Chicago Magic vs. Sockers FC Chicago [Part 5]

Continued from here: http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=636779&page=95

Have at it.

Make sure we're keep the discourse from getting too personal

Dalglish:

Good post! FYI, I'm fully aware of the careers/histories of most of the great soccer coaches from past and present. Sacchi and Mourinho are great examples of coaches who didn't enjoy professional playing careers like Cruyff, Capelo, Anccelotti, and Guardiola for example. I'm not arguing that it is required to have had a good playing career, but it certainly helps - that's all I'm saying.

The problem with coaching in our area isn't past playing careers though. It's past, present and future coaching philosophies + individual mentalities and ego's.

First Page!!!

Wow!!! And we have a 5!

I remember when the first thread got started. I think my son was an under 9. Who knew it would expand to this!!!

In follow-up to my earlier post:

1) The Sockers 16 Acad picked up 2 wins and a tie in Sarasota. They are now almost a lock for the playoffs no matter what the do in their last couple league games.

2) The Fire have 2 ties so far in FL and have now dropped just below the last Wild Card spot. The 2 remaining games vs the Sockers will be great to watch and will really mean something for the Fire. I have heard that the Fire and Sockers might play only once and avg points per game might be used to decide the conference. If so, that might be a huge break for the Fire.

3) The Magic 16s have a win and a tie so far in FL. They will need to win all their remaining games to have a shot at a wild card playoff spot. That won't happen. They have produced decent results after many dire predictions.

The Magic have absorbed NS Premier, a smallish club run by DS, an ex-Wind coach. NS Premier have about a doz teams based out of Deerfield plus a decent sized U-Little program.

Rumor has it that the Magic are finalizing plans for a brand new Turf field with lights. It is to be located just off the Tollway on the Northshore. If true, this is very good for youth soccer.

Good for DS I guess. But why TR changed his mind about ML? I guess TB made a call from down south about past experiences.....The good news about the potential new Turf field is for the Spartans FC - finally they will get rid of the Magic trying to take their fields. I hear it's quite crowded at Wood Oaks School.

Magic is also doing heavy coach-recruiting lately. I heard something about new Girls director in HP. Very ambitious stuff. We will see what it will lead to. It will be interesting battle between Magic HP and Fire Jrs North!!!

any thoughts on this one? esp from a player perspective. thanks

06/02/2010 -- Today, we are pleased to announce that the Chicago Magic Soccer Club and Chicago Magic North Soccer Club are formally combining their organizations. Working together will add and improve opportunities for players to grow from the youngest ages through their collegiate playing careers and beyond without having to leave their neighborhood teams early on; pooling our coaching professionals; creating highly competitive teams capable of consistently competing for state, regional and national championships; providing development for players at the US Soccer Development Academy level, and minimizing the duplication of resources. One of the additional goals of working together is to invest and grow our neighborhood based teams. Teams from U7-U12 will feel little to no impact from the merger and would remain primarily intact. At the U13 and above age groups the higher level players would come together to build club tournament teams for events such as Dallas Cup and Nationals. The philosophy of competitive soccer, player development, and community continues for the Chicago Magic. “This is a substantial opportunity, for our kids,” said Karl Smith, Chicago Magic Director, “It will allow us to have a powerful player pool and positively position the future development of all of our players.” The clubs are community based and focused on the individual development of each and every player regardless of skill level or gender. "In addition, combining our programs significantly enhances our ability to build high performing teams at all levels." said Todd Bailey, Chicago Magic Senior Director, "We want to strengthen these teams more and allow all players to compete on an even higher plane. Players throughout Chicagoland now have access to our Academy program without having to leave their local area teams during their early formative years of training.

http://ussda.demosphere.com/MatchReports/17276140/1230579.html

5 reds?

lot's of violent conduct, what happened?

No excuses but I will say the ref was just awful.

I thought I saw 2 RC to Fire players, one after a slap but in the confusion on the field I may have it wrong and the ref may have missed the slap.

