Boys 05

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Unless we are willing to admit that our best male athletes generally choose other sports, we will never become internationally competitive. Maybe that’s ok. Can’t blame anyone for following the money.

This.

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Going “all in” for soccer is a recipe for boring soccer players. No joy. No creativity. Look at the awful USMNT. I’d rather watch grass grow than watch that dull, lifeless team.

People who are great at things overwhelmingly are balanced in their lives.

This. So much this.

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No ahole I am not- It has gotten so far from the original point. They also have all the majority of the top athletes in their respective countries and we do not. Much like those countries suffer in basketball, baseball etc we struggle on the international stage for many of the same reasons. It’s not because we don’t have kids solely training for soccer, it’s that we have the wrong kids doing it in general across the board. And yes I am referring to you soccer only sinks who can dribble and juggle a soccer ball but have little to no athletic ability

Good grief.

Do you honestly think that the problem with the USMNT since like forever--is that they are too slow, too weak, lack pace, aren't strong enough, etc? That other countries are dominating us based on physical attributes?

What a load of twaddle.

Other countries beat us because--they are better at soccer than we are. Period.

Athletically, US players are just as good as players from anywhere else. Americans in Europe have long been admired for their pace and their work rate, their willingness to put long hours in training. Americans who play abroad have to be good at these things, because (excluding Christian Pulisic and few other younguns) their touch is, at best, below average.

And traditionally, Americans have sucked technically at soccer because it's been a boutique sport in this country, with low-quality coaching in most places--playing the pace game is the only thing we can do to survive.

The problem with having this argument here is--this is a forum for (currently) U14 boys, not grown men. And at this age--the early bloomers, the kids who can shave, often DO dominate the late bloomers, which causes overzealous parents to write nonsense like the above--proclaiming their little Adonis and his ilk to be the future of the sport because gosh gee willy, did you see him knock that short little Mexican off the ball?!? Forgetting that in five-ten years, the physical differences between the two boys will have mostly equalized, but the gulf in skill will only have grown as their son continues to become a well-rounded individual, and the kid who dedicates himself to soccer gets both bigger and better.

There may be many things wrong with the TA, but the Timbers, at least, are not stupid enough to waste their time on early-bloomers with lousy touch, or with those who maintain a recreational view of the sport.

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Going “all in” for soccer is a recipe for boring soccer players. No joy. No creativity. Look at the awful USMNT. I’d rather watch grass grow than watch that dull, lifeless team.

People who are great at things overwhelmingly are balanced in their lives.

The problem with the USMNT (the older generation) is that they are (comparitively) bad at soccer--if they were to try and play beautiful soccer, the other countries would kick their ass. Bunker and counter and get lucky is how the US has long survived--it will get you into the World Cup most years, but not much further.

Do you think that France or Croatia or Belgium--the teams that did play beautiful soccer--have players who while youths spent lots of time playing basketball or other sports? No--these players all live, eat, and breathe soccer.

Jeebus H. Christ, the ignorance of the global game in this thread is astounding. Sorry your kid gets bored playing just soccer. If he doesn't love the game, he's not going to be a pro. Of course, your kid won't be a pro in any case; probably no more than one or two of the local 05s will make it. But to become world-class at something, you generally have to dedicate yourself to it. Even those who ooze natural talent out of every pore have to train and train hard as hell.

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Of course. His/her son is such an elite athlete at 13 that of course the Timbers ought to hold a slot available while he decides what he wants to do--soccer, basketball, violin, Fortnite (he has dozens of subscribers to his YouTube channel). Even if he only trains part time, he is such a Greek god in sports that he's a better prospect than any of those short tricksy midfielders the Timbers have a ton of.

US Soccer will be sorry in 2026 when they are trying to advance out the group at home, and his/her DS is watching the game from the frathouse, having decided against a pro career and is instead finishing up his business degree at Oregon, preparing instead for a career as a professional ass hole. To think that the US might have advanced had the Timbers not pushed his/her son away a decade ago. He could have easily been the next Clint Dempsey!

