I’m a ViVA 2005B parent. My son is leaving the club due to the uncertainty over field space and everything else, but I do want to correct a lot of the bad info in this thread. I won’t address the personal attacks as I suspect most readers can see those for what they are.

1. The 05s are a very good team and will be very good again next year. A few players are leaving but there are many good players staying and some quality new players arriving.

2. All credit to Kickers who deserved to win the State Cup final which is apparently posted on YouTube. However, this was the match when the emotional toll of everything going on caught up with the viva team, word got out about players leaving, etc. The day before they very easily dispatched a decent Stafford team 5-0 and they bounced back to win the top flight of the Potomac tournament at the end of May. Now on to Chicago for the Club Soccer National Playoffs.

3. I disagree with the “kick-and-run” criticism. The 05s have fast players and players who can accurately deliver long passes. They create a lot of counterattacking opportunities. But they don’t lob the ball 20 yards ahead of everyone and try to win a foot race. If anything, Kickers did that more in the game linked on YouTube nearby. (I was on that sideline not far from the Kickers’ cameramen- they had two cameras going for some reason). The Viva 2005s play out of the back plenty but certainly not always and probably less so in tournaments. They’re not Barcelona and it’s ok to take fewer risks in a Cup final, even for the kids.

4. Every coach has their own style, and I understand from reading these comments that Bo has some detractors. But, IMO, he is a good coach who motivates and teaches while letting his players play. He genuinely cares for his players and fosters good relationships with them. This in turn allows him to coach them effectively.

5. The Spain coaches are there to train the American coaches. Not the players directly. They’ve been clear about that from the beginning. It’s ludicrous to watch one field level video of American 8th graders and proclaim “I don’t see the La Liga influence.” This was always intended to be a long-term process and the youngers will by definition get more out of it than the olders.

6. I understand most but certainly not all players are returning to viva. I don’t know how many will stay with ABGC. It seems like many coaches are going with Viva but I don’t know the exact numbers. We had a positive soccer experience with Bo and had no intention of leaving until the management issues blew up. We wish Bo and his players success and will continue to follow the team and the program.

those habits are formed early.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD2DxcIkWSU

Let us know which style of play you think is better.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Imagine thinking that what France and Liverpool achieve with professionals at the top of their field translates to what is best for a youth player’s development.

True. And there is not a single player on either of those teams who could not play absolutely elite possession-based soccer at the drop of a hat (and all of them almost certainly were developed in that way). Nobody at any elite level played kickball in their formative years.

Exactly, very critical point. You cannot play zero IQ soccer for 6-7 years and then all of a sadden change. Developing of complete players starts early. It is simple - find some say 06-05 teams from European academies on youtube and see how they train and play.

But wait, this contradicts the other clubs attacking VIVA for not fixing everything perfectly in a single year under VCF guidance. Julio made it clear on several occasions that it would be a multi year process to change the mentality. We’re very satisfied with the improvements we’ve seen in such a short period of time. I’ll sit back and enjoy the show of other insecure clubs whining here about Bo.

I also agree with, you can’t change at team in america that has been playing kickball for their whole life to play like professional youth players in spain.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Imagine thinking that what France and Liverpool achieve with professionals at the top of their field translates to what is best for a youth player’s development.

True. And there is not a single player on either of those teams who could not play absolutely elite possession-based soccer at the drop of a hat (and all of them almost certainly were developed in that way). Nobody at any elite level played kickball in their formative years.

Exactly, very critical point. You cannot play zero IQ soccer for 6-7 years and then all of a sadden change. Developing of complete players starts early. It is simple - find some say 06-05 teams from European academies on youtube and see how they train and play.

But wait, this contradicts the other clubs attacking VIVA for not fixing everything perfectly in a single year under VCF guidance. Julio made it clear on several occasions that it would be a multi year process to change the mentality. We’re very satisfied with the improvements we’ve seen in such a short period of time. I’ll sit back and enjoy the show of other insecure clubs whining here about Bo.

100% agree with you

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Imagine thinking that what France and Liverpool achieve with professionals at the top of their field translates to what is best for a youth player’s development.

True. And there is not a single player on either of those teams who could not play absolutely elite possession-based soccer at the drop of a hat (and all of them almost certainly were developed in that way). Nobody at any elite level played kickball in their formative years.

Exactly, very critical point. You cannot play zero IQ soccer for 6-7 years and then all of a sadden change. Developing of complete players starts early. It is simple - find some say 06-05 teams from European academies on youtube and see how they train and play.

