Everton Acadamy (England) has been playing various youth soccer teams in Massachusetts this past week and I have to admit, it's been embarassing. In the three games that have taken place so far the results have been 13 - 0 (against a club team), 8 or 9 - 1 vs a U13 Olympic Development Team from Mass, and about 8 - 0 vs an U14 allstar team from Maryland (DC area). These kids are superior in every way. The teams they've been playing are not town teams but kids that have had coaching and been exposed to higher (I wonder) level soccer. I think if anything it shows just how far behind the US is to kids the same age in Europe. Tonight is the last game in the series vs another club team from Boston and I expect another blowout.
many times at ages below U16, American teams hold their own against youth teams from abroad. It's usually when players get involved in a pro environment that the foreign teams show the difference. I don't know what to say about Everton's games.
I don't mean to throw a raspberry at Boston and that isn't the intent, but US Soccer and MLS isn't exactly teeming with guys from the Boston area. That said I think the common misconception that we do as well at the youth levels as other countries is just that: a misconception. We often hold our own, but generally we're a step or two behind. The games you mention are mismatches, but even non-mismatches like Everton vs. say CASL Elite, I might give Everton a very slight advantage.
Yet Man U's U12s did not advance out of their bracket at Dallas Cup. http://www.dallascup.com/scripts/runisa.dll?S7:gpx::80754+tourn/sked/list+U12+M Strange. Yes, Massachusetts soccer isn't real impressive, but Maryland soccer is pretty good, and to get whipped with a group of U14 "allstars" against a U12 team? Makes no sense to me. My best guess is that this U14 "allstar" team was crap and would also lose by a very large margin to strong U.S. U14 teams.
A quick glance at the Region 1 standings shows the Mass. ODP 89s winning the region, but no other ODP years even getting in the semifinals. On the club side, a Mass team won the U-18 level, but MA did not win the other levels. People, we're forgetting that this is our youth systems' "preseason". Of course we won't be sharp!
For the higher level players, it's midseason. The Regionals & Nationals just occurred. Super Y is going strong. ODP players are off at camps. For the West Coast teams, several big tournaments including Surf Cup. If you can't play in July, you can't ever play.
? Region 1 (the East Coast) was completely shut out at last weekend's Natioinals, except for Casa Mia Bays of Maryland winning the U16 title. None of this stuff really explains the Everton results. Sure, Massachusetts ain't SoCal, but as an example the Massachusett's U14 boys team almost qualified for Nationals (lost in regional semifinals on PKs), and the team that did qualify to represent Region 1 lost to the California representative by only a single goal. So that doesn't explain 10-goal losses to Everton. Either this Everton team is a lot stronger than Man U or these U.S. teams weren't very good as far as U.S. teams go.
Ah well, that's what those smileys are for. Be happy you're not my dad. That would make you mighty old.
just to note the Man United teams in Dallas had a number of kids playing up. Just to note those teams were not very concerned with their results AT ALL, but rather in learning how to play.
Such results need more context. Are the Everton all 92 Birthdays? All 91s? Or a mix? Were the 13s they played a mix of 91s and 92s? Also, at the U12 age level, if you have one or two REALLY superior players, or very physically mature players, along with a whole bunch of above average players, then you can really was teams. The advantage of those one or two superior players, though, tends to fade as the kids get older and physicality and athleticism tends to even out. Anyway, I wouldn't put too much stock in such results as somehow indicative of the USA's incredible weakness, or England's incredible strength, in youth development. Too small a sample size.
Works both way. When our boys were in Spain, they were playing up -- and while they were experimenting, their Spanish opponents were looking to mop the floor with them. Those Euro youth teams like to wipe out the opposition, too.
Finally got back to read the posts - I'll ignore all the slams on N. England soccer but I do have a few comments. Many people from N.E. play soccer for college's outside N. England and our precentages of people playing at the youth level are very, very high. However, the vast majority of the players play for town teams in County leagues with a smaller percentage playing for "Club" teams. Being a club player usually requires good skill and always costs a lot of money plus a commitment to travel all over the place. I'm not sure the best players land on the club teams but these are the teams that travel outside the region to play and people form opinions based on what they see. Most parents pass on the club experience and opt for the town programs. In my town alone, there are twice as many kids playing soccer as baseball/softball in the Spring and soccer kills football in the fall. Back to Everton. This team was fantastic. They were extremely skilled, excellent ball handlers, as well as very well organized. I was so impressed with them that I went to all four nights and taped parts of the games to study what Everton was doing. I want to integrate parts of their game into my U12B team this Fall. They seemed to play a 4-2-4 with a flat-back four and overlapped the strong side fullback into the attack. I don't know if this was their normal formation but that's what they used in all three games. All the teams played a flat- back four but the US teams were less effective then England. People kept losing track of players in their zone and Everton would push it thru the gaps to create many chances. I did think that they were somewhat perdictible and if the US teams had done a better job of shuting down the center mids, they could have given Everton some trouble.
RevsRule, I did not mean to be slamming MA soccer, but we should assume that Everton U12B is one of the top 20 teams at that age in England. I don't follow Everton, but possibly they are rated even higher based on their system's success with Rooney. Therefore I was trying to determine whether MA ODP and club teams were in the top 20 of the US to see how competitive these games were. If the #10 US club team played the #50 US club team, we would also see such outrageous scores. However, I would have expected a U14 team to beat a U12 team just on speed alone.
