Week 1 in D1

07 boys soccer wrote:Yeah- Stars and Stripes could easily be in top 10 or 5 of D1.  Also heard from guy on their team they beat Rush easily in a scrimmage a couple of weeks ago.  So they must be pretty good when coupled with only losing 3-1 to top Solar team in 30 mins of soccer, he did mention Solar hit the post three more times but it was a good match.  Did he say how they did against Solar West?  Just curious as I have haven’t heard much out of them and wonder what they look like.

Stars and Stripes are a good team... but I think it's a stretch to say Top 10 or 5 in D1. They did beat the 2nd group of Solar U12 (East) 5-2. However, both of Solar's U12 DA's top groups handled them very easily. East won 3-1, and West won 4-1. Let's also keep in mind that these were round robin scrimmages, with no officiating. It's not hard to imagine that several calls were not enforced. Again, Stars and Stripes are a good team, and they would do well in classic, but I don't believe they are top 10 D1 at all based on what I saw. They're work against the 2nd group just goes to show the gap between the top/bottom groups, which is likely true at every club at the moment.

So, about Classic D1..... here are my thoughts:

If Rebels has their same group of kids from the spring, it's there league to lose this year (much like it was for FCD Academy last season).

If McKinney's group holds form, they should be the favorites to upset Rebels. (We will find out this week, I guess)

Allegiance has the potential, but I still can't see anything that suggest improvement in terms of scoring ability (which was their lone weakness last season, as they are a great possession/defensive team). Most of us originally assumed they were the favorites based on many factors (Ex. the idea that Pedro lost no kids to DA or tranfers, or FCD/Texans/Solar weakened by DA,  or that Rebels are weakened by DA, etc.). Seems that Solar McKinney is still strong, Rebels looks great, and Texans Connell could be a dark horse. FCD Premier, not so much based on their loss this week, but still too early to tell. Allegiance could still win it, I'm just not ready to crown them as a favorite yet.

Then there is Rush. I still believe they will be in the mix for the title. They might has some chemistry to work on, but nothing too large to overcome within the first few games.

FC Legends beating FCD Premier could prove interesting. We will have to wait and see them play a "top" contender... as most here would agree that FCD Premier was depleted due to DA.  Just too early to tell with this group.

factsmatter wrote:

07 boys soccer wrote:Yeah- Stars and Stripes could easily be in top 10 or 5 of D1.  Also heard from guy on their team they beat Rush easily in a scrimmage a couple of weeks ago.  So they must be pretty good when coupled with only losing 3-1 to top Solar team in 30 mins of soccer, he did mention Solar hit the post three more times but it was a good match.  Did he say how they did against Solar West?  Just curious as I have haven’t heard much out of them and wonder what they look like.

Stars and Stripes are a good team... but I think it's a stretch to say Top 10 or 5 in D1. They did beat the 2nd group of Solar U12 (East) 5-2. However, both of Solar's U12 DA's top groups handled them very easily. East won 3-1, and West won 4-1. Let's also keep in mind that these were round robin scrimmages, with no officiating. It's not hard to imagine that several calls were not enforced. Again, Stars and Stripes are a good team, and they would do well in classic, but I don't believe they are top 10 D1 at all based on what I saw. They're work against the 2nd group just goes to show the gap between the top/bottom groups, which is likely true at every club at the moment.

Stars and Stripes parents said they weren’t told what team they were facing, whether it was Solar East, West 1 or 2. From the info I was given, the first team they played consisted of most of Owens old boys and the won 5-2, second team they played consisted of majority of McKinney’s team and they lost 3-1. The last team, parents weren’t sure where those kids came from but they lost 2-1. I don’t know which of those score lines means Solar handled them very easily. Especially when you take into consideration, this is the “top” talent Solar has to offer, against a non-DA team.

If you factor that in with the scrimmage they had against Rush, which was pretty lopsided (I never heard a score though, but I did hear it got ugly) I would have to agree that they are at least a top 10 D1 team.

I think McKinney will have a solid team, but don’t see them topping Allegiance.

Rebels surprised the world with that beat down. They must of tapped into that Oak Cliff talent pool.

Seems fair 6-2 vs solar east loss and 4-2 vs solar west loss and 10-4 win vs rest of LP Owen- assuming a full 60 min game based on 30 min round robin results. The Stars and Stripes guy I know said they were 6-0 I believe against Rush which seems to indicate the losses Rush had to DA will take some time to work on chemistry. He did say whichever team was the 3-1 possessed well and hit the post a few times. I guess we will find out this weekend with opening DA weekend.

And I asked my guy why they are wasting their time in Plano- seems they didn’t realize their quality.

Granted, we played S&S a long time ago, but I do think they could be D1 quality...but what does that really mean anymore?
I remember them having a couple very talented players individually. They moved the ball well, but were overwhelmed with our teams size and strength on the ball.
In general, the had very good touch, but couldn’t quite put it all together. I haven’t seen them in a while, though. Scrolling brought their YSR, shows some of the typical 07 age group inconsistency. Good results against good teams, then blown out by mediocrity. I think they would be most effective against possession style teams, and least effective against more direct playing teams.

Top 10 in D1? The only way to know that is to get in the league and play. If they qualify for Classic next summer, we may have our answer sometime in the Winter of 2021-2022.

Until then, just take them seriously when you come across them in tournaments.

