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Post by Futsal Gawdess on Sept 30, 2018 21:48:06 GMT -5
With the folding of 4 DA teams into 2 or 3 merged teams at the U15 age group, it is interesting to see how teams shake out. Do they carry on with the normal wins/losses from U12/13/14? Who improves and who falls off? Who gets the best of what AFC, LSA, NASA, and SSA has to offer and deftly transitions them to gel with the U14 core group of players for the right mix? In watching the local U15s after the first month, both CF and UFA have played AU, but haven't played each other. AU squeaked out a win over UFA 1-0 and CF beat AU with a late game winner 3-2. If I remember correctly, CF was down 0-2 before roaring back with 3 unanswered goals. CF and UFA play on the 27th of October. Hopefully, it's a good fun game to watch.
However, with all that said, it looks like in the Southeast Division, the 3 local teams will have to contend with North Carolina FC U15s as the team to beat. In the last 8 days, they have beaten AU 1-0, UFA 3-0 and today won against CF 3-2. BTW, the last two where on the road. Today against CF, they came out with a 3-0 lead, but I commend CF on not quitting and clawing back 2 goals. There was a 3rd, but I believe it was called back for off-sides. I know it is early in the season, but in the new U15 playoff scenario only the winner of each division(7) makes the playoffs + 1 at large team. Everyone else gets an expensive trip to California to scrimmage other DA teams. Should be fun to watch the development over the season. Thoughts?
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Post by thisonedude on Sept 30, 2018 22:16:31 GMT -5
The 10/27 UFA vs. CF match will be interesting. So far, these three teams appear to be pretty evenly matched. NCFC looks like the team to beat in the division, as you pointed out. No easy games for these teams this season.
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Post by Soccerhouse on Oct 1, 2018 10:03:57 GMT -5
NCFC seems like the class of the age group right now. Very impressed with what I have seen from them across all age groups. Their the equivalent of Atlanta United, but its not free, and they have access to a ridiculous amount of players. Even their 2nd and 3rd NON DA teams are solid and well coached. Clearly they have a monopoly in the triangle, and not sure if its good or bad, but the teams are good and the players seem to be doing well.
The u15 AU team is an interesting one -- very good side for sure and a good mix of talent. I've been very impressed when I've seen them play. They have a good group. I still like some other players in this age group for sure. Also seems like they are stockpiling keepers in this age group, yet only only 1 of them has played the last 3 weeks.
I've said for years, I think keepers should be allowed to play on multiple teams -- its good for everyone involved. I think other clubs could take more advantage of the transitional players etc.
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Post by thisonedude on Oct 1, 2018 10:48:46 GMT -5
NCFC seems like the class of the age group right now. Very impressed with what I have seen from them across all age groups. Their the equivalent of Atlanta United, but its not free, and they have access to a ridiculous amount of players. Even their 2nd and 3rd NON DA teams are solid and well coached. Clearly they have a monopoly in the triangle, and not sure if its good or bad, but the teams are good and the players seem to be doing well. The u15 AU team is an interesting one -- very good side for sure and a good mix of talent. I've been very impressed when I've seen them play. They have a good group. I still like some other players in this age group for sure. Also seems like they are stockpiling keepers in this age group, yet only only 1 of them has played the last 3 weeks. I've said for years, I think keepers should be allowed to play on multiple teams -- its good for everyone involved. I think other clubs could take more advantage of the transitional players etc. What's your assessment of the other ATL area U15s? Have you had a chance to see either of them play?
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Post by Futsal Gawdess on Oct 1, 2018 11:19:28 GMT -5
NCFC seems like the class of the age group right now. Very impressed with what I have seen from them across all age groups. Their the equivalent of Atlanta United, but its not free, and they have access to a ridiculous amount of players. Even their 2nd and 3rd NON DA teams are solid and well coached. Clearly they have a monopoly in the triangle, and not sure if its good or bad, but the teams are good and the players seem to be doing well. The u15 AU team is an interesting one -- very good side for sure and a good mix of talent. I've been very impressed when I've seen them play. They have a good group. I still like some other players in this age group for sure. Also seems like they are stockpiling keepers in this age group, yet only only 1 of them has played the last 3 weeks. I've said for years, I think keepers should be allowed to play on multiple teams -- its good for everyone involved. I think other clubs could take more advantage of the transitional players etc. Soccerhouse, I have also been wondering why the 3 goalies on this team. The one that played up last year with the current 16s is clearly the preferred one. So why not release the others to play up or play with other teams and get actual playing time. It's already an odd situation having to have two goalies on a team and having to split games, halves or not playing any minutes in every other game.
