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Post by guerillaman on Aug 24, 2020 8:52:38 GMT -5
It's hard to tell what is going on for sure -- personnel problem, coaching issues, lack of team vs 11 individuals on the pitch with different agendas. Team does seem to be playing more like a team than before.
lost 4 of their last 5 games, with a 1-7-3 record. Don't give me its not about results, I watched some u19 games this weekend, where teams were playing for nothing, kids were giving it there all as if it was the world cup final (exaggeration) - when you step on the field to compete, that's exactly it, you compete and hate losing. For the best ever, losing isn't an option. You don't sacrifice your style of play, but as some point, maybe your style of play isn't working and its time to adjust. Why have they blown a handful of 2-0 leads? immaturity?
This is what gets me more than anything -- I constantly see talented players on other USL rosters, these players seem to be stuck. Players more talented than even AU2's roster. I get it AU2 is a unique situation like many other MLS clubs, minimal investment, use the team to help fill occasional roster gaps with loans etc. In another year, I expect this team to be 50% u19 academy players.
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Post by guerillaman on Aug 19, 2020 14:48:09 GMT -5
Sorry - I guess I meant tophat players, given a few are on ufa now....
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Post by guerillaman on Aug 19, 2020 14:27:38 GMT -5
CESA Friendlies recap + standouts by www.topdrawersoccer.com | Only the 14s, 15s, 16s and 17s we discussed. Sorry nothing on the U13s or the ECRL www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-soccer-articles/cesa-friendlies-recap-+-standouts_aid48413if it is behind a paywall for you, see full article below: CESA Friendlies Recap + Standouts | Article Written by J.R. Eskilson | Published: August 19, 2020 The Third Annual CESA Pre-Season Friendlies were held last weekend in South Carolina, which featured some of the top clubs form the Southeast Region in the ECNL, Girls Academy, and other National Leagues. The general consensus from parents and fans at the event is that the hosts did an excellent job of keeping everyone organized and safe during the two days of games. TopDrawerSoccer recaps the action from the each of the age groups below. Girls ECNL U14 Jacksonville FC and GSA went 2-0 at the event. GSA picked up wins over NC Fusion (1-0) and Charlotte SA (2-0). Jacksonville recorded wins over NC Fusion (3-0) and CESA (5-0). Girls ECNL U15 CESA ECNL was the only team to go 2-0 at the event in the U15 age group. CESA picked up victories over Jacksonville (1-0) and UFA (3-0). NC Fusion, SC United, and NTH Tophat all went 1-0-1 at the event. Girls ECNL U16 NTH Tophat 05 GA Gold went unbeaten in Flight D in the U16 age group. Tophat played to a scoreless draw against Charlotte SA Girls ECNL on Saturday, and then picked up a big win over SC United on Sunday. Jenna Sapong was a standout in goal for Tophat. Madison Nichols, Millika McLeod, and Reese Black scored for Tophat. Nina Bartlett provided the assist on Nichols’ goal. UFA and Alabama FC went 2-0 at the event. UFA nabbed wins over CISC (4-0) and Charlotte SA (2-1). Hadley Collier was a standout for the UFA defense throughout the weekend. Alabama FC recorded victories over CESA (2-1) and CISC (3-0). Girls ECNL U17 UFA 04G, AFU 04 ECNL, and Alabama FC 04 all finished 2-0 at the event. UFA recorded wins over Charlotte SA ECNL National 04 and CISC ECNL during the two-day event. Elizabeth Fleming Dean scored the winning goal against Charlotte on a header in the 4-3 victory. Dean also had an assist in the game. Tori DellaPeruta scored twice and Jordan Dudley also scored. Dudley scored twice on Sunday in the win over CISC. Avery Berryman, DellaPeruta, and Dean also scored on Sunday. Mia Ridd*** and Heidi Harris combined in goal for the two victories. Ridd*** also played up with the U19 squad for a game. AFU picked up victories over CESA (1-0) and SC United (2-1). Alabama also went perfect at the event with wins over CISC (4-3) and CESA (1-0). Boys ECNL U14 UFA ECNL and Alabama FC went 2-0 at the event. UFA picked up wins over CESA (4-1) and CISC North Pro Academy (2-0). Alabama recorded wins over Charlotte SA (1-0) and CISC North Pro Academy (4-1). GSA and SC Surf also had a strong showing at the event. Boys ECNL U15 GSA, CESA, NTH NASA, AFU, and UFA all went unbeaten in the U15 age group from the event. Boys ECNL U16 South Carolina United, UFA, and NTH-NASA all went 2-0 at the event. South Carolina picked up wins over GSA (2-0) and AFU (3-2). UFA recorded victories over CISC Pro Academy (3-1) and CESA (2-0). NTH-NASA beat Charlotte SA (1-0) and CESA (2-0). Boys ECNL U17 Charlotte SA National ECNL was the only team to pick up four points from the two games in the U17 age group as the teams split results throughout the weekend. Charlotte beats NTH NASA on Saturday, and then played to a 1-1 draw against GSA on Sunday. Looks like top drawer soccer really knows tophat vs all the other teams on both the boys and girls side.....
