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Post by soccerfan30 on Jan 20, 2017 13:59:32 GMT -5
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Post by soccerfan30 on Jan 11, 2017 13:47:30 GMT -5
At Tophat we are hosting Winter Trainings for Academy and Athena players the entire month of January.
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Post by soccerfan30 on Jan 10, 2017 18:48:56 GMT -5
I'm not looking to "shout" about anything, like you I am just expressing my thoughts on the subject. I would counter that a Xavi or Iniesta would probably have never attained their level of play had they lived here in the US, if they did they probably would have been dismissed at 13 or 14 years of age because they weren't "athletic" enough, not fast enough or not tall enough. We put too much emphasis on "work rate" and athletic ability and not enough premium on technical ability or soccer intelligence. 75-80% of the Region Pool have birthdays in the first 6 months of the year, why do you think that is? What was the real reason for the birth mandate change? It certainly wasn't for a developmental advantage. Having someone that is physically mature because they have an earlier birthday is going to help us on the world stage? They are totally revamping the women's program because the rest of the world has closed the gap on us and they understand that technically our players simply aren't good enough. We probably have the best fitness and exercise science specialists at our disposal here in the US but the days of getting by on effort, team spirit, blue collar work rate, speed, etc simply aren't enough anymore and you see that in our YNT's and not doing well or advancing in major tournaments. The best players at their respective sports are good because they dedicated thousands of hours on their own developing their craft, even if they didn't have "wow" factor athletic ability: take Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky, John Stockton and many others, they certainly weren't athletic specimens but they had mastery of their craft and had a high IQ to go along with it, not to mention the countless hours they invested in their skills outside of practice. That level of ability isn't coached, it's typically the result of the work they did on their own. Our biggest roadblock is cultural....most kids don't go out and play on their own and develop the creativity they need to excel at the top levels in soccer. When I was growing up parents had to drag us inside, now its the opposite parents have to drag their kids out of the house: too much social media, TV, computers, Playstation, etc. We would go to the park and play 3 v 3 for hours until the sun went down, no coaching just using some bookbags for goals and trying new things. Look at the kids in the inner city that play basketball, they literally carry a basketball around everywhere they go, they are always dribbling, working on moves, crossovers, going to play pickup, etc. That's why we typically produce the best basketball players. Now imagine if you went to a local park and saw dozens of soccer kids playing pick up or out there dribbling through cones, emulating moves they see on TV, etc....that more so than coaching, private training or more practices would have the biggest positive benefit in soccer development and having a larger pool of players that can play at the highest levels. I do agree with most of this, especially the distribution of ages at development academy clubs. Culturally there are certain things holding us back from taking that next step as a soccer nation. My follow up question, then, is what can be done about it. You yourself are a youth coach, so how are you and other coaches promoting different aspects of the game other than physicality? How much control do you have at your club over whether physical or mental traits are being rewarded with team placement and attention to development? You give the example of undersized kids without the best athleticism being dismissed at 13 and 14, but you are someone who is in a position to keep those kids invested. I don't want to come across as accusing anything, but you aren't the first youth coach I've heard this criticism from. Too often I find coaches that understand these problems yet are unwilling to do anything about it. With all due respect I don't just "talk the talk", I try to instill the love of the game and try to actually develop my players. I currently coach club, ODP, High School and Women's College Soccer. Everyday I am doing as much as I can to develop the players and teach them what I believe is the right way to play. I've been at Tophat for over seven years and regardless of anyone's club affiliation or biases I would wager most if not all people would say Tophat has a local and national track record for developing technically skilled players that can possess, build out of the back and keep the ball. Although the technical and athletic abilities may be different even most of our third and fourth level teams try to keep the ball and play possession soccer. I value technical ability and soccer IQ over anything else and that's what I look for, now if they have superior athletic traits to go along with then that's even better. I don't want someone that's 6 ft tall that has a poor first touch, no technical skill that can just outrun people. I do keep my kids invested and I do what I can to promote the ideals I mentioned above but I'm only one person. The only thing that will change it is to take the parents money out of the equation. Coaches feel pressure to win because if they don't their better players will leave, additionally many parents aren't going to wait and be patient to allow kids to develop, we live in an immediate gratification society unfortunately, most parents only see development through wins and losses. You have to allow kids to fail so they can ultimately succeed. Also I don't "Nintendo coach", meaning I don't yell out instructions every five seconds, if a coach is doing that they haven't properly prepared their players during the week. Additionally players have to be able to think for themselves, you can't tell them what to do every 30 seconds. Yes I see the problems but until culturally we change, take parents somewhat out of the financial equation and stop focusing on just 1% of the player base 20 years down the road we will be having the same conversation. Anyway it's been a good discussuon, I'm off to Tophat Soccer camp, have a good night. |
