I'll go a step further. At U-15, Spirit didn't start their best striker, best midfielder, best defender, or best goalie. Make of that what you will, but I'd propose that winning games may not be their top priority. Too bad. Where was their best striker at? That could have been a game changer. Did she play up? |
I'll go a step further. At U-15, Spirit didn't start their best striker, best midfielder, best defender, or best goalie. Make of that what you will, but I'd propose that winning games may not be their top priority. That is a great theory, except Tom told the girls he wants wins. Also, best players according to you, I'm assuming? |
|
Too bad. Where was their best striker at? That could have been a game changer. Did she play up?
Their best striker (and recent NTC participant) was sitting on the bench, while they started an underage play-up. Nothing against playups but they do affect scorelines, especially when they displace superior on-age players. Definitely could have been a game changer in a 1-goal game. I for one would love to see Spirit put their best XI on the field at some point, but that just hasn't been their focus in the first 30+ games I've seen. |
Their best striker (and recent NTC participant) was sitting on the bench, while they started an underage play-up. Nothing against playups but they do affect scorelines, especially when they displace superior on-age players. Definitely could have been a game changer in a 1-goal game. I for one would love to see Spirit put their best XI on the field at some point, but that just hasn't been their focus in the first 30+ games I've seen. Oh man. What a shame. Was she able to impact the game when she got in atleast? |
|
Arlington U15’s:
17 man roster 14 players dressed 3 left off for unknown reason. Can dress 18 8 players played 80 minutes (entire game) The remaining 6 players played the following minutes: 1 -22 min 1 – 16 min 1 – 58 min 1 – 64 min 1- 57 min 1 -23 min As you can see, 11 players (strongest I presume) played the majority of the game. Since they keep an extremely small roster, they are no subjected to a big talent drop off. Smart on their part. The game was 4-1 with 11 minutes left. At that point, it was a whooping! After Penn Fusion made their subs, Arlington scored at 69 (11 minutes left) and 76 (4 minutes). Now, I commend them for a hard fought game. I’m sure the will find plenty of success this year…but let’s not go overboard. Arlington will be competitive because they will play their best the majority of minutes. Some clubs don’t. Some clubs spread the love |
|
I'll go a step further. At U-15, Spirit didn't start their best striker, best midfielder, best defender, or best goalie. Make of that what you will, but I'd propose that winning games may not be their top priority. That is a great theory, except Tom told the girls he wants wins. Also, best players according to you, I'm assuming? Of course Tom "wants" to win, but with the 2004 team's cumulative record sitting at something like 2-27-3, I don't think he's ever prioritized winning over getting playing time for some of his "developing players". Yes, best players according to me. Simply my opinion. Feel free to share yours. |
I'll go a step further. At U-15, Spirit didn't start their best striker, best midfielder, best defender, or best goalie. Make of that what you will, but I'd propose that winning games may not be their top priority. This sounds like alot of what-if's to me. At these levels there is always that play-up that gets brought down. Everyone has to deal with that. And that marvelous striker to push them over the top is what many youth teams crave. "If we only could hit the net, we'd have killed them." uh huh. While spreading playing time across the whole squad is admirable, in my experience, those players at the top of the depth chart will quickly tire of losing. "Hey superstar please come to my club, ... we lose all the time, and you won't get to play more than half the game, but hey, the training is great." |
|