You are a fool and the problem all rolled into one. So go ahead and think that soccer is somehow magically exempt from needing athletic talent or that it separates teams and individuals and allow the money and personal training to decide roster spots and you will continue to be mediocre at best....typical small mans complex trying to keep his spot with bullchit reasoning. The reason you struggle in Seattle is you are smaller, slower and less athletic than a majority of the teams- but good news is you are technically on par with your top 7-8. RF is going to help you immensely with his pure work rate and athletic talent that you lack as a whole as will TM. And by the way, if my son ever did decide to solely focus on soccer and chose to do it at TA he would take one of your starting “shifty midfielders” place....

[Unregistered]

Good grief.

Do you honestly think that the problem with the USMNT since like forever--is that they are too slow, too weak, lack pace, aren't strong enough, etc? That other countries are dominating us based on physical attributes?

What a load of twaddle.

Other countries beat us because--they are better at soccer than we are. Period.

Athletically, US players are just as good as players from anywhere else. Americans in Europe have long been admired for their pace and their work rate, their willingness to put long hours in training. Americans who play abroad have to be good at these things, because (excluding Christian Pulisic and few other younguns) their touch is, at best, below average.

And traditionally, Americans have sucked technically at soccer because it's been a boutique sport in this country, with low-quality coaching in most places--playing the pace game is the only thing we can do to survive.

The problem with having this argument here is--this is a forum for (currently) U14 boys, not grown men. And at this age--the early bloomers, the kids who can shave, often DO dominate the late bloomers, which causes overzealous parents to write nonsense like the above--proclaiming their little Adonis and his ilk to be the future of the sport because gosh gee willy, did you see him knock that short little Mexican off the ball?!? Forgetting that in five-ten years, the physical differences between the two boys will have mostly equalized, but the gulf in skill will only have grown as their son continues to become a well-rounded individual, and the kid who dedicates himself to soccer gets both bigger and better.

There may be many things wrong with the TA, but the Timbers, at least, are not stupid enough to waste their time on early-bloomers with lousy touch, or with those who maintain a recreational view of the sport.

The reason our “touch” and technical ability are not on par is because most of those doing it in our country do not have the top end athletic ability and will plateau at some point. Put a soccer ball at someone like obj or Kyrie Irving, etc’s feet as a youth and teach them the same drills and techniques and guess what you would get.....unfortunately for us soccer those individuals for the most part do not gravitate to soccer and instead choose football, basketball, baseball which are more prominent here

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You are a fool and the problem all rolled into one. So go ahead and think that soccer is somehow magically exempt from needing athletic talent or that it separates teams and individuals and allow the money and personal training to decide roster spots and you will continue to be mediocre at best....typical small mans complex trying to keep his spot with bullchit reasoning. The reason you struggle in Seattle is you are smaller, slower and less athletic than a majority of the teams- but good news is you are technically on par with your top 7-8. RF is going to help you immensely with his pure work rate and athletic talent that you lack as a whole as will TM. And by the way, if my son ever did decide to solely focus on soccer and chose to do it at TA he would take one of your starting “shifty midfielders” place....

Who said anything about money and personal training? Part of the problem (and TA is not innocent here!) is that there is an "arms race" of wealthy parents trying to buy their kids access, and freezing out a lot of otherwise talented kids who can't afford it.

And you misunderstand my point. Athletic ability is required, obviously--there aren't any fat kids at TA, or on the DAs; and speed, strength, and work rate all count for something.

But the problem you have is a) you seen to think it's the only thing that matters, that other factors all can be acquired in training, and that TA ought to give preference to pure athletes regardless of skill; and b) that a boy's physical attributes at 12 or 13 will accurately predict what he will be like as a man.

