Social media can be described as both a blessing and a curse. It allows people from all over the world, from all walks of life, to come together and participate in dialogues about just about anything. The downside is that it’s often a birds-eye view for some of the dumbest soccer takes
Drumroll, please. Here are the top 5 dumbest soccer takes taking over social media that we’ve seen.
Some of the dumbest soccer takes on X/Twitter
1. Landon Donovan
When the US Men’s National Team narrowly missed the cut for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, it was a huge blow not just to the fans and players of US Soccer, but also to the bottom line.
At the time, Soccer United Marketing (Major League Soccer’s marketing arm) was the exclusive commercial sales partner for both the USA and Mexico national teams. So with no USMNT team in the World Cup, Soccer United Marketing decided to recruit USMNT legends to promote the Mexican national team.
Both Alexi Lalas and Landon Donovan were hired, among others, but it was Donovan who broke the hearts of US soccer fans. The executives at SUM and Wells Fargo thought, “Hey, let’s get one of the greatest USA players ever to endorse rooting for Mexico!”
The advertisement stunt with Landon Donovan is now remembered as one of the goofiest, and most notorious, moments in American soccer history.
2. Alexi Lalas
FOX Sports pundit Alexi Lalas can always be counted on for dumb takes, but this one is top of the list.
Even when this question was asked, over a decade ago, the notion that you may not be a true soccer fan in the USA if you don’t support MLS is absurd. And it’s the kind of attitude and rhetoric, even if just tangentially mentioned, that continues to turn some fans off to the domestic game.
Alexi Lalas remains one of the most vocal and beloved, or hated, pundits in American soccer. And he rarely fails to make somebody angry with every post.
3. Matt Doyle
USMNT midfielder Djordje Mihailovic made the move from CF Montréal to Europe in January 2023, heading to AZ Alkmaar of the Eredivisie.
Before playing his first game for AZ, MLS pundit Matt Doyle predicted in a tweet how Mihailovic would do in the Dutch league:
In 31 total appearances over the 2022/23 and 2023/24 Eredivisie and Conference League campaigns, Mihailovic made just nine starts, notching just one goal and one assist.
Almost one calendar year to the day after he made his European debut, Djordje moved back across the pond, joining the Colorado Rapids.
4. Joey Barton
Never one to shy away from controversy, former player and manager Joey Barton stoked ire from across the soccer world in December 2023 with his crusade against women commentators in the men’s game.
Throwing around terms like “woke” in various tirades on X, Barton has dug in and continues to stand by his initial comments. In recent years, women have finally begun to earn their long-overdue place in the commentary booth for professional sports – both men’s and women’s. But that’s not okay with Barton, who finds women simply talking about men playing a game as some kind of affront to the sanctity of the sport. A truly baffling hill to die on in 2023/24.
5. Major League Soccer
Nothing unifies a fractured populace like a dumb idea. Like the brains behind the failed European Super League, MLS learned this the hard way this past December. Fans and media across all levels of soccer in the US, including its own supporters, intensely rejected the league’s idea to back out of the US Open Cup. Of course, they likely knew nobody would like their plans, since they quietly pushed out the news on a Friday evening.
Social media was ablaze for about a week before US Soccer eventually rejected the proposal.
Which ones did we miss? Let us know in the comments section below
