Spring Surprises

DTR struggling with AE/Andro and Ody; what's up with that! Have the bottom feeders improved that much over the break? Or maybe the score is just misleading. FCD and DTR with a big game next week. The race for 9th & 10th is getting tight. Everyone else is playing for 3rd place.

D2 is staring to get interesting...
DTRW and Solar Red draw... then Solar draws with Andro Red?? Then they beat the team behind then, FCDC, to widen the gap. DTRW has it wrapped up. Select Force and FCDC have a chance but only if Solar slips. Can Solar hold their 2nd place spot?
Amigos, CCW, and Andro Red in a race for relegation.

So who wins D1 and who gets relegated?
What about D2 winners and losers?

True but then you have DTR beat Solar 2-1, Solar beat FCD Youth 3-1, FCD Premier ties both FCD Youth and DT White. My prediction is that it is going to be a very, very interesting end of season and State Cup.

Perhaps the players from the top teams also play for Coppell and Marcus and could not attend the games on Saturday. Alternatively there might have been a reduction of players due to injuries and players quitting before the start of the spring season. Finally, it is certainly possible that players in the bottom teams have gotten better and now the teams are able to compete with the top teams. I suspect it is a combination of the above factors. Looks like it is going to be a very interesting end of season for some teams.

Real Barcelona wrote:Perhaps the players from the top teams also play for Coppell and Marcus and could not attend the games on Saturday. Alternatively there might have been a reduction of players due to injuries and players quitting before the start of the spring season. Finally, it is certainly possible that players in the bottom teams have gotten better and now the teams are able to compete with the top teams. I suspect it is a combination of the above factors. Looks like it is going to be a very interesting end of season for some teams.

The benches do get a little thinner, that's a fact. You could look at the benches this weekend and some only had 2 subs.

Actually the teams might play better with just 2-3 subs as long as there are no injuries that is. It keeps the flow of the game and the players know they need to step it up. So does the coach since he has limited resources. In the end everybody wins and you are DEVELOPING PLAYERS!

Well Well, in D1 it appears ODYSSEY won 3 games and moved into 8th place probably avoiding relegation. This seems surprising after their Fall stench. Looks like Amarillo Lightning and Andro (American Eagles) headed for D2. Surprised Lighting was not more competitive. They looked pretty good last year.

In D2, it looks like Texans Red West and Solar Red will move to D1. Noticed Tejano's didn't win a game in D2 after there D1 relegation. Why does classic league let clubs keep this ridiculous bye?

In D3, it looks like Longhorns and Jacksonville Flash are likely to go to D2, but there are still 3 games to play in a tight race.

I wonder if teams will disband after this year, with U19 only being a half season. The lower level D1 and many D2 teams didn't look much above rec to me this year. I guess dropping out of competitive soccer increases after U16.

34blast wrote:Well Well, in D1 it appears ODYSSEY won 3 games and moved into 8th place probably avoiding relegation. This seems surprising after their Fall stench. Looks like Amarillo Lightning and Andro (American Eagles) headed for D2. Surprised Lighting was not more competitive. They looked pretty good last year.

In D2, it looks like Texans Red West and Solar Red will move to D1. Noticed Tejano's didn't win a game in D2 after there D1 relegation. Why does classic league let clubs keep this ridiculous bye?

In D3, it looks like Longhorns and Jacksonville Flash are likely to go to D2, but there are still 3 games to play in a tight race.

I wonder if teams will disband after this year, with U19 only being a half season. The lower level D1 and many D2 teams didn't look much above rec to me this year. I guess dropping out of competitive soccer increases after U16.

I coached the 2nd place team in the Mid-cities U19 A division last fall and have coached many teams in that division. I can assure you even the lower D1 teams are nothing like rec. D3 , PPL and APL, maybe they can be comparable. Any D1 team would kill any rec team in NTX

I was also wondering about the observation about lower level D1 and D2 or D3 teams "didnt look much above rec level this year". Perhaps blast34 knows of a super rec league that can play at the level of classic league? If so please do say, parents would appreciate it and save $$$. So far I have not been able to find this super rec league or teams.

34blast wrote:
The lower level D1 and many D2 teams didn't look much above rec to me this year. I guess dropping out of competitive soccer increases after U16.

Wow... that's a stretch. You must be spending a lot of time down at Samuel Park if you see that much talent playing REC.

Back in U15 and U14, my probably incorrect observation was the Top D1 teams were very superior to D2. Same with D2 to D3 and D3 to premier leagues. The disparity is much less to me at U17 and U19 games. I think alot of top talent has went DA, top D1 teams, or dropped out. When I watch a D2 or below game now I ask myself where are the goal scorers and finishers. Many players still have no decision making ability of when to pass, dribble or shoot. Many can't use both feet. Many have no first touch. Many have no vision. At U17 and above this should be second nature by now.