TM will definitely help the Academy. Not because he is big and fast, but because he is GOOD. DA is full of kids who are big and fast but (comparatively speaking) not very good, TM has the entire package. He played up a year at WashT last year, and was often the best player on the 04 team, let alone the 05s. RF has a lot of potential; but he needs to better control himself to succeed at the next level, and I have a strong suspicion he'll find himself on the back line at TA rather than playing striker--he'll be facing a noticeable step up in competition than he does in the local DA. (Unlike TM, RF struggled somewhat against older competition--that said, he does have enough skill to be worth a look).

Remember: Timbers are not looking for the best 13-year-old soccer players; they're looking for the players who they think will be the best at 23. Which is a crapshoot, of course--but the sort of middle-school player who dominates games through speed or size rather than skill, are less likely to become toplevel players as adults. A good test is playing up--if your hotshot U13 gets creamed when he plays against kids his own size--then he's got to work on his game before he or his parents start squawking about how the TA is making a big mistake.

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The reason our “touch” and technical ability are not on par is because most of those doing it in our country do not have the top end athletic ability and will plateau at some point. Put a soccer ball at someone like obj or Kyrie Irving, etc’s feet as a youth and teach them the same drills and techniques and guess what you would get.....unfortunately for us soccer those individuals for the most part do not gravitate to soccer and instead choose football, basketball, baseball which are more prominent here

Irving, maybe.

LeBron (I assume "obj" is meant to be "lbj"), you're nuts. How many 6'7" high-level soccer players do you know? He's big enough that his size is a disadvantage. If he did make it, it would be as a centerback, but the fact that LeBron isn't playing soccer isn't what's holding the US back.

Like I said--the problem with the US isn't that our players aren't good enough athletes. We do fine there. They're not good enough soccer players.

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Who said anything about money and personal training? Part of the problem (and TA is not innocent here!) is that there is an "arms race" of wealthy parents trying to buy their kids access, and freezing out a lot of otherwise talented kids who can't afford it.

And you misunderstand my point. Athletic ability is required, obviously--there aren't any fat kids at TA, or on the DAs; and speed, strength, and work rate all count for something.

But the problem you have is a) you seen to think it's the only thing that matters, that other factors all can be acquired in training, and that TA ought to give preference to pure athletes regardless of skill; and b) that a boy's physical attributes at 12 or 13 will accurately predict what he will be like as a man.

TM will definitely help the Academy. Not because he is big and fast, but because he is GOOD. DA is full of kids who are big and fast but (comparatively speaking) not very good, TM has the entire package. He played up a year at WashT last year, and was often the best player on the 04 team, let alone the 05s. RF has a lot of potential; but he needs to better control himself to succeed at the next level, and I have a strong suspicion he'll find himself on the back line at TA rather than playing striker--he'll be facing a noticeable step up in competition than he does in the local DA. (Unlike TM, RF struggled somewhat against older competition--that said, he does have enough skill to be worth a look).

Remember: Timbers are not looking for the best 13-year-old soccer players; they're looking for the players who they think will be the best at 23. Which is a crapshoot, of course--but the sort of middle-school player who dominates games through speed or size rather than skill, are less likely to become toplevel players as adults. A good test is playing up--if your hotshot U13 gets creamed when he plays against kids his own size--then he's got to work on his game before he or his parents start squawking about how the TA is making a big mistake.

You do realize that you or I can say all we want about what TA values at this age...or should value at this age. We can all attempt to justify certain kid's placement on the roster, and rationalize their being included. However, the reality is that TA (like USMNT) has been a hot mess of corruption and fraud. Sorry, but TA no more has a vision for kids at the 05/06 age group than they do for 07's. It is a political game (for the most part) and while some kids on the team have true potential, the majority do not. (And no, I am not saying my son does either) It is irrefutable that there would not have been an 05 DA with out a parent sponsor last year. It is also irrefutable that in a stunning development kids selected, are also kids who do personal training with TH. So spare me the narrative that TA has the foresight to pick kids now who have the ability to be great at 23. Pure TA propaganda. It is a corrupt model, and they are no better than Oregon DA. End of story.

