Lists

While everyone's been wasting their time arguing over the tactical masterplans of Pep Guardiola and Diego Simeone in the build-up to Manchester City and Atlético in the Champions League, a better philosophical discourse has been raging in the bottom half of the Premier League table, where Brighton manager Graham Potter is urging supporters to stop yelling "shoot" at his players while Burnley boss Sean Dyche is playing the devil's advocate by instructing his men to "kick it in the net."

Over the weekend I found myself watching a meaningless friendly between England and Switzerland, two countries that already qualified for the 2022 World Cup.

I considered turning the game off, but I found myself mesmerized by Swiss winger Xherdan Shaqiri, who continuously danced around English defenders, played inch-perfect passes and was in general an attacking menace. One of those delightful balls even assisted Switzerland's only goal.

The United States men’s national team punched its ticket for 2022 World Cup in Qatar — with a rather disappointing 2-0 loss to Costa Rica — on Wednesday for the first time since 2013. Just under a decade has passed since the last time USA qualified for World Cup.

What ingredients make a team great? Is it the best players? The best coaches? The best gear and training facilities? What makes a great team work is great teamwork, plain and simple. 

No one player is going to win a game, let alone a championship, not even the fancy pants who paid $600 for his designer boots. More than any other sport, soccer requires every player on the pitch work together to accomplish a goal, whether it’s scoring a golazo, keeping a clean sheet or winning a trophy.

It's easy to criticize American soccer, but in doing so, we can't embrace the unique stage of development the game is going through right now.

Soccer in the states has only gotten consistent traction in the last few decades, and there are very few professional sports leagues across the world that are actively expanding — none are doing so at the rate of American soccer.

This leads to the constant restructuring of leagues and teams moving between divisions — both of which are further complicated by the lack of promotion and relegation within our footballing pyramid.