I've seen some pretty good players in the Ft. Worth Mexican league (non sanctioned) and teams that would beat some D3 teams for sure. Irving has some good players I've seen in rec.

The number of players on a team that do not have a solid first touch, ability to pass accurately, use both feet, have good decision making etc increases as you move down the divisions and that is the differentiating factor among teams. Individually you will see players in lower divisions and rec leagues that have one or several components of a great player but are not playing in classic league due to differing circumstances such as distance, grades, money etc.

Heh, heh….just some quick facts from this past year:

Low level DI - ODY beat Middle DIII - AFC Black 6-1

Middle DIII - AFC Black beat Middle PPL - Rovers 4-0

Thus, any level of DI is not comparable to DIII, and surely not PPL/APL or a REC team…..now as per a different forum there will be 1-2 exceptions…..BUT not a whole team…..by this time an exceptional player has moved on from playing with his neighborhood team and is playing on a top team (scholarship) …. You are what you are…..

Getting back to the initial discussion, I think there really aren't a lot of surprises, but there were a few. Teams that are relegated from one division to another division often struggle as players leave and the team scrambles to replace them. Tejanos have some skilled players, but not enough to compete, and were certainly not strong in the back. Teams with strong defending and goalkeeping tend to rise to the top. At this level, all teams (well with a few exceptions) can score enough to stay in games if they can defend.

D1: DTR and FCD Premier should finish 1-2. Che's FCD team was stronger than many thought they would be. Odyssey seems to have climbed out of their funk, and I think the expectation was for Amarillo Lightning to show better than they did.

D2: I think the early season banter for D2 was that many expected Solar Red and FCD (Comets) to end up in the top 2 at season's end. DTRW has been strong all year, and FCD (Comets) was up and down. Solar Red had a rough start, but has gone unbeaten in their last 14 to clinch 2nd. Club Classic started decently and tanked.

D3: It seems everyone just beat everyone else up all year. With the new challenge rules taking effect next year, the drama just wasn't there this year.

State Cup should be interesting with some of the matchups, but that's a new thread.

Well the D1 title should be decided tomorrow night.. Any thoughts?

Heh, heh…..well both teams are having a “tough” but successful spring..... Being that TFC & both FCD’s teams rolled up 17 against Andro/AE and the Texans only scored twice, I will go with FCD Premier to win 2-0.

Dt is 4-0 this spring with a 7-3 goal differential.. FCD is 2-2-0 with a 10-3 goal diffential with 6 of them against ODY. Wont make a prediction. FCD is very good but maybe struggling lately ..., or bored? It will be a good game.

hmm, hmm.....the 6 were against Andro/AE.....the same team Texans Red could only score 2 against

SoccerDunce wrote:hmm, hmm.....the 6 were against Andro/AE.....the same team Texans Red could only score 2 against

Yes they are very good at running up the score on AE/Andro and Ody as 27 of their 51 goals have come against those two teams.

0-1 Texans in about the 15th minute off a header from a corner
1-1 Good ball into the box, the striker controls and lays off the attacking mid who finishes

Second Half:
1-2 Texans long throw, flicked onto a defender who heads home
10 minutes left, brilliant shot from FCD hits the crossbar
5 minutes left Texans have a break away and a poor finish at the end of it

2-2 90th minute in stoppage time, a long hopeful ball into the box finds the FCD striker to tie it up
3-2 90+4 FCD win a corner, ball goes back post to an unmarked midfielder who has time to take a touch before putting into the top corner front post.

Fc Dallas Premier win the league

Good summary except 2-2 came at 94:39 and the final goal was in the 98th minute. 8 minutes of stoppage time when the players were told 2 miutes would be added.

Shame on Classic League for assigning a crew that was an absolute disgrace to the game.

the tying goal from the FCD striker was a beauty! good to have him back even if it was the last game or two8)

The players were told 4, and he stopped the clock for a sub in stoppage time (+30 seconds) made by the Texans, so the first goal should have happened. I don't know where the had the time for the second however.

Also, the officiating seemed bad on both sides (foul wise) with random acts given that weren't fouls, to fouls completely ignored..

Hope the fields improve before state cup

As soon as regulation was whistled, I put my watch on chorograph to see how much time would ultimately be added. The tying goal was scored 1:30 in plus time. The winning goal was scored 3:45 into plus time. Of this, I am quite sure.

Why would a referee stop the clock for a substitution by the Texans (30 seconds)?

starbucks wrote:Why would a referee stop the clock for a substitution by the Texans (30 seconds)?

Because thats how long they took to make their substitution.