[Unregistered]

You do realize that you or I can say all we want about what TA values at this age...or should value at this age. We can all attempt to justify certain kid's placement on the roster, and rationalize their being included. However, the reality is that TA (like USMNT) has been a hot mess of corruption and fraud. Sorry, but TA no more has a vision for kids at the 05/06 age group than they do for 07's. It is a political game (for the most part) and while some kids on the team have true potential, the majority do not. (And no, I am not saying my son does either) It is irrefutable that there would not have been an 05 DA with out a parent sponsor last year. It is also irrefutable that in a stunning development kids selected, are also kids who do personal training with TH. So spare me the narrative that TA has the foresight to pick kids now who have the ability to be great at 23. Pure TA propaganda. It is a corrupt model, and they are no better than Oregon DA. End of story.

Yes, but "TA gives unfair advantage to rich kids who buy personal training (or pay the coaches' salaries)" is a different topic than "TA is giving unwisely favoring skilled players who are less athletic over great athletes who are technically deficient". You're changing the subject.

And if anything the two things tend to contradict: Which kids, after all, are able to afford personal trainers? Which kids have dads who own billboard companies and thus can afford to hire a coach for little Draco and his friends? It's not the tricksly little midfielders (many of whom are poor or working-class Latinos) who are purchasing access for their kiddos, its the rich kids from the West Hills with helicopter mommies.

You'll notice that the Syltherins are gone this year. So are a few well-to-do athletic white boys I can think of, kids who have been regulars on the personal training circuit. And lets be honest--in a few years, half the local kids who are left will be replaced with Florida imports anyway; the local talent pool is too shallow as it is.

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Yes, but "TA gives unfair advantage to rich kids who buy personal training (or pay the coaches' salaries)" is a different topic than "TA is giving unwisely favoring skilled players who are less athletic over great athletes who are technically deficient". You're changing the subject.

And if anything the two things tend to contradict: Which kids, after all, are able to afford personal trainers? Which kids have dads who own billboard companies and thus can afford to hire a coach for little Draco and his friends? It's not the tricksly little midfielders (many of whom are poor or working-class Latinos) who are purchasing access for their kiddos, its the rich kids from the West Hills with helicopter mommies.

You'll notice that the Syltherins are gone this year. So are a few well-to-do athletic white boys I can think of, kids who have been regulars on the personal training circuit. And lets be honest--in a few years, half the local kids who are left will be replaced with Florida imports anyway; the local talent pool is too shallow as it is.

I am not the one you were debating with initially, and while I do agree with you on some points, I hold firm on my position. TA is not just favorable towards "white, affluent kids" who do personal training. The same favoritism holds true for the Hispanic kids who do personal training as well. I care less about a player's skin color, but only in their ability. That is the problem with TA and why it is a flawed model. There is always something questionable going on. And to be fair, that is true with every damn club in PDX. Nor what you know but who you know. Meet the new boss....

https://youtu.be/zYMD_W_r3Fg

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The truly elite are far and few in Oregon. The truly elite will be carried through. It’s the rest of the very good but not great that are the complete victims or victors of corruption & politics.

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The truly elite are far and few in Oregon. The truly elite will be carried through. It’s the rest of the very good but not great that are the complete victims or victors of corruption & politics.

The best prospect I have seen is an 06 who just joined TA.

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There are 2-3 06s joining TA who are considerably better than what's been seen before.

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The best prospect I have seen is an 06 who just joined TA.

SJ?

He's a very good player, but I wouldn't rate him that highly. TM played on the 04 team and dominated. SJ played on WashT's 05 team and was highly effective, but not to the point of dominance. I'm sure he'd have dominated any of the 06 teams though.