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Post by Soccerhouse on Oct 8, 2013 20:29:40 GMT -5
Tab Ramos - the making of a coach part 1&2 from soccerAmerica part 1: www.socceramerica.com/article/54109/tab-ramos-the-making-of-a-coach-part-1.htmlpart 2: www.socceramerica.com/article/54150/tab-ramos-the-making-of-a-coach-part-2.htmlwhat sticks out to me as being the most interesting is from part 2. great comment "I wanted to play a possession-type game -- a lot of movement, a very active and happy type game, with the players enjoying playing, moving all around the field and willing to play at a high intensity. I t’s not hard to find skillful guys in this country, but we wanted skillful guys willing to do the work required to recover the ball immediately. That’s not so easy -- there are skillful players playing in parks all over the country, but most have never been taught to work to recover the ball, and I think by the time they’re 18 or 19, it’s too late to learn that. |
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Post by soccerpapi on Oct 8, 2013 21:19:42 GMT -5
A couple of other key ones that stick out..
"I’ll summarize how we wanted to play: through midfield, with speed. Not hitting the ball over the top. A possession game."
"We were looking for a game where we’re building from the back -- not willing to give the ball away, if possible playing in the opposing team’s side of the field, taking risks there to recover the ball, so that all the mistakes, ours and theirs, happen in their half."
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Post by zizou on Oct 9, 2013 6:55:14 GMT -5
The comment about players not being willing to work hard enough to retrieve the ball is a real indictment of USA youth players. He seems to be only addressing the men's side. Because my kids are girls we watch a lot of USWNT. I have been impressed by how hard every one of them works to retrieve possession. We heard an interview with Alex Morgan not too long ago and she said their objective was to retrieve the ball within 5 sec of losing it. And implied that if you were the player that lost it you are probably closest to the ball so you should be the one doing the most work to get it back. Now whether historically they have played technically pretty soccer is another matter. With their forwards, though, you can hardly blame them for having chosen to play over the top to their speed and power.
Another thing that stood out was this Ramos quote: "There are good players all over the country, from New Jersey to Oregon and back to Florida but we are all well aware that most of the best soccer is played in California and Texas...." Georgia needs to do something dramatic in their approach to change this impression. I am not sure the youth leadership in our state show that type of vision. I have ideas but I doubt they will listen to me!
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Post by soccergator on Oct 9, 2013 16:23:07 GMT -5
I agree the women attack the ball defensively, but tend to play over the top more. Too much speed and the abby factor. It really is amazing the difference between men's and women's soccer in the states compared to other countries
Does the current model work or women and not men.
(Ie college route vs pros. No DA).
I think US women are just a head of the game and not sure if they will ever not be a top 3 program. Too much depth compared to other counties .
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Post by soccerpapi on Oct 13, 2013 10:28:46 GMT -5
I agree the women attack the ball defensively, but tend to play over the top more. Too much speed and the abby factor. It really is amazing the difference between men's and women's soccer in the states compared to other countries Does the current model work or women and not men. (Ie college route vs pros. No DA). I think US women are just a head of the game and not sure if they will ever not be a top 3 program. Too much depth compared to other counties . Agree with you soccergator our Women's game is amazingly ahead of our men when compared to how both stack up on the world stage. Here are some tidbits and why I think we will stay ahead (for now) and why the college route vs. pro no DA route seems to have worked: 1. Tied for first in most world cup champs - We are tied for the most World Cups (2 for us and 2 for the Germans - out of 6) 2. Most olympic gold - We have won the most Olympic gold medals (4 out of 5) 3. Financial dominance - Because of title-9 and other decisions, equal funding for women HS & college sports have given us a financial advantage 4. Our women football - Culturally, parents seem to choose soccer or basketball route as their girls' version of boy's football 5. Culture bias overseas - In some parts of the world, girls have not been encouraged to play soccer (if any sports at all) as much as the boys have. A soccer colleague from another county has once told me that the idea of a women's place being at home raising a family was still very much alive for many reasons; in some parts of the world, this has been the case up until recent years. Because of our insurmountable lead, the issues that has plagued our men to lag behind and the need for DA to help close the male gap on the world stage has not been as apparent for the women's game. Granted, other countries' women game are catching up technically - the likes of Germany, Japan, Brazil, and France to name a few are lurking and starting to show much creativity than our women (in some cases), although we seem to hold a numbers (women's available player pool) & size advantage. My guess is that USSF does not see it as a sense of urgency and probably cannot afford to spend as much to create DA for women as they have for the men to help close the gap. As a result, market opportunities has opened up for additional "pay to play" programs such as ECNL to help fill the void. While it lacks the quality control and the "no pay to play" aspects of DA amongst other things, it has created a members only, high-level training ground to help further ID talent for the USWNT as well as college talent. My guess is that soon or later as we start losing World Cups and Olympic gold medals, USSF will be forced to consider some sort of women DA program. Until then, enjoy the many options we have to the top - Athena, Super Y, RPL, NL, ODP, ECNL. For some, this can be confusing, but... Keep in mind for the majority of our young women, top equals college academic opportunities in addition to soccer. |
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