Girls 02 Rankings

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Funny, I don't see your point about Eastside. They played ***C last two games and first went to PK's and today ***C only won by one goal and Eastside was one placing pressure second half.

Eastside is developing every game. I would predict by next year if this team stays together they will be ahead of many teams that are beating them now.

I would agree, eastside doesn't get enough credit. In my opinion they are top 5 at this age group. You are right today they had a lot of pressure on ***C in the 2nd half. However ***C missed around 4 breakaway chances while Eastside really had to work their butt off to create any solid chances. Thats not a slight towards anyone, it probably speaks more to the fact that ***C has a ton of athleticism to go with some solid players. They are a tough team to play, and have shown that all summer. There is absolutely nothing negative about losing by 1 goal to them.

Personally I think too many people are getting caught up on the individual games. Its the overall body of work that should be really looked at.

[Unregistered]

Copa TS hasn't beat Emerald by more than 1 goal in any game, so not sure why you thought this would be any differen't, or that a tie would be so suprising.

Also too many people place too much on the summer tournaments. Teams are dealing with kids being gone and filling those gaps in different ways. Some with kids playing up from B teams and some have kids that are playing up come down. I think the season will show the strengths of the real teams.

I agree, too many people place too much stock in summer. And honestly too many people are stressing about league as well. Some teams will lose games and win games but overall you will see the total body of work which will show more of what the teams can do.

Honestly in my opinion I would put more stock in NWCL since that is against the top teams from Washington. Thusc and Eastside really had bad weekends a few weeks ago while Westside TS had a decent weekend, and I don't think anyone saw ***C going 3-0. Westside and ***C showed they are the teams who are closest to competing at the highest level, and thats what matters when your talking about the top teams at this age group. Personally I hope they both can continue to compete that well.

[Unregistered]

I would agree, eastside doesn't get enough credit. In my opinion they are top 5 at this age group. You are right today they had a lot of pressure on ***C in the 2nd half. However ***C missed around 4 breakaway chances while Eastside really had to work their butt off to create any solid chances. Thats not a slight towards anyone, it probably speaks more to the fact that ***C has a ton of athleticism to go with some solid players. They are a tough team to play, and have shown that all summer. There is absolutely nothing negative about losing by 1 goal to them.

Personally I think too many people are getting caught up on the individual games. Its the overall body of work that should be really looked at.

If you watch closely Eastside is not trying to build there game on breakaways. That what will help them in the long run if the team sticks together in next few years. I agree, not focus so much on the individual games but look overall. I feel Eastside and THUSC will be girls teams that really know how to move the ball around the field.

[Unregistered]

More stock in NWCL??

I think you're way off on this one... unfortunately what I see is the Oregon teams focusing so much on trying to prove they can compete with the larger WA clubs that the quality of play and development is totally sacrificed to win. The teams in league are not the same teams represented in NWCL, too many players being pulled down or pulled over from "sister" clubs in the NWCL matches to compare results with league play. While we all want Oregon teams to show well, let's lose the chip on our shoulders and keep focused on developing the players during league play. I spend too much time on the pitch to be watching crappy soccer!

[Unregistered]

***c

If you watch closely Eastside is not trying to build there game on breakaways. That what will help them in the long run if the team sticks together in next few years. I agree, not focus so much on the individual games but look overall. I feel Eastside and THUSC will be girls teams that really know how to move the ball around the field.

***C does play bootball, they also play pretty soccer at times. At U11 they look to be where they should be. They beat our team pretty well on Saturday and scored there first goal on a pretty combination play that was technically pretty nice. And later on a long ball from mid field that was a bootball play. But at U11 whats wrong with that. At times the long ball is effective at all levels when you have an advantage up top. Don't believe any teams are going to leave ***C in the dust in the near or long term.

[Unregistered]

Way to give your team some credit

[Unregistered]

***C does play bootball, they also play pretty soccer at times. At U11 they look to be where they should be. They beat our team pretty well on Saturday and scored there first goal on a pretty combination play that was technically pretty nice. And later on a long ball from mid field that was a bootball play. But at U11 whats wrong with that. At times the long ball is effective at all levels when you have an advantage up top. Don't believe any teams are going to leave ***C in the dust in the near or long term.

I have to agree with this. I only say that because too many of us are judging off one or two observations. In every level the team you follow (regardless who they are) will play a different style depending on who they play. I have watched ***C, Westside, Thusc, and eastside many times all year. What I have seen is this: Everyone of them have played bootball, possession, direct, wide. They have done it all, but it just depends on who they are against. If you watch any of these teams against a top team they will try to go more direct, against a weak team they will go more possession, that all has to do with their time on the ball and competition. But for U11 they are still very good teams. What are you expecting from U11? a team to be 80% possession every game? I know from my own experience I consistently go to one of the teams practices that I see get called a boot ball team and they always play possession in practice, and in 80% of their games this year they play tons of possession, its only against the top teams that it looks more direct but thats because its soo much faster and more physical that they can't play as much possession as we are used to seeing. I'm not telling you what team im talking about because its not about the team, its about the fact these are U11's.

[Unregistered]

***C does play bootball, they also play pretty soccer at times. At U11 they look to be where they should be. They beat our team pretty well on Saturday and scored there first goal on a pretty combination play that was technically pretty nice. And later on a long ball from mid field that was a bootball play. But at U11 whats wrong with that. At times the long ball is effective at all levels when you have an advantage up top. Don't believe any teams are going to leave ***C in the dust in the near or long term.

