We all have unpopular soccer opinions. Here's some of ours.
Rafa Marquez was set up to fail
Rafa Marquez played poorly and acted out, but Hans Backe put him in a bad position. Backe was married to the 4-4-2 and Marquez is not a 4-4-2 midfielder. He needs someone (like Dax McCarty) patrolling the midfield next to him doing the dirty work. When Marquez is given a partner in the back of a 3-man or 5-man midfield, he can focus on contributing to the attack instead of stopping every opponent who passes by.
In addition, he was given the wrong partner on the back line. Marquez is more of a finesse defender and was paired with Tim Ream who is also a finesse defender. Playing two passive center backs together is not smart coaching.
So while Marquez’s tenure here was awful and he behaved like a petulant child, his poor play was a product of Backe’s slavish devotion to an outdated formation.
Your never-ending spouting of obscure "football" facts is annoying
So you like the Bundesliga. Fantastic. I like watching Germany’s top league too when my team is in it. But just because you know who the second leading scorer for the 1975-76 season is does not make your fandom more important than mine. I’m really glad you spend hours scouring the internet, and/or lived during these times and know this priceless piece of football knowledge. Sometimes I just want to watch 22 guys kick around a round object on a field of grass. Leave me alone. You aren’t better than me. In fact, you’re just an a**hole.
MLS success doesn't mean you should play for the national team
A player's performance and statistical production in MLS is a horrible judge of what their USMNT contributions will be. Players like Chris Wondolowski, Gyasi Zardes, Graham Zusi, and Kyle Beckerman are all top notch players in MLS. However, they are not at all quality players in the general sense of the term. When they receive calls to the national team they are predominantly underwelming in their performances. Then you have players in MLS who have all the qualities scouts look for in soccer players (technical ability, high soccer IQ, etc.) who would likely be better national team players but don't get called up because their statistical production isn't eye-catching. This is a real problem hindering the national team's player pool and one that is almost impossible to fix.