The game was hard fought but I didn't think it was dirty. Both teams played hard. With a min left in the half the Magic missed a great chance. Fire then scored with 10 secs left in the half after a very quickly taken FK caught the Magic trying to set a wall & the GK fixing his gloves. Very smart play by the Fire.

At one point a Magic def headed the ball out for a throw right in front of the linesman near the corner flag. A Fire player put the ball down on the field and set up to take a FK instead of a throw. The Magic kids protested and couldn't understand a FK & not the obvious throw. Magic scambled to defend the kick which went out for a Magic GC. The ref then realized his mistake & essentially called for a "do over". He gave the ball back to the Fire & awarded a throw-in afterall. Comical that a ref & linesman at DAP level were so bad.

Actually, not so comical. I remember the linesman when he used to ref U-little games. He was awful then too.

Several of the fouls called against the Magic were classic "2nd guy get called". A Fire kid shoves a Magic player shielding the ball, Magic player pushes back and get called.

Late in the game a Magic kid picked up his 2nd YC after a hard tackle.

In the 2nd half, there were so many calls in a row that went the Fire's way that the crowd actually laughed and cheered when a call finally went to the Magic. I'm talkng both Fire and Magic parents laughing. Just after, apparently a Magic kid asked the ref if he was going to give the Fire kids a massage too and that got him a RC. Not the smartest thing to say but I understand the frustration.

Just as the game ended a Fire kid ran past a Magic kid and swore at him. The ref turned, ran toward the Magic boy and gave him a RC thinking it was the Magic boy swore. A back up Magic GK then shouted 'what the hell ref' and he got a RC too. Dumb on the kids part but equally dumb on the refs part. Game was over, walk away and drive home.

Pretty hard to look at a box score of 1-0 and see 5 YC and 5 RC all to one team. Even if you didn't see the game it should raise an eyebrow. With a 2 game suspension, that is essentially season over for some of those boys.

End result,the Fire deserved the win and were the better team. Magic missed a very good 2nd half chance but Fire missed a sitter from about 15 yards. VP and DC were very, very good at CM for the Fire. Calm on the ball and played simple stuff. Fun to watch.

Last thing, a few Fire players took to falling and rolling around as if they had been shot after every tackle. Of course, 45 secs later they were up and sprinting. They are good players and don't need to do that. The Fire HC then took to yelling at the ref for a card after every tackle which only served to make the Fire kids fall and roll in agony even more. The coach doesn't need to do that either but maybe they do treat these games as youth pro - win at all costs.

Another win by the Fire and they should make the playoffs. Hopefully both the Sockers and Magic will do Chicago proud. The dif between the 3 Chicago acad teams is not that great.

...

Clockwork -- I can't help myself from asking about those Sockers 18s who disappointed you so much. (You can look at your some of your previous posts if you need a reminder.)

Despite some early season injuries, they clinched a playoff spot with 4 games to play. They are 13-4-5 overall and playing some very nice futbol.

I also recall another poster saying the Magic would be awful and not win a game. That was somewhat understandable given the Magic lost almost every player. However, that dire prediction was far off base as well.

The Magic will take a couple years to reload and the Fire and Sockers should continue to produce very good teams. It is great that there are 3 good choices for Chicago area kids.

Congrats to the Sockers, both their teams are very solid. Looks as though both Sockers and Fire will get both teams into the playoffs.

Clockwork, what about my post did you not understand?

Again,
1) The ref did not cause the loss. The Fire deserved the win. I wanted to make that clear up front.
2) I wanted to explain to those who did not see the game the odd set of circumstances which led to 5 YC and 5 RC to one team.
3) I wanted to make it very clear there were not 5 instances of violent conduct. There was one pushing match where 2 kids slapped each other.

Sorry if my post was confusing to you - perhaps you were between treatments Alex?

http://www-tc.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/flashpoints/theater/images/clockwork_big.jpg

Relax. Just thought that the way you started your multiple paragraph breakdown was interesting.

