Bobby Rhine Tournament

Don't shoot you don't score. Hence the 3-0 shutout.

What i find on this forum is people exaggerate just to make their team look good. Let's call a spade a spade.

Stricker you are the National Champion and you deserve it you were by far the best team last season. And you are the National champion until someone beats you this season. That also means you are going to get everyone's best shot this year win and lose with some class.

Agreed your goalie is one of the best i have seen he is definitely top three in our age group. He is the sole reason you won the game yesterday Sawyer had many 1v1's which your keeper blocked. In penalty kicks he won the game congratulations.

Sawyer played most of the second half with 10 men and still played Stricker very equal most of the second period. Yes sawyer got a red card but your team also got one late in the game for being malicious both teams were playing as hard as each other.

What i dislike is last season Stricker beat everyone including our team with your physicality. Now Sawyer comes along with just as much size & speed and suddenly his team is dirty. Yes, sawyer says "create contact" you also here him him say "press" over and over. I have asked our players what does this mean? coach wants his players as close as possible to every opponent he has taught the boys that if they are close to their opponent they may get beat a few times but they will also create quite a few turnovers that is not "dirty".

Both games are on video from yesterday everyone can watch three great SOLAR teams battling. Stricker you deserved the win you beat Castro 3-0 after a hard battle with Sawyer congratulations. SOLAR should be proud as a club.

Maybe now your parents can show a little more respect and act like champions. How about hey that team played us real tough instead of screeching for a red or yellow card or foul on every play. To be a champion is also to act like a champion.
Congratulations your team won the event and deserved it.

No dog in this fight, but since I have coached vs Sawyer and faced his group as a parent, I can tell you that he does know how to make adjustments and help his team grind out a W...  That being said, when you're on the coaches side, you can hear everything that he says to his players clear as a bell...  I don't want to elaborate too much; I haven't seen the man coach in 6 months or so, but I can tell you that in the past there there has been questionable direction barked out frequently from him...  Not sure how they are this season, but last year they earned the "dirty" tag; they were being encouraged to play that way...  Not all of his players, but some took it a bit too far IMO...  Anyhow, it seems they're doing well, so congrats for the improvements...

Soccerlife89 wrote:
Both games are on video from yesterday everyone can watch three great SOLAR teams battling. Stricker you deserved the win you beat Castro 3-0 after a hard battle with Sawyer congratulations. SOLAR should be proud as a club.

Soccerlife89, I wasn't able to get out to see the games, are the recorded games posted somewhere online?  Anyone have a link? Thanks.

Soccerlife89 wrote:What i find on this forum is people exaggerate just to make their team look good. Let's call a spade a spade.


What i dislike is last season Stricker beat everyone including our team with your physicality. Now Sawyer comes along with just as much size & speed and suddenly his team is dirty. Yes, sawyer says "create contact" you also here him him say "press" over and over.

Maybe I am wrong, but if you are using "physicality" to win games, championships, whatever.... Then maybe you are doing it wrong.

If you are winning, how can it be wrong?  

Can't we get back to simpler topics like the inexplicable reasons why the US can't produce decent soccer players?    Wheeeeee....zero correlation!   Let's go tackle through the player!

Maybe it's not wrong. It does produce winning if you are good at the overly physical/aggressive play. However, what would some of these coaches do if there was no more pay for play option and if the only way they could get paid was for the elite players they developed/produced.

Number13, I like your comment, "Let's go tackle through the player!" I have heard this from a couple of the "Top" coaches in Classic League. I have also heard, "Finish the tackle". Is that kind of like the video game, Mortal Kombat, "FINISH HIM!!!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB4AvKGdg50

Interesting to see the different approach to the game between the “Academy” teams (Castro and FCD) and the non-“Academy” teams (Sticker and Sawyer). Thanks to SM for posting these on youtube! This weekend, “physicality” was the clear winner. Ultimately, players are going to play to the level of what the refs allow and it seems like they allowed quite a bit in these games. In a few development academy games I’ve watched, while some games can still be physical, there seems to be less tolerance by DA refs in terms of the types of fouls allowed and persistence of the following. I would assume DA refs are given specific instructions in this regard but perhaps it’s just my perception that games are called differently. Any other folks notice a difference in how local DA games are called compared to non-DA games? Aren’t the DA refs the same NTX refs calling classic league games and local tournaments? Curious to know if anyone has some insight on this.

JRam wrote:Interesting to see the different approach to the game between the “Academy” teams (Castro and FCD) and the non-“Academy” teams (Sticker and Sawyer).  Thanks to SM for posting these on youtube!  This weekend, “physicality” was the clear winner.  Ultimately, players are going to play to the level of what the refs allow and it seems like they allowed quite a bit in these games.  In a few development academy games I’ve watched, while some games can still be physical, there seems to be less tolerance by DA refs in terms of the types of fouls allowed and persistence of the following.  I would assume DA refs are given specific instructions in this regard but perhaps it’s just my perception that games are called differently.  Any other folks notice a difference in how local DA games are called compared to non-DA games?   Aren’t the DA refs the same NTX refs calling classic league games and local tournaments?  Curious to know if anyone has some insight on this.

