Part of the problem for me anyway, is that Ryan wasn't very different at all from April. I think some feel there has been a bit of bait and switch. There were promising words about possession soccer at the beginning of his term but the team became even more route 1 than before. We saw poor in game adjustments and substitution patterns (or lack thereof) by both. Both seemed to be rather tactically naive (at best, some might say incompetent) and their expressions on the sidelines (ie scared/clueless) were shockingly similar. A surprisingly few number of players got game time and some very odd roster selections. The only differences between the two seem to be personality style (supposedly micromanager vs supposedly hands off), gender, and accomplishments prior to getting the head job. And yes, sadly, April wins in that last category. She had a better playing and college coaching career than Ryan. And April wore a visor.
The Brazilians had about as much of a speed edge over Germany as they did over our women, but the Germans handled the Brazilians much better than we did. The Germans had better defensive tactics and technique. You seem to imply that our national program isn't identifying and/or developing players adequately prior to the national team level, and I agree whole-heartedly with you. Everyone who coaches much competitive or club soccer can telll you there are better players who are not in ODP than some who are taken to the regional pools. That really isn't the fault of the national team coach. However, Ryan had this group of ladies long enough he could have had them playing with better technique and tactics. Along the same lines, if a player can't trap a ball or make an accurate pass, other options need to be explored. custar
Exactly. For all the hue & cry about the world passing us by in terms of athletic ability and/or soccer skills, a well coached team utilizing the proper tactics and making the most of their technical ability can put together a good product (ie not route 1 1970's era British soccer) and (more importantly) win. While the USSF has put a good amount of money into the women's team, quantity doesn't always equal quality. Until there is a top notch coaching staff it is only going to get worse. However, I remain skeptical that the Fed will actually fire Ryan. Maybe I should add to the spam in Sunil's email box...where's that address...
I disagree. If the national team coach gives a mandate to the regional guys to stop sending up big, slow footed, players who are great in the air but couldn't run if a bear was chasing them, then we'd see a shift down at the state level. But that type of player is EXACTLY what was desired at the national level. When Anson and Tony were coaching, there was a place for the Milbretts, the Hamms, the Lorrie Fairs, etc. Small, speedy players with good feet and skills. In the Wambach era, that's gone away.
Right on point here. I too have seen a huge shift in what the state and regional ODP teams are looking for. Small, quick, skillful players are being overlooked for tall, fast and strong players. The other factor is that talented defenders are not being identified and groomed. Think of how many of our defenders are actually converted forwards. When will the national, regional and state coaching staffs start recognizing good defenders?!!
I actually thought Germany looked faster and more skilled against Brazil than the USA did. As for Germany's tactics - they'll only get you so far. Germany won this go-round against Brazil, but it I think they'll need to improve to do it again. Nice to see some deeper thoughts on what needs fixing other than just 'fire the coach'. Still curious about what Brazil is doing different. Saw some comments somewhere re: futsal - is that it?
Remember, though, how nice it was to have BOTH types of players working together on the field? Watching Hamm feed to Wambach with the Freedom and with the National Team was a wonderful sight.
I think you're overstating the nats' influence on this stuff. I think a criticism of ODP selections is that there's selection of cookie cutter type players - basically a bunch of fast, usually 5'6" - 5'9" strikers and creative, but less athletic, center mids. It makes really powerful, athletic kids stand out like crazy if they can get to the regional pools. Also, as the game gets more organized for girls, Mia's and Milbrett's are going to be fewer and farther between. It's not like youth coaches developed those players . . .