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Post by Futsal Gawdess on Oct 1, 2018 13:35:36 GMT -5
The AU U15s will have to move past their loss this weekend, as they along with the U17s leave for the northeast to play in the GA Cup Regionals this upcoming weekend, along with NYC FC, Red Bulls, NE Revolution, Orlando City, DC United and Philadelphia Union.
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Post by Soccerhouse on Oct 2, 2018 7:03:34 GMT -5
NCFC seems like the class of the age group right now. Very impressed with what I have seen from them across all age groups. Their the equivalent of Atlanta United, but its not free, and they have access to a ridiculous amount of players. Even their 2nd and 3rd NON DA teams are solid and well coached. Clearly they have a monopoly in the triangle, and not sure if its good or bad, but the teams are good and the players seem to be doing well. The u15 AU team is an interesting one -- very good side for sure and a good mix of talent. I've been very impressed when I've seen them play. They have a good group. I still like some other players in this age group for sure. Also seems like they are stockpiling keepers in this age group, yet only only 1 of them has played the last 3 weeks. I've said for years, I think keepers should be allowed to play on multiple teams -- its good for everyone involved. I think other clubs could take more advantage of the transitional players etc. What's your assessment of the other ATL area U15s? Have you had a chance to see either of them play? I haven't see concorde play other than a few minutes - I'll most likely watch them against UFA the end of the month.
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Post by Futsal Gawdess on Oct 5, 2018 11:01:48 GMT -5
The qualifying matches for the 2018-2019 MLS Generation Adidas Cup kicks off today at the training grounds for the Philadelphia Union. Atlanta United is in Group C for both the U15s and U17s, along with Philadelphia Union, DC United, New England Revolution, New York City FC, New York Red Bulls and Orlando City SC. The first qualifying round will be in Pennsylvania, while the subsequent rounds will be here in Atlanta. The schedule for both the U15s and U17s:
Philadelphia Matches Oct 5th - NE Revolution Oct 8th - NYCFC
Atlanta Matches Jan 19th - Orlando Feb 15th - NYRB Feb 16th - DC United Feb 18th - Philadelphia Union
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Post by Futsal Gawdess on Oct 5, 2018 18:42:24 GMT -5
AU lost both games. For the U15s, they are currently on a three game losing skid.
U15s - 0-1 U17s - 2-2 tied, but lost 4-3 on pks. The NE Revolution goalie saved 2 pks.
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Post by nani17 on Oct 5, 2018 21:05:38 GMT -5
Did the 17s lose tho? They still get the point for a draw?
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Post by Futsal Gawdess on Oct 8, 2018 6:38:49 GMT -5
Did the 17s lose tho? They still get the point for a draw? In the normal world of soccer you would be absolutely correct, however, in this tournament the brainiacs at the MLS want every game to have a winner/loser. They work off of the 3 points to give per game. So instead of both teams getting 1 point per draw, they have to go to PKs and the winner of the PKs gets an extra point while the loser retains the normal one point. Just glad the loser gets at least one point, instead of all three points going to the "winner."
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Post by Futsal Gawdess on Oct 13, 2018 19:15:24 GMT -5
Make the 5 loses in a row for the AU U15. In an effort to follow the US Soccer mandate of "more meaningful games" AU and Sporting KC 15s/17s/19s organized a set of scrimmages today at the AU training grounds. Was able to watch the AU U15 game. From what I saw today, this team should plan on making an expensive trip to scrimmage other U15 teams in the Showcase in California. They do not look like cohesive team, much less a playoff team. Their midfield in similar to the sink-hole occurring on the AU Training Grounds field 4. They play with a lot of selfishness and the back-line is very suspect, good individually, but bad a unit. See other scores below:
U15s - 0-2(AU Loss) U17s - 2-1(AU win) U19s - 2-0(AU win)
Update I should have mentioned that the only bright spot on the team were the goalies. The first half goalie played lights out and saved a couple of goals from going in, the second half goalie was also good, even though he let two goals in, his defensive line committed unnecessary fouls on the edge of the box. They were beaten and fouled from behind. One of those fouls in reality should have been a penalty.
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Post by Soccerhouse on Oct 13, 2018 20:22:18 GMT -5
Is KC playing anyone else tomorrow? Are they playing a UFAs 17s?