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Post by soccerfan30 on Jan 10, 2017 12:18:27 GMT -5
Xavi and Iniesta would never win a track meet or jump out the roof but they have superior technical ability and high soccer IQ, which can beat a more athletic physical player. Just continues the trend as to why we are light years behind everyone else on the mens side. This is a silly comparison. If anyone of Xavi or Iniesta's technical ability and IQ came through the US's system he would never make it to college without getting a contract somewhere, either in the US or abroad. And any player that shows that kind of technical aptitude will have already stood out on tape and in person to pro scouts. These sorts of exercises are only about adding to the scouting profile of the player, not the only thing they are making judgments from. I know you know that though, which leaves me to believe you are just looking for something to shout about. I'm not looking to "shout" about anything, like you I am just expressing my thoughts on the subject. I would counter that a Xavi or Iniesta would probably have never attained their level of play had they lived here in the US, if they did they probably would have been dismissed at 13 or 14 years of age because they weren't "athletic" enough, not fast enough or not tall enough. We put too much emphasis on "work rate" and athletic ability and not enough premium on technical ability or soccer intelligence. 75-80% of the Region Pool have birthdays in the first 6 months of the year, why do you think that is? What was the real reason for the birth mandate change? It certainly wasn't for a developmental advantage. Having someone that is physically mature because they have an earlier birthday is going to help us on the world stage? They are totally revamping the women's program because the rest of the world has closed the gap on us and they understand that technically our players simply aren't good enough. We probably have the best fitness and exercise science specialists at our disposal here in the US but the days of getting by on effort, team spirit, blue collar work rate, speed, etc simply aren't enough anymore and you see that in our YNT's and not doing well or advancing in major tournaments. The best players at their respective sports are good because they dedicated thousands of hours on their own developing their craft, even if they didn't have "wow" factor athletic ability: take Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky, John Stockton and many others, they certainly weren't athletic specimens but they had mastery of their craft and had a high IQ to go along with it, not to mention the countless hours they invested in their skills outside of practice. That level of ability isn't coached, it's typically the result of the work they did on their own. Our biggest roadblock is cultural....most kids don't go out and play on their own and develop the creativity they need to excel at the top levels in soccer. When I was growing up parents had to drag us inside, now its the opposite parents have to drag their kids out of the house: too much social media, TV, computers, Playstation, etc. We would go to the park and play 3 v 3 for hours until the sun went down, no coaching just using some bookbags for goals and trying new things. Look at the kids in the inner city that play basketball, they literally carry a basketball around everywhere they go, they are always dribbling, working on moves, crossovers, going to play pickup, etc. That's why we typically produce the best basketball players. Now imagine if you went to a local park and saw dozens of soccer kids playing pick up or out there dribbling through cones, emulating moves they see on TV, etc....that more so than coaching, private training or more practices would have the biggest positive benefit in soccer development and having a larger pool of players that can play at the highest levels. |
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Post by soccerfan30 on Jan 9, 2017 23:00:35 GMT -5
Xavi and Iniesta would never win a track meet or jump out the roof but they have superior technical ability and high soccer IQ, which can beat a more athletic physical player.
Just continues the trend as to why we are light years behind everyone else on the mens side.
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Post by soccerfan30 on Jan 9, 2017 20:02:26 GMT -5
I'm sorry you've had a bad experience but that hasn't been typical of the age group I'm involved with. I've been coaching Boys ODP for the last seven years and from my perspective it's very organized, I know we've never had "emergency" sessions scheduled at the last minute and we try to make up any missed sessions due to inclement weather.
A number of things to point out:
RYSA determines if the fields are closed or not due to weather, that's out of our control. We will move to the new Atlanta United facility for practices in the next month or so.
The schedules for the entire season are determined at the beginning of the season and posted online. There may be reschedules due to weather cancelations or an added session if the coaches feel its needed prior to an out of town of event but for the most part the schedule is followed and doesn't change.