Ladies and Gentleman – this is the top 25 04 DA club rankings in the nation from last year...out of 60 some clubs. Note that Penn Fusion and Cedar Stars were ranked top 12 in the nation. Losing by one goal is not a disappointment. Spirit and Arlington held their own. So chill
1. TH Tophat (24-1-2) PCT: 0.9259 OPP: 0.5174 OPOP: 0.4892 RPI: 0.6125 GD: 123 2 Real Colorado (22-1-1) PCT: 0.9375 OPP: 0.4904 OPOP: 0.5132 RPI: 0.6079 GD: 109 3 FC Dallas (21-2-4) PCT: 0.8519 OPP: 0.5124 OPOP: 0.5142 RPI: 0.5977 GD: 77 4 San Diego Surf (22-1-9) PCT: 0.8281 OPP: 0.5103 OPOP: 0.5227 RPI: 0.5929 GD: 64 5 Penn Fusion Soccer Academy (21-3-4) PCT: 0.8214 OPP: 0.5223 OPOP: 0.4982 RPI: 0.5911 GD: 62 6 Legends FC (22-7-3) PCT: 0.7344 OPP: 0.5188 OPOP: 0.5217 RPI: 0.5734 GD: 51 7 Beach Futbol Club (21-6-5) PCT: 0.7344 OPP: 0.511 OPOP: 0.5223 RPI: 0.5697 GD: 42 8 Reign Academy (14-2-8) PCT: 0.75 OPP: 0.5176 OPOP: 0.487 RPI: 0.568 GD: 36 9 San Jose Earthquakes (21-3-4) PCT: 0.8214 OPP: 0.4703 OPOP: 0.5007 RPI: 0.5657 GD: 67 10 Cincinnati Development Academy (14-4-6) PCT: 0.7083 OPP: 0.5203 OPOP: 0.5131 RPI: 0.5655 GD: 21 11 Real So Cal (18-9-5) PCT: 0.6406 OPP: 0.5485 OPOP: 0.5192 RPI: 0.5642 GD: 20 12 Cedar Stars Academy - Monmouth (16-5-7) PCT: 0.6964 OPP: 0.5297 OPOP: 0.4981 RPI: 0.5635 GD: 31 13 LA Galaxy San Diego (18-5-8) PCT: 0.7097 OPP: 0.5108 OPOP: 0.5201 RPI: 0.5629 GD: 41 14 NC Courage (17-6-4) PCT: 0.7037 OPP: 0.5111 OPOP: 0.4914 RPI: 0.5543 GD: 39 15 Orlando Pride (20-5-3) PCT: 0.7679 OPP: 0.4822 OPOP: 0.4794 RPI: 0.5529 GD: 66 16 Nationals (13-8-3) PCT: 0.6042 OPP: 0.5456 OPOP: 0.5087 RPI: 0.551 GD: 11 17 Eclipse Select Soccer Club (14-6-4) PCT: 0.6667 OPP: 0.5057 OPOP: 0.5175 RPI: 0.5489 GD: 22 18 Colorado Rush (15-7-3) PCT: 0.66 OPP: 0.513 OPOP: 0.5086 RPI: 0.5486 GD: 37 19 Concorde Fire (15-8-4) PCT: 0.6296 OPP: 0.5163 OPOP: 0.4915 RPI: 0.5384 GD: 43 20 Sky Blue - PDA (16-8-4) PCT: 0.6429 OPP: 0.5037 OPOP: 0.5013 RPI: 0.5379 GD: 53 21 LAFC Slammers (16-12-3) PCT: 0.5645 OPP: 0.525 OPOP: 0.5207 RPI: 0.5338 GD: 23 22 SC del Sol (16-10-6) PCT: 0.5938 OPP: 0.5088 OPOP: 0.5181 RPI: 0.5323 GD: -4 23 Solar Soccer Club (16-8-3) PCT: 0.6481 OPP: 0.479 OPOP: 0.5195 RPI: 0.5314 GD: 36 24 Placer United SC (14-8-6) PCT: 0.6071 OPP: 0.4971 OPOP: 0.4975 RPI: 0.5247 GD: 15 25 FC Virginia (16-8-4) PCT: 0.6429 OPP: 0.4763 OPOP: 0.5026 RPI: 0.5245 GD: 29 |
|
And much like Arlington getting 2 goals at the end after Penn Fusion made their subs...so did Stars against WS during the U17 game.
It was a 1-0 game until the 60 minute Then 3 goals in 10 minutes. 60, 65, 70 End..4-0 Wasnt there to watch...but that's what it looks like on paper. |
Their best striker (and recent NTC participant) was sitting on the bench, while they started an underage play-up. Nothing against playups but they do affect scorelines, especially when they displace superior on-age players. Definitely could have been a game changer in a 1-goal game. I for one would love to see Spirit put their best XI on the field at some point, but that just hasn't been their focus in the first 30+ games I've seen. Why would a NTC Striker be sitting on the bench? |
| Don't forget, Arlington U14s actually won their game against Penn Fusion. |
High Five - to the side -Down low - youre too slow |
That's good. That means they can compete. Real meaningful games, regardless of the outcome, is the goal. Crushing a team or getting crushed is not beneficial to anyone. |
| There is a post stating Spirit DA 02/03 lost to the Arlington 03 Pre Academy Team today. That is incorrect. It was the Spirit u16 pilot pre Academy team which played, not DA. It was a game in the EDP league. |
I was 50% right, so 50% mea culpa. To me though, if this 05 and 07 will play 100% on the U15 roster, then Spirit is cheating the DA rules of no more than 22 on a roster by always playing them but listing them somewhere else. There is a reason for that rule. As for the U17 record listed, because of all the numbers complaints, Spirit played up three 04s. None of them started of course (nor should they), but that may be how Spirit solves the problem of unhappy parents. |