As my brother loves to say (he played pro):

Only 2 things you should be doing on the field:

Putting a ball in the net or stopping a ball from going in the net.

If you can't do either, you shouldn't be out there.

Truthfully, as subjective as the sport is ---you are on nobody's radar unless you score many goals or are saving many goals. It's the only way you get your name out there and one of the truly 'objective' measures out there.

We tell our kids all the time---the kids they think suck (boot ballers)---well they have been lucky with some going in the net which is why the High School coach and travel coach plays them. It doesn't matter how many pretty through balls you put on someone else's feet or how well you are controlling the midfield. They only care about the points on the scoreboard because that wins the game. Period. Mic drop.

Coaches should be banned from saying “our focus is on technical development” or “immediate results are less important than developing players for the long-term” while they just keep picking the biggest fastest kids and playing kick and run to win a tournament.

My unpopular opinion? Some of the best clubs in the area are the ones that are NEVER mentioned on DCUM

Players can only play goalkeepr a maximum of one out of every five halves of soccer.

At U12 and below, field players cannot play the same position two halves in a row.

Anonymous wrote:Love the bizarro world of this thread where people *criticizing unpopular opinions* are roasted for not abiding by the spirit of the topic. So, to stir the pot...

Goalkeepers should be allowed to use their hands anywhere on the field, even to score goals -- like a team handball player. Huge advantage offensively, but leaves you wide open to a counter-attack!

So what would stop the keeper from just running the ball down the field, across the line, and into the goal? Not like you can tackle him like football.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love the bizarro world of this thread where people *criticizing unpopular opinions* are roasted for not abiding by the spirit of the topic. So, to stir the pot...

Goalkeepers should be allowed to use their hands anywhere on the field, even to score goals -- like a team handball player. Huge advantage offensively, but leaves you wide open to a counter-attack!

Forwards should be able to ride motorcycles.

Hold on - the defenders need them too to keep things competitive.

Anonymous wrote:Forwards should be able to ride motorcycles.

As long as they don't use their hands, ok. We're edging closer to a sport Americans will actually embrace!

Anonymous wrote:Love the bizarro world of this thread where people *criticizing unpopular opinions* are roasted for not abiding by the spirit of the topic. So, to stir the pot...

Goalkeepers should be allowed to use their hands anywhere on the field, even to score goals -- like a team handball player. Huge advantage offensively, but leaves you wide open to a counter-attack!

Forwards should be able to ride motorcycles.

Love the bizarro world of this thread where people *criticizing unpopular opinions* are roasted for not abiding by the spirit of the topic. So, to stir the pot...

Goalkeepers should be allowed to use their hands anywhere on the field, even to score goals -- like a team handball player. Huge advantage offensively, but leaves you wide open to a counter-attack!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Futsal sucks

YES!! Let's pay money to play soccer on a BASKETBALL court. Learning a lot. A lot about money collecting.

Yeah, look at all those fools in Brazil playing futsal! All that money, so little progress in soccer! The only suckers in this world are wealthy American parents shelling out tons of dollars to play absolutely horrendous soccer and exhibiting demonstrable ignorance about soccer and futsal. If your team and club does not play out of the back or develop combination play in tight spaces up and down the field, then I can understand why all of the learning that others do in futsal may be lost on your kids. In the winter, you can have your kid practice field goals instead and the skilled kids on your child's team can sigh over and over again whenever the ball heads your kid's way for another missed or lumbering touch. Enjoy!

Why do you think kids in Brazil started playing futsal, and where do you think they play mostly (indoor or outdoor on asphalt courts)? Hint, it didn’t start out near the Amazon nor in gyms.

Anyhow, futsal can be a great way to develop foot skills, quickness and small space passing skills. However, most of the futsal I’ve seen around here is a poor excuse for that and is simply a way for some coaches to rake in some more dough over the winter. A question I’d have is if outdoor tennis courts and b-ball courts were converted to futsal courts would kids go play on them, or continue to sit inside and play video games instead … and would doing this in inner cities vs. suburbs make a difference?

Mine would! I have driven them around looking for outdoor Futsal courts in Arlington. I only know of two---but the fact they can't bike there or walk to them defeats the purpose. They end up just doing pick up at the high school field or local park they can get to on their own by bike or foot. But, my older son is a diehard Futsal fanatic and we also take him to the outdoor courts in DC (you can see from 395)--my husband got wrecked on them going up for a header last week when the old man court needed another player.

I loved all of the 'cages' in Liverpool and Amsterdam when we visited. My kids played pick up in them when we were over there. There are enough kids in the area that play--mine are also always on the basketball court--that I think they would get used much more than you think.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Such thin skin. Here’s how I handled obnoxious parents back when I reffed and was a 16 or 17 year old kid. I firmly and loudly informed the coach that he would be given a red card if the parents continued their behavior and then one by one his players would be carded. Amazingly enough the “adults” listened to me (the kid) and shut up for the rest of the match.

Not sure why the adult refs today can’t handle this and instead allow unruly behavior to persist.

The easiest way to control parents is to penalize their kid’s team if they act poorly. Don’t penalize them, penalize their kid.

You can't card a player for parent's behavior. That's moronic.

It worked. You’re the moron for thinking rules matter.

Try that nowadays and see what happens.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Such thin skin. Here’s how I handled obnoxious parents back when I reffed and was a 16 or 17 year old kid. I firmly and loudly informed the coach that he would be given a red card if the parents continued their behavior and then one by one his players would be carded. Amazingly enough the “adults” listened to me (the kid) and shut up for the rest of the match.

Not sure why the adult refs today can’t handle this and instead allow unruly behavior to persist.

The easiest way to control parents is to penalize their kid’s team if they act poorly. Don’t penalize them, penalize their kid.

You can't card a player for parent's behavior. That's moronic.

It worked. You’re the moron for thinking rules matter.

Anonymous wrote:No punting past the half way line and you shouldn't be able to head the ball directly from a kick. Only after a bounce, etc.

100% agree.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Such thin skin. Here’s how I handled obnoxious parents back when I reffed and was a 16 or 17 year old kid. I firmly and loudly informed the coach that he would be given a red card if the parents continued their behavior and then one by one his players would be carded. Amazingly enough the “adults” listened to me (the kid) and shut up for the rest of the match.

Not sure why the adult refs today can’t handle this and instead allow unruly behavior to persist.

The easiest way to control parents is to penalize their kid’s team if they act poorly. Don’t penalize them, penalize their kid.

1. This is BS.
2. This is contrary to the laws of the game.

It’s an awesome unpopular opinion.

That’s the best part of this thread, you can have an awful comment and just chalk it up to being ‘unpopular’.

I think more players should score goals using their hands. It might be against the laws of the game, but if the ref doesn’t call it, it’s a goal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Such thin skin. Here’s how I handled obnoxious parents back when I reffed and was a 16 or 17 year old kid. I firmly and loudly informed the coach that he would be given a red card if the parents continued their behavior and then one by one his players would be carded. Amazingly enough the “adults” listened to me (the kid) and shut up for the rest of the match.

Not sure why the adult refs today can’t handle this and instead allow unruly behavior to persist.

The easiest way to control parents is to penalize their kid’s team if they act poorly. Don’t penalize them, penalize their kid.

1. This is BS.
2. This is contrary to the laws of the game.

It’s an awesome unpopular opinion.