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Post by silverback on Jun 23, 2014 8:32:18 GMT -5
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Post by zizou on Jun 27, 2014 9:32:42 GMT -5
Should we assume you have a kid playing for one of these teams? Was checking out the schedules and results. Looks like it was a tough week for the Georgia teams. Both of them were hammered in at least a couple of games. Both recovered a bit as the week went on, but had very tough starts. Since you were there Silverback would love to hear your analysis.
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Post by silverback on Jun 28, 2014 17:43:26 GMT -5
Since you asked ;-) Great week of soccer, especially with the World Cup going on. The DA playoffs showcased some amazing teams from across the country and I couldn't believe the number of college coaches in attendance. There were (literally) hundreds of college coaches lining the fields watching games and scribbling notes. For my sons first few games, there was easily 30+ coaches on the sidelines at each game. I have been to Regionals, Disney, State Cups, etc and I have never seen so many college coaches at one event. I also saw tons of USSF soccer representatives walking around scouting as well. Overall, the level of play was extremely high. Teams played great possession, speed of play was incredibly fast, and just about all teams played with lots of intensity. The west coast teams, especially the MLS affiliated teams, are extremely tough and have incredibly deep benches. No doubt, this depth gives them a competitive advantage against many teams. Both U18 DA teams struggled against the top teams in their groups. To be fair, both GA teams were not able to field their strongest line ups due to players who left the team, injuries, etc. You just can't compete against these top teams without your best lineups, but to their credit, both teams battled to the very end, regardless of score. CF ended up losing all their games, but the last two were very competitive. GUSA won their last game 3-0 and played well. Again, not to make excuses, but I am sure if both teams had their top players/best lineups, they would have showed better. Both U16 teams played well. Even though CF lost three games, they played well against two very tough MLS-affiliated teams (DC United and LA Galaxy). Unfortunately, they fell behind early in each game, but came back strong and IMO, they outplayed these teams during stretches. They were also up 2-0 in their last game, but ended up losing in a close well played match, but were missing some key players from their line-up. Again, not making excuses, but if they were at full strength, they win this game by 2+ goals. GUSA played extremely well, winning two games against two very good teams, which left them tied for their group lead in points with 6. Unfortunately, they came in second in their group due to goal differential. They lost to an an excellent Real Salt Lake team from Arizona (another MLS team) which is one of the favorites to win it all. Like CF, GUSA fell behind early, but recovered and played them even for much of the remainder of the match. Overall, the U16 GA teams performed well and no doubt, showed GA is competitive with any team out there, but again, west coast teams, especially the MLS affiliated teams, are tough and the teams to beat! |
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