I understand your point. Part of the problem is the politics endemic in the ODP program from the local level and on up. Another part of the problem is the cost. A lot of quality kids who should be at the regional level at least can't afford ODP. Last, what is wrong with large, speedy players with good feet and skills? All other things being equal, I'll take a bigger player every time over a smaller player. I emphasize all other things being equal. custar
I agree with you on the politics issue. I hear it from parents all the time. However, I have watched the ODP process a long time and to be fair, I have rarely seen them not select the top 4-5 players available. But you must select another 15 to go along with them so they can play. And that's where the trouble starts. In regards to money, you are absolutely correct. Cost should not be a factor in the selection of the team, but it most certainly is. In the US, soccer has largely become the sport of the middle class. Club and select team costs are astronomical in some areas. And adding ODP on top of it is just too much for many. Regarding the big, fast, speedy players with good feet, I agree. If we can get those kids we should. The problem is that they are INCREDIBLY rare. The US has had just one long term one that I can recall in Michelle Akers. Parlow, before she was 20, was another, but injuries and such really slowed her down. Confer and Fotop were others, but didn't pan out for a variety of reasons. Tobin Heath is promising and we'll see how that goes. So, since you can only get maybe one or two on the Nats at a time, you have to choose what to surround them with.
That's probably a fair analysis. The problem this causes results from perpetuation of those errors made early in ODP. A lot of those 4 - 5 top players in younger ODP groups (and club teams for that matter) excel because they matured early. While they do improve from year to year, the improvement isn't as great as the girls who were a little behind but are improving both technically from training and physically from maturation. Too often, those who would fall into that second tier drop out entirely because the politics and favoritism. Once those players are out of the system, they rarely return, and we lose players who will eventually be better than the 4 - 5 top players. Along the same lines, it seems coaches are loath to replace players in the regional pools who topped out early and are no longer that elite. This problem is even more pronounced in boys' ODP because more boys at later ages than young women do. Perhaps one solution is to deepen the ODP pool and focus on what ODP is supposed to do; foster and develop talent for the Olympic and National teams rather than winning trophies at the younger age groups. custar
Perhaps another is to change the model. Rather than require players, on their own, travel and attend regional tryouts, state tryouts, and region tryouts, we use the model that colleges and professional sports teams use. Send trusted people out to actually WATCH kids play in their own environment. Make value decisions about the player's level, and then invite them to a tryout in their area. This walks around the political issue of only a few clubs dominating the ODP selections, walks around the problem of the quagmire of the state guys not being in synch with the nationals, eases the burden on families who cannot afford to travel all over the state to tryout, etc. One thing is clear. The current model is leaving many, many talented athletes in the lurch, and it's hurting us at the top levels.
You are so right, that was worthy of a rep. Your suggestion is close to a proposal Steve Sampson made some years ago. That suggestion was one of the few things to come from Sampson's mouth with which I agree. The scouts must be national guys/gals, not associated with clubs. Some club coaches are straight up and will discharge their ODP duties fairly and evenly. More, in my experience, use ODP as a tool to recruit players to their team and to promote their team by pushing their players onto regional and higher teams. custar
I see we've shoveled some of the same dirt... I went with one of my players to a state team tryout, and watched as the joker in charge actually seperated the girls by the portion of the state they were from before the warmups started. No one believed this actually happened until I produced the film of it. That type of thing brings the entire process into ill repute, and a lot of it would be mitigated by cutting to the chase and having national scouts. Getting a scout to a certain area, would no doubt be a problem, but a solveable one.
