Elephant in the room?

Very quiet in the 04 section of late. Guess since signing is over and a few games in the books, there are no big moves to discuss.

The 05 section will for sure go dark after July 2015.

How about those storms today?

I guess no one want's to speak up, so maybe I'll steer the conversation in a certain direction. We played both Premier and Elite on back to back weekends and though our girls got waxed by both, IMO Premier is the better team primarily because of their defense and overall team play.

I'll quote Sammy Hagar, "Suckers walk money talks"...

Knks...you are still tip toeing around that #bigazzelephant.... Nice try though...

Kix is not at liberty to address #thedamnelephant because of an animal rights oath I took years ago when PETA was on my case for wearing my full length chinchilla and hat to the Ali v Frazier fight...
But definitively....is elite equal to premier in terms of status? I need a dictionary or a thesaurus....

Sammy Hagar....is that some new hip hop artist?

Dang Gina! Kix is Dolomite.

Frank Lucas Sheets, Frank Lucas...

DANG GINA!

Are ya talking about Elephant Insurance?

Let's say the #3 team will prevail during this transitional period!

While Elite was off playing boys, did they have the impression they were going to come back and dominate the 04 girls? Or were they avoiding the top 04 girls teams knowing it would be more challenging than most thought? I know we won't get a real answer to that, so we can call it rhetorical.

I think most people were relatively surprised by the results. I suppose the comparisions to SRSA are no longer valid. Two of the top tier players left SRSA to play up, and they still have not lost to an 03 girls team. Times have changed. Some LP fanatics actually thought Elite was better than SRSA.

Hypothetically....if Premier loses this weekend to Feeters, and doesn't have all favorable outcomes against the top tier teams left on their schedule...wouldn't their situation be the same as Elites? Or is elite catching so much backlash because of previous claims and success? Were the chickens counted before they hatched and a few roosters were spawned?
I wouldn't consider Elite to be actually be "falling from grace"...just experiencing what I call a "dark cloud"...I think all the top teams, 04 teams have experienced this "dark cloud."
Crazy part about it is...the girls can weather the storm, it's the parents (in general) that can't seem to. Parents are the culprits for playing the blame game and seek refuge on new squads...

I believe many of the Elite parents that know the game still think they are stronger than 03 Solar Red.  Perhaps combining the best from both of his 04 sides would have really put them over the top?

Does never losing vs your respective age group = "better" at 10-11 years old?  I'd argue that one loss and a draw over the course of a couple years is just as dominating as no losses over that span.

As I've mentioned before, LW doesn't compromise his philosophy with kids this age just to win games.  To him, playing the game the right way is far more important.  You won't see any of his teams being outpossessed.

Well said Kix --

BigErn wrote:I believe many of the Elite parents that know the game still think they are stronger than 03 Solar Red.  Perhaps combining the best from both of his 04 sides would have really put them over the top?

Does never losing vs your respective age group = "better" at 10-11 years old?  I'd argue that one loss and a draw over the course of a couple years is just as dominating as no losses over that span.

As I've mentioned before, LW doesn't compromise his philosophy with kids this age just to win games.  To him, playing the game the right way is far more important.  You won't see any of his teams being outpossessed.

Maybe, but I have seen teams that play less kickball.

And losing a game is just as dominating as winning them all? Really?

You GOTZ to LUV this above.. Less Kickball ... Funny!! I tell you what, I'll challenge you to name these less Kickball teams ..

The possession thing is cool in my honest opinion and I may be biased but...majority possession in a loss seems a bit redundant to me. Execute that at practice for 4 hours a week during training and scrimmages but be ready to win come game time using any tactic your team excels in. Until there are a panel of judges on the sideline awarding points for consecutive passes and time of possession, we all know the game is won when the opposing team nets shake more than yours... Kudos but I'll take the win and the criticsm afterwards. Yeah I know that's what's wrong with NTX soccer presently but "when in Rome..."

Oh yeah When In Rome, "The Promise". Loved that song.

Sheets...there is either a total disregard for this proverbial "elephant" in the room or maybe folks just mistook it for a soccer mom an didn't want to be rude...

Kix --

Agree with your NTX soccer and "when in Rome" comment but you may have missed my point.

While the "winning" component typically comes with teams that excel in possessing the ball, kids this age will makes mistakes working the ball around the back and to the GK, especially against teams with great athletes that play a high pressure style (all of the top 5), which will occasionally yield a loss or draw. To LW and parents that know the game, those results aren't as important as the proper education in the long run.

BigErn wrote:Kix --

Agree with your NTX soccer and "when in Rome" comment but you may have missed my point.  