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Post by guerillaman on Aug 17, 2020 18:50:59 GMT -5
Fair - the 07s at UFA are well coached as they come. Go watch them play, Coach has them playing some nice soccer. Just love what I see and their style of play. All the UFA ecnl coaches are top notch. Talented players all over those rosters. Hopefully they get to play Atlanta united. Them and NASA are very good. I’m assuming concorde added pieces? Because the team the ufa team dominated them in the fall. Never got a 2nd chance against them.
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Post by guerillaman on Aug 17, 2020 10:28:55 GMT -5
Pretty dang special to score a goal like that in your first game a few days after being signed.
Overall though the 2s have a lot of work ahead of them - I know the club doesn't care about results, but the team right now can't consistently put it together for 90 minutes and keep their head in the game.
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Post by guerillaman on Jul 26, 2020 19:45:33 GMT -5
So back to the thread - sounds like teams will be playing a full schedule with out of town travel -
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Post by guerillaman on Jun 3, 2020 8:36:20 GMT -5
ECNL u18 should be interesting -- my guess concorde will be top dog.
UFA's u18s isn't even UFA kids, yes they will probably be the majority of their DA team from last season, but I don't even think they will have a single kid on the roster that played u9-u12 academy at UFA -- I could be wrong, but the kids are from KSA, NASA, AFU, Concorde etc --- it's safe to say the coach doesn't care about developing UFA boys, its about bringing in kids from the outside. If your oldest age group isn't even kids from your club, what the hell is the point of youth soccer. Major failure by that coaching staff if no "true" UFA kids are on that u18 roster given the size of that program. We dog AU for doing it, yet UFA is probably the biggest example of abandoning your own players at the older highest levels.
I think they will have 1 field player from their u15 DA team playing on the current ecnl u18 team.... that is failure
Now look at concorde -- i bet over 50% of their u18 roster played at concorde at <= u12.
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Post by guerillaman on Jun 3, 2020 8:30:17 GMT -5
Would think that it would cost way to much $$$$ to absorb the costs.
So called "non" profit and county partnerships have shown the way for non profit owners to make serious cash while avoiding the cost of ownership of fields.
I think the bubble is bursting, youth soccer is changing before our eyes --- many kids can't afford to play. DA wasn't the golden ticket or perfect, but at least the federation had a scholarship program to truly help costs associated with playing youth competitive soccer -- i.e. - travel costs.
Sorry -- I'll go back to the polo fields, those fields are garbage anyway, only suited for rec programs training 1 night a week.