Some may say that is an excuse in and of its self.


I will say that something like this http://www-tc.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/flashpoints/theater/images/clockwork_big.jpg would certainly skew anyones judgement though.

The Fire 16s still need at least one more win in their remaining two matches - against FC Milwaukee and Sockers. The playoffs are probable but not a sure thing yet.

As the Fire 16s have a few players still under the 25% start rule it will be interesting to see how they set their roster for the final 2 games. I think a few of thier kids might need to start both games just to reach the 25% start min.

Maybe they will start both games and come out after 20 mins. Then again, maybe they picked up injuries last night warming up at half time or sitting on the bench watching the game. A kid having to ride the bench for 8 games in a row is tough. I don't get it.

Well then I hope your treatments end soon Eric but it seems you've had skewd judgement going back to last December.

Oh, and I am relaxed. Very, very relaxed. zzzzzzzzzzz..........

Dalglish, I'm surprised the ref didn't give you a second yellow and send you off from that U16 game. He must have not know you have one yellow here already.

By your posts it looks like you are not relaxed at all. Why are you so hyper? Your boy didn't get carded, did he?

what was hyper about his post? or is this your opening salvo?
He was there and explained what he saw without ripping anyone or being over the top. And all without the underlying "I am one of the few that truly understand the beautifull game" theme that someone (ahem!) else who posts a lot seems to have.

It wasn't just the lengthy first post he made about what he saw in the game. It was also the following posts after that. Maybe I'm reading too much between the lines, but I had an impression he wanted to imply something more than what he actually said. I didn't say he ripped anyone - just too excited still I guess. He started with "No excuses...." line, but all this explanations looks like excuses to me. The line "Fire deserved their win" is just an exit door. I've heard a little different version about the events from that game, but whatever......there are always two sides, right? It's good to hear both sides though.




p.s. He did accuse Fire players of over-acting when fouled, didn't he?

At the u18 age group, the Fire and Sockers play for the conference championship tomorrow. The Fire will be without 4 or 5 key players due to injuries. I'm not certain whether the Sockers squad is at full strength or not. Unfortunately, injuries are becoming a big problem this time of year due to alot of games being played in a very short period of time. The Midwest weather in the spring makes scheduling very difficult.

anyone know what happened in the sockers fire games this morning?

U16's: 0-0
U18's: 2-0 Sockers win

I heard that at the U16s game one Fire player was red carded for bad foul from behind. These academy games are too violent it seems! Or maybe these teenagers are just mentally tired already, considering that it's end of the season and all?

I also heard that in both games Sockers played better.

Back to the old times again. Time was back in 1999 -2002 (roughly) every state cup final was Magic vs Sockers at all ages. Then the mid part of the decade came upon us and Campton, Raptors, FC United, Lightening, Roadrunners, and more made it to the finals in the odd age group.

Prediction. If the teams are seeded correctly, we'll be back to the old days with the exception that the other academy club CFJ will be in the mix and one of the three of them will be in every state cup final, every year, from here until our kids are all out of college. Starting next year that is...

It will be interesting to see if this comes true.

Are you saying the seeding causes the Big 3 to be knocked out by each another prematurely? Last I checked, didn't the Big 3 won every HS age titles last year? Frankly, with the DA system, there is now enormous parity among many teams. The good teams that have been together without loosing players to the DA are at a huge advantage at these one and out tournaments.

Sockers U18 Academy Frontier Division Champion.
Fire U16 Academy most likely Frontier Division Champion.

In both ages Sockers and Fire have game left to play against each other.
U18 game will not change placement and U16 may change if they play. If they do not play the standings will be final.

Playoffs:

U18 Sockers and Fire
U16 Sockers and Fire

Links for the Academy activities during the showcase:

http://www.ussoccer.com/News/Develo...-Academy-Spring-Showcase-in-Sarasota-Fla.aspx

http://www.ussoccer.com/News/Develo...rms-Continue-During-2010-Spring-Showcase.aspx