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Why Is Utah State So Hated On Here

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The big culprit is Title IX, especially as the proportion of college students that are female nationwide continues its steady increase. Any MWC that wanted to add men's soccer would need to add some women's sports as well, and that gets expensive fast. As an aside, do you know if Tim Vom Steeg has ever been approached about coaching the men's national team? He seems like an obvious candidate. I just don't know if his coaching style would as effective in the international game as it is in the NCAA's. I do think it would be fun if international teams hated the U.S. as much as UCSB's opponents hate them. (Or at least I remember the hatred toward the 2004 team. Maybe people are used to Vom Steeg's style of play now.)

 

 

CSU swapped women's water polo for women's soccer this school year.  If they were able to add scholarships on the women's side I'd have to believe they could start a men's team from scratch.

 

As far as I know, Tim Vom Steeg has never been approached about coaching the men's national team.  I think he would say yes if he ever gets the opportunity.  The strong, physical style of play he's fostered at UCSB would quickly lead to improved tv ratings if he were to ever coach the national team.  It would definitely foster an "us vs. them" feeling amongst the futbol haters and at least silence them for a while.  

 

But I don't believe Vom Steeg's method would go over too well on the international level.  He has gotten on the bad side of NCAA refs in recent years and that has kinda led to a couple of "incidents." FIFA refs would be putting the screws on us even tighter.  Also, at least when players go down in the college game it's because they were legitimately hit.  Being in the top 10 nationally for fouls committed per game is kinda sweet at the D1 level.  At the world level, not so much.  The NCAA substitution rules also allows for a faster pace and physical play since you can send in fresh legs much more often.  Definitely the opposite of FIFA when you only have 3 subs the entire game.    

 

 

Building UCSB into a national powerhouse and maintaining it for over a decade is quite an accomplishment.  But some coaches are better suited for the college game, others for the pros.  

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StanfordAggie (cont.)

 

I first arrived at UCSB in 2006, but there were several '04 holdovers who ended up being key components for our '06 title run.  I'd have to say most teams have become used to our style of play.  But not everyone likes how we roll. 

 

Duke's newspaper when we played them in 2010

 

http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2010/10/19/positive-side-dodging-flying-tortillas

 

 

Creighton's coach backed out of a h&h with us after they beat us in Santa Barbara in 2010.  We ended up going to their place anyway in the following year's Sweet 16. 

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I like world cup soccer, and don't mind them talking about it a bit while the world cup is on, or when USA has a big game. I have zero interest in listening to a couple of hours of talk about MLS soccer year round. I also have no interest in listening to sports talk about minor league baseball, or arena league football.

The quality of soccer played is better week in, week out in a top Euro league as compared to what you see when national teams play. The latter are all stars, but they don't play together enough.

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The quality of soccer played is better week in, week out in a top Euro league as compared to what you see when national teams play. The latter are all stars, but they don't play together enough.

 

Likely true, but I have no interest in rooting for European leagues, and the MLS is clearly an inferior product, both to the Euro leagues and the World Cup. It is kind of like Olympic sports for me, once every four years with the added attraction of cheering on the national team in the games/tournament makes it compelling for me.

I'm a desperate man
Send lawyers, guns, and money
The shit has hit the fan

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The quality of soccer played is better week in, week out in a top Euro league as compared to what you see when national teams play. The latter are all stars, but they don't play together enough.

The xenophobia more than makes up for it though.

We’re all sitting in the dugout. Thinking we should pitch. How you gonna throw a shutout when all you do is bitch.

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Likely true, but I have no interest in rooting for European leagues, and the MLS is clearly an inferior product, both to the Euro leagues and the World Cup. It is kind of like Olympic sports for me, once every four years with the added attraction of cheering on the national team in the games/tournament makes it compelling for me.

Understood. I played it for years and after living in the UK for a few years I got into it as a spectator/fan.

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CSU swapped women's water polo for women's soccer this school year.  If they were able to add scholarships on the women's side I'd have to believe they could start a men's team from scratch.

 

As far as I know, Tim Vom Steeg has never been approached about coaching the men's national team.  I think he would say yes if he ever gets the opportunity.  The strong, physical style of play he's fostered at UCSB would quickly lead to improved tv ratings if he were to ever coach the national team.  It would definitely foster an "us vs. them" feeling amongst the futbol haters and at least silence them for a while.  

 

But I don't believe Vom Steeg's method would go over too well on the international level.  He has gotten on the bad side of NCAA refs in recent years and that has kinda led to a couple of "incidents." FIFA refs would be putting the screws on us even tighter.  Also, at least when players go down in the college game it's because they were legitimately hit.  Being in the top 10 nationally for fouls committed per game is kinda sweet at the D1 level.  At the world level, not so much.  The NCAA substitution rules also allows for a faster pace and physical play since you can send in fresh legs much more often.  Definitely the opposite of FIFA when you only have 3 subs the entire game.    

