Possesion wins again. Japan 1 USA 0 Algarve cup

Looks like the world cup wasn't a fluke but a warning shot

"The goal was Japan's only corner kick of the match and only shot of the second half."

Sounds like it wasn't too much fun to watch. Japan apparently did their best to play keep away and executed it perfectly.

much like barcelona they kept the ball the whole game.

geno105 wrote:"The goal was Japan's only corner kick of the match and only shot of the second half."

Sounds like it wasn't too much fun to watch. Japan apparently did their best to play keep away and executed it perfectly.

Any info on what the US team was doing while Japan was playing keep away?

running hard and chasing

'running hard and chasing'

You mean being, faster, stronger, bigger, taller athletes who could not catch-up to or keep the ball?

Lefty wrote:'running hard and chasing'

You mean being, faster, stronger, bigger, taller athletes who could not catch-up to or keep the ball?

And based on ALL of the ECNL and LHGCL D1 games I've seen in the past 5 years, it's not going to get any better anytime soon.

Heck no its not going to get better. We reward / encourage the "contact" part of the game while ignoring the technical side of things.

Agreed, please tale NTX Soccer Assoc out of the mix. They preach the proper coaching points, league formats, etc.. It is the stubborness ( Check spelling) of Lake Highlands and Chamber Classic that are ruining North Texas Players AT THE YOUNG AGE GROUP LEVEL.. The rest of the country has listened and changed their development format to the USSF and USYSA policies. BUT NOT HERE! Lake Highlands IS NOT the standard for soccer in this country anymore - P.S the only reason it was back in the day was because it was the first of its kind.. Hence the strong showing in the 80's and early 90's.

As far as the United States system - Well , we were the first to accept and start " developing" Women players! we ruled the world. Then countries like Brazil, germany, Norway ,etc said " lets put the women in our system and watch them grow" and bang , We lost the number 1 ranking that quick..
Relegation at the U9 - U14 age groups KILL our sport.. but yet the parents who run the leagues feel it is appropriate..

Players in 'can't run faster than ball' shock!!!

Flamethrower wrote:Agreed, please tale NTX Soccer Assoc out of the mix. They preach the proper coaching points, league formats, etc.. It is the stubborness ( Check spelling) of Lake Highlands and Chamber Classic that are ruining North Texas Players AT THE YOUNG AGE GROUP LEVEL.. The rest of the country has listened and changed their development format to the USSF and USYSA policies. BUT NOT HERE! Lake Highlands IS NOT the standard for soccer in this country anymore - P.S the only reason it was back in the day was because it was the first of its kind.. Hence the strong showing in the 80's and early 90's.

As far as the United States system - Well , we were the first to accept and start " developing" Women players! we ruled the world. Then countries like Brazil, germany, Norway ,etc said " lets put the women in our system and watch them grow" and bang , We lost the number 1 ranking that quick..
Relegation at the U9 - U14 age groups KILL our sport.. but yet the parents who run the leagues feel it is appropriate..

How does relegation "KILL our sport"?

it causes coaches to take a shortcut to get the results needed. When a team is trying to keep the possesion at a young age at 20 and 30 passes it only takes one kid to make a mistake for the team to lose the ball. If you just rush the ball to the goal in say 5 passes there is much less opportunity for a mistake. And instead of working the ball around for a good opportunity I push it forward and rely on the attackers ability to overwhelm a weaker defender. Or as in the USA case just spray lots of garbage forward and depend on my athlete to make something eventually stick. I read an article from Xavi who said at 11, 12, 13 barcelona would lose to the local squad easily 3 to 0. But later Barcelona would send 8 players to the highest levels of soccer while that club would send none. At disney this past year Japan sent a group of mostly 13 and 14 yr old and dominated the U16 bracket winning the final 6 to 0. We are not getting better but the world is. The woman game only needs to look at the mens side to see their fate.

I dont think its necessarily relegation, its broader than that... Here I go beating a dead horse....its the win at all costs mentality.

I had the pleasure of watching a U7 game this weekend where the opposing coach was yelling at his players to shoot from kick off at the goal..."kick it hard"... How does that instruct possession. And then coached them to sit at the goal box (no offsides rule) so the team could "kick it hard to little Suzy" . That was coaching to win at all costs. No build up of play, no attempt at possession... Just kick it and win. This area is full of them and the parents that eat it up.

