Worst case scenario..... If we lose tonight, as can happen when circumstances (some self-inflicted to be sure) conspire against a team, do you think Sunil would or even could ($) drop the axe before Tuesday in KC?
Blanco also HELPED alot in being hte '10' that formed the attack, and had an amazing bond with Gio Dos Santos, setting him up and having great chemistry.
It was pretty remarkable and wiped my smirk right off (probably similar to the one Mexico fans experience when watching the US lately). Regardless of our current injuries, if we can't finish this round strongly by completely dominating A&B and Guatemala, I hope the Fed will consider cutting it's losses early in the Hex (assuming we're in it). Even if the team limps into the WC finals, I have zero confidence that it wouldn't be three and out. If I could swap Sigi or Kreis for Klinnsman right now, I would.
My son is on the JV team. We paid a $300 dollar athletic fee, $150 for the team's "pre-season camp" and were expected to deliver the commitment ($$$) of a community sponsor. Definitely not free. However, the team is coached by a USWNT player, and overall league quality is decent.
I actually learned the most about the game from my high school coach than anybody. Even more than from the coach at my university. This was back in the late 90s-00s when all we had was a champions league game in the middle of the day on espn2. We won the state title simply because we were one of the few teams that passed in triangles.
Yes. Triangulation is a key part of great soccer pssession based soccer. I learned all of that from my father, and great youth coaches from my country who made Etcheverry and Jaime Moreno (his same coaches). It's all about control, possession, and ability to stay calm, put your head up when you get the ball, and think 2-3 passes ahead before you even get the ball.
Yeah I still remember freshman year being blown away by how the whole thing worked. Up until the. We just sort ran about and kicked the ball. I still remember my coach saying "what were you thinking with that pass?" "Uhhhhh thinking?"
Well, I did put some qualifying statements in HS soccer in my area for the biggest teams is very good, and very competitive. But for the smaller, less affluent schools, it's not a good situation in most places. It's not a long enough season either way, and that needs to change if it's going to truly be a developmental tool. Another thread on another board for another day.
Not sure about elsewhere or nowadays, I've been out of the game for a decade but we used to train year round. Speaking of smaller schools, the most terrifying was a shool south of us. They played on a gravel field and most were also on the football team; their American football team.
Yep. My coach first had us do movements without the ball, to get the hang of it. After that, with ball, and once we got the hang of overlapping runs after passing off the ball, and used to doing all of that with the ball... was when we would try to use it in small sided games.
The only teams that can beat my son's select team are the little rural town teams. They band every kid for 3 age groups together, and teach them in order: How to hack a shin or knee, how to foul without the ref seeing, how to slide tackle from behind, how to grab a shirt, and finally, how to pass and shoot. It's just dreadful to watch. It's quite comperable to Concacaf play actually.
The biggest thing for me was when we would play full field scrimmage and the coach would blow the whistle and stop everybody after a pass he didn't like. Then he'd have us look around and find several different options and how we could move the ball with that. Mind blown
Hmmm... are these teams little central american kids? Maybe it is little concacaf! Not being racist, but in my own experiences, many immigrant fmailies move to smaller remote towns because lower cost of living, and higher ability to find work. Many are mexican/central american/latin american.
I hear that. We played small sided soccer games to get comfortable and for 1 touch, give and go, movement soccer to come second nature. Once we got comfortable doing that, we'd go to a big field. Learned alot. I will be coaching the same way in the future.
Letting play continue and pulling said player aside and explaining those other options also works. Allows for instuction without a stop in play. TANGENT!
No, the white rural towns are the rough ones. It's a football/blue collar mentality brought to the soccer field. If we get a good ref, they can't play with us, but they are few and far between, especially on the road. The packing plant towns tend to have excellent hispanic teams, but they don't compete in our leagues unfortunately. They, understandably, don't like to pay select fees and tend to stick to the rec leagues. I know of some spectacular youth players that will never see a chance at college or beyond because they can't/wont pursue select/us club/higher level youth soccer. Its the huge hole and shame of our current system really. Our club is trying to bridge that gap, but it's a travel issue for many of them. We have probably one of the highest percentages of minority players in our state for a select team.
Oh, I hear that! My parents could afford... for the most part... select fees.... but many of my friends and kids that were picked up couldn't. Good thing we also had decently paid white kids who's parents weren't shy for throwing in more bucks for the good kids who couldn't afford it. I agree with you. Funny thing is, had Andy Najar been my age now, I probably would have played with him. His HS is a school all my buddies who played with me came from (mostly hispanic). He for sure would have been friends with us somehow, and probably brought in to play. They would have recruited him for sure lol. I agree that travel should be done away with or made A LOT cheaper for these kids that will never get good couaching, despite having a GREAT platform for greatness.