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Post by Soccerhouse on Oct 13, 2018 20:23:38 GMT -5
Make the 5 loses in a row for the AU U15. In an effort to follow the US Soccer mandate of "more meaningful games" AU and Sporting KC 15s/17s/19s organized a set of scrimmages today at the AU training grounds. Was able to watch the AU U15 game. From what I saw today, this team should plan on making an expensive trip to scrimmage other U15 teams in the Showcase in California. They do not look like cohesive team, much less a playoff team. Their midfield in similar to the sink-hole occurring on the AU Training Grounds field 4. They play with a lot of selfishness and the back-line is very suspect, good individually, but bad a unit. See other scores below: U15s - 0-2(AU Loss) U17s - 2-1(AU win) U19s - 2-0(AU win) The u15 team is going to Brazil in a month.....
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Post by Futsal Gawdess on Oct 14, 2018 8:06:56 GMT -5
The u15 team is going to Brazil in a month..... They are going in December I believe. They got the invite to go to Brazil whilst on their trip to LA based on how they were playing then.
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Post by Futsal Gawdess on Oct 14, 2018 10:29:03 GMT -5
Is KC playing anyone else tomorrow? Are they playing a UFAs 17s? Yes they are playing the U17s for UFA and another line-up for the SKC U15s vs AU U16s today. Current scores U17s - SKC vs UFA: UFA up 3-1 U15s/16s - SKC vs AU: AU up 6-1
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Post by gaprospects on Oct 14, 2018 11:53:06 GMT -5
Is KC playing anyone else tomorrow? Are they playing a UFAs 17s? Yes they are playing the U17s for UFA and another line-up for the SKC U15s vs AU U16s today. Current scores U17s - SKC vs UFA: UFA up 3-1 U15s/16s - SKC vs AU: AU up 6-1 This was SKC's 04's vs. AU's 03's, correct? Also, that UFA team is looking serious. Lost their NT player and a couple of their other top starters to Concorde and they're still balling, already beat AU and NCFC this season.
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Post by Futsal Gawdess on Oct 14, 2018 18:29:34 GMT -5
That is correct, SKC's 04's played the AU 03's holding team. You are also correct with the UFA U17s... it's called the RD effect
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Post by Soccerhouse on Oct 14, 2018 19:10:11 GMT -5
RD has been doing it for years. His older Norcross teams used to be legit. He’s got the current 17s playing extremely well right now. Pretty incredible.
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Post by cantgetright on Oct 15, 2018 7:40:44 GMT -5
No doubt RD is a great coach. Remember that this age group is a weird one with the split ages. The majority of clubs have mostly 03's and play 03's on their teams. UFA has almost all 02's. What I see out of that is that clubs are working on development rather than winning. Concorde's ECNL team last year was their DA team prior. They moved the 15 DA team to 16 ECNl. Well they killed it in ECNL. Then this year they all moved back to DA. Well, look now, they are at the bottom of the table. All of the teams who played up their younger ones are now killing it. Development vs winning.
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Post by Soccerhouse on Oct 15, 2018 9:00:53 GMT -5
I haven't looked at clubs outside this city but in the ATL, the u16/17 age group is predominately 02s -
Concordes u-16/17s have 1 03 listed on DA roster Atlanta Uniteds u-16/17s have 3 03s listed on DA roster UFA u-16/17s have 2 03s listed on DA roster
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Post by cantgetright on Oct 15, 2018 10:27:45 GMT -5
Check NCFC, Charlotte, Orlando, and some others. NCFC was listed as a marquee win, check the roster.
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Post by Soccerhouse on Oct 15, 2018 11:48:16 GMT -5
Its hard to jump to conclusion on what clubs are focusing on and I don't think selecting 02s or 03s distinguishes that. I think I can agree with the fact that a mix is good strategy, especially when it comes to player retention. However, also agree with the concept of taking the top 20 players regardless of age.
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Post by crossbar on Oct 16, 2018 9:31:54 GMT -5
I don't think it's accurate to say that the majority of clubs have a majority of 03s in the u16/17 age group. I looked at NCFC, and they are about 50/50. Charlotte appears to be an aberration as they really do have a majority of 03 players -- though I heard rumors that they had problems with retention after last year, so maybe that's the real explanation (as opposed to a conscious decision in the name of "player development"). If I'm not mistaken, UFA was pretty young last year, with lots of 02s contributing in the 01/02 age group. And if a team is particularly young this year, they are likely to have more players in the upper end of the age group next year.
