New FIFA rankings...what a joke!

[Stout]

So, the U.S. are 28th, behind such powerhouses as Montenegro, Croatia, Russia, Greece, Norway and Sweden. England moved up 2 spots to 4th overall--without playing a game, and amidst so much turbulence because they haven't been doing well at all. What a joke!

 

[Mulli]

So, the U.S. are 28th, behind such powerhouses as Montenegro, Croatia, Russia, Greece, Norway and Sweden. England moved up 2 spots to 4th overall--without playing a game, and amidst so much turbulence because they haven't been doing well at all. What a joke!

Too high for Engurland, about right for US.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Too high for Engurland, about right for US.

No way England should be 4. I'd say they should be around 9 or 10.

 

[cardfaninfl]

The Qatar-ds moved up two spaces. I wonder how much they paid FIFA for that move? No disrespect intended to the Orange, but any Ranking with Spain not owning the top spot is silly. Its obviously subjective, but everything FIFA does makes me question how decisions are made.

 

[Gaddabout]

Isn't obvious by now people who do the FIFA rankings don't actually watch the sport? Or at least not on the international level.

 

[Stout]

Too high for Engurland, about right for US.

I think England is awful right now, but they are a big power, so I'd put them in around the 15 range. I'd say the U.S. should be at about 20. There are quite a few teams that are in no way, shape or form better than us ahead of us.

 

[Shzm13]

Elo ratings are better, and much more accurate:

1. Spain
2. Netherlands
3. Germany
4. Brazil
5. Uruguay

6. England
7. Argentina
8. Chile
9. Portugal
10. Croatia

11. Italy
12. Mexico
13. Sweden
14. Japan
15. France

The rest here

 

[Stout]

Yeah, better at the top end. Still a joke where they put the U.S.

 

[Shzm13]

I think England is awful right now, but they are a big power, so I'd put them in around the 15 range. I'd say the U.S. should be at about 20. There are quite a few teams that are in no way, shape or form better than us ahead of us.

Eng's league helps give them credibility. Other than that, they are maybe a top 10 team...and even that is being generous.

Realistically, where did you expect to see the US? In the past 10 matches, they've gotten only 4 wins and they came vs Guadeloupe, Panama, Jamaica, Canada.

 

[Stout]

Eng's league helps give them credibility. Other than that, they are maybe a top 10 team...and even that is being generous.

Realistically, where did you expect to see the US? In the past 10 matches, they've gotten only 4 wins and they came vs Guadeloupe, Panama, Jamaica, Canada.

My issue is more with who is listed ahead of them. There's a fair number of teams listed higher that will never, ever hold a candle to the U.S. National team.

 

[Shzm13]

Montenegro, Croatia, Russia, Greece, Norway and Sweden are all doing pretty well in Euro '12 qualifiers. Most of them are first or second in their group. I would assume that they get boosted ahead of the US because that, and because they're doing it vs "elite" international competition.

 

[Milgod]

Out of those ELO rankings I would have these teams below the US.

Denmark, Greece, Iran, Ukraine, Switzerland, Colombia, Peru, Egypt, Turkey, Ireland, Australia, Japan, S.Korea, Norway.

Montenegro are a lot better than people realise.

To be fair though, there are a lot of teams from around 15-35 that would be very evenly matched. This is what makes football the best sport in the World. It's not like rugby or Cricket where there are only a few nations that actually play at the top level.

 

[slinslin]

Out of those ELO rankings I would have these teams below the US.

Denmark, Greece, Iran, Ukraine, Switzerland, Colombia, Peru, Egypt, Turkey, Ireland, Australia, Japan, S.Korea, Norway.

Montenegro are a lot better than people realise.

To be fair though, there are a lot of teams from around 15-35 that would be very evenly matched. This is what makes football the best sport in the World. It's not like rugby or Cricket where there are only a few nations that actually play at the top level.

Sorry but Denmark, Greece, Switzerland, Colombia, Peru, Turkey, Japan, South Korea are CLEARLY better than the US team. The others are at least on the same level.

I can only agree with Iran here.

 

[Milgod]

Sorry but Denmark, Greece, Switzerland, Colombia, Peru, Turkey, Japan, South Korea are CLEARLY better than the US team. The others are at least on the same level.

I can only agree with Iran here.

Colombia can produce some good performances, but are far too inconsistent.

Peru - Just no.

Turkey - 5/10 years ago, even 2/3 years ago maybe but people are remembering what they used to be. They are no where near as good as they once were.

Japan - Really not sure where you are getting that from so I can't really comment. Would you care to give me some examples of their performances, maybe I've missed something.