But wait, this contradicts the other clubs attacking VIVA for not fixing everything perfectly in a single year under VCF guidance. Julio made it clear on several occasions that it would be a multi year process to change the mentality. We’re very satisfied with the improvements we’ve seen in such a short period of time. I’ll sit back and enjoy the show of other insecure clubs whining here about Bo.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:France won the WC with essentially nothing more than a rock solid D coupled with a hyper fast transition to Mbappe. Ditto for success of the Reds with Virgil in the back and hyper fast transition to Salah / Mane.

And yet all the snowflake beltway dads here criticizing this style of play and labeling it kickball bc their dna deprived little boys can’t keep up with this style. Keep telling yourself you don’t need to be strong and fast in the long run. Smirk.

-Arlington Dad

Arlington Dad, you still do not understand what we are talking about. Fast transition is not the same as kickball you son plays in Arlington. Nobody is against strong fast players - we all need them. I think you missed the point. Not every dead here is a snowflakes from around the beltway. Some of us did play pro in Europe and some coached there.

Arlington Dad watches and has no idea what he is looking at. Like a pig with a wristwatch.

Not a good way to have and educational conversation about soccer. Bo, really, please . Can we just be nice and discuss the sport? After all, Arlington is one of the better programs around. Way better than VIVA or Annandale United had ever been.

We get it you have feelings for bo, you are the one writing negative stuff with emojis so everyone knows its you. Please tell us what bo did to you? Did he hurt your feelings.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:France won the WC with essentially nothing more than a rock solid D coupled with a hyper fast transition to Mbappe. Ditto for success of the Reds with Virgil in the back and hyper fast transition to Salah / Mane.

And yet all the snowflake beltway dads here criticizing this style of play and labeling it kickball bc their dna deprived little boys can’t keep up with this style. Keep telling yourself you don’t need to be strong and fast in the long run. Smirk.

-Arlington Dad

this site is called dc urban moms not dads. lol

i think we can count arlington dads as urban moms

lol

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:France won the WC with essentially nothing more than a rock solid D coupled with a hyper fast transition to Mbappe. Ditto for success of the Reds with Virgil in the back and hyper fast transition to Salah / Mane.

And yet all the snowflake beltway dads here criticizing this style of play and labeling it kickball bc their dna deprived little boys can’t keep up with this style. Keep telling yourself you don’t need to be strong and fast in the long run. Smirk.

-Arlington Dad

Arlington Dad, you still do not understand what we are talking about. Fast transition is not the same as kickball you son plays in Arlington. Nobody is against strong fast players - we all need them. I think you missed the point. Not every dead here is a snowflakes from around the beltway. Some of us did play pro in Europe and some coached there.

Arlington Dad watches and has no idea what he is looking at. Like a pig with a wristwatch.

Not a good way to have and educational conversation about soccer. Bo, really, please . Can we just be nice and discuss the sport? After all, Arlington is one of the better programs around. Way better than VIVA or Annandale United had ever been.

Of course both teams have world class players with incredible IQ, technical ability, athleticism and the right mentality.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:France won the WC with essentially nothing more than a rock solid D coupled with a hyper fast transition to Mbappe. Ditto for success of the Reds with Virgil in the back and hyper fast transition to Salah / Mane.

And yet all the snowflake beltway dads here criticizing this style of play and labeling it kickball bc their dna deprived little boys can’t keep up with this style. Keep telling yourself you don’t need to be strong and fast in the long run. Smirk.

-Arlington Dad

Arlington Dad, you still do not understand what we are talking about. Fast transition is not the same as kickball you son plays in Arlington. Nobody is against strong fast players - we all need them. I think you missed the point. Not every dead here is a snowflakes from around the beltway. Some of us did play pro in Europe and some coached there.

Just want to add that making a blanket statement about both teams also doesn’t do them justice and they are not that similar in their approach or tactically. France for the most part played a 4-3-1-2 with a very static back 4 (Pavard and Lucas essentially CBs playing fullback) that was stacked more towards the right side (Mbappe), Giroud as a target man up front and Griezmann in a free role between the lines. Their approach was very similar to what they used in 98 which was a big influence on Deschamps for obvious reasons.

Liverpool on the other hand are much more attack-minded, flexible and look to assert more control than they’d shown in previous seasons. Their fullbacks are essentially second wingers and they could play with balance on the wings, invert them, have one balanced one inverted, while their 9 Firmino primarily dropped into midfield to help link up, but they also used Salah as a 9 to run in behind, or Origi as a more natural 9. Their midfield could also easily shift between 1 holding mid and 2 attacking/supporting mids, or a double pivot with a 10 in front depending on the opposition.

France and Liverpool are not really alike at all.

Agree 100%. But both teams have players with high IQ that allows them to implement the above tactics. It also allows the players to expand the boundaries of their positions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:France won the WC with essentially nothing more than a rock solid D coupled with a hyper fast transition to Mbappe. Ditto for success of the Reds with Virgil in the back and hyper fast transition to Salah / Mane.

And yet all the snowflake beltway dads here criticizing this style of play and labeling it kickball bc their dna deprived little boys can’t keep up with this style. Keep telling yourself you don’t need to be strong and fast in the long run. Smirk.

-Arlington Dad

Arlington Dad, you still do not understand what we are talking about. Fast transition is not the same as kickball you son plays in Arlington. Nobody is against strong fast players - we all need them. I think you missed the point. Not every dead here is a snowflakes from around the beltway. Some of us did play pro in Europe and some coached there.

Arlington Dad watches and has no idea what he is looking at. Like a pig with a wristwatch.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:France won the WC with essentially nothing more than a rock solid D coupled with a hyper fast transition to Mbappe. Ditto for success of the Reds with Virgil in the back and hyper fast transition to Salah / Mane.

And yet all the snowflake beltway dads here criticizing this style of play and labeling it kickball bc their dna deprived little boys can’t keep up with this style. Keep telling yourself you don’t need to be strong and fast in the long run. Smirk.

-Arlington Dad

Arlington Dad, you still do not understand what we are talking about. Fast transition is not the same as kickball you son plays in Arlington. Nobody is against strong fast players - we all need them. I think you missed the point. Not every dead here is a snowflakes from around the beltway. Some of us did play pro in Europe and some coached there.

Just want to add that making a blanket statement about both teams also doesn’t do them justice and they are not that similar in their approach or tactically. France for the most part played a 4-3-1-2 with a very static back 4 (Pavard and Lucas essentially CBs playing fullback) that was stacked more towards the right side (Mbappe), Giroud as a target man up front and Griezmann in a free role between the lines. Their approach was very similar to what they used in 98 which was a big influence on Deschamps for obvious reasons.

Liverpool on the other hand are much more attack-minded, flexible and look to assert more control than they’d shown in previous seasons. Their fullbacks are essentially second wingers and they could play with balance on the wings, invert them, have one balanced one inverted, while their 9 Firmino primarily dropped into midfield to help link up, but they also used Salah as a 9 to run in behind, or Origi as a more natural 9. Their midfield could also easily shift between 1 holding mid and 2 attacking/supporting mids, or a double pivot with a 10 in front depending on the opposition.

France and Liverpool are not really alike at all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Imagine thinking that what France and Liverpool achieve with professionals at the top of their field translates to what is best for a youth player’s development.

True. And there is not a single player on either of those teams who could not play absolutely elite possession-based soccer at the drop of a hat (and all of them almost certainly were developed in that way). Nobody at any elite level played kickball in their formative years.

Exactly, very critical point. You cannot play zero IQ soccer for 6-7 years and then all of a sadden change. Developing of complete players starts early. It is simple - find some say 06-05 teams from European academies on youtube and see how they train and play.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:France won the WC with essentially nothing more than a rock solid D coupled with a hyper fast transition to Mbappe. Ditto for success of the Reds with Virgil in the back and hyper fast transition to Salah / Mane.

And yet all the snowflake beltway dads here criticizing this style of play and labeling it kickball bc their dna deprived little boys can’t keep up with this style. Keep telling yourself you don’t need to be strong and fast in the long run. Smirk.

-Arlington Dad

I think the problem with this comes when these little boys who play cowardly soccer cannot become men and get their butts kicked by the same U11, U12 and U13 teams from clubs that learn how to play with guts and honor. Oh and by the way there are plenty of athletic kids who can play all styles, as long as they learn it.

All soccer players, kids or not (big or small) have to be extremely athletic. I do not think anyone here is saying anything otherwise. What was said is that some (or many) local coaches solely rely on athletic kids that are big for their age in order to win games without really teaching soccer. It is a nice and easy shortcut that unfortunately ends up ruining the players no matter how talented they are. Professional soccer at high level is a combination of IQ and technical and physical ability. A lot of young American players are missing this IQ part and the top level where the can play is USL. This is unfortunate since we have so much talent in Virginia alone.