Practice days/times are always a challenge. Most of our pool plays NL and R3PL, those teams are typically out of town on weekends so in order to have a productive session with max attendance we have to practice on Friday nights. Most club coaches don't want their players going to ODP practice on the night before a game, but we don't have other options, it's not like the boys are getting overly exerted at ODP practice, it's most tactical sessions with some full sided play at the end. Most people find it extremely difficult to get to RYSA on a Friday at 7pm, it's only a 35 minute drive for me but on Fridays after work it turns into 90 minutes minimum to get there.
If you have any specific questons I'm happy to answer them.
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Post by soccerfan30 on Jan 8, 2017 22:33:44 GMT -5
I went to a college recruiting combine at CESA a few years and they were doing some of these drills for all the participants.
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Post by soccerfan30 on Jan 6, 2017 18:49:03 GMT -5
Yes I even watched the game live on TV  In soccer anyone can win a one off game....See Greece, Iceland, Denmark etc, however I'm talking about sustained excellence, proven development for decades and technical/tactical abilities, in those areas we are wayyyyyyyy behind given the number of youth players and population size vs other countries, that was the point of the post. |
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Post by soccerfan30 on Jan 6, 2017 9:59:42 GMT -5
Saw an article today in regards to how a Catalan National Team would look like if they declared independence from Spain. The article also highlighted (for me at least) the gulf in development here in the US vs other countries given our population.
An independent Catalonia would have a population of approximately 7.5 million people, which is roughly the population of the state of Washington. Total US population is around 318 million.
Here would be a projected starting 11 for Catalonia
GK- Victor Valdez
Defenders: Jordi Alba, Marco Bartra, Gérard Pique, Aleix Vidal,
Midfield: Xavi, Cesc Fabregas, Sergio Busquets
Forwards: Cristian Tello, Bojan Krkic, Sergi Roberto
That team would throttle the US and probably many other national teams as well. Shows with our population how far behind we really are.
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Post by soccerfan30 on Dec 29, 2016 12:42:17 GMT -5
He/she just needs to be banned altogether, they never post anything besides spam posts.
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Post by soccerfan30 on Dec 27, 2016 16:12:44 GMT -5
Please stop posting these spam messages |
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Post by soccerfan30 on Dec 20, 2016 20:22:00 GMT -5
They would never do that, Alex is the face of the team....notice I didn't say best player  I'll be honest Alex is a decent player but no where near the world's best, I think she's average technically but has good speed and able to make runs to get behind, but putting the ball on the floor and dribbling players is not her thing. Abby's problems were well known within the team but not publicly because she never got in trouble while playing. Hopes issues are well documented, Alex hasn't done anything to warrant not being in the USWNT going forward. |
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Post by soccerfan30 on Dec 20, 2016 10:25:01 GMT -5
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Post by soccerfan30 on Dec 14, 2016 10:17:08 GMT -5
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Post by soccerfan30 on Dec 13, 2016 11:42:27 GMT -5
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Post by soccerfan30 on Dec 12, 2016 17:32:38 GMT -5
I had the original Adidas Predators back in 1994, those shoes felt like bricks on your feet and I'm not exaggerating. I would guess the rubber "fins" alone weighed half a pound.
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Post by soccerfan30 on Dec 10, 2016 21:42:41 GMT -5
Never been an Altidore fan, although he had a decent spell at AZ, he scored 1 goal at Villarreal, 1 goal at Hull City and 1 goal at Sunderland. He does well against the minnows of CONCACAF but doesn't show in the big games that matter for the USMNT.
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Post by soccerfan30 on Nov 23, 2016 9:35:50 GMT -5
Bobby wood with a great goal. Just tucked it in the side netting. Great turn by Altidore, nice run by Wood, nice ball by Altidore and great control and finish by Wood. And he continued to be dangerous. They had chances. So did Mexico. Too bad about the result. Should I mention that the DA has yet to get a player to USMNT after 9 years. Nine years. Jordan Morris and Christian Pulisic are products of USDA |
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Post by soccerfan30 on Nov 22, 2016 18:58:09 GMT -5
Go to an actual college ID camp where typically there are a dozen plus coaches in attendance, Georgia State just hosted one recently. GSI is just a money grab
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Post by soccerfan30 on Nov 22, 2016 9:04:23 GMT -5
I would suspect a new coach would not want to come in mid qualifying and with two losses already. Bruce has an opt clause in his Galaxy contract that allows him to leave if offered the National Team job, he's here already and knows the program. I'm sure it's just a band aid fix until they can get someone else.
