I can’t think of anything that proves your point more than the vitriolic posts that it drew in response.

My response may devolve into a history lecture, and for that I apologize.

American isolationism is a long and proud tradition, and if MLS has plumbed the depths of any tiny niche American soccer supporters, its the isolationist xenophobe soccer fan. They shun criticism, abhor the word FIFA, accuse Sepp Blatter of running meth labs, and bow down to the size of MLS investor pocket books. Fortunately, they account for only a small percentage of total American supporters, and their blog is louder than their bite.

Why do I go there? USMNT criticism is part of what gets this small group going. They like their USMNT like their MLS: insulated from criticism, financial risk, and, at the end of the day, an unlimited future.

In every other large footballing nation, clubs drive the popularity of national teams. We sit in a strange situation for a large industrialized country with such a long rich, soccer history – an anemic league coupled with a popular national team. As with most of their predecessors, (with a few exceptions like Steve Ross of the Cosmos) it’s much easier for billionaire MLS owners who have laid a little bit of their pocketbooks, if not their entire heart, on the future of this game, provided that it’s cocooned in their protective bubble.

Even though MLS hangs on the coattails of the national team the MLS bubble still reaches in to rear it’s translucent head. If Fabio is under a microscope in England, Bradley is under one of those magnifying glasses you get in your kids bug hunting kit. Maybe that’s why he can bow to pressure to use domestic MLS players in our regional final against Mexico and get blown out 5-0?

Imagine if that was the European Cup.

Again, sorry for the preachiness. but I think you agree: bubbles like this protect our ill conceived single entity franchise leagues from the free market, clubs and national teams from criticism, billionaires from risk, and soccer from growing here in the states.

It’s been that way for a long time.

Vitriol from the Bill O’Reilly school has passed its sell-by date.

It may be difficult to manage, but you have an invitation to join in with intelligent commentary in future.

You present the other side of the coin in the manner the skyfallers have presented their version of events. All I ask is that we have the middle ground presented on the same platform as the skyfallers.

We should ID people before they post a comment to make sure they’re drinking age or above (just kidding, but it would weed out some of the nonsense comments).

Cheers,
The Gaffer

Why aren’t you writing for money if this is such a devastating and brilliant post? Because nobody would pay you, because you can’t write. Writing talent, like soccer talent, is scare. And you don’t HAVE ANY!!! And neither do several of the other posters to this blog, except maybe Krishnayer, but even he could use an editor.

And that’s why people like Kartik and Trecker know what they are talking about too. We’re sports journalists, we’re not babysitters, we’re not nannies, we’re the sports media (to paraphrase Richard Justice). We don’t care about politics, we don’t care about flag waving, we don’t care about propaganda. What do we care about? The Game. Our desire to see the USMNT succeed is stronger then your desire, because we appreciate the Beautiful Game.

Oh, and for the record, I’m a Euro-Trash Mutt-American.

I think the vast majority of long term fans see Kartik, Brian and Trecker as wise men that know this sport and its history very very well.

Kartik’s piece on Gooch is`excellent and highlights the prejudice that I believe exists in European soccer towards American talent. It’s something we as fan must oppose strongly. European teams sign talented American’s but then we find them riding the pines once they are there. American’s can star in international games such as Spain but then are found to have little value on European squads. We should come out strongly here that the teams that refuse to play American’s after there signing should not be supported on this side of the pond.

No one except the ignorant are asking for a see no evil view of the USMNT. What we are asking for is a fair handed approach rather then a sellout to the skyfallers which is what ultimately happened in the post T&T podcast.

For instance try this headline:

USA Secures a valuable 3 points on the road! Ugly win brings the US closer to SA in 2010. All true. Now from there say that the US team needs a better effort against Honduras and Costa Rica. That the defense needs to be healthy and at full strength for the US to win. That a Torres needs to be given playing time to help the US. Yet what did we hear, the US will not win the group, the US will not win another game, that it’s another early exit for the team in the WC, that now the win verus Spain was meaningless, that the current talent can’t compare with the 2002 talent level.

Ok, fair is to say both but it appears that the so called experts here have one opinion, they are skyfallers.

Kartik, has done a commendable job in educating the soccer public of the talent and good soccer being played in Concacaf. Yet, when those good players and teams give the US a hard time in a qualifier all we hear is that Bradley needs to go, the USSF is terrible for the game(close to the truth there), and we have no talent. So, all I am asking for is fair evaluation of the overall progress of the team, which in an only results count world is that we are doing good, we should do better, and we have doing somethings never done before by US teams.

Fair enough?