Slate on U.S. Soccer's "Growing Uniform Crisis"

[BallWonk]

http://www.slate.com/id/2168476/

[leopard88]

I couldn't agree with this article more. Find a look and try to stick with it. I would vote for the mid-90s look with the horizontal "Northwestern" stripes (i.e., thin-thick-thin, with the base color showing between the stripes -- sorry, no time to look for a pic), but just decide on something . . . even if it is just a primary color to stick with.

[Gothamite]

Agreed.

Personally, I think the US should go back to the white shirt, red sash. Unique in world football, instantly identifiable. They could build a great brand around that.

Personally, I also love the current shirts, white with red and blue vertical band.

[Jezus_Ghoti]

Great photo essay. It's a shame that the team can't pick something and stick with it.

I think the best choice would be white shirts with a red sash/vertical band (red and/or blue) and blue shorts.

[Saturn]

I like what we have now. Less red and more blue.

[TFoA]

Agred, though I think what they have now is perfect, and the best they've looked since the 50s. Except for the pinstripe alt. That thing is too ugly.

[MrAsterisk]

Personally, I think the US should go back to the white shirt, red sash. Unique in world football, instantly identifiable. They could build a great brand around that.

Don't forget Peru, who have gone to three World Cups in this design, which they've worn since the '70s.

Personally, I think the national team's current set is excellent. The U.S. should stick with what they've got now.

[harperdc]

throwing my hat in the ring to say a red sash on white with blue shorts would look awesome - hell, the Netherlands' current alt kinda has that look:

make the away for that strip the "don't tread on me" red jersey and we'd have a winner.

and while they're at it, it's time to update the shield, too!

[Sodboy13]

Ditch that silly pinstriped atrocity and, in the name of all things holy, bring back the red "Don't Tread" kit. That beauty of a jersey deserves much more exposure than a send-off friendly against Latvia. Plus, you then have this unique setup going:

White - vertical striping

Blue - horizontal striping

Red - diagonal striping

I'd also like to beg and plead for U.S. Soccer to formally adopt Nike's rattlesnake crest.

[Gothamite]

I'd also like to beg and plead for U.S. Soccer to formally adopt Nike's rattlesnake crest.

I second this motion. It's a million times better than the mis-colored shield.

Strong, bold, distinctive and uniquely American.

[AJM]

Definately need to bring back the red "Don't Tread" kits. The 3rd kit with pinstripes is garbage. I really think they should adopt that "Don't Tread" look and match it with the same jersey in white with red & blue stripes and keep the blue shorts.

[Billy B]

Definately need to bring back the red "Don't Tread" kits. The 3rd kit with pinstripes is garbage. I really think they should adopt that "Don't Tread" look and match it with the same jersey in white with red & blue stripes and keep the blue shorts.

Agreed. The "Don't Tread" kits were the best they had. The current 3rd kit would be better if there were white shorts, but it looks terrible because the pinstripes just sop.

[Fred T. Jane]

http://www.slate.com/id/2168476/

Should I cramp Slate's style by pointing out that

If the Dutch had shown up in 2006 wearing red or blue or pink, it just would've felt ... wrong.

is, well, wrong?

[spyboy1]

I'd personally like a return to the 1950 white shirt with red slash and the road to be the Don't Tread on me red shirt with the blue and white slash. If you wanted to be a purist about it, you could just do the reverse and have the red shirt have just a white slash only.

JeffB

[harperdc]

they meant as a primary kit, NOT an alternate. By the way, those are the colors of the flag of the Netherlands organized to mimic how the flag looks, so it's definitely an acceptable look for a third; the Oranje have also used black on orange kits as a change before too, which look weird and kinda Oregon State-ish.

[Fred T. Jane]

they meant as a primary kit, NOT an alternate. By the way, those are the colors of the flag of the Netherlands organized to mimic how the flag looks, so it's definitely an acceptable look for a third; the Oranje have also used black on orange kits as a change before too, which look weird and kinda Oregon State-ish.

I think it was obvious I was being a bit tongue-in cheek in my example, but the point stands. It isn't as though the Dutch only wear orange, just like it isn't as though the Argentines only wear light blue and white vertical stripes, the Australians wearing wattle and green, etc. etc.

Though to point out the obvious again...

Who's ever heard of an army that has to change its uniform every year?

They obviously never looked at the rate in which armies made uniform tweaks during the Napoleonic Wars.

[totc]

I'm a little surprised nobody's asked why this change has been made in the first place.

Consider the lineup for the Copa America:

Consider the usual jersey color of the other 11 teams:

Venezuela: Maroon (color of oil, the country's main export)

Argentina: Light blue and white vertical stripes

Bolivia: Green

Brazil: Yellow

Chile: Red

Colombia: Yellow

Ecuador: Yellow

Mexico: Green

Paraguay: Red and white vertical stripes

Peru: White with red sash

Uruguay: Light blue

Also, note that the secondary colors of several teams (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay) are navy blue. There have been exceptions: Paraguay wore copper (again, the country's main export) in the 2002 World Cup and Uruguay had a red secondary jersey in the 2005 Copa America.

Making the United States adopt a royal blue kit as its alternate is a smart move. Usually, the tournament organizers are the ones who try to sort out which team wears what jersey during which match in a tournament. In this case, CONMEBOL wants us in the royal, not navy, blue.

Now, I've seen some bizarre kits in other sports because of the organizers: once saw an Asian Cup of men's field hockey where South Korea wore bright lime green since every other country in the tournament had red or blue in their flags, and SoKo drew the short straw.

This being said, we're probably in the white tops the entire tournament ...

[GFB]

The thing that ticks me off the most is the fact that this guy says that Countries never change their uniform, which is completely untrue. While the basic of the uniform remains the same (same shirt color, short color, sock color....) the design changes every two years. The Holland/Argentina example is crap. They change their uniforms every two years, just like the Americans do. Their changes are design switches, not completely new colors and everything. Americans just don't understand the ways of soccer, which is obvious in this case...

Hey, here's an idea! Maybe it's because those teams actually have TRADITION! (gasp)

Besides, the teams and manufactures wouldn't make nearly the same cash if they never changed their uniforms. Think about all the Man U fans that buy the new gear every 2 years...

Hehe, anyway here's is my take on the whole US deal. Their current white uniforms are simply sexy. (I picked up a longsleeve one myself)

If they want to keep the sash idea for years to come, I would love it. Those red Nike DTOM jerseys were awesome too, and then third comes their current blue uniforms.

Those blue pinstripe alts are pretty ugly, but they are acceptable when worn with the white shorts.

So my point in all of this is, what is the point of writing this article when they finally get it right? If the USNT was to pull a "Buffaslug" on us in '08, I would understand. But don't tell them to change when they get it right.

[-kj]

I'd also like to beg and plead for U.S. Soccer to formally adopt Nike's rattlesnake crest.

I second this motion. It's a million times better than the mis-colored shield.

Strong, bold, distinctive and uniquely American.

I'm going to disagree here. Not with the idea that it's a better logo. But since most national team crests are the logos of the nation's federation, I can't see US Soccer going with that as an organizational logo.

[CZzyzx41]

Why not a simple white shirt with red piping and red numbers and blue shorts? Keep that from now until forever and you can't go wrong. AM I WRONG HERE?!