 

 

Building UCSB into a national powerhouse and maintaining it for over a decade is quite an accomplishment.  But some coaches are better suited for the college game, others for the pros.  

 

Yeah, as I recall, UConn's coach referred to the 2004 team as "thugs." And I think Indiana's coach refused to shake Vom Steeg's hand after they played in the NCAA tournament that year. If people hate the U.S. now, they would really hate us with Vom Steeg as our coach. :)

 

And while I tend to agree that his style probably wouldn't work as well at the international level, it would still be interesting to see what happened, particularly given the talent pool available in the U.S. Didn't he build UCSB's program by recruiting a bunch of tight ends/linebackers who didn't get D1 football scholarships? It seems like I read that somewhere. He basically wanted huge athletic guys who will win if they collide with an opponent but are still fast enough to be competitive in soccer. In a country where our best athletes are playing football rather than soccer, I have wondered if one couldn't build a national soccer team using a similar strategy. I suppose it would probably be too hard to convert washed out football players to be competitive on the international stage in soccer. But it would be a lot of fun to watch him try if only to see the vitriol coming from the rest of the world.

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Yeah, as I recall, UConn's coach referred to the 2004 team as "thugs." And I think Indiana's coach refused to shake Vom Steeg's hand after they played in the NCAA tournament that year. If people hate the U.S. now, they would really hate us with Vom Steeg as our coach. :)

 

And while I tend to agree that his style probably wouldn't work as well at the international level, it would still be interesting to see what happened, particularly given the talent pool available in the U.S. Didn't he build UCSB's program by recruiting a bunch of tight ends/linebackers who didn't get D1 football scholarships? It seems like I read that somewhere. He basically wanted huge athletic guys who will win if they collide with an opponent but are still fast enough to be competitive in soccer. In a country where our best athletes are playing football rather than soccer, I have wondered if one couldn't build a national soccer team using a similar strategy. I suppose it would probably be too hard to convert washed out football players to be competitive on the international stage in soccer. But it would be a lot of fun to watch him try if only to see the vitriol coming from the rest of the world.

It wouldn't work at all because you would get red cards, play a man (or men) down for the rest of the game, and then have those players suspended for several games. That would be fatal in qualifiers or in a tournament. Reminds me of the 2006 WC when things got ugly vs Italy. An Italian defender gets a red card for a bad tackle. For whatever reason the US responded in kind. Mastroenni and Pope both get sent off. We're playing 9 vs 10 and have our two best defensive players suspended.

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It wouldn't work at all because you would get red cards, play a man (or men) down for the rest of the game, and then have those players suspended for several games. That would be fatal in qualifiers or in a tournament. Reminds me of the 2006 WC when things got ugly vs Italy. An Italian defender gets a red card for a bad tackle. For whatever reason the US responded in kind. Mastroenni and Pope both get sent off. We're playing 9 vs 10 and have our two best defensive players suspended.

 

You can also get red cards at the NCAA level, but Vom Steeg's style of play has still been very successful. The NCAA has been trying to crack down in recent years, but I doubt FIFA would do anything unless the U.S. started winning major tournaments.

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Look at you nerds talking soccer on the hater thread.

We need to turn this midnight train around.

This is the stupidest thread I have ever come across. You guys should take it to some LDS message board. I will try to divert it any time I have time.

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You can also get red cards at the NCAA level, but Vom Steeg's style of play has still been very successful. The NCAA has been trying to crack down in recent years, but I doubt FIFA would do anything unless the U.S. started winning major tournaments.

I support the team, but that ain't gonna happen.

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I like the Euro leagues well enough, but the schedule is hard to follow as they interleave some cup play with league play. It's also difficult to really fall in love with a team when I barely identify with them culturally.

I have a soft spot for the French teams, tho.

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I like the Euro leagues well enough, but the schedule is hard to follow as they interleave some cup play with league play. It's also difficult to really fall in love with a team when I barely identify with them culturally.

I have a soft spot for the French teams, tho.

I lived in Aberdeen when Alex Ferguson was the manager there (before Man Utd). He took a provincial team of all Scots and beat Real Madrid in the predecessor of the Champions League in '83. I sorta became a Ferguson fan so followed him to Man Utd. They certainly miss his force of will this year since his retirement.

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I lived in Aberdeen when Alex Ferguson was the manager there (before Man Utd). He took a provincial team of all Scots and beat Real Madrid in the predecessor of the Champions League in '83. I sorta became a Ferguson fan so followed him to Man Utd. They certainly miss his force of will this year since his retirement.

I can see how being there tied you emotionally to a club. That's seriously cool.