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Post by guerillaman on Apr 14, 2020 14:34:31 GMT -5
Pretty incredible given this was from 4 years ago, that list could get ugly. 18. Klinsman fiasco 19. Bruce Arena fiasco 20. US Men don't qualify for 2018 World cup. 21... 22.. 23. 98. March 12, 2020 - U.S. Soccer President Carlos Cordeiro Resigns 99. Girls DA folds 100. Boys DA folds
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Post by guerillaman on Apr 14, 2020 13:51:10 GMT -5
My guess is UFA is one of the clubs in the know and has already accepted a boys ecnl spot
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Post by guerillaman on Mar 5, 2020 22:40:49 GMT -5
the only word you should need when talking about the game is
soccer
parents shouldn't need an acronym decoder from Ovaltine to make sense of youth soccer
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Post by guerillaman on Mar 5, 2020 21:00:05 GMT -5
Just see it more often -- prioritizing fitness over soccer. See it so often - teams can't settle a ball, but yep they killed the beep test. We ran in college yes, but we constantly were playing with the ball -- that where most of our fitness came from.
We threw shirts down as goals and just played, shirts and skins, sweating our butts off, we were as fit as it got. We took team runs for sure, but our fitness came during drills, and game play. We worked hard when we stepped between the lines.
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Post by guerillaman on Mar 5, 2020 19:51:48 GMT -5
Am I the only one who is anti beep test --- last time I checked and watched a soccer game, there is no beeps during a game.....rather see 90 minutes of ball work and scrimmaging. play the game. Concentrate on soccer.
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Post by guerillaman on Mar 5, 2020 18:15:24 GMT -5
How would the top college teams fair against USL sides?
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Post by guerillaman on Mar 5, 2020 18:14:43 GMT -5
What is the latest on Nashville and Charlotte MLS academies?
I personally don't think Charlotte can add another DA program -- is CSA trying to partner with the new club?
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Post by guerillaman on Mar 5, 2020 18:09:24 GMT -5
Eagerly awaiting UFA's gala announcement from last Spring -- are we a full year late now? And even more eager for Inter's announcement....
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Post by guerillaman on Feb 24, 2020 9:18:29 GMT -5
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Post by guerillaman on Feb 9, 2020 18:15:49 GMT -5
Bello was faster for sure and dominant . There were questions about Patrick’s true age. Carleton and Goslin were just always better and gifted. Unstoppable in training sessions Can’t speak much for kunga.
But if building is forgetting local talent and highlighting a kid from out of state - then excellent work (said jokingly) There are some 03s and 02s in this city that can play
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Post by guerillaman on Nov 15, 2019 10:48:44 GMT -5
Given the SSA announcement - why hasn’t this been publicly shared besides in this forum? Is it intended to be a secret? Seems like transparency here would be vital. Just saying UFA is bringing in over 3 million a year which apparently also just covers costs to run the club - but the reality is you have parents spending over $5000 for their kids to play at this club per year. Thousands and thousands of dollars spent over multiple seasons and multiple kids. Someone spin this as a positive please. And I don’t by it’s none of our business. It's likely that those not in the club don't know and those in the club don't care . If you are in the club and dont like it, ask the club. If you dont like the answer, tell them to stop or leave the club. I generally agree. People don’t seem to care - and the system punishes people who ask questions. Parents are always wrong is the mantra. We left for greener pastures. Playing DA elsewhere.
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Post by guerillaman on Nov 14, 2019 20:27:36 GMT -5
Given the SSA announcement - why hasn’t this been publicly shared besides in this forum?
Is it intended to be a secret? Seems like transparency here would be vital. Just saying UFA is bringing in over 3 million a year which apparently also just covers costs to run the club - but the reality is you have parents spending over $5000 for their kids to play at this club per year. Thousands and thousands of dollars spent over multiple seasons and multiple kids. Someone spin this as a positive please. And I don’t by it’s none of our business.
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Post by guerillaman on Nov 11, 2019 17:11:40 GMT -5
Reminder of the other day clubs in this town - some very talented players on UFAs rosters.
They put a hurten on CSA this weekend. 13s - 5-2 14s - 2-1 15s - 5-0 17s - 5-2 19s- And the shocker 1-3
Impressive - not sure what’s up with 19s - but the rest of the boys came to play
Wish the club would promote these games more to really gain more interest and exposure in the DA teams within the club.
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Post by guerillaman on Oct 12, 2019 12:00:21 GMT -5
Social network silence. Don’t listen to their BS that they don’t care about winning.
