s/o: Different play styles between clubs: ASA, McL, Alex, Loudoun

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What is the rigid style Alexandria pushes?


Alexandria pushes the rigid system of passing the ball to a teammate so the team keeps the ball. LOL


They used to play a system where the kids played in very set patterns. Yes it was definitely about passing - but the kids had little flexibility to create. It was very much about having a set of tightly defined rules about how you play out of the back, where kids move, exactly what their options are etc. There wasn't much taught about recognizing what the other team might be doing and changing tactics to adapt.

No idea if it's still this way or not.

It is still that way at U12 at least. My child's team is unable to adapt to handle teams that kick the ball as hard as they can across the field and run - not saying we should necessarily be able to beat them, but how about keeping our defenders further back, since we know this is coming?

My kid’s U12s team has no problem with this. The players are taught to read when to push or drop in the back, keep spatial integrity and communicate. Whether or not kids read it and implement it is up to them at some point. That’s true on any team at this age.

As son as heading became legal at U12, the more direct style did not work as effectively as our defenders are taught not to let those deep kicks hit the ground. When a deep kick comes they usually just head it back forward.

[Anonymous]

Why not receive the ball and possess? Our experience is that the Alexandria play was rigid patterns and a lot of balls moving backwards. It seems like it was more important to pass a ball to their goalie than to score a goal.

[Anonymous]

Arlington is kind of a mix between big and fast, but the best technical players THAT can handle themselves on the field play on the top team. Alexandria does have an emphasis on the team keeping the ball, so a lot of one and two touch stuff. McLean basically takes boys from outside the club the older they get. SYC is either long ball or dribble past them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is kind of a mix between big and fast, but the best technical players THAT can handle themselves on the field play on the top team. Alexandria does have an emphasis on the team keeping the ball, so a lot of one and two touch stuff. McLean basically takes boys from outside the club the older they get. SYC is either long ball or dribble past them.

Nah. Best technical players are not on top team. If that were the case rosters would look very different.

[Anonymous]

Our experience is that the Alexandria play was rigid patterns and a lot of balls moving backwards. It seems like it was more important to pass a ball to their goalie than to score a goal.

I think the problem is, for the kids that are not on red and white, and thus not as strong of players, there is a tendency to pass backwards whenever the kids experience any pressure at all from the opposing team. But the kids are supposed to be evaluating whether it is pressure that they can handle (and keep moving forward), or pressure that requires passing back and resetting.

[Anonymous]

Why is Arlington Red '05 so low down in CCL standings? I keep hearing how ASA is so great, but they are ranked #10 out of 18 currently.

Are there extenuating circumstances there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is Arlington Red '05 so low down in CCL standings? I keep hearing how ASA is so great, but they are ranked #10 out of 18 currently.

Are there extenuating circumstances there?

It's their 2nd team in the age group with a huge roster that doesn't change much. The focus is on their first team which is in ECNL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is Arlington Red '05 so low down in CCL standings? I keep hearing how ASA is so great, but they are ranked #10 out of 18 currently.

Are there extenuating circumstances there?

It's their 2nd team in the age group with a huge roster that doesn't change much. The focus is on their first team which is in ECNL.

Oh. I looked at standings in gotsoccer--other 2nd teams are ranked much higher. So it's the first team that pulls them into certain leagues? How much movement is there between their 2nd team and the ECNL team?

[Anonymous]

It's team and coach dependent for all of these Clubs.

nobody has a distinctive style when you get to the older age groups.

You can't when you recruit from your top teams all over the DMV and the kids coming in all played different styles---many just physical and kick and run which then frustrates any players that were developed tactically not just technically up until U15/16, especially if you are a center mid. damn fools have no idea where to move and fail to use the middle a lot of the time.

[Anonymous]

McLean's and Loudoun's styles are Harry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is Arlington Red '05 so low down in CCL standings? I keep hearing how ASA is so great, but they are ranked #10 out of 18 currently.

Are there extenuating circumstances there?

It's their 2nd team in the age group with a huge roster that doesn't change much. The focus is on their first team which is in ECNL.

Oh. I looked at standings in gotsoccer--other 2nd teams are ranked much higher. So it's the first team that pulls them into certain leagues? How much movement is there between their 2nd team and the ECNL team?

Gotsoccer isn't really a ranking system - the more tournaments you enter, the more points you get, even if you lose most of your games! You should use youthsoccer instead which actually looks at the results of individual games, accounts for the strength of each opponent, and adjusts the ranking up or down accordingly. I suspect you would find they are amongst the top second teams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is Arlington Red '05 so low down in CCL standings? I keep hearing how ASA is so great, but they are ranked #10 out of 18 currently.

Are there extenuating circumstances there?

It's their 2nd team in the age group with a huge roster that doesn't change much. The focus is on their first team which is in ECNL.

Oh. I looked at standings in gotsoccer--other 2nd teams are ranked much higher. So it's the first team that pulls them into certain leagues? How much movement is there between their 2nd team and the ECNL team?

Addressing your second question - most years 3-4 kids from the second team practise with the first team and 1-2 move up. I'm not sure whether there will be any movement up this year though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's team and coach dependent for all of these Clubs.

nobody has a distinctive style when you get to the older age groups. You can't when you recruit from your top teams all over the DMV and the kids coming in all played different styles

I don't agree with this. Some clubs do manage a distinctive style although I agree even then it can vary a little from coach to coach. And yes - integrating new kids and getting them to play the right way takes a little while - so you won;t always see the style in August or September. But by February/March they have usually adapted.

---many just physical and kick and run which then frustrates any players that were developed tactically not just technically up until U15/16, especially if you are a center mid. damn fools have no idea where to move and fail to use the middle a lot of the time.

Indeed. But there are also clubs which don't play this way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's team and coach dependent for all of these Clubs.

nobody has a distinctive style when you get to the older age groups. You can't when you recruit from your top teams all over the DMV and the kids coming in all played different styles

I don't agree with this. Some clubs do manage a distinctive style although I agree even then it can vary a little from coach to coach. And yes - integrating new kids and getting them to play the right way takes a little while - so you won;t always see the style in August or September. But by February/March they have usually adapted.

---many just physical and kick and run which then frustrates any players that were developed tactically not just technically up until U15/16, especially if you are a center mid. damn fools have no idea where to move and fail to use the middle a lot of the time.

Indeed. But there are also clubs which don't play this way.

Yep our club does not use the midfield or believe in possession...like at all. The other teams are get better and better vs our team. It is eye opening to watch. We still win but not by 5 goals. Its like by one or two goals but if it continues(and it will, same coach next year) we will be losing by September.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's team and coach dependent for all of these Clubs.

nobody has a distinctive style when you get to the older age groups. You can't when you recruit from your top teams all over the DMV and the kids coming in all played different styles

I don't agree with this. Some clubs do manage a distinctive style although I agree even then it can vary a little from coach to coach. And yes - integrating new kids and getting them to play the right way takes a little while - so you won;t always see the style in August or September. But by February/March they have usually adapted.

---many just physical and kick and run which then frustrates any players that were developed tactically not just technically up until U15/16, especially if you are a center mid. damn fools have no idea where to move and fail to use the middle a lot of the time.

Indeed. But there are also clubs which don't play this way.

Yep our club does not use the midfield or believe in possession...like at all. The other teams are get better and better vs our team. It is eye opening to watch. We still win but not by 5 goals. Its like by one or two goals but if it continues(and it will, same coach next year) we will be losing by September.

What age group?