I think the DA refs are different, but don't get me lying. I recalled what most of the CL refs we had looked like and it seems in DA there is an entirely different set of guys.  I agree the reffing is much better in DA.  Have been watching DA for the last three years and I don't think I ever walked away from a game thinking the refs were terrible or let a game get too out of hand.  Whereas it was a weekly occurrence in CL games.  Not sure if that is the refs being better or the style of play was just less overtly physical.  

The overtly physical style and aggressive play works to win games and titles and is fun if you are on the winning side.  I would add it appears college soccer is more in line with the aggressive physical style of play as well so that style may be more suited for kids that plan to play in college.  Hitting the weight room is just as important as skills sessions based upon the college soccer games I have seen.

The DA is also about developing refs. They aim to identify and develop the best refs.

From - USSF DA Overview (http://www.ussoccerda.com/overview-program-benefits)
"Referees: the Academy is also focused on identifying and developing the next generation of elite referees. U.S. Soccer assigns up-and-coming officials to participate in Academy games at the local and national levels"

Regarding direct, athletic, physical play in college... that has been the dominant style. Some examples of a fast, possession oriented team do exist (like Caleb Porter's Akron teams). That is one of the reasons college soccer has not been a talent pipeline to the pros like other college sports.

Soccer_Dad_NTX wrote:Regarding direct, athletic, physical play in college... that has been the dominant style. Some examples of a fast, possession oriented team do exist (like Caleb Porter's Akron teams). That is one of the reasons college soccer has not been a talent pipeline to the pros like other college sports.  

first college soccer game I ever took my kids to they kicked off and dropped the ball back to the holding mid who immediately whacked it to the left back of the other team, who immediately whacked it to the center back on the first team, who immediately headed it back to the center of the field, where it was then headed back to the first team..etc this went on for about the first ten minutes and didn't get much better throughout the game.  There was no pressure on any of these plays and it was whacked for the sake of whacking it...  The most productive players on the field were very strong, powerful, overly physical and fast.  Not sure they even had any idea or desire to make a pass or even attempt one that was less than 20 yards long.  

If you are really good at this type of soccer a school may give you 10K in scholarship money towards their 64K a year tuition so there's that upside.

JRam you are correct it's way,,,,,different the way to DA teams play the game they actually plays real football when classic league teams play American soccer,what that mean? ,DA rules not player re-entry like the rest of the planet real football,American soccer re-entry 100 times just watch FCD vs Solar Swayer game,not real football.refs, the worst ref on DA it's for far better then the best in classic league, saying that on classic league you get away with foul all what you want with not cards or even some times don't even called foul just watch the game Solar Stricker vs Solar Swayer that game should finish 7v7 with a DA ref, both coaches out of the game,so in conclusion
DA = Real football
Classic league = American Soccer

WTF???

I can think of at least 3 classic league teams that can keep up with DA teams. Stricker, FcDallas Premier, and Sawyer. Those 3 teams have a couple players that are good enough to play DA and have shown they can compete in that level of competition.

Thanks Soccer Dad for the link. I see that one of the listed benefits of DA is “International Standards”, which includes the following reference “no reentry on substitutions”. Too many times coaches use the tactic of continual subbing to slow the game down and try to protect a lead or draw. With US Soccer’s stated objective of improving Youth Development, perhaps they should encourage the adoption of additional standards (in addition to recently implemented birth year change, small sided games, etc.) at the US Youth Soccer and US Club Soccer level. They wouldn’t need to be implemented across the board for all leagues, but maybe the higher echelon leagues like Classic and the Regional/National Premier Leagues. These initiatives, as well as improving the quality of refereeing in these more competitive leagues should contribute to US Soccer's goal of improving Youth Development. Surely it can’t be too difficult to get these referees to call a “cleaner” game. For those that play in SRPL, is there any noticeable difference in how the games are officiated as compared to Classic league and the local DC qualifying tournaments?

Martino on DA.

“One area I don’t like about it is that it’s a meritocracy based on results and not performance, Martino told SB Nation. “So you can fail out of the academy if you’re not winning enough.”

“You can’t disincentivize these coaches from developing players the right way,” Martino says. “Playing out of the back. Taking risks. Trying to be composed. Trying to possess the ball. Trying to get away from that sort of anachronistic do-anything-it-takes-to-win approach that made us a great country for a long time because we have great athletes that fight. But if we have aspirations to be more than that, we have to not lose that quality of our culture, and grow this idea of being risk takers.”

