U20 Women's World Cup

[Unregistered]

Another thread has discussed this already. She was not playing well in the training leaving up to the WC.

And the fact that she was on the team, even the captain, does not mean she should automatically make this squad

see US Men's WC team...

[Unregistered]

Defenders

I know what happened to Morgan Andrews, our left outside back ate her...she could barely move. The announcers repeatedly said she wasn't to form because she recently came off injury, if so, she shouldn't have been playing. Difficult to believe she was the best option we had at outside back when you have an entire country to choose from.

[Beachbum]

What would you rather have, the turkey shoot it USED to be or a truly competitive situation? Back in the day the women's world soccer scene was hardly even because half the countries didn't even put any effort into their women. In some respects it was almost embarrassing to win as much as they did.

In a truly competitive situation, no one is going to win it all year in and year out or even stay around in the top 5. Just look at how things change on the men's side.

The gratifying thing is when qualified people put their minds to things it always improves situations. What you need to focus on is that the women's game is really improving. The women themselves are better athletes than they used to be and they are actually playing a much better brand of soccer than they used to.

The biggest problem the US has now is they defend like crap. They just can't seem to battle out to 0-0 draw against a tough opponent. The problem is they tend to want to get everyone involved in moving up so they can play possession attacking soccer but then don't transition and defend against it well when the other team counters. Over the past couple of cycles they have been moving forwards back to defense to improve the foot skills and add an attacking mentality but they have really lost the ability to defend 1v1 or the finesse to close down spaces with positioning.

I will get slammed for this, but IMHO what your are seeing is the lingering result of a misguided ODP program, where players were selected based on INDIVIDUAL talent and not POSITIONAL talent. Our backs are players converted from other positions who do not have years of experience playing the role they are being asked to fill. They are being selected to fill a role, not because they excel in it.

Hopefully as we transition from an ODP program to a more ECNL/DAP model player selection will improve as players are selected for their "in" game ability and not quite so much just for athleticism.

[Unregistered]

I will get slammed for this, but IMHO what your are seeing is the lingering result of a misguided ODP program, where players were selected based on INDIVIDUAL talent and not POSITIONAL talent. Our backs are players converted from other positions who do not have years of experience playing the role they are being asked to fill. They are being selected to fill a role, not because they excel in it.

Hopefully as we transition from an ODP program to a more ECNL/DAP model player selection will improve as players are selected for their "in" game ability and not quite so much just for athleticism.

I agree with you.

[Unregistered]

I will get slammed for this, but IMHO what your are seeing is the lingering result of a misguided ODP program, where players were selected based on INDIVIDUAL talent and not POSITIONAL talent. Our backs are players converted from other positions who do not have years of experience playing the role they are being asked to fill. They are being selected to fill a role, not because they excel in it.

Hopefully as we transition from an ODP program to a more ECNL/DAP model player selection will improve as players are selected for their "in" game ability and not quite so much just for athleticism.

I believe most of the U20 were ECNL players. Like 90%. If anything this is an indictment of ECNL.

[Unregistered]

I believe most of the U20 were ECNL players. Like 90%. If anything this is an indictment of ECNL.

If you have ever watched the ECNL Championship s on TV, you will see much the same. It's not just the ECNL fault, although the ECNL was suppose to have improved things. It has made a difference as far as I can see. It's basically the same coaches, coaching as they have always done, the name of the league is the only thing that has changed. And don't assume I just blame the coaches either. Parents are influencing the process as well.

[Unregistered]

If you have ever watched the ECNL Championship s on TV, you will see much the same. It's not just the ECNL fault, although the ECNL was suppose to have improved things. It has made a difference as far as I can see. It's basically the same coaches, coaching as they have always done, the name of the league is the only thing that has changed. And don't assume I just blame the coaches either. Parents are influencing the process as well.

The problem is the ECNL was never set up like DAP. It is just a normal league built with the same basic group of clubs that have always produced the bulk of the female players. If US Soccer really wanted to change things they would have actually given the girls a DAP and put way more control into their development process. The girl's side is like the wild west were the biggest clubs basically make the laws and do whatever the heck they want.

The problem is not ODP as Beechbum suggested because no matter what type of development system you put into place you are always going to have some sort of audition aspect to it. You are always going to be looking for individual players, not teams, to pull out and put into whatever program is established. At this point the ID processes US Soccer uses are actually working pretty efficiently because there isn't much doubt they are finding the talent that is out there. The problem is that they are missing the next Marta, the problem really is that next Marta is not always what she needs to be.

