Regretting team choice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the player is on an ECNL team (National or Regional League) the league won't allow changes between clubs during the year. This applies even if the player is on an NCSL team (or going to one). That said, the player could go to a different club that does not have ECNL- say SYC to Arlington.

Are you saying that a kid playing for a club that has ECNL or ECNL-R cannot move during the year to another club that has ECNL or ECNL-R? Even if that kid does not play on that club’s ECNL or ECNL-R team? Assume the same is true with the pre-ECNL teams? No movement from one of those to another during the year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is short, and there is slight. They are different. Short kids built like fireplugs are fine. Short kids who are slight look like they can’t hold up, even if they can. That’s the bias my DC faces anyway.

Many coaches won’t give short players of any variety a single look. Perhaps to their own detriment, but they won’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you,PP, that is an excellent post.
I have a gritty and technical DD but she is slender build and not tall. She doesn’t have that soccer look with big leg muscles and low center of gravity. So while she is fast, aggressive, and technical, she just looks like she wouldn’t be that strong.
What I have seen from a current coach is that physicality seems more important than the other traits, even when it’s not effective and the player loses the ball 9 times out of 10. So if that is that coach’s personal preference, there isnt much to be done.
What she really wants to know is: is it just that, or are there other gaps that she doesn’t know about? And that is where the request for feedback is falling flat.
It is a school team, so fortunately short season.

You touched upon a very important point. There is very much an unconscious bias when it comes to smaller players. If a big, strong kid loses a ball three times, it's mentally processed as unlucky or good defense. If a tiny kid loses the ball three times, he/she is not big enough to keep possession, pull them out! Even the coaches who are very comfortable rostering and playing smaller players fall victim to this thinking. To some degree, it's human nature. To use a baseball analogy, Jose Altuve hit more home runs one year than Aaron Judge...we can all guess who managers and pitchers thought was the more intimidating of the two.

This is American soccer at its worst. We prioritize the wrong things (speed and strength) and focus on winning only. Eventually the big, strong, fast kids will get caught up by the rest and their technical ability and soccer IQ won't be up to par. Love coaches who are brave enough to go against the grain and find the small, techy players. You know...like the rest of the world.

We have a toxic coach that has stated to parents that he prefers a bigger kid over a more talented one. He wants kids working hitting and pushing more than touch, dribbling, passing or footwork. He’s kinda looked upon by the whole team as a moron.

My small player left that team. lol

Is your DC happier and playing for a better team?

Yes! Scoring and playing most of the game. After riding the bench and watching team lose all the time. Such better coaching and highly skilled teammates with soccer IQ.

[Anonymous]

Can someone name some 5’6” players who are dominating the international game right now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone name some 5’6” players who are dominating the international game right now?

Average height of the goal scorers in the Man City vs Arsenal game today was 6’3”, but here in DC blog land there are people calling for the USMNT to get shorter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you,PP, that is an excellent post.
I have a gritty and technical DD but she is slender build and not tall. She doesn’t have that soccer look with big leg muscles and low center of gravity. So while she is fast, aggressive, and technical, she just looks like she wouldn’t be that strong.
What I have seen from a current coach is that physicality seems more important than the other traits, even when it’s not effective and the player loses the ball 9 times out of 10. So if that is that coach’s personal preference, there isnt much to be done.
What she really wants to know is: is it just that, or are there other gaps that she doesn’t know about? And that is where the request for feedback is falling flat.
It is a school team, so fortunately short season.

You touched upon a very important point. There is very much an unconscious bias when it comes to smaller players. If a big, strong kid loses a ball three times, it's mentally processed as unlucky or good defense. If a tiny kid loses the ball three times, he/she is not big enough to keep possession, pull them out! Even the coaches who are very comfortable rostering and playing smaller players fall victim to this thinking. To some degree, it's human nature. To use a baseball analogy, Jose Altuve hit more home runs one year than Aaron Judge...we can all guess who managers and pitchers thought was the more intimidating of the two.

This is American soccer at its worst. We prioritize the wrong things (speed and strength) and focus on winning only. Eventually the big, strong, fast kids will get caught up by the rest and their technical ability and soccer IQ won't be up to par. Love coaches who are brave enough to go against the grain and find the small, techy players. You know...like the rest of the world.

We have a toxic coach that has stated to parents that he prefers a bigger kid over a more talented one. He wants kids working hitting and pushing more than touch, dribbling, passing or footwork. He’s kinda looked upon by the whole team as a moron.

My small player left that team. lol

Is your DC happier and playing for a better team?

Yes! Scoring and playing most of the game. After riding the bench and watching team lose all the time. Such better coaching and highly skilled teammates with soccer IQ.