“We convince coaches that they must win, and that’s the way to develop players,” Martino continues. “And it’s not. You watch some of these games, and it’s the big guy up front, lumping it up to him, because if they don’t win, they’re out of the league, and if they’re out of the league they lose their players. I’m not saying it is duplicitous, or in any pejorative way. These coaches are just trying to survive and make sure they keep their academies going.”

Martino recommendations

The quality of the referee is much higher at the Regionals and National League level. Unfortunately, too many Classic League refs allow less talented teams like Sawyer to get away with tactics that to call a spade a spade include intentional late tackles from behind, attempts to injure, kicking, punching, spitting, and nut grabbing. The tactics are effective when not called by referee and completely overshadow the work rate and competitive intensity exhibited by the team. However, it is rare for games called at the DA/Regional/National level to permit this kind of dirty play.  If the local DA teams played Sawyer with the higher level referees they are used to, it would not be surprising to see huge margins of victory for the DA teams and even Stricker. However, this may actually do a disservice to our higher level players, who seem to shrink when faced by tactics employed by lots of other teams/players in the world other than just Sawyer.  I think that is hard thing to accept given that most of us appreciate the quality of the soccer in the DA and deplore the tactics of teams like Sawyer. And maybe teams like Stricker who do play a more direct than aesthetically pleasing style than the DA but are able to be successful against Sawyer type teams as well as DA teams like Castro are able to do so because they are faced with playing through the very same tactics that most of us despise.

This forum has just gotten all against Sawyer. It seems that y’all hate to see the team win and get good results against some quality teams. Everything you see in the sideline or hear is not always true ask your son...

earbucket wrote:Martino on DA.

“One area I don’t like about it is that it’s a meritocracy based on results and not performance, Martino told SB Nation. “So you can fail out of the academy if you’re not winning enough.”

“You can’t disincentivize these coaches from developing players the right way,” Martino says. “Playing out of the back. Taking risks. Trying to be composed. Trying to possess the ball. Trying to get away from that sort of anachronistic do-anything-it-takes-to-win approach that made us a great country for a long time because we have great athletes that fight. But if we have aspirations to be more than that, we have to not lose that quality of our culture, and grow this idea of being risk takers.”

“We convince coaches that they must win, and that’s the way to develop players,” Martino continues. “And it’s not. You watch some of these games, and it’s the big guy up front, lumping it up to him, because if they don’t win, they’re out of the league, and if they’re out of the league they lose their players. I’m not saying it is duplicitous, or in any pejorative way. These coaches are just trying to survive and make sure they keep their academies going.”

Martino recommendations

It's surprising Martino doesn't know how the DA is run.  There is no relegation in the DA and there is NO risk for a DA team or club to be kicked out of DA if their teams are not winning.  Many of the DA teams are near the bottom of their leagues each season and no risk or being removed by US Soccer.  The only team I have ever heard of getting kicked out of DA was Andromeda and I believe that was more to do with money and funding and not wins and losses, but I am sure someone else knows more about that.  Martino's position doesn't make a lot of sense for DA.  An Academy could lose every game for the next two years and be in no peril of losing DA status. Not sure where his quotes are coming from.

His comments ring true for leagues like CL in North Texas. If you don't win, stay in D1, get talked about on this forum, then kids migrate away from your team.  Go from D1 to D3 because you lose games and your team may crumble and the coach is out of a paycheck.

Watching games from D1,D2& D3 classic league it's not much different poor quality games don't matter what division you are in the only difference I see D1 teams has more athletic players not quality, so that relegation thing it's useless except for business, we can argument all day on this forum back and forward CL parents players will say CL it's better but they been playing DA or it's just what you hear from parents of kids they can fit on DA clubs and now they talking trash about it, see for yourselfs we are blessed in north Texas we have 3 DA teams just pick a DA game and watched any game just random game then watch 1 of the best game in CL same age group and you will see for your self what it's your opinion after, some people talk and talk about something they don't even now their kids only play CL and they think they are experts on DA while they don't even watch a DA game before I soonest they watch a DA game they will now what dummies they been say something they don't know about.
CLASS ON GRASS all day everyday

I don't know that I agree or disagree with you, but I got lost waiting for the sentence to end.

Agree Martino describes CL not DA.

Refs are poor in CL. Not easy to find and keep good refs with the level of crap they have to put up with from parents and coaches.

Nothing wrong with different styles but CL rules, reffing and win at all costs favors the majority playing direct, high press. And some go overly physical too. All of which does our kids a disservice as they miss out on technical training and decision making.

I would like to see CL implement no re-entry and 5 sub max. It would not solve everything but would make for better soccer and less bench warming.

Number13 wrote:I don't know that I agree or disagree with you, but I got lost waiting for the sentence to end.  

In DA, run-on sentences are encouraged.

Davito - agree that re-entry would be a huge improvement. Physically wearing players down should be part of the game. Same goes for college soccer.

If referees were better do you believe that Striker would have lost to Castro?? Sawyer would have lost to FCD DA??