Probably more like 2-0 or 3-1, assuming that the rankings were accurate. Although in practice the #10 ranked team might not be better than the #50 team, given the difficulty of assigning rankings. No kidding. Brute strength and weight, too. The Ajax coaching director won't play his teams two years up because he says they are overwhelmed by the physical differences. Gotta believe that U14 team was very weak, because even a half-decent U14 squad should be able to defeat the best U12s.
I was told last night by the GM of the NE Revolution, at a kick-around, that this Everton team is one of the top two youth teams, in this age brackiet, in Europe. He knows the coach personally and had arranged to have Joe Max Moore at the exhibition to sign autographs. The U14 teams did have size and speed but they could not overcome the skill an organization. Everton never let them use their size advantage by running them around like fools for much of the game. I know what I saw and I've seen youth players in tournaments in both Dallas and California and some of these guys were quite special. One of the English parents told me that one player on this team was already signed by Real Madrid. I don't think too many youth players in this country, no matter what program they're in, can claim the same.
Ah, now the results make more sense. The shirts say Everton, but they're not the Everton of youth soccer, they're more like AC Milan. One thing worth commenting on is that when U.S. youth teams play in European tournaments, they rarely play teams like Everton. My son played in the impressive sounding "Barcelona Cup" but the teams were mostly from second- and third-division clubs. The U15 Sockers just competed in the impressive-sounding "Holland Cup" but don't think that Ajax or PSV were there, was mostly Danish and Swedish teams that you never heard of. I guess AL Arsenal (see the other thread) is an exception to that rule. I believe that is the team that just won the U15 National title. Good luck to them!
My son's U10 coach also coached the Mass club team (state U12 champs, BTW) that, by his own admission, got creamed by the Evertonians. An experienced player and coach, he described their team skill level as "unbelievable." Trying to make "US v. England" comparisons based on this result is probably not a worthwhile exercise. However, it is something to learn about what makes a team this good, nationality notwithstanding. Some details our coach learned in talking with his opposite from Everton: -- there is a two-hour practice after school every non-game day -- there are individual fitness requirements outside of team practice, year-round -- medical and dietary requirements -- restrictions on participating in other activities (injury risk) -- the kids all sleep over the coach's house the night before games so their diet and sleep can be monitored What kind of feedback would a US parent get if they relayed this type of regimen to their neighbor? No room for any other personal, community, or school activities, really. Every spare hour spoken for. There were other details he mentionned that I can't recall. To call this system "results-oriented" is a great understatement. These kids are really not learning to be soccer players, they're learning how to be professionals (he also said there was an unbelievable amount of trash talking from them). I'm not belly-aching just because this was my son's club; in fact, I'm not the least put off by the result: the better team won, by the margin they deserved. It is important to understand at what cost comes youth development/excellence. PS -- and in defense of N.E. soccer, I'd put our soccer participation, aggregated across all ages, against any other US region any time, SoCal included. Just speaking Spanish isn't everything.
Great information, thanks. For soccer? Raised eyebrows, I guess. Many U.S. kids face highly rigorous schedules with gymnastics, ice skating, and swimming. Twenty hours per week or more at a young age. However, there is nothing like that in the U.S. for soccer. The demand is there, however. I know several 11 year old boys who would happily sign on for the Everton experience. Heck, I had about 15 such kids sign up for a "drop in" session of small-field soccer that I have organized, even though they all practice 3x weekly year around, not to mention the weekend game. Another guy is talking about having a Sunday optional training session, and these same kids are clamoring for that, too, if that actually happens. Of course, we're talking a small and geographically dispersed group of young fanatics, but they are around.
http://www.evertonfc.com/academy/index.php?page_id=12 For all the gory details on their Academy. The thing you have to remember that these u12's are looking at a 18 year old hero, making about $37.5 million US in a sale, having wages in excess of $50,000 a week. So Academics and any other fringe Social activities be dammed at 16 they hope to be playing in the best league in the world not competiting for a college scholarship. Before replying with any slam read the page http://www.evertonfc.com/academy/index.php?page_id=450 "The Everton journey begins at an early age when young players may be recruited from 6 years old"
There is no need to damn academics because of a 2-hour daily practice. It may be that no young Evertonians are thinking about college, and it may be that the academy does not have a college-prep curriculum, but that would be for cultural reasons. Many national-level U.S. ice skaters have attended top colleges despite practice schedules from very young ages that would make these boys blanch. Social activities would certainly been hampered, yes. I recall Wayne Rooney stating how he wanted to hang out with the lads, but Everton made him practice 5x weekly.
The gifted Acadmeics and sports people are few and far between. The kids go to school and do what is required, BUT the college uni stuff is what will happen if I can't play soccer. There is no real whoopi do about 16-18 college in the UK, after 18 it University and as only 7% go you might understand the lack of desire to acheive it in most people. Yes to Atheltes in other sports do spend many many hours training that N' American soccer kids or rather Parents will freak out about. Why? I don't know.. little Johnny can do 1/2 an hour on the musical instrument every night but doesn't need 1/2 an hour juggling a ball.
thats funny because iwas recently down to florida where wallsend boys club (former boyhood team of alan shearer, peter beardsley and michael carrick) was playing a tourney. i was talking to some of the coaches who i knew were geordies by listening... my family are geordies. their U12 team was beaten 17-0 that day by a florida team.
but is Wallsend boys club trained by professionals? I think that is the defining point of this thread.