It’s a question that’s been around as long as the game has been in the States: What if the best US athletes played soccer?
And it’s a topic that John Bolster explores in his latest contribution to Howler Magazine.
Turns out, the favorite soccer-related question of sports radio hosts everywhere isn’t even a valid query – it’s a myth. As Bolster points out, plenty of American soccer players are already elite athletes. Just look at Seattle Sounders academy product and US international DeAndre Yedlin, Montreal Impact forward Cameron Porter or San Jose Earthquakes defender Marvell Wynne, all of whom have elite physical skills.
And should measurable athletic traits even be our main focus? Not according to Tony Lepore, US Soccer director of scouting.
“Oftentimes we can make the mistake of thinking that the most talented youth players are the ones that are influential because they’re bigger, faster, stronger, more powerful,” Lepore told Howler. "But when all things even out at [the] U-20 [level], it’s the other qualities that are more important.”
Give the article a read and chime in with your take on the “best athletes” debate.
