliminating pay-to-play for top talent).
@jsmaxwell,
That is a horrible misrepresentation of the Icelandic National team. The starting 11 v. Argentina are all "professional soccer players" playing at Division 1 in various European leagues, except for Bjarnason (Div. 2). Every single 1 of these guys would wipe our average MLS player from the the pitch. These guys are real soccer players and not soft MLS wannabes.
- Halldórsson, 1st Division - Danish Superliga - Randers FC
- Árnason, 1st Division (Iceland's Urvalsdeild) Vikingur
- Saevarsson, 1st Division (Iceland's Urvalsdeild) Valur
- R.Sigurdsson, Russian Premier League - Rostov
- Magnusson, Championship side Bristol City
- Gudmundsson, Premier League club Burnley
- Gunnarsson, Premier League - Cardiff City
- Hallfredsson, Serie A (Italian) club Udinese
- Bjarnason, Championship club - Aston Villa (transfer market of 1.8m)
- Finnbogason, Bundesliga club FC Augsburg
- G.Sigurdsson - Premier League - Everton
Just what we need in Soccer in the US. Another chunky, older guy with a British accent. Can’t swing a dead cat on a youth soccer sideline without hitting a few dozen of them every weekend.
Thats some funny shitake!