Reply to CONCACAF U-15 Boys Championship

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Did anyone actually watch the match?  Interested to hear opinions.  I checked out the start through Costa Rica's second (PK from an obvious foul).  Despite being down 2 at that point, I don't think the US squad was seriously outplayed.  they had several good chances on which the CR keeper made excellent saves.  I wonder if they continued to create more chances than CR but were stymied.  [/quote]

Yes.  I watched the game.  I am the original poster.

Better than the match against Saudi Arabia but our quality in fundamentals was clearly lacking time and time again.  Flashes of good play from individual players but no concept of how to work together and even less ability to consistently connect passes with both feet.  One big sign of quality in a player is the ability to control crappy passes and messy play.  We had much less of that in display.  A few players did stand out and we didn't get dominated at all. We had a few more chances in the second half when the lineup changed but not much more.  The goalie from CR was a beast.  Seriously good.  But still, the loss was deserved.

BUT for all of the time and investment the sport has in this country, even by the suckers on this forum who fork over big bucks each year to have their kids be average players at best, we should have WAY better quality than we showed today.

Costa Rica wasn't a bad team.  But they definitely deserved to win and were the better side.  Out of desperation tomorrow, I think the coaching staff of the US team will do everything in their power to get a result against Canada.  To save face. But unfortunately, they can't rely on speedy players running by everyone or overpowering smaller players and that also won't work against Canada.  Unless they play football, we will be out of this tournament in the group stage which will send a shockwave through our system.  As it should.  Unfortunately, this team isn't capable of playing a brand of football that can beat world class teams.  Glorified kick and run with some individuals dribbling here and there.  That is all.  Sad.[/quote]

One questions is how much have these kids played together? It wouldn't surprise me that Costa Rica and many other age group national times play/practice a ton more -- which may also be a factor. That would explain why they're more individual and direct.[/quote]

National team squads don't get to practice much together as a general rule.  I would say practice time is about equal across the board.  You could make an argument that some of these smaller Countries can gather their teams more just because the logistics are way easier.  But also, these smaller Countries don't have the resources we do getting pumped into their federations.  They are just better at doing more with their kids with less.

Go on any discussion, x/twitter, reddit etc. and look at the commentary on the performance.  The critique is all the same.  The system is broken.  This team is said to have many political choices in the roster with MLS clubs jockeying behind the scenes with USSF to get their players on the squad (and succeeding). It isn't a meritocracy and there are better players in the pool (both here with many more  in Europe) than who we put on the field.  That just can't be in a country with our means, sophistication and talent. The coach is also not the best either.  Another big problem in our system.  Not enough quality coaches to get the kids to higher levels.

Let's see what happens today but I strongly believe the US will get knocked out of the group and competition.  I predict they tie Canada. This would be a travesty and shows that our federation is going in the wrong direction.  You see this on the field every weekend across our country.  In the DMV specifically, you see this at DC United but x100.  Poor football, coaching, philosophical approach to the game is weak, reliance on physical attributes as opposed to mental and decision making skills.  It's just really bad.

CONCACAF is not the strongest collection of nations in global football and we are BY FAR the country in CONCACAF with the most resources available for the youth teams.  To not totally dominate the group stages in this tournament is an embarrassment.

I don't fault the kids and players at all.  They are trying their best and hardest and are to be commended for their effort.  I fault every person in the USSF which is proving to be an absolutely useless and corrupt governing body of the sport in our country.  If we want to be better, we need to clean out the USSF and get rid of all of the establishment soccer people in our country and bring in more quality people with better ideas and stronger experiences on a global stage.

It's one tournament, some might say, and you could buy that argument.  But to me, it's the prime.examlle why becoming a world class footballer is almost impossible if you're taught solely in the US.  You have to go overseas if you want to maximize your potential as a player.   There isn't enough knowledge here and the system is not built around player development...it is built around business and making money in the US.  Interestingly, the systems in all the sophisticated soccer countries are also about making money.

BUT they have figured out that making money, sustained money, stems from having the most quality players and selling them. This is the business of soccer overseas.  In America, the business of soccer is marketing and selling game day tickets.  The structure and incentives for player development aren't aligned.  This tournament has exposed it all. [/quote]

There is also a lot of exceptionalism involved in US soccer. We are special, we have the most unique athletes (just look at how we dominate the world in the Super Bowl!) and if it is not the same with soccer then we can easily fix it. Everyone seems to think if we just dig deep enough and sift through enough fast dribblers with crazy hair, that we will discover the American Messi and all will be set right with world. And we keep IDing these young Messi's and are super excited until they're on a stage like this and are missing fundamental aspects of the game. But never fear, the next American Messi is just around the corner, and this one has the craziest hair and best Instagram account you have ever seen! [/quote]

Assuming this is sarcasm and cynicism [/quote]

That American Messi couldn't get ID-ed because pay-to-play system....[/quote]

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