South Korea - This one is certainly close and they are the best out of the teams I mentioned. I still don't think they are as good as they used to be though.

Greece - They haven't shown much. They are topping their group at the moment in Euro qualifiers but it's close and not much of a group either.

Denmark - Maybe, but they need to show it at a major tournament.

Switzerland - Really? I haven't seen anything to say that.


As I said though, many of the teams around these rankings are close. Of course I'm sure your vastly superior knowledge of World football will show itself once again.

 

[slinslin]

The US team has no player of even close the quality of someone like Kagawa for Japan.

Let me ask you this , who on the US team would start for Switzerland? Maybe nobody while on the other hand Derdiyok, Inler, Barnetta and some others would walk into the US team easily. Turkey the same.

 

[slinslin]

To give you another perspective. If you rank national teams by the market value of the players the US team ranks #47 in the world.

It's pointless argument anyway, apparently the US team was much better than Algeria and Slovenia too and was going to easily get past the group stages.

 

[Milgod]

To give you another perspective. If you rank national teams by the market value of the players the US team ranks #47 in the world.

It's pointless argument anyway, apparently the US team was much better than Algeria and Slovenia too and was going to easily get past the group stages.

Seriously? Are you seriously bring that up to back up your argument?

You were the one that said the US wouldn't even get out of the group, yet they topped it. Not sure how it backs you up in any way.


As for the money thing - where are you getting that from for starters? Hopefully not that transfermarkt site. Terrible values placed on some people. They truly don't seem to have a clue and you can't trust them much on values for players outside of the top few teams. You just have to have a quick glance at some of the apparent values to know they are not accurate.

The main point being that you don't judge a team that way anyway. What does a player here or there matter when it's a team game?

Dempsey, Donovan, Howard would get into the Swiss team.

 

[slinslin]

You were the one that said the US wouldn't even get out of the group, yet they topped it. Not sure how it backs you up in any way.

Yes and how did they do against Algeria and Slovenia?

 

[Milgod]

Yes and how did they do against Algeria and Slovenia?

Didn't lose a game. Dominated Algeria and were robbed of the win against Slovenia by the ref. Anyone who watched the games could tell you that. I also never said that the US would win easy. I, personally, said that they were better than Algeria (as was seen) and Slovenia wouldn't do anything too crazy (which they didn't).

In fact, I predicted that the US would top the group and England second. Hmm, looks like I called that one fairly well.

You avoided answering me about the transfer fee thing. I take it you were using that terrible site.

 

[Stout]

Milgod, it is pointless. All I needed to see was that Slinslin was posting in this thread to know that he was spewing blind hatred and bias against the USNT. He can't stand the side and takes every possible chance to slam them he can get--in a stupid an uneducated fashion, as you have clearly discovered. My best advice is to ignore him.

 

[Shzm13]

Colombia can produce some good performances, but are far too inconsistent..

They finished first in Argentina's group and have a pair of strikers who start for their EPL/La Liga teams. They are better than the US.

Peru - Just no.

Paolo Guerrero, Farfan, Pizarro, Zambrano are all good players. The US could probably beat them, but Peru did eliminate Colombia from Copa America, which is impressive.

Turkey - 5/10 years ago, even 2/3 years ago maybe but people are remembering what they used to be. They are no where near as good as they once were.

Absolutely disagree with you on this one. Turkey is one of the best up and coming nations in the world, they've got a ton of young talent like Arda Turan, Nuri Sahin, Erdinc, Mehmet Ekici. Turkey would dominate the US.

Japan - Really not sure where you are getting that from so I can't really comment. Would you care to give me some examples of their performances, maybe I've missed something.

2011 ACF Asia Cup Champions. Nuff said.

South Korea - This one is certainly close and they are the best out of the teams I mentioned. I still don't think they are as good as they used to be though.

Undefeated in group play and took Japan to PKs in the ACF Asia cup semifinal, ended up winning 3rd place. That'll get them up in the rankings.

Greece - They haven't shown much. They are topping their group at the moment in Euro qualifiers but it's close and not much of a group either.

Denmark - Maybe, but they need to show it at a major tournament.

I'll agree with you on thes two.

Switzerland - Really? I haven't seen anything to say that.

They got a victory over Spain in a FIFA tournament. Is that only impressive when the US does it?

All stabs aside, Swiss have a very good young team. They won the U20 cup a couple years ago, if im not mistaken.


I'll agree with Mulli, the US is right at (or pretty close to) where they should be at. They haven't done anything in the past two years to prove otherwise. Hopefully these opinions wont warrant the typical lashing that Sinslin gets.