While the "winning" component typically comes with teams that excel in possessing the ball, kids this age will makes mistakes working the ball around the back and to the GK, especially against teams with great athletes that play a high pressure style (all of the top 5), which will occasionally yield a loss or draw.  To LW and parents that know the game, those results aren't as important as the proper education in the long run.  

Dang! As much as I hate to admit it, I have to agree with you on that one BigErn.

BigErn wrote:Kix --

Agree with your NTX soccer and "when in Rome" comment but you may have missed my point.  

While the "winning" component typically comes with teams that excel in possessing the ball, kids this age will makes mistakes working the ball around the back and to the GK, especially against teams with great athletes that play a high pressure style (all of the top 5), which will occasionally yield a loss or draw.  To LW and parents that know the game, those results aren't as important as the proper education in the long run.  

I follow BigE...
My assessment was more towards the parents that rest on the "excuse"...of "we had 85% possession!!" In a 3-1 loss...

Sometimes you have to brawl in the ring vs a boxer... Don't come to an LW fight trying to jab. His fighters will methodically jab you into a sweat puddle and clean power shots will eventually put u on your backside.

And not challenging your and Sheets opinion, but I'm not quite sure what is "defintely" vital or detrimental to the "future" at this age...I'm ignorant to it.
Right now I'm in this perception that team ability and individual ability are totally separate and that some systems may work better for some athletes rather than others. But all the while that with both efficient IQ and exceptional individual skill... An athlete can be effectively inserted into any system successfully to contribute almost immediately.
I'm just piggy backing of the theory you can make an athlete a soccer player easier than you can make a soccer player into an athlete...

Used2bKix wrote:

BigErn wrote:Kix --

Agree with your NTX soccer and "when in Rome" comment but you may have missed my point.  

While the "winning" component typically comes with teams that excel in possessing the ball, kids this age will makes mistakes working the ball around the back and to the GK, especially against teams with great athletes that play a high pressure style (all of the top 5), which will occasionally yield a loss or draw.  To LW and parents that know the game, those results aren't as important as the proper education in the long run.  

I follow BigE...
My assessment was more towards the parents that rest on the "excuse"...of "we had 85% possession!!" In a 3-1 loss...

Sometimes you have to brawl in the ring vs a boxer... Don't come to an LW fight trying to jab. His fighters will methodically jab you into a sweat puddle and clean power shots will eventually put u on your backside.

LMAO!!

I guess it just all depends on what's most important to you as a parent at this age, do you want to win or do you really want your child to learn the game of soccer. It's no different than anything else at this age really, if you want your child to do well in school then every night you can pretty much do their homework for them and then when they get older and it matters they fall behind or just give up because they aren't used OR you can let them do their homework, fail, learn how to study and eventually learn how to learn so when the time comes and things matter they know how to get the job done.

Neither way is necessarily more correct because maybe the kid is just a genius and they never needed to learn how to study to be a success OR maybe the kid is just lazy and after failing as a kid just gives up and it carries over into HS and college.

Also don't construe this into me saying I think only one team plays possession and the rest don't. I've only actually watched a handful of the 04's recently and the few times I've watched I've been impressed with their style of play. However I will also say that of those teams I've watched, I've watched them play other teams different than how they play against Elite. From what I've seen Elite plays the way Elite plays regardless of the team or style. Now you could say that it makes LW a bad coach because he doesn't adjust to try to get the win OR you could say he's a great coach because he's got a method that works and cares more about how the team/players develop. I really think this age group figured out how to play with teams that probably are better than them quicker than others. Last year it took the 03's most of the season before they figured out to pack it in and then try to play the long counter against SRSA and it almost resulted in wins for teams like Sting G, FCD Premier, DTS, and Solar Gold (formerly FCD Gold). Heck D'feeters 03 I think only lost 1-0 or 2-0 to SRSA at the end of last year, granted I don't think D'Feeters had possession past midfield but still one or two bounces go their way and the game could have easily been different. We are talking about a D'feeters team that was in the running to be relegated to DIII up until the final two weeks I believe. The pack it in style will only be somewhat successful for a few more years because once the girls legs get stronger and they can score from further out and over the defense, teams will have to adjust. The ages of 10, 11, 12, and early 13 you can still get away with it but eventually it starts catching up.

I'd personally still prefer to have 10 and 11 year olds playing 8v8 but that's a pipe dream.

In fairness, I think there are 4 or 5 elephants in the room. It's fun to watch several of these teams play week in and week out. The Odyssey-Elite game should be fun to watch this week.