In Houston to tour the operations of the Houston Dynamo for some reason, former Leeds and Sheffield United manager Kevin Blackwell spoke to the Houston Chronicle’s Jose de Jesus Ortiz about the trajectory of American soccer. Yeah, it’s another “guy with a British accent giving his opinion” situation for us Americans, but this one comes with an extra treat.

“I would arguably say that if they keep moving forward as they have been I could see the USA coming close to winning the World Cup, maybe sooner than England,” he said. “And that’s a sad thing for me to say.”

“I look at the raw talent that’s here,” Blackwell said. “The raw talent is here. You come to Houston, and there’s 5 million people. There’s a big Hispanic population who have got football in their blood. The ingredients are there.

“The weather’s here, the facilities are here. And the one thing that has always impressed me about the Americans is that they got a desire to be winners. Believe you me, if you’ve got that desire and you’ve got the wherewithal generally you succeed. So I do see them succeeding.”

So is Blackwell pandering to his American hosts? Maybe. But considering the fact that England doesn’t look like they’ll be hoisting the World Cup trophy anytime soon, he’s probably just saying that neither country has much hope of winning a world championship at any point in any future that anyone alive can imagine.

If the US is closer to winning than England, but the US won’t be close to winning for another 40, 50, or 60 years, then all Blackwell is saying is “we all suck.” Robots will rule the Earth before England or the US will sniff World Cup glory.

And I have no response, other than to say that everyone is trying. Really.

Source: Chron.com