Former USMNT player Eddie Johnson thoughts on ECNL College Showcase

[Unregistered]

Who is Eddie Johnson? When is the last time the USMNT won a World Cup?

And, who are you?

Doesn't playing in MLS, EPL, and the men's World Cup, along with a professional trainer working on his 'A' license carry more weight than a simpleton on an anonymous message board?

[Unregistered]

It's all about the biggest and fastest sadly.

Maybe your D is on a not so great ECNL team.....

[Unregistered]

And, who are you?

Doesn't playing in MLS, EPL, and the men's World Cup, along with a professional trainer working on his 'A' license carry more weight than a simpleton on an anonymous message board?

Ummmm, not really.

[Unregistered]

Ummmm, not really.

Says the simpleton on an anonymous message board...

[Unregistered]

McBride's Take

Brian McBride, newly appointed General Manager of the US Men's National Team, was asked about his impressions of the game today, and where it's going.

"Well, first, I think we need to realize where we've come and where we are going. For years, and this is both in the women's and the men's game, we relied on our physical attributes to be successful. Of course, the women have been light years more successful than the mean, but the same philosophy applied.

The problem is that only carries you so far. Today, there are twice as many countries who are really good (many from the African continent, a few more in Europe, etc.). They push each other in their environments and it makes them better. That's the problem we experience here, and when we are pushed, we don't always compete technically.

I feel the women are much further along in this aspect. The introduction of their National platform and leagues has brought the skill level way beyond expectations from a decade ago. I watch kids, both boys and girls, and what they are able to do vs. what we had growing up is quite remarkable. That's what gives us so much hope: We have a National platform for each gender that I am confident will continue to provide the quality training that will take us to the next level; or in the case of the women keep us there."

[Unregistered]

Women are from Venus, Men are from Mars.
Are we really going to have this discussion?

Thanks for making my point

The person to whom you are responding doesn't have great reading comprehension, I'm afraid.

[Unregistered]

Maybe your D is on a not so great ECNL team.....

I watched some of the ecnl select team live game. I don't even know what age group that was but ecnl adverted it and a link was provided to U-Tube. There was many spectators from what I seen. That said I could not watch anymore then 15 minutes. It was awful, so bad that I hope these were 13 year olds playing. If that's the best U.S combined ecnl can showcase then that coach is in the right in his opinion.

[Unregistered]

Brian McBride, newly appointed General Manager of the US Men's National Team, was asked about his impressions of the game today, and where it's going.

"Well, first, I think we need to realize where we've come and where we are going. For years, and this is both in the women's and the men's game, we relied on our physical attributes to be successful. Of course, the women have been light years more successful than the mean, but the same philosophy applied.

The problem is that only carries you so far. Today, there are twice as many countries who are really good (many from the African continent, a few more in Europe, etc.). They push each other in their environments and it makes them better. That's the problem we experience here, and when we are pushed, we don't always compete technically.

I feel the women are much further along in this aspect. The introduction of their National platform and leagues has brought the skill level way beyond expectations from a decade ago. I watch kids, both boys and girls, and what they are able to do vs. what we had growing up is quite remarkable. That's what gives us so much hope: We have a National platform for each gender that I am confident will continue to provide the quality training that will take us to the next level; or in the case of the women keep us there."

This is like Lucy and the football.
Maybe next time Charlie Brown...
Always in the future.
This is not quantum physics.

[Unregistered]

Maybe I was misreading the statement we're commenting on, but I presumed you were suggesting the best women's teams were the equals of top level men's teams. I now see you were probably saying each can be appreciated separately for what they are, which is a different interpretation and execution of the same basic game, and I agree with that.

Correct.
The game is the game is the game. Doesn’t matter who plays it.

[Unregistered]

This is like Lucy and the football.
Maybe next time Charlie Brown...
Always in the future.
This is not quantum physics.

It may as well be quantum physics because I have no idea what you are trying to say...

[Unregistered]

And, who are you?

Doesn't playing in MLS, EPL, and the men's World Cup, along with a professional trainer working on his 'A' license carry more weight than a simpleton on an anonymous message board?

Being a former male players doesn't assure that's he's a good coach or talent evaluator. He's a personal coach, doesn't coach teams and isn't part of the NT staff. He's looking for customers.

[Unregistered]

How long did you play in the pros, both here and overseas? How many caps for the national team do you have? Did you train Pulisic and other pros? That’s the difference with EJ’s evaluation, he can base his view on having played in and watched 100x the games you’ve seen over the last 20 years. That’s what makes this thread so interesting. You are hearing an objective opinion from someone who knows what they are talking about and who doesn’t earn his dinner from club soccer unlike most TS posters.

The funny thing is its NOT news. Objective observers who have seem many more games than he has know this. The difference is the intelligent ones know why it is what it is. These are not development leagues or Clubs. Individuals of varying desire and abilities choose how much work they put in. The main goal is showcasing players to colleges of varying standards and charging parents for the privilege.

[Unregistered]

And players leave gda for ecnl and other leagues. Both these leagues are after the identical player demographic so they water each other down. It is not difficult to understand this.

No one left ECNL for anything when there was no GDA .... doesn't matter which one becomes top but it better happen fast. Having half the talent in one league and half in the other (whether it be 60/40 or 70/30) doesnt matter ...... the fact that you now have twice as many teams each with substantially diluted talent and then polluted further with players 10-24 who likely would not have been on a top team had their only been one top league .... sorry, its not magic ..... practices and games are full of players (I would argue more than half of every team that should not be in their current position).

[Unregistered]

The funny thing is its NOT news. Objective observers who have seem many more games than he has know this. The difference is the intelligent ones know why it is what it is. These are not development leagues or Clubs. Individuals of varying desire and abilities choose how much work they put in. The main goal is showcasing players to colleges of varying standards and charging parents for the privilege.

Why do you care?

[Unregistered]

Maybe he watched Barcelona's girls' youth team make the 32-games-unbeaten, 200+ goal differential ECNL champion team look like a bad rec team:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN94aS0q0To

if, after watching this, you still think that the ECNL is great, and that US youth soccer is on track, then there is no reasoning with you

(pay special attention to the comments of former USMNT keeper Tony Meola as he says what he thinks is wrong with US youth soccer - hint: he agrees with Eddie Johnson)

So I just watched 20 minutes of this video. There are a lot of people on this thread bickering over ECNL vs DA, pointing fingers at the pay-to-play system and bad coaching, etc. I think a big part of the difference between this Barcelona team and the PDA team is more fundamental, and that is a basic understanding of the game that can only be learned through watching experts play the game. I'll bet if you took a survey of the amount of pro soccer that the girls on that Barca team have watched in their lifetime vs. the amount the PDA girls have watched, the difference would be quite astounding. If you looked at not only just the hours watched, but the quality of the play that was watched, as well, it would be pretty easy to see why the Barca girls have such a better understanding of the game.

I know there are a lot of parents on this thread who have soccer playing daughters. I'd love to hear how much soccer your daughter actually watches. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'll bet the majority take in around 4-5 USWNT games on TV every year, plus attend 2-3 Revs games during the summer, and that is it. Maybe I'm wrong again, but I can imagine the Barca girls glued to their TV sets every weekend of La Liga play, along with all the Barca Champions League games, and are excited for EURO this summer. I guess you can just chalk this up to a cultural difference, but if you want your daughter to really excel in the sport, encourage her to watch more quality soccer. And watch with her so she can share her excitement with somebody.