I thought Brazil was clearly faster than both the U.S. and Germany, but it is difficulty to assess the relative speeds of the U.S. and Germany without a head-to-head match up. Germany did play with more skill than the U.S. This observation bothers me. There is no inherent reason the U.S. can't play with the same skill displayed by Germany and Brazil. That transition would require a complete retooling of the U.S. program, including coach education and even indoctrination. That depends on whether Brazil changes their tactics. If Brazil continues to play the same way they did in the WC, I would take Germany 7 or 8 times out of 10. Germany's defense was well-coordinated and multi-layered. This contrasted with the U.S. which lacked defensive depth and exhibited even less cooperation and coordination on defense. Again, there is no inherent reason the U.S. can't do the same thing. It's not the most exciting brand of soccer, but it is much more forgiving of fluctuations of talent level. Agreed, except I doubt even the best thoughts here won't ever make it where they would make a difference. *sigh* Some kids came onto my son's competitive team after spending a couple of years as exchange students in South America. Granted, all SA countries aren't the same, but I will wager they are more alike in their approach to soccer than they are dislike. Anyway, those kids were shocked at the proportion of games versus practice time. He was surprised by how frequent our games were played (about 3 per month on average) compared with practices (3 per week). Also, futsal is widely spread in Brazil. It seems like futsal emphasizes and develops foot skills by the way it is played adn the weight of the ball. Indoor soccer wold be our closes analogy, but the weight of the futsal ball keeps the ball on the ground and encourages the players to become more proficient in foot skills. IMHO, societal influences can't be underestimated. Basketball here is a good example. Kids (well, teens are kids when you reach my age) want to dunk the basketball more than they want to learn the dribbling and foot work that would put them in a position to slam the rock down the hole. In Brazil, stitching someone up with a consummate move is more analogous to a dunk here in the States than is a slick spin move in the lane. Last, there are still a lot of coaches in the U.S. who didn't grow up playing or who can't train kids on moves. Worse, at about the first competitive level, too many coaches decide they will no longer stoop to being trainers, so skills development stagnates. I don't know how many club and even high school coaches I have heard say ffit's not their job to develop or train talent; they are just supposed to coach the talent. We all know skills development ends at 11 years of age, right? custar
Easily the best post on this subject. As for listening to parents about the process being political, I think we should consider the source. The problems with our selection process: 1. $$$. By our standards, 3/4 of the Brazilian National Team wouldn't have made it to the State try-outs. 2. Artifical try-out environment. We are asking a bunch of young kids to come to a pressure filled day try-out whereby a small group of usually clueless adults ogle their every move and write down comments as they ask their name. 3. The main problem is their is no standard of what exactly those people are looking for. There is no National Team style. If a specific coach values speed over technique then one state brings speed and the next technique. The National Team staff plays zero part until perhaps regionals, and even then Ryan and his staff aren't attending a lot of Regional events. We don't even see a stylized similarity between our 17s, 19s, 20s, 23s, and Full teams. We don't even know what exactly we are looking for.
I don't think Dorrance would do it again. He quit the job to spend more time with his family, as well as take better care of the UNC team which is his primary job. I'd love to see him do it, but he appears to have other priorities. I say let Krikorian do it. I've been very pleased with what he's done at Florida State... on the field anyway.
Dorrance?! How is it possible that his name could have been ever mentioned here? Go read the harassment lawsuit documents on the net by which he is being brought to trial this fall ... I've read them, and the allegations of Dorrance's offensive and insulting coaching behavior - well-documented and held to be of merit by Federal Appeals Court - would make you puke.
I've read it, I've met the man, and some of his players. I'll offer this and be done with the subject. In all of my dealings with females, I have NEVER, EVER, seen them NOT support someone who was assaulted, accosted, or otherwise wronged by a man. Particularly one in a position of authority. When the original suit was filed, even these people's teammates and roommates wouldn't stand with them. Debbie Keller's story changed from Dorrance doing a bunch of nasty things, to the settlement statement which said she didn't like the letters he sent her. Mind you, she sent him similar letters with similar wording. Melissa Jennings sued her High School coach as well and I believe that one was tossed out. Until this has it's day in court, I don't believe a word that girl says. Anyone can allege anything. Doesn't mean it has a shred of proof. Maybe it's all true. I don't claim to know. But I am not in the "guilty until proven innocent" crowd.
Did not know that. Very interesting. Also, the appeals court did not rule on the substance of the case.
Let's see... former Tarheels Tarpley: Played little, scored nearly immediately when brought in for Norway match. O' Reily: So so tournament with a great goal to keep the US from going home in group play Chalupney: Many people say she had the best tourney of all the players Lilly: She's 36/37... What can you say. Whitehill: Awful game against N. Korea, but did well in the other games, even against Brazil. I'd say the Heels made pretty good account of themselves.
Were you aware the girl never played a day in her 3 years? Or that after 3 years of her being dead last in fitness and bringing nothing to the team, the seniors finally asked Anson to cut her? Were you aware that she was allowed to walk on the team because Debbie Keller's mom recommended her to Anson?