Brits hate Mou-ball as much as Americans would hate it if they were subjected to it.

That said, I understand why teams want to clench at the back, give up possession and just slog it out for 90 minutes. United isn't going to beat LFC or City by being overly aggressive. But to a casual or non-fan, the deeper chess match isn't obvious. When I'm watching a match like that, my eyes stray away from the ball to look at player movement, positioning, exposed triangles, etc. If I wasn't watching for this, I'd be almost as bored as watching a pitcher spend 20 seconds between pitches with nobody on base.

In domestic soccer leagues, with less than 40 games per season and where the winner of the regular season is considered the champion and where placement in the league determines relegation and Champions League qualification, ties are very consequential. I think part of the reason why the Euoropean domestic soccer league model works for them is that those leagues have no competition from other sports, unlike in the US where for many people basketball and hockey are an after thought until after the Super Bowl, which is fine because the playoffs are what really matter anyway.

In the NBA and NHL, and to a somewhat lesser degree the NFL and MLB, regular seasons mean very little. If your team is good enough to contend for the title, then making the playoffs is never in doubt. If your team is in a dog fight to make the playoffs, then they have virtually no shot of winning a game or series in the playoffs anyway, much less winning the whole thing.

I give zero Fucks about the NHL regular season despite being a gigantic hockey fan

I also follow the champions league closer than the premier league

Americans invented fantasy baseball and then fantasy football to get us through regular seasons

So I’m not sure it’s just “scoring”

I’m also seeing more and more hockey fans appreciate ties over fabricated game situations to break them. There’s more backlash against the college football Ot these days too.

I do think these are contributing factors but hockey doing well (hockey is doing well right? I never know) seems to discount the impact. Then again, hockey is the best sport in the world to watch.

but the directionality of play is the detractor.

It’s hard for them to grasp backwards passing etc. soccer is a live development of intuition, rather than set plays and stoppage.

Hockey has helped, but the size of the playing surface keeps the action going so fast you don’t want to turn away from the game.

I don't think passing it back to the goalie is what's making people not watch soccer. It's more of less the same as a big who kicks it back out to the point guard to reset the play. Yes, the players never kick it out all the way back to the other endline in basketball, but I'm not sure it sooo different from hockey and basketball that the directionality is impossible to grasp.

Of course maybe those same fans (*cough* american football fans *cough*) you speak of are also befuddled by basketball and hockey too, and then yes, they are too obtuse to ever like soccer.
But I would think Offsides, what determines a yellow vs red card, when is a last man tackle a penalty and a red card vs just a foul and replay are tough things to grasp.

it’s the common complaint I hear from Americans I talk to who don’t like soccer.

I can't imagine how the kickout pass in basketball is THAT much different unless they are purposely trying not to understand the game, which is probably true. For F*#$'s sake, you can backward pass in Football all you want, in order to change the field when you want to disrupt the defense for a long run. It's the same for a reversal in order to get some misdirection. I'm afraid you are not speaking to smart people

shut the fuck up.

I agree with all of this and do notice that set plays seem to get a disproportionate amount of attention as well in the USA.

The difference is the story and watching history. People aren't tuning into the action of a 1 hitter.

And neither situation includes a compelling story that keeps people tuned in

Chicks dig the long ball!!!!