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FIFA World Cup 2014

#2,561
MartinG1957 said:
Man, our kids have been kicking football's around streets and gardens since most of them could stand...my daughter has been playing organised club league Gaelic Football since Under -8.
Kids football clubs here and in Scotland hold trials for membership, even in the local Bogtrotters FC Under 8 team, it's competitive to even join the club never mind get in the team....We have school teams all the way through at all levels in addition to clubs...We have official FA sponsored coaching courses, summer coaching schools and camps....neither Scotland nor Ireland have their names on anything other than match programmes.
I don't know what it is about, but it's not about structure and youth systems.
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It will help when your professionals stop smoking cigarettes and drinking six pints a day. :thumbsup:

I think a lot of it may also be down to the fact that (my opinion only) all the British teams including England played a very old fashioned style until very recently. The fact that you were there at the beginning may have actually stunted your growth in a sense. Watching Scottish or Irish teams, even in the '90s, felt like I was watching football as it was played in the 19th century.
 
#2,563
MartinG1957 said:
Yep, the psychiatric wards and prisons are full of people who believe they can do anything .....because, well because they do.

And realistically, the players don't believe it...They are professionals and whatever anyone else might think, professionals tend to have a realistic understanding of expectations and limitations.

When you get people such as media whipping up this "We can win this because we can" stuff, you end up with a self - perpetuating toxic environment of unrealistic expectation such as we laughingly see around the English national team. Every time.

You won't win because you think you should.
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We won't win only because we think we can, but belief is part of the equation. Having that belief as children will help us grow an elite team. It's difficult to explain, but American kids really do believe they can grow up to be almost anything and do almost anything. That's something few nationalities in this world have, for better or for worse. We wouldn't have put a man on the moon if we didn't first believe we could do it.
 
#2,568
foal30 said:
I beg to differ Martin, it's massively about structure, youth systems.

Football in NZ has been overhauled significantly in the last 5-8 years, and the kids playing today are streets ahead of my generations football ability.
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So where are all the world class English, Scottish, Irish players - if it's about structures we should have been producing them for years?
 
#2,569
matante said:
We won't win only because we think we can, but belief is part of the equation. Having that belief as children will help us grow an elite team. It's difficult to explain, but American kids really do believe they can grow up to be almost anything and do almost anything. That's something few nationalities in this world have, for better or for worse. We wouldn't have put a man on the moon if we didn't first believe we could do it.
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Of course belief is part of the equation but only if it is realistic belief based on a reasoned assessment of skills, capabilities, competitive position and a host of other things, otherwise, you don't have belief, you have pure blind optimistic faith.

I'd say that's a view through some very rose tinted spectacles there, but fine if that's what you think.

"We wouldn't have put a man on the moon if we didn't first believe that the Russians might do it first"

Fixed it for ya. :)
 
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#2,572
Happy Fourth of July. Our independence from British rule.

Oddly enough, there's a huge Arsenal fan organization in North America. I don't know of this kind of a fan support group for any MLB, NBA, NFL, or NHL team outside of North America.
 
#2,575
I´m really suprised how badly France played today.
Dunno if it was the heat or what, but they looked so abulic that I couldn´t believe it was the same
team that converted 5 goals (almost 6) against Switzerland.
 
#2,576
MartinG1957 said:
Of course belief is part of the equation but only if it is realistic belief based on a reasoned assessment of skills, capabilities, competitive position and a host of other things, otherwise, you don't have belief, you have pure blind optimistic faith.

I'd say that's a view through some very rose tinted spectacles there, but fine if that's what you think.
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I'm talking about the belief a ten year-old boy has in what he is capable of if he puts his energy into something. That ten-year-old isn't going to assess his skills, capabilities, and competitive position. He's going to assess the skills, capabilities, and competitive position he believes he can achieve through hard work and talent. Many children in this world do not believe they can achieve anything, much less winning the world cup, even through hard work and talent. American kids generally don't have that handicap.

I will bet many Scottish and Irish ten-year olds will say "We will never win the world cup" if asked. They won't say that based on their competitive position. They'll say it based on what previous generations have done. That's the wrong attitude.
 
#2,578
Papersen said:
I´m really suprised how badly France played today.
Dunno if it was the heat or what, but they looked so abulic that I couldn´t believe it was the same
team that converted 5 goals (almost 6) against Switzerland.
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I thought they looked good in the first half, just messing up on that final ball. They fell apart in the second half, but even then had a few chances. It was their sloppy final ball which killed them today.
 
#2,580
matante said:
I will bet many Scottish and Irish ten-year olds will say "We will never win the world cup" if asked. They won't say that based on their competitive position. They'll say it based on what previous generations have done. That's the wrong attitude.
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You're assuming far too much about cultural differences, really you are. Have you ever been over here? I'm guessing not.
 
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