TayJ6 wrote:Granted, we played S&S a long time ago, but I do think they could be D1 quality...but what does that really mean anymore?
I remember them having a couple very talented players individually. They moved the ball well, but were overwhelmed with our teams size and strength on the ball.
In general, the had very good touch, but couldn’t quite put it all together. I haven’t seen them in a while, though. Scrolling brought their YSR, shows some of the typical 07 age group inconsistency. Good results against good teams, then blown out by mediocrity. I think they would be most effective against possession style teams, and least effective against more direct playing teams.

Top 10 in D1? The only way to know that is to get in the league and play. If they qualify for Classic next summer, we may have our answer sometime in the Winter of 2021-2022.

Until then, just take them seriously when you come across them in tournaments.

I couldn't agree more with you TayJ6. For the record, I'm personal friends with their coach as our sons played/trained together awhile back. He told me that the only reason they didn't play the Classic QT last season was due to having so many 08 players. This season, they chose not to for several other reasons, included the inconsistency and numbers (they had a few player come on late). I'm sure they will play the QT next season. Otherwise, your advice is spot on. They're a great team that will play tough and shock any team that takes them for granted.

"Stars and Stripes are a good team... but I think it's a stretch to say Top 10 or 5 in D1. They did beat the 2nd group of Solar U12 (East) 5-2. However, both of Solar's U12 DA's top groups handled them very easily. East won 3-1, and West won 4-1. Let's also keep in mind that these were round robin scrimmages, with no officiating. It's not hard to imagine that several calls were not enforced. Again, Stars and Stripes are a good team, and they would do well in classic, but I don't believe they are top 10 D1 at all based on what I saw. They're work against the 2nd group just goes to show the gap between the top/bottom groups, which is likely true at every club at the moment."

Facts, agree with you that SAS are a good team. However, half a dozen of the D2 teams would finish top 10 or 15 with the current D1 landscape. Rebels, Rush, Allegiance, McKinney, and Legends are all solid top 5 but the rest is still undetermined. I'm not knocking them at all, but it is curious why they chose to play the tournaments/leagues that they are in. Yes, they have played some top talent, but many of their games are blowouts against lesser teams, right?

GoldenBoy wrote:
Facts, agree with you that SAS are a good team. However, half a dozen of the D2 teams would finish top 10 or 15 with the current D1 landscape. Rebels, Rush, Allegiance, McKinney, and Legends are all solid top 5 but the rest is still undetermined. I'm not knocking them at all, but it is curious why they chose to play the tournaments/leagues that they are in. Yes, they have played some top talent, but many of their games are blowouts against lesser teams, right?

I completely agree. Let's keep in mind that they are a team that was composed prior to the Age Pure split. Half of they're roster is still made up of 08 players. This is why their coach says they didn't play classic last season. They are playing Plano Premier right now. Let's just see how they perform at the local tournaments versus some top competition before we crown them is my point...

Saw FC Dallas Premiere play this weekend in the Plano tourney and not sure how that team lost to Legends. They had a good run through the tournament and have some solid players.

Thoughts on first couple games? Who’s most impressive/ biggest surprise? Worst
Performers?

I think Legends are establishing they are a team to watch out for! Looks to me that Legends, Rush, FC Dallas Premiere, Allegiance, Rebels and Solar Mckinney will have some good battles for the top 3 spots.

As someone who pays to pay attention to one team...

League so far...
Rush 1 - Texans 0
Tigres 2 - Texans 1

Labor Day Tournament

FCD Premier 1 - Texans 0
Celtic 1 - Texans 0
Solar Volkan 2 - Texans 1

How many one point losses can one team accrue in a month?

TexanDad37 wrote:As someone who pays to pay attention to one team...

League so far...
Rush 1 - Texans 0
Tigres 2 - Texans 1

Labor Day Tournament

FCD Premier 1 - Texans 0
Celtic 1 - Texans 0
Solar Volkan 2 - Texans 1

How many one point losses can one team accrue in a month?

As a dad from one of the aforementioned opposing, they'll be fine. Great defense.

Game of the week?  Allegiance vs. Legends

Definitely ultimate clash of styles. Although allegiance is a board favorite, I think Legends wins on athleticism.

Agree DoubleDown. Slight edge to Legends. The other game of the weekend Sunday. Rebels vs Solar McKinney. Out of these 2 sets of games will likely be the winner of the league.

I think Allegiance beats them. 3-1. Allegiance has a pretty athletic team, a lot of people don't realize that because they play so much possession.

Dwight wrote:I think Allegiance beats them. 3-1.  Allegiance has a pretty athletic team, a lot of people don't realize that because they play so much possession.

I agree. If Allegiance keeps mistakes to a minimum, they win. If not, Legends is gonna be pretty hard to catch on a break-away.

Legends will pack it in and try to defend and counter. If they get caught chasing the ball even a little bit, Allegiance wears them down and wins easily. If Legends is patient on defense, doesn’t allow easy shots, and counters aggressively when given the opportunity, they’ll have a solid chance.

I’d put my money in Allegiance running Legends all over the field and putting 3 goals in on them in the last 10-15 minutes.

I disagree, when we play Allegiance and win we do it by putting high pressure early, getting some goals on mistakes as they pass out of the back early.

07 boys soccer wrote:I disagree, when we play Allegiance and win we do it by putting high pressure early, getting some goals on mistakes as they pass out of the back early.  

Either way, it looks like more stupid rain in the forecast so all the games maybe delayed this weekend.

Well the rain has come...

Sleep in! Shit is cancelled!

I am jealous of those sleeping in. We’re scrimmaging at Inwood.