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Yeah, as I recall, UConn's coach referred to the 2004 team as "thugs." And I think Indiana's coach refused to shake Vom Steeg's hand after they played in the NCAA tournament that year. If people hate the U.S. now, they would really hate us with Vom Steeg as our coach. :)

 

And while I tend to agree that his style probably wouldn't work as well at the international level, it would still be interesting to see what happened, particularly given the talent pool available in the U.S. Didn't he build UCSB's program by recruiting a bunch of tight ends/linebackers who didn't get D1 football scholarships? It seems like I read that somewhere. He basically wanted huge athletic guys who will win if they collide with an opponent but are still fast enough to be competitive in soccer. In a country where our best athletes are playing football rather than soccer, I have wondered if one couldn't build a national soccer team using a similar strategy. I suppose it would probably be too hard to convert washed out football players to be competitive on the international stage in soccer. But it would be a lot of fun to watch him try if only to see the vitriol coming from the rest of the world.

 

 

I would be shocked if Indiana refused to shake our hands after the national title game that year, considering they had the last laugh when all was said and done.  We beat them during the regular season and lost the title game in a shootout.  UConn's actions would not surprise me though.  

 

Most of our starters in 2004 stood 6'0 and up. Our two main forwards were 6'2 and 6'4.  I didn't get to UCSB until '06 so I was not around for our first run though.

 

During my time there we had some decent size.   An All-American defender from England who was listed at 6'4, 220 - he started every game as a freshman on the '04 team and played through '07.  My senior year we started a 6'2 defender from New Zealand who played in the '08 Olympics and our rotating midfielders were all at least 6'0. 

 

I don't think Vom Steeg built up our program by initially targeting former tight ends/linebackers, but I can definitely picture former wide receivers/defensive backs.  He's ended up with several of those types over the years; seems like we have several starters and key contributors who are 6'0, 190 pounds and up.  It would be fun to watch such an experiment with our national team.  If anyone can make it work, it's him.   Just as UConn and Duke might not have wanted to play UCSB ever again, some countries would feel the same way about the US. The rest of the world and some domestic haters would be disgusted as well as speechless at the sight of more Russell Westbrook or Calvin Johnson-type players on the pitch.

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I would be shocked if Indiana refused to shake our hands after the national title game that year, considering they had the last laugh when all was said and done. We beat them during the regular season and lost the title game in a shootout. UConn's actions would not surprise me though.

Most of our starters in 2004 stood 6'0 and up. Our two main forwards were 6'2 and 6'4. I didn't get to UCSB until '06 so I was not around for our first run though.

During my time there we had some decent size. An All-American defender from England who was listed at 6'4, 220 - he started every game as a freshman on the '04 team and played through '07. My senior year we started a 6'2 defender from New Zealand who played in the '08 Olympics and our rotating midfielders were all at least 6'0.

I don't think Vom Steeg built up our program by initially targeting former tight ends/linebackers, but I can definitely picture former wide receivers/defensive backs. He's ended up with several of those types over the years; seems like we have several starters and key contributors who are 6'0, 190 pounds and up. It would be fun to watch such an experiment with our national team. If anyone can make it work, it's him. Just as UConn and Duke might not have wanted to play UCSB ever again, some countries would feel the same way about the US. The rest of the world and some domestic haters would be disgusted as well as speechless at the sight of more Russell Westbrook or Calvin Johnson-type players on the pitch.

The Germans do have players that size. The average German player is like an NFL safety. What the heck else are they going to play? It's no surprise why they win 50-50 balls.

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I would be shocked if Indiana refused to shake our hands after the national title game that year, considering they had the last laugh when all was said and done. We beat them during the regular season and lost the title game in a shootout. UConn's actions would not surprise me though.

Most of our starters in 2004 stood 6'0 and up. Our two main forwards were 6'2 and 6'4. I didn't get to UCSB until '06 so I was not around for our first run though.

During my time there we had some decent size. An All-American defender from England who was listed at 6'4, 220 - he started every game as a freshman on the '04 team and played through '07. My senior year we started a 6'2 defender from New Zealand who played in the '08 Olympics and our rotating midfielders were all at least 6'0.

I don't think Vom Steeg built up our program by initially targeting former tight ends/linebackers, but I can definitely picture former wide receivers/defensive backs. He's ended up with several of those types over the years; seems like we have several starters and key contributors who are 6'0, 190 pounds and up. It would be fun to watch such an experiment with our national team. If anyone can make it work, it's him. Just as UConn and Duke might not have wanted to play UCSB ever again, some countries would feel the same way about the US. The rest of the world and some domestic haters would be disgusted as well as speechless at the sight of more Russell Westbrook or Calvin Johnson-type players on the pitch.

The Germans do have players that size. The average German player is like an NFL safety. What the heck else are they going to play? It's no surprise why they win 50-50 balls.

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