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Post by soccerfan30 on Nov 21, 2016 19:51:16 GMT -5
To be honest I think even if we got Pep Guardiola it wouldn't make that much difference, as much as everyone raves about Christian Pulisic as the new face of US Soccer, the top countries have hundreds if not thousands of players of his ability and therein lies the problem. Our culture doesn't lend itself to developing players like Messi or Ronaldo. Our development and identification process is broken. Sure we can win a one off game against Germany, Spain, England etc but to have the level of consistency of the top countries we simply don't have the talent pool which is troubling given our large population. I think about the 1994 WC against Brazil, the WC win against Portugal, the Arena and Bradley years, are we further along now, I would say no. I think what JK did bring to the table was casting a wider net in identifying players with dual citizenship and implementing a development model for the younger US Teams, as far as coaching I wasn't a fan. When JK was the coach for Germany most people understood that Jogi Low was the tactician of the team. Now Bruce Arena is back as the coach.
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Post by soccerfan30 on Nov 21, 2016 18:26:08 GMT -5
Bruce Arena is back as the USMNT coach, can we fire Gulati now too?
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Post by soccerfan30 on Nov 21, 2016 18:23:54 GMT -5
Bruce Arena is back
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Post by soccerfan30 on Nov 21, 2016 10:24:42 GMT -5
Ad much as we rave about Christian Pulisic bring the future of US Soccer, the top countries have hundreds if not thousands of players with his capabilities. You could get Pep Guardiola to coach the USMNT but his coaching will not be as impactful because we simply don't have the players and in 20 years I'm not sure if we still will.
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Post by soccerfan30 on Nov 21, 2016 10:19:05 GMT -5
Apparently JK has a meeting with Sunil Gulati later this week. I say kerp JK on as Technical Director and get someone like Guus Hiddink to be the coach.
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Post by soccerfan30 on Nov 21, 2016 9:31:39 GMT -5
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Post by soccerfan30 on Nov 16, 2016 10:06:59 GMT -5
The MetroStars called, they want their kits back
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Post by soccerfan30 on Nov 15, 2016 23:20:38 GMT -5
The USMNT were doing The Mannequin Challenge tonight, although someone forgot to tell them there was a game being played.
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Post by soccerfan30 on Nov 1, 2016 12:31:21 GMT -5
ridiculous! This is another example of how the refs are not educated enough on protecting the goalkeeper. (or knowing what the protocol is ). I have seen it every weekend. Keeper has hand (sometimes both) on the ball and player attempts to kick the ball out of hands. (sometimes resulting in a goal). Cleats up when striker slides into keeper (even though keeper clearly has 2/3 steps advantage. Not one card or warning. This has to be addressed! The NFL/College/HS all protect the QB. The same is needed for goalkeepers or it will continue to be a problem. As for not proper technique, I didn't witness the play so not sure. In the event of a 1v1 break away, your training teaches you how to best avoid an injury. Maybe the situation called for the keeper to go feet first. I'm not sure. But the bottom line is to get proper training. If this isnt done then its the fault of the parent and Coach. They both have to be on the same page in regards to the safety of the player. Head injury is the scariest of them all and should be over emphasized by the ref. I would rather have my kid sit out the rest of the game and go to the ER to rule out any trauma. No missing around on this. I hope she is ok I agree but in the scenario I described the GK never had the ball as our player went around her, she never got a hand to the ball and she lead with her head in the forwards feet. Nothing the ref could have done to mitigate either situation. |
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Post by soccerfan30 on Oct 31, 2016 20:31:01 GMT -5
That's amazingly reckless by the coach. You've been around a while. Do you know the club's director? I do and because of that I'm not sure what good it would do. I'm still angry about, as a father myself I would hope someone would advocate for my daughter. What if a parent is working and can't attend a game and something like this happens? |
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I'll be honest Alex is a decent player but no where near the world's best, I think she's average technically but has good speed and able to make runs to get behind, but putting the ball on the floor and dribbling players is not her thing.