This board would benefit from the tolerance of different perspectives.

 

[Dback Jon]

slinslin gets his lashings because of his arrogance . His "I'm a European, and you are just Americans, so of course I know more about soccer than you, so never disagree with me, because you will always be wrong" attitude...

 

[Stout]

slinslin gets his lashings because of his arrogance . His "I'm a European, and you are just Americans, so of course I know more about soccer than you, so never disagree with me, because you will always be wrong" attitude...

This. I'll respectfully disagree with you, Shzm, but we're cool. After all, this isn't a Mexico-US thread

 

[Milgod]

They finished first in Argentina's group and have a pair of strikers who start for their EPL/La Liga teams. They are better than the US.


Paolo Guerrero, Farfan, Pizarro, Zambrano are all good players. The US could probably beat them, but Peru did eliminate Colombia from Copa America, which is impressive.



Absolutely disagree with you on this one. Turkey is one of the best up and coming nations in the world, they've got a ton of young talent like Arda Turan, Nuri Sahin, Erdinc, Mehmet Ekici. Turkey would dominate the US.


2011 ACF Asia Cup Champions. Nuff said.


Undefeated in group play and took Japan to PKs in the ACF Asia cup semifinal, ended up winning 3rd place. That'll get them up in the rankings.



I'll agree with you on thes two.



They got a victory over Spain in a FIFA tournament. Is that only impressive when the US does it?

All stabs aside, Swiss have a very good young team. They won the U20 cup a couple years ago, if im not mistaken.


I'll agree with Mulli, the US is right at (or pretty close to) where they should be at. They haven't done anything in the past two years to prove otherwise. Hopefully these opinions wont warrant the typical lashing that Sinslin gets.

This board would benefit from the tolerance of different perspectives.

Thank you for trying to back up your points, although I respectfully disagree with many of them. I haven't been untolerant of slinslin, he just doesn't back his opinions up. There is no actual discussion with him.

Japan - 2011 ACF Asia Cup Champions. Nuff said.

No, not 'nuff said'. People can't slate the US for beating easy teams and then not do the same to Japan. They didn't exactly dominate the tournament. They managed to beat arch rivals S.Korea on penalties and Australia 1-0. Let's not get carried away.

Colombia - Rodallega is a good player, but not as good as Dempsey or Donovan if you are wanting to use individual players as an example of what makes a good team.

Turkey - May have a lot of potential but that doesn't mean they are there now. They haven't looked great in the Euro qualifiers so far. Would they 'dominate' the US like they did against Azerbaijan?

Switzerland - Excellent game against Spain. Played them just how they needed to. How did the rest of the tournament go for them? They have also looked poor so far in qualifying.

Still, thank you for making points and using examples to back them up. These forums are at their best when people are having healthy discussions.

 

[Shzm13]

Japan - 2011 ACF Asia Cup Champions. Nuff said.

No, not 'nuff said'. People can't slate the US for beating easy teams and then not do the same to Japan. They didn't exactly dominate the tournament. They managed to beat arch rivals S.Korea on penalties and Australia 1-0. Let's not get carried away.

It doesn't matter how they did it. They won a FIFA tournament and that warrants them being high on the rankings. Them being ranked ahead of the US makes perfect sense.

Colombia - Rodallega is a good player, but not as good as Dempsey or Donovan if you are wanting to use individual players as an example of what makes a good team.

Dempsey and Rodallega were both in the 9-12 goal range in the epl last year. They're not too far apart. Donovan isn't nearly half as good as Falcao, who was one of the best scorers in all of Europe last year. Colombia has a better combination of strikers.

If you'd like to dig in further at their starters, we can talk about Yepes, whom at 34, is better than any US defender. We can also talk about Armero and Zuniga who are young starters for Udinese and Napoli.

I'll agree that Dempsey is probably better than most Colombian midfielders, Howard is better than their young keeper, but it ends there.

Turkey - May have a lot of potential but that doesn't mean they are there now. They haven't looked great in the Euro qualifiers so far. Would they 'dominate' the US like they did against Azerbaijan?

They've had one bad game vs Azerbijan, but the rest of the tournament has gone as expected. Germany rolling, and Belgium putting up a solid fight. They too are a very talented young team.

Switzerland - Excellent game against Spain. Played them just how they needed to. How did the rest of the tournament go for them? They have also looked poor so far in qualifying.

Drawing vs England at Wembley in EQs and a win vs the World Champs in the past year will get you up on the rankings. Undefeated since last year too.