That’s awesome! I know you probably don’t want to out yourself but if u can, please share club. Lots of parents want to know where they can take their small kids to play and be given a fair shot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone name some 5’6” players who are dominating the international game right now?

Messi is 5'7" BTW.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you,PP, that is an excellent post.
I have a gritty and technical DD but she is slender build and not tall. She doesn’t have that soccer look with big leg muscles and low center of gravity. So while she is fast, aggressive, and technical, she just looks like she wouldn’t be that strong.
What I have seen from a current coach is that physicality seems more important than the other traits, even when it’s not effective and the player loses the ball 9 times out of 10. So if that is that coach’s personal preference, there isnt much to be done.
What she really wants to know is: is it just that, or are there other gaps that she doesn’t know about? And that is where the request for feedback is falling flat.
It is a school team, so fortunately short season.

You touched upon a very important point. There is very much an unconscious bias when it comes to smaller players. If a big, strong kid loses a ball three times, it's mentally processed as unlucky or good defense. If a tiny kid loses the ball three times, he/she is not big enough to keep possession, pull them out! Even the coaches who are very comfortable rostering and playing smaller players fall victim to this thinking. To some degree, it's human nature. To use a baseball analogy, Jose Altuve hit more home runs one year than Aaron Judge...we can all guess who managers and pitchers thought was the more intimidating of the two.

This is American soccer at its worst. We prioritize the wrong things (speed and strength) and focus on winning only. Eventually the big, strong, fast kids will get caught up by the rest and their technical ability and soccer IQ won't be up to par. Love coaches who are brave enough to go against the grain and find the small, techy players. You know...like the rest of the world.

Yeah, you're exactly right, just look at Haaland and Ronaldo, they're tiny.

Those two players dismantle the whole statement...well done.

You’re right because the greatest of all time, Maradona Pele and Messi are giants.

Try a little harder next time and not just toss out players you've never seen play. Pele was only small in comparison to playing grown adults when he was a teenager turning pro, he was an average height and build as a kid and as he matured into his later teens and twenties he was an average height and build for his era, he was never considered a small player. Maradona was short, but he's never been considered a small player, he had a thick and muscular build and was also fast as well while being incredibly technical.

[Anonymous]

Don't know about this season, but the MLS top five salaries last year were below. Does that mean they dominated? Not necessarily, and I know some will say MLS is weak and that's not global dominance.. But Acosta won the MVP in a league with plenty of size, and I heard Messi is not too bad. (Keep in mind, all men lie an inch or two. These are their listed heights.)
Messi 5'7"
Shaqiri 5'5"
Insigne 5'4"
Acosta 5'3"
Chicarito 5'9"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't know about this season, but the MLS top five salaries last year were below. Does that mean they dominated? Not necessarily, and I know some will say MLS is weak and that's not global dominance.. But Acosta won the MVP in a league with plenty of size, and I heard Messi is not too bad. (Keep in mind, all men lie an inch or two. These are their listed heights.)
Messi 5'7"
Shaqiri 5'5"
Insigne 5'4"
Acosta 5'3"
Chicarito 5'9"

I think PP answered your question definitively. The top four paid players of the highest league of the country you live in are all under 5'6". So apparently it's not a big mans sport. Also probably not a coincidence that none of these guys came out of the US system. All probably would have been kicked to the curb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't know about this season, but the MLS top five salaries last year were below. Does that mean they dominated? Not necessarily, and I know some will say MLS is weak and that's not global dominance.. But Acosta won the MVP in a league with plenty of size, and I heard Messi is not too bad. (Keep in mind, all men lie an inch or two. These are their listed heights.)
Messi 5'7"
Shaqiri 5'5"
Insigne 5'4"
Acosta 5'3"
Chicarito 5'9"

I think PP answered your question definitively. The top four paid players of the highest league of the country you live in are all under 5'6". So apparently it's not a big mans sport. Also probably not a coincidence that none of these guys came out of the US system. All probably would have been kicked to the curb.

Highly unlikely these players would have been "kicked to the curb." You are simply awash in confirmation bias and can't see anything other than what you wish to see.

[Anonymous]

Oh wow, there are like 7 guys! And most of them are on verge of retirement or dead.

[Anonymous]

So the other 95% of players are not short! Thanks

[Anonymous]

Messi is taller than the average human man, 5.68 inches. So grouping him into as a short player actually makes the case that soccer is a tall man’s game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Messi is taller than the average human man, 5.68 inches. So grouping him into as a short player actually makes the case that soccer is a tall man’s game.

Did you grow up in the Philippines in the 50's? Because the average man is not 5'6" tall in the world I live in.