If your decoupling athleticism and skill, I think you're not thinking of it the right way. Speed, agility, and endurance are important, but the athleticism that matters most in soccer, like most other sports, are those fine motor skills that allow one to strike a ball in just such a way while it's flying along at a quick pace, etc.

Compare Johnny Harline and Daniel Coats. In terms of athletic measurables, Coats was heads and tails above Harline. But Harline had such incredible hands--Harline was the more football athletic at his position, which is why he dominated Coats in terms of game-time numbers.

Instead of guys that can bend a soccer ball around a wall and into the upper 90, we have guys that can pull up from 40 feet and put a 29.5 inch ball through an 18 inch hoop at the buzzer.

Track guys rarely make good football and basketball players. Sports athleticism is way different from 'raw' athleticism.