I get that the mentality of our country is "just win baby" but it sucks watching it first hand at the younger ages and knowing that most think that's correct coaching and soccer, when in actuality its not.

What you are really complaining about is a by-product of a competitive soccer system. What is the alternative? League slots determined by lottery every year - no keeping score? Alternatively, we could restructure score keeping where 50% of a team's score was based on time of posession or other metrics that encouraged organized, technical play.

Looking at the 02's - is it fair to say that the teams that are capable of and play possession oriented soccer will all qualify for Lake Highlands? Are there 01 teams that play a more technical game that didn't qualify last summer?

There are always going to be coaches, clubs and parents that try to take shortcuts (human nature) in a competitive system, so what is the alternative?

push back the age of CL to 12 or possible 14. Shrink the game to 9v9 at least until 12. Would love to see five a side tournament instead of the 3v3

go99 wrote:push back the age of CL to 12 or possible 14. Shrink the game to 9v9 at least until 12. Would love to see five a side tournament instead of the 3v3

What you are describing is South Texas soccer and basically a good portion of the rest of the country. South Texas doesn't go 11v11 until U13. How many posts have we seen over the years laughing at that? The educated are in the minority on this. In the end money, and bragging rights wins out.

I was basically told to go to hell on the boys side of things. "Develope for what? Most boys won't even be playing by the time they are 14 so we just want to win now." was one of my favorite quotes. The problem with that thinking and soccer is that you can't turn 16 and decide you want to now be a soccer player. Most of your development is already done.

Also the US needs some sort of "national" style of play. When you look at Japan, those girls have been playing that same way since youth and are now experts at what they do. I watched their youth team move the ball around to move the defense into a position and shape that they wanted and then score.

go99 wrote:push back the age of CL to 12 or possible 14. Shrink the game to 9v9 at least until 12. Would love to see five a side tournament instead of the 3v3

Amen.

BL, do you change your avatar daily?

No... but that was the flavor of the week last week. La Fin du Monde. Now on to the next one!!! Boulevard Brewery Single-Wide IPA.

oldboot wrote:What you are really complaining about is a by-product of a competitive soccer system. What is the alternative? League slots determined by lottery every year - no keeping score? Alternatively, we could restructure score keeping where 50% of a team's score was based on time of posession or other metrics that encouraged organized, technical play.

Looking at the 02's - is it fair to say that the teams that are capable of and play possession oriented soccer will all qualify for Lake Highlands? Are there 01 teams that play a more technical game that didn't qualify last summer?

There are always going to be coaches, clubs and parents that try to take shortcuts (human nature) in a competitive system, so what is the alternative?

Hasn't ECNL really taken care of the relegation issue for the most part from u14 up?

Teams from ECNL clubs are in the league every year.

Time will tell if they approach the balancing act between winning today and developing players differently.

the problem with that is that u14 is at the end of the development cycle. By many accouns too late to have the major impact on the player that is needed.

I do think small-sided soccer is the solution. The smaller the field, the fewer players on that field, the better a player's touches need to be.

I see a lot of academy teams out there right now that play on giagantic fields that have have a "pass first" orientation. When it's a favorable match up, that style can be really pretty to watch. But when a "pass first" team struggles with that game's match up, it quickly turns into kickball. The passes the girls are trying to make become forced. (I kinda get that reaction though... kickball seems to make sense with a lot of girls on a gigantic field. If you're under pressure, just get it away from you and hope your teammate will run onto it. Just don't be the one to lose the ball.)

Small-sided soccer and fewer players on the field helps players think more "dribble first". IMO, players with the "dribble first" mentality are more likely to advance in individual skills. I think players, especially at younger ages, should have a laser-beam-like focus on individual skills.

Passing skills can wait a little longer. The players need to get confident enough on the ball to pick their heads up on the dribble. Once they know how to pick their head up, worry less about making mistakes, and start seeing the field more, then the passing game comes much much easier.

go99 wrote:the problem with that is that u14 is at the end of the development cycle. By many accouns too late to have the major impact on the player that is needed.

If that is true, then that is the fault of the "system" - a 14 year old's brain isn't even fully developed - especially the frontal lobe, which controls such things as reasoning, judgment and the ability to plan or use strategy - all of which are abilities that effect a soccer player's capacity to play the kind of higher level, technical soccer that is being discussed.