because they don't need it to succeed in the game

Anonymous wrote:Why? Because everybody else does it so it is a cycle that feeds itself.

If you put out the skilled but smaller kids out against the slightly less skilled and bigger more athletic kids, they will get creamed.

Why is it always assumed that the bigger, more athletic kids don't have as much skill? Just because a player is athletic doesn't mean they don't put in the time to hone the technical skills of a player.

45 pages strong. Yet, everything you needed to know was posted on page 2.

or the skilled but smaller or average sized vs. the equally skilled but bigger sized... you still get creamed.

Why? Because everybody else does it so it is a cycle that feeds itself.

If you put out the skilled but smaller kids out against the slightly less skilled and bigger more athletic kids, they will get creamed.

There are a lot of skilled kids in any given club. Of those, the ones with the strongest athletic attributes are put on the top team.

Anonymous wrote:Final note - Does anyone know how many players are in Arlington's player pool in every age group (2007-2011?) Is it 300? 400?

Factor in the county population plus kids that play in Arlington's program from the areas around the county.

When you have that many players to choose from, selecting the athletically dominant kids that have at least decent skills and putting them on the same team together gives that team a huge leg up on the competition... unless the competition has done the same process.

Baltimore Union, Pipeline SC, are also notorious for selecting players at the younger ages based on size, which is why they win almost every tournament they play in at the younger ages. Loudon, McLean, FCV, and Braddock Road are no different. There is always a mega size difference between the "top tier" team and the second team.

I just have not seen a pervasive use of "size" as a selection criteria. I am aware in some of the clubs you mention that players move up and down among teams in the age group based on skill and commitment. It is true that a coach might want a rangy center back or a giant target forward in the mix, but no real club is picking all the big kids--many can't get around the pitch as well as the little workhorse who buzzes around all match. The beautiful thing about soccer is that there is no prototype body for success in the game.

Anonymous wrote:Not DA related, but positive pro team announcement re Spirit today:

https://www.soccerwire.com/news/pro/washington-spirit-announces-major-tv-deal-for-2019-nwsl-season/

Hopefully the positive announcements continue next week.

More information is always better than less. When people know the reason things are happening, even if it's bad news, they can adjust their expectations and react accordingly. Keeping people in the dark only serves to stir negative emotions. - Simon Sinek

Final note - Does anyone know how many players are in Arlington's player pool in every age group (2007-2011?) Is it 300? 400?

Factor in the county population plus kids that play in Arlington's program from the areas around the county.

When you have that many players to choose from, selecting the athletically dominant kids that have at least decent skills and putting them on the same team together gives that team a huge leg up on the competition... unless the competition has done the same process.

Baltimore Union, Pipeline SC, are also notorious for selecting players at the younger ages based on size, which is why they win almost every tournament they play in at the younger ages. Loudon, McLean, FCV, and Braddock Road are no different. There is always a mega size difference between the "top tier" team and the second team.

Firsthand experience here... if I am incorrect or off base here, please jump in. (my comment is in reference to the girls program)

Some soccer teams that are U9-U12 have "that one player" who should be "playing up" a year because of their athletic ability.

This player scores a chunk of the team's goals because they can kick/pass/shoot harder, run faster, shield the ball better with their body, intercept passes better because of speed, and wins most tackles and 50/50 ball situations.

Dealing with one of these type of players on the other team in 7 versus 7 during U9-U10 can be a handful and change the game. Dealing with 2 or 3 players on the other team in 9 versus 9 can also be a handful and will easily swing the game in one direction.

When you have a club the size of Arlington (or Loudon), instead of having a team with 1-3 players that fit this description, ALL the players on the top team fit this description of being in the early developer category. They also have *some* level of skill, but there are actually more skillful players on the second tier teams.

The only clubs that can put together teams that can compete on an even playing field against another team of 100% overgrown kids for their age are other clubs that draw from a big area, or a "destination" club that people are willing to drive to from other areas.

One argument is that these teams full of players who are ahead of their peers is that there are only a handful of local teams that provide even competition for them to actually play with skills and tactics.

The top tier girls teams in CCL at the younger ages (from the bigger clubs) almost always have bigger-sized players who could play a year above their age group without anyone noticing.