I was at that game, and I agree the first goal by ***C was beautiful. it included a good build up, a great cross and a 1 time finish on a volley off the cross. The rest of the goals were all pretty direct on both sides. FCP did some good things and in my opinion should have had 1 or 2 more goals than they had. But on the same time both teams passed the ball well and at other times played very direct.

The fact is we can't compare these U11's to pro players. they are still very young. The fact the many of them can play 2 touch soccer at U11 is amazing to me. Yet we focus on the fact they don't do it 100% of the time, thats just ridiculous.

[Unregistered]

***C does play bootball, they also play pretty soccer at times. At U11 they look to be where they should be. They beat our team pretty well on Saturday and scored there first goal on a pretty combination play that was technically pretty nice. And later on a long ball from mid field that was a bootball play. But at U11 whats wrong with that. At times the long ball is effective at all levels when you have an advantage up top. Don't believe any teams are going to leave ***C in the dust in the near or long term.

First how did they get 2 goals when the score was 0 to 1? Second, at U11 is the time to teach the kids how to focus on passing. If you encourage long ball, rely on it to score the majority of your goals which, ***C does, then at some point when you get older other teams that have been focusing on possession ball pass you. Not to hard to beat a team that focuses mostly on long ball. Just man mark the forward and place a sweeper in back. That why most of these "successful young teams who relied on "long ball glory wins" end of do nothing at older ages.

Play should be focused more on telling players to move ball passing, lateral passess and working on negative space, AND one touches at this age. You may loose games but, it will pay off in long run as players get older.

Eastside was the better team second half. Predict within 2 years ***C won't be the powerhose. One of the posters wasc correct in pointing out ***C has athletic girls but, that only takes you so far.

[Unregistered]

I was at that game, and I agree the first goal by ***C was beautiful. it included a good build up, a great cross and a 1 time finish on a volley off the cross. The rest of the goals were all pretty direct on both sides. FCP did some good things and in my opinion should have had 1 or 2 more goals than they had. But on the same time both teams passed the ball well and at other times played very direct.

The fact is we can't compare these U11's to pro players. they are still very young. The fact the many of them can play 2 touch soccer at U11 is amazing to me. Yet we focus on the fact they don't do it 100% of the time, thats just ridiculous.

Agree, first goal by ***C was verry good from cross to finish. Players did what should be focusing on. That said, it shows that it can be done. When we teach our 5 year olds to learn to write letters we don't let them do it 10 times wrong and praise them the on time does it right. It just reinforces to keep writing your letters wrong. The same should hold for soccer.

I suggest coaches and parents may want to read the "possession" thread. There is some pretty good info.

[Unregistered]

First how did they get 2 goals when the score was 0 to 1? Second, at U11 is the time to teach the kids how to focus on passing. If you encourage long ball, rely on it to score the majority of your goals which, ***C does, then at some point when you get older other teams that have been focusing on possession ball pass you. Not to hard to beat a team that focuses mostly on long ball. Just man mark the forward and place a sweeper in back. That why most of these "successful young teams who relied on "long ball glory wins" end of do nothing at older ages.

Play should be focused more on telling players to move ball passing, lateral passess and working on negative space, AND one touches at this age. You may loose games but, it will pay off in long run as players get older.

Eastside was the better team second half. Predict within 2 years ***C won't be the powerhose. One of the posters wasc correct in pointing out ***C has athletic girls but, that only takes you so far.

The person was talking about the FCP game on saturday, not the eastside game.

[Unregistered]

Not to hard to beat a team that focuses mostly on long ball. Just man mark the forward and place a sweeper in back. That why most of these "successful young teams who relied on "long ball glory wins" end of do nothing at older ages.

Maybe, but who wants to teach their team to play with a sweeper? Is it really "beating" the long ball, or trying to plug a leak with your finger just to find another spring up somewhere else? Any respectable coach will easily exploit that formation. You put the players at a disadvantage developmentally, because the players will not play that formation in the future. It's a terminal formation.

[Unregistered]

If you watch closely Eastside is not trying to build there game on breakaways. That what will help them in the long run if the team sticks together in next few years. I agree, not focus so much on the individual games but look overall. I feel Eastside and THUSC will be girls teams that really know how to move the ball around the field.

Not all breakaways are bootballs as you seem to be implying. In fact, many of them are nicely built combinations that result in a 1 v 1 w the keeper in the end.

Honestly, you should be striving for more 'breakaways' if possible. If you are not getting any 1 v 1's with the keeper you are doing something wrong.

[Unregistered]

Man the top 2 teams right now can't catch a break. If they beat a good team everyone calls them a boot ball team. However, they ignore all the games that they played this year where they played keepaway from the other team and play possession.

with ***C and Westside I have seen people sit here and call them a boot ball team and all this other stuff. But I have seen games where they consistently put passes together and play keepaway from the other team. But when they do that they get no respect because its against a "bad" team. I guess you just can't win

[Unregistered]

Not all breakaways are bootballs as you seem to be implying. In fact, many of them are nicely built combinations that result in a 1 v 1 w the keeper in the end.

Honestly, you should be striving for more 'breakaways' if possible. If you are not getting any 1 v 1's with the keeper you are doing something wrong.

I would have to agree with this. In the eastside game the majority of the breakaways came from wingers passing it up the line for a foward (on purpose) or the forwards winning the ball and looking to connect with a through ball with their team mate. Very few was just someone booting a ball as far as they could.