The problems they are having today were really about the club level 4-5 years ago before most clubs really started with their ulittle programs. This article on SoccerWire really illustrates the issue and talks about how a club like De Anza was having the age old "garbage in, garbage out problem"

http://www.soccerwire.com/news/youth...the-bottom-up/

I think if you look at what is happening on the girls side, you will notice that the quality of soccer has rather dramatically improved from what it was 5-10 years ago. There actually appears to be a wave of talent surging through right now at the U12-14 age groups and if you notice the national team sees it because they are pushing younger players up onto older national teams trying to accelerate their development curve. All of this would seem to suggest that the issue is more about time and patience than about redesigning things.

[Unregistered]

I know what happened to Morgan Andrews, our left outside back ate her...she could barely move. The announcers repeatedly said she wasn't to form because she recently came off injury, if so, she shouldn't have been playing. Difficult to believe she was the best option we had at outside back when you have an entire country to choose from.

Morgan Andrews wasn't there

[Unregistered]

Morgan Andrews wasn't there

Thanks Capt. Obvious.

[Unregistered]

Thanks Capt. Obvious.

Save the sarcasm for the poorly written post that makes it sound like the poster thought he was watching Morgan Andrews play, when in fact he was just getting his jolly's making fun of a different girl playing left back.

[Unregistered]

Never ceases to amaze what some of you want to focus on. That was just plain nastiness that could have easily been ignored yet some of you just need to make it the main topic of discussion. Does make you wonder why. Jilted BC fan?? Stars rival?? The kid's a great player and the national team is a fickle thing. Let it go.

[Unregistered]

QUOTE=Unregistered;1338899]The problem is the ECNL was never set up like DAP. It is just a normal league built with the same basic group of clubs that have always produced the bulk of the female players. If US Soccer really wanted to change things they would have actually given the girls a DAP and put way more control into their development process. The girl's side is like the wild west were the biggest clubs basically make the laws and do whatever the heck they want.[/quote]

But there's the problem. DAP hasn't produced any significant talent either and our US Men's NT just played a World Cup with talent coming out of Germany. It's the entire system on both sides that get the same results, not in terms of wins and losses, but quality of play.

I think if you look at what is happening on the girls side, you will notice that the quality of soccer has rather dramatically improved from what it was 5-10 years ago. There actually appears to be a wave of talent surging through right now at the U12-14 age groups and if you notice the national team sees it because they are pushing younger players up onto older national teams trying to accelerate their development curve. All of this would seem to suggest that the issue is more about time and patience than about redesigning things.

I think I have indicated there has been some improvement over the years, but it still has not erased the fact that US teams and players are still too dependent on athleticism to compete. I doubt there will be any difference when these U12/U14s arrive at college. I'm not suggesting we shouldn't be selecting the best athletes. What I am suggesting is how we evaluate them must change and I don't know how you change that unless you can change the mindset of coaches all over the country.

[Unregistered]

But there's the problem. DAP hasn't produced any significant talent either and our US Men's NT just played a World Cup with talent coming out of Germany. It's the entire system on both sides that get the same results, not in terms of wins and losses, but quality of play.

The entire system? Why then do you seem to be pointing the finger at the National team. They are only working with what that system produces. Isn't time to start looking at the clubs and how poor a job they are doing? They are really the horses that are pulling the cart so to speak.

I think I have indicated there has been some improvement over the years, but it still has not erased the fact that US teams and players are still too dependent on athleticism to compete. I doubt there will be any difference when these U12/U14s arrive at college. I'm not suggesting we shouldn't be selecting the best athletes. What I am suggesting is how we evaluate them must change and I don't know how you change that unless you can change the mindset of coaches all over the country.

Why be something that we are not? This is not a culture that is going to subvert a whole lot of individual freedoms for the greater good just to produce top flight national teams. The secret to America is we need to let everyone take their shot and whittle away those that can't hang. The way you get better soccer players in this country is to get more kids passionately playing soccer and do a better job teaching them at the very beginning stages.

[Unregistered]

Why isn't Mckenzie Meehan playing? They released a video when the final roster was chosen and she was on it... She wasn't in there "meet the players" video though and she isnt on the game roster. Did she reject the spot? Kinda dissapointed because I feel like she is one of the best goal scorers i've ever seen

[Unregistered]

Why isn't Mckenzie Meehan playing? They released a video when the final roster was chosen and she was on it... She wasn't in there "meet the players" video though and she isnt on the game roster. Did she reject the spot? Kinda dissapointed because I feel like she is one of the best goal scorers i've ever seen

Yeah, sure, she "rejected" the spot.