This advantage lasts through U15. Size matters at U9-U12 when the entire team (not just 1,2 or 3 players) is big sized. At U13 and U14, it definitely factors in. At U15/U16, for the first time the game is about the speed of play and "real" soccer.

Players who have had the early physical advantage for 6 or more years now have to play the "right" way, but players who didn't have the early size advantage have been learning the right way from the beginning because they could not dominate games with size.

Being on one of these "bigger sized" teams leads to sloppy individual habits and a false sense of superiority with some players. Some of these players get displaced by more skilled ones (from the same club or from somewhere else) when the physical differences are not as drastic by U15 or U16.

Not DA related, but positive pro team announcement re Spirit today:

https://www.soccerwire.com/news/pro/washington-spirit-announces-major-tv-deal-for-2019-nwsl-season/

Hopefully the positive announcements continue next week.

I agree! I think these are terrible people who trash a club where other people are happy and their daughters are successful. Unless you have actually had a child play at a club you really don’t know what’s being taught at practices, what’s happened with coaches or the parents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ No, I am suggesting that you were arguing against a point that nobody was making. The point was that DA clubs play possession in varying degrees.

If you want to talk Arlington film has been linked to and they are not a boom ball team in the purest sense. They are not a tiki-taka team in the purest sense. That Arlington or WS don’t live up to your expectations of possession Soccer is subjective and really only your opinion.

I agree with this and to add to it, I think PP is more focused on execution than philosophy. I’ve seen both WS and Arlington teams execute possession similarly to the posted example when scrimmaging against inferior opponents. However, when they play superior opponents, the pressure creates mistakes and poor decisions. This is a human factor and says little about the style being taught or even coaching. If you took superior players and gave them to these coaches, I’ll wager they look a lot better in all situations. Or, given more time with the talent they have, the teams will look better. I have seen this at WS, where teams look rough at the start of the year and progress as they year goes on. Other PPs have alluded to another relevant point here: parents and kids are here because it’s a development academy. They are here to learn how to be better players and to learn the right ways to play. Especially in the case of WS, they aren’t there to win their division or nationals, which is a fit since the talent level is not quite where a few others may be. That means that sometimes play will not be executed perfectly as they are exposed to different opposing tactics and ability levels, and the results may not be stellar. And that’s ok. Most of the parents at WS are realistic and know why they are at this club vs the other available options.

So now the argument seems to be that Arlington plays to win instead of putting themselves under pressure and learning to play possession against difficult opponents? Isn't that how you get better? Resorting to long ball for results is not unique to Arlington, it is what is wrong with most of youth and college soccer in this country. Arlington has been playing long ball on the girls side for as long as I have watched them - not just when they joined the DA. Here is link to a game from last July. Most of this team became the DA team. I am open to hearing what times in the video show Arlington attempting to play possession. The times they do not are too numerous to list. This video shows how I have seen Arlington play for several years now - direct, direct and more direct. They have been successful at it but players don't grow as much playing this way - but colleges sure love it.

We get it Johan, Arlignton does not play as elegantly as you'd like. But the big question remains, why do you even care? How does anything Arlington does affect your life or your kid? I never understand these campaigns that people just go on and on about. I get a person would defend their choice and the club that their kid plays for (this is not me, I have no kid at Arlington). But I never understand why people just feel the need to attack clubs that they have no affiliation with. There is no real consequential higher truth that needs to be illuminated here so why all the effort?

The only reasons I can fathom are:
1. They cut your kid some time ago.
2. They beat your kids team and they do it in a style that you have been told is crude and should not be successful. That your team, "that plays the right way" simply can't get past teams like Arlington and it just ticks you off.
3. Someone you know is at Arlington and they just brag, brag, brag.

How about you just say where your kid plays and talk about why it is better there and why you are so happy. Sell your clubs elegant possession instead of attacking another club. You can probably list 5-6 clubs in the area who play a committed style of possession and talk them UP without ever trashing a club. Knowing that possession is played in degrees mentioning the clubs that more closely play to your ideals is simply a better way to illustrate your points and they have the added benefit of not making you sound like a petty douche.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ No, I am suggesting that you were arguing against a point that nobody was making. The point was that DA clubs play possession in varying degrees.