The availability of ECNL to certain clubs adds an interesting wrinkle. The top U16 teams in ECNL last year were mostly from clubs with DA and they did what Concorde did: they held most of their 02s in the ECNL U16 age group, and their DA teams were mostly made up of 01 players. This year, those 02 players moved back to DA and the U17 ECNL tables are sort of flipped. The U17 ECNL performance of clubs with DA has dropped off because their best players in that age group are no longer playing ECNL.
As an aside, it seems like being able to offer something like ECNL to the younger halves of their older age groups would serve Atlanta United well. But maybe they can't do that without fielding teams in all ECNL age groups? Not sure. But if would give those non-rostered players that they're keeping around a regular schedule of decent competition.
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Post by Futsal Gawdess on Oct 16, 2018 11:04:42 GMT -5
I don't think it's accurate to say that the majority of clubs have a majority of 03s in the u16/17 age group. I looked at NCFC, and they are about 50/50. Charlotte appears to be an aberration as they really do have a majority of 03 players -- though I heard rumors that they had problems with retention after last year, so maybe that's the real explanation (as opposed to a conscious decision in the name of "player development"). If I'm not mistaken, UFA was pretty young last year, with lots of 02s contributing in the 01/02 age group. And if a team is particularly young this year, they are likely to have more players in the upper end of the age group next year. The availability of ECNL to certain clubs adds an interesting wrinkle. The top U16 teams in ECNL last year were mostly from clubs with DA and they did what Concorde did: they held most of their 02s in the ECNL U16 age group, and their DA teams were mostly made up of 01 players. This year, those 02 players moved back to DA and the U17 ECNL tables are sort of flipped. The U17 ECNL performance of clubs with DA has dropped off because their best players in that age group are no longer playing ECNL. As an aside, it seems like being able to offer something like ECNL to the younger halves of their older age groups would serve Atlanta United well. But maybe they can't do that without fielding teams in all ECNL age groups? Not sure. But if would give those non-rostered players that they're keeping around a regular schedule of decent competition. The schedule the AU U16s played last year was garbage. The running joke amongst the parents/players was they were always scheduled to play against the UPS/Waffle-House 3rd shift teams. These were has-beens who would come out and either play good soccer or just initiate a hack-a-thon to avoid losing to a much younger team. You bring up a good point of them playing an ECNL type schedule. With a limited number of ECNL teams locally, I would add in games against older ODP teams, NL/Piedmont, SCCL teams and friendlies with U17 DA clubs. Finally, I would have them also play up in good local tournaments.
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Post by Soccerhouse on Oct 16, 2018 11:18:51 GMT -5
I'm surprised its even legal -- when I was a kid in the summers we would lie about our age to play in the adult leagues-- you had to be 18+.
scrimmages are just not the same as real games.
who are the 16s playing this year? are they in any formal league or structure?
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Post by cg071066 on Oct 16, 2018 12:32:27 GMT -5
I don't think it's accurate to say that the majority of clubs have a majority of 03s in the u16/17 age group. I looked at NCFC, and they are about 50/50. Charlotte appears to be an aberration as they really do have a majority of 03 players -- though I heard rumors that they had problems with retention after last year, so maybe that's the real explanation (as opposed to a conscious decision in the name of "player development"). If I'm not mistaken, UFA was pretty young last year, with lots of 02s contributing in the 01/02 age group. And if a team is particularly young this year, they are likely to have more players in the upper end of the age group next year. The availability of ECNL to certain clubs adds an interesting wrinkle. The top U16 teams in ECNL last year were mostly from clubs with DA and they did what Concorde did: they held most of their 02s in the ECNL U16 age group, and their DA teams were mostly made up of 01 players. This year, those 02 players moved back to DA and the U17 ECNL tables are sort of flipped. The U17 ECNL performance of clubs with DA has dropped off because their best players in that age group are no longer playing ECNL. As an aside, it seems like being able to offer something like ECNL to the younger halves of their older age groups would serve Atlanta United well. But maybe they can't do that without fielding teams in all ECNL age groups? Not sure. But if would give those non-rostered players that they're keeping around a regular schedule of decent competition. The schedule the AU U16s played last year was garbage. The running joke amongst the parents/players was they were always scheduled to play against the UPS/Waffle-House 3rd shift teams. These were has-beens who would come out and either play good soccer or just initiate a hack-a-thon to avoid losing to a much younger team. You bring up a good point of them playing an ECNL type schedule. With a limited number of ECNL teams locally, I would add in games against older ODP teams, NL/Piedmont, SCCL teams and friendlies with U17 DA clubs. Finally, I would have them also play up in good local tournaments. Futsal how do you explain the couple of losses AU picked up and the tie that they had in the ADASL. If it was such a garbage league of washed up has beens or as you called it UPS/WH 3rd shift workers, I would think that AU 16's would of comfortably handled everyone.
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Post by daddyo on Oct 16, 2018 12:36:19 GMT -5
The U17 DA teams at UFA and Concorde had large percentage of roster changes. How many boys left UFA to go to Concorde and KK? Don't think this is gonna pan out for them but the season is still young, and there is a lot of talent on the Concorde side. RD gets the most out of his system of play, but many players can't stand him and was a problem at the end of last year with his DA team.
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Post by Futsal Gawdess on Oct 16, 2018 13:03:43 GMT -5
The schedule the AU U16s played last year was garbage. The running joke amongst the parents/players was they were always scheduled to play against the UPS/Waffle-House 3rd shift teams. These were has-beens who would come out and either play good soccer or just initiate a hack-a-thon to avoid losing to a much younger team. You bring up a good point of them playing an ECNL type schedule. With a limited number of ECNL teams locally, I would add in games against older ODP teams, NL/Piedmont, SCCL teams and friendlies with U17 DA clubs. Finally, I would have them also play up in good local tournaments. Futsal how do you explain the couple of losses AU picked up and the tie that they had in the ADASL. If it was such a garbage league of washed up has beens or as you called it UPS/WH 3rd shift workers, I would think that AU 16's would of comfortably handled everyone. I was referring to the season as a whole, but then again, I don't need to explain the losses, wins or draws of 15 year old boys against grown men. Last time I checked, most of the players in ADASL are at least college aged or older(Masters div 35+). Some did not take too kindly to 15 year old youngsters potentially showing them up. From all indications and discussions I have had, the statement about UPS/Waffle-house is how the players and parents felt about their entire season. FYI, I didn't coin the phrase. Additionally, as I'm sure you know they did not only play in the ADASL but had other matches against other non-ADASL teams. There was at least one occasion where the AU brass had to pull the team in the middle of the game, because it was clear some of the opponents were head-hunting. The style and level of play also bled into the start of this U17 DA season. AU feels they had a lost season last year and their pace and speed of the game slowed down. That is why they are trying to schedule more DA specific teams this season ergo them playing teams like Sporting KC this past weekend.
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Post by cg071066 on Oct 16, 2018 13:52:41 GMT -5
Futsal how do you explain the couple of losses AU picked up and the tie that they had in the ADASL. If it was such a garbage league of washed up has beens or as you called it UPS/WH 3rd shift workers, I would think that AU 16's would of comfortably handled everyone. I was referring to the season as a whole, but then again, I don't need to explain the losses, wins or draws of 15 year old boys against grown men. Last time I checked, most of the players in ADASL are at least college aged or older(Masters div 35+). Some did not take too kindly to 15 year old youngsters potentially showing them up. From all indications and discussions I have had, the statement about UPS/Waffle-house is how the players and parents felt about their entire season. FYI, I didn't coin the phrase. Additionally, as I'm sure you know they did not only play in the ADASL but had other matches against other non-ADASL teams. There was at least one occasion where the AU brass had to pull the team in the middle of the game, because it was clear some of the opponents were head-hunting. The style and level of play also bled into the start of this U17 DA season. AU feels they had a lost season last year and their pace and speed of the game slowed down. That is why they are trying to schedule more DA specific teams this season ergo them playing teams like Sporting KC this past weekend. Thank you for the clarification. I have played in the ADASL in the past and was not understanding garbage league comment, so I appreciate your clarification. Yes I do know there are teams that play that are "hot headed" or seem to wanna play for fun. I assure you that the Div I level is far above Div II (not saying ADASL Div II is bad) as it houses more former Div 1 college players, former pro's, and current off season NPSL players. In seeing this was happening with the U16s playing in it, I for one thought it would be a good experience in terms of the physicality of the league (I think they would of been a much better fit in the DIV I level, however, new teams are not allowed to jump straight into it). As in many games when you incorporate players that come from various countries as the ADASL houses, you will find those games to get more heated than normal. I was not trying to come at you with my comment, just wanted clarification.
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