I’ve heard a lot of negativity from the older 2 groups recently and kids on the gap year team being left and told they are free to leave as they choose. I’ve also heard grumblings from local coaches about the incompetence of their recruiting staff.
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Post by guerillaman on Aug 3, 2019 11:54:51 GMT -5
It's just rather disturbing that Atlanta United, Concorde and UFA will not play each other as a regularly scheduled structured games at u19 ---
THAT IS WHAT IS WRONG WITH SOCCER IN THIS COUNTRY --- THE ARROGANCE OF ANY CLUB THAT THINKS THEY ARE TOO GOOD FOR THE LOCAL COMPETITION
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Post by guerillaman on Jul 30, 2019 8:26:26 GMT -5
the ref training should be simplified for reffing u9/u10s and younger age rec games, then the shortage wouldn't be an issue --
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Post by guerillaman on Jun 23, 2019 9:29:45 GMT -5
I follow Soccerhouse on twitter and one of his recent tweets caught my attention -- It seems Atlanta United's academy doesn't care about winning........unless they win...... AU's 17s the past 2 years won and lost in the finals for the academy playoffs -- did not get out of group play this year. This years squad just isn't as strong as in the past and I'd are argue many more special individual players on UFA then AU. I do know a few kids turned them down for next season as well to stay at UFA. Even with TA taking them over mid season, they got way to may ties vs wins and just never turned the corner. The 19s won the southeast division in year 1 (2016-2017) and entered the playoffs with the number 1 seed. Didn't get out of group play Won the southeast division in year 2 (2017-2018) and didn't get out of group play. Same was true this year, they tied first game and then lost next 2 - they brought a few of their USL players with them as well, so it wasn't a light roster. The 19s seem to historically whip on the teams in the southeast and teams that they clearly just have more talent then, but when matched up against squads on an equal talent level -- they lose. Is it coaching? Is it we don't care about results? Is it we don't care about the team but the individual? Do they not care about the playoffs? If not what's the point of even playing? Do you see any of the current homegrowns ever having an impact with the first team? Goslin? Castro? Carleton? Conway? Okonkwo? Kunga? Either way -- Concorde and UFA making it to the quarterfinals is an impressive accomplishment -- Soccerhouse worded it in a tweet, given the current landscape of youth soccer, its very impressive to have 2 teams from the ATL still alive. Granted -- the next games will be very difficult for both.
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Post by guerillaman on Apr 17, 2019 8:50:05 GMT -5
So somebody needs to spill the beans on the special announcement.
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Post by guerillaman on Feb 5, 2019 9:43:55 GMT -5
Very interesting tweet - thanks for sharing. Here is the direct link to the article: www.usatoday.com/story/sports/soccer/2018/12/07/atlanta-united-mls-cup-us-soccer/2206177002/?utm_source=hootsuite&utm_medium=&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=Many of us have said this for sure, they clear favor athleticism. This was especially in year 1 and year 2 in the u17 and u19 age groups. However, watching them so far this season at least for the 17s, they have seem to gone back to their "GA United" roots and attempted to take more technical players. Remember - after tryouts in year 1, there was a lot of frustrated GA United members being told misinformation about their future status with AU. I get it, "better" players arrived at tryouts and were identified, kids that GA United and Concorde could never reach -- but I recall coaching staff stating, they were surprised with some of the selections and it went against what GA United was working on from a player development perspective. But again, what can you say, when in year 1, they win the national title in the 17s and the regular season for the 19s. You have to have athletes for sure, but they will only get you so far, they will help you win now vs later, but damn sure does put coaches in a jam, when you see some of these kids in person. That is why I really like that UFA u17 team. Yes, I'm sure the kids are all athletic as heck given the level they play at -- but when you look at those players, only a few are physical specimens. Just all well rounded kids, committed to playing a team game. There aren't any individuals on that team, its a team. That is what I like, AU seems to be the exact opposite, its more of an "I" team. Unfortunately soccer is becoming more of an individual sport but I give UFA major cred for those 17s. Well rounded group!
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