If you want to talk Arlington film has been linked to and they are not a boom ball team in the purest sense. They are not a tiki-taka team in the purest sense. That Arlington or WS don’t live up to your expectations of possession Soccer is subjective and really only your opinion.

I agree with this and to add to it, I think PP is more focused on execution than philosophy. I’ve seen both WS and Arlington teams execute possession similarly to the posted example when scrimmaging against inferior opponents. However, when they play superior opponents, the pressure creates mistakes and poor decisions. This is a human factor and says little about the style being taught or even coaching. If you took superior players and gave them to these coaches, I’ll wager they look a lot better in all situations. Or, given more time with the talent they have, the teams will look better. I have seen this at WS, where teams look rough at the start of the year and progress as they year goes on. Other PPs have alluded to another relevant point here: parents and kids are here because it’s a development academy. They are here to learn how to be better players and to learn the right ways to play. Especially in the case of WS, they aren’t there to win their division or nationals, which is a fit since the talent level is not quite where a few others may be. That means that sometimes play will not be executed perfectly as they are exposed to different opposing tactics and ability levels, and the results may not be stellar. And that’s ok. Most of the parents at WS are realistic and know why they are at this club vs the other available options.

So now the argument seems to be that Arlington plays to win instead of putting themselves under pressure and learning to play possession against difficult opponents? Isn't that how you get better? Resorting to long ball for results is not unique to Arlington, it is what is wrong with most of youth and college soccer in this country. Arlington has been playing long ball on the girls side for as long as I have watched them - not just when they joined the DA. Here is link to a game from last July. Most of this team became the DA team. I am open to hearing what times in the video show Arlington attempting to play possession. The times they do not are too numerous to list. This video shows how I have seen Arlington play for several years now - direct, direct and more direct. They have been successful at it but players don't grow as much playing this way - but colleges sure love it.

Forgot the link...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypdoinkdyd4

I'm sure it improved but the first 7 minutes showed a lack of playing soccer but the ball just bouncing everywhere. Where they did try to keep it on the ground, the passes were always behind the intended target. What's with the Phila coach, omg so much screaming and nothing tactical.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^ No, I am suggesting that you were arguing against a point that nobody was making. The point was that DA clubs play possession in varying degrees.

If you want to talk Arlington film has been linked to and they are not a boom ball team in the purest sense. They are not a tiki-taka team in the purest sense. That Arlington or WS don’t live up to your expectations of possession Soccer is subjective and really only your opinion.

I agree with this and to add to it, I think PP is more focused on execution than philosophy. I’ve seen both WS and Arlington teams execute possession similarly to the posted example when scrimmaging against inferior opponents. However, when they play superior opponents, the pressure creates mistakes and poor decisions. This is a human factor and says little about the style being taught or even coaching. If you took superior players and gave them to these coaches, I’ll wager they look a lot better in all situations. Or, given more time with the talent they have, the teams will look better. I have seen this at WS, where teams look rough at the start of the year and progress as they year goes on. Other PPs have alluded to another relevant point here: parents and kids are here because it’s a development academy. They are here to learn how to be better players and to learn the right ways to play. Especially in the case of WS, they aren’t there to win their division or nationals, which is a fit since the talent level is not quite where a few others may be. That means that sometimes play will not be executed perfectly as they are exposed to different opposing tactics and ability levels, and the results may not be stellar. And that’s ok. Most of the parents at WS are realistic and know why they are at this club vs the other available options.

So now the argument seems to be that Arlington plays to win instead of putting themselves under pressure and learning to play possession against difficult opponents? Isn't that how you get better? Resorting to long ball for results is not unique to Arlington, it is what is wrong with most of youth and college soccer in this country. Arlington has been playing long ball on the girls side for as long as I have watched them - not just when they joined the DA. Here is link to a game from last July. Most of this team became the DA team. I am open to hearing what times in the video show Arlington attempting to play possession. The times they do not are too numerous to list. This video shows how I have seen Arlington play for several years now - direct, direct and more direct. They have been successful at it but players don't grow as much playing this way - but colleges sure love it.

Forgot the link...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypdoinkdyd4