Have at it. If you start talking about MLS or Serie A, I will put you on ignore. Fair warning. Both of those leagues bore me to tears and I can't even pretend to be interested.
OOTB Soccer Thread
- Thread starter TarHeelNation11
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Nice, maybe I'll learn a thing or two about the Premier League. Always wanted to get into a team there, but never really had one jump out at me, and didn't wanna be a pure bandwagoner and just hop on one of the good ones for any old reason. An old roommate was a big Spurs fan, so I caught a few of their games (back when they still had Bale).
I do pay attention once the Champions League starts up though.
I do pay attention once the Champions League starts up though.
Posts about how boring soccer is also will get you put on ignore. Just don't post on the thread if you don't like it, thanks.
Anyway, I'll add some to this thread later on when work slows down.
Anyway, I'll add some to this thread later on when work slows down.
Stick with the Spurs--we have one of the games best attackers in Harry Kane as well as a great defender in Toby Alderweireld. Best midfielder probably Christian Eriksen and a solid if not flashy goalie in Hugo Lloris. The trendy team now is Leicester City but I believe the Spurs are gonna overtake them at the end.
@Hark_The_Sound_2010, let me educate you a little.
Leicester City is not a trendy team -- they just happen to be having an improbable run this season. They may possibly win the league this season, which would be the first time in forever that one of the "Big Four" (Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal) hasn't won the title.
Spurs are by far and away the trendiest team to follow right now (as far as Americans are concerned), but I'd implore you not to jump on board. They're seriously the Moo of the EPL. They never finish above their arch-rival Arsenal (so much so that Arsenal fans have a day called "St. Totteringham's Day" they celebrate every season when it becomes mathematically official that Spurs will finish below Arsenal in the final league standings.) Do you need that kind of mediocrity in your life?
Leicester City is not a trendy team -- they just happen to be having an improbable run this season. They may possibly win the league this season, which would be the first time in forever that one of the "Big Four" (Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal) hasn't won the title.
Spurs are by far and away the trendiest team to follow right now (as far as Americans are concerned), but I'd implore you not to jump on board. They're seriously the Moo of the EPL. They never finish above their arch-rival Arsenal (so much so that Arsenal fans have a day called "St. Totteringham's Day" they celebrate every season when it becomes mathematically official that Spurs will finish below Arsenal in the final league standings.) Do you need that kind of mediocrity in your life?
So I moved my 9 year old this year to a more competitive league. I've coached him with another player's dad for the last 3 years or so and while we only lost 2 or 3 times during that span, our team was stacked and we just had far more talent than the other teams. So like I said, I moved him to a "serious" league. And these folks are serious.
But I've already noticed one thing I don't like about the new league. They seem to focus far more on technical skill building rather than a team approach. Which is completely opposite from how we coached his teams over the past few years. First of all, I'm not skilled enough to teach the technical stuff (I was a goalkeeper for cryin' out loud). But I just prefer the team approach. The camaraderie the kids developed was fun to watch and even in defeat, they seemed to have good attitudes. But in this league, they don't even play with the same guys from week to week. There are roughly 35 kids in the U9 group. So that's enough for 3 teams, right? But all the kids practice together. And then teams are selected on Thursday for the Saturday games based on how well they did in practice that week. There's a premiere team, a B team and a C team. So, for example, for the first game which was 2 Saturdays ago, my son was selected for the premiere team. So he played with a bunch of other guys who were also selected for the premiere team. But he may not make the premiere team every week and it's a certainty that other kids won't. So he'll have to play with new guys every game. It seems really weird to me but I spoke with the Director of the program and he assured me that the kids will learn the game best under their model. I don't like it. And I certainly didn't like watching our premiere team get the shit kicked out of us either. Granted, it was the first game and the team we played is one of the strongest programs in the state. But I'm skeptical.
My other son (4 and a half year old), still plays in the rec league. But he's dominant because he's always going up against his older brother. He had a couple goals in his last game and looked to be one of the few on the field that has any idea how soccer is played.
That's what I have to offer to this thread.
But I've already noticed one thing I don't like about the new league. They seem to focus far more on technical skill building rather than a team approach. Which is completely opposite from how we coached his teams over the past few years. First of all, I'm not skilled enough to teach the technical stuff (I was a goalkeeper for cryin' out loud). But I just prefer the team approach. The camaraderie the kids developed was fun to watch and even in defeat, they seemed to have good attitudes. But in this league, they don't even play with the same guys from week to week. There are roughly 35 kids in the U9 group. So that's enough for 3 teams, right? But all the kids practice together. And then teams are selected on Thursday for the Saturday games based on how well they did in practice that week. There's a premiere team, a B team and a C team. So, for example, for the first game which was 2 Saturdays ago, my son was selected for the premiere team. So he played with a bunch of other guys who were also selected for the premiere team. But he may not make the premiere team every week and it's a certainty that other kids won't. So he'll have to play with new guys every game. It seems really weird to me but I spoke with the Director of the program and he assured me that the kids will learn the game best under their model. I don't like it. And I certainly didn't like watching our premiere team get the shit kicked out of us either. Granted, it was the first game and the team we played is one of the strongest programs in the state. But I'm skeptical.
My other son (4 and a half year old), still plays in the rec league. But he's dominant because he's always going up against his older brother. He had a couple goals in his last game and looked to be one of the few on the field that has any idea how soccer is played.
That's what I have to offer to this thread.
I play hockey in a Men's league - which I consider to be a vastly superior sport to soccer. Essentially the same objective of getting the ball/puck from one end to the other and into the goal - but with much more excitement (plus it's played on ice, which adds the element of skating in). But I wouldn't mind getting an EPL team to root for. I've played a good amount of FIFA in my day, so I'm familiar with the Big Four - unfortunately it just seems like on the majority of seasons, one of those teams will win it (which is why my interest in baseball has waned, even though my team is one of the Big Boys, although they've sucked the past couple years).
Maybe I'll just look for the team that has had the highest total of goals scored in their games (both for an d against) and watch some of their games. I do appreciate good soccer, but a 4-3 game is so much more exciting to watch than a 1-0, or worse, 0-0 game.
Maybe I'll just look for the team that has had the highest total of goals scored in their games (both for an d against) and watch some of their games. I do appreciate good soccer, but a 4-3 game is so much more exciting to watch than a 1-0, or worse, 0-0 game.
I read an article last week on how Soccer is getting pretty popular in North Carolina (don't ask me where I did read it), at least in terms of viewership... I think it was mildly related to Charlotte being named as one of the host cities for the International Champions Cup this summer.
I'm sure I'll chime in here regularly, but I work in the Soccer field for a living so Basketball and Football do tend to be my getaways!
Couldn't tell you how many hours I've spent playing, watching and working in this damn game.
I'm sure I'll chime in here regularly, but I work in the Soccer field for a living so Basketball and Football do tend to be my getaways!
Couldn't tell you how many hours I've spent playing, watching and working in this damn game.
For the best entertainment, my suggestion is: watch Barcelona. Even if you don't pay attention to anything else in Spain or La Liga, just watch their games.
I've watched far too many matches for stuff to excite me these days, but I'll watch them play every day of the week and twice on Sunday's.
The front line of Neymar-Suarez-Messi is the most absurd thing I've ever seen in this sport.
I've watched far too many matches for stuff to excite me these days, but I'll watch them play every day of the week and twice on Sunday's.
The front line of Neymar-Suarez-Messi is the most absurd thing I've ever seen in this sport.
I hate watching Barcelona. They're everything that's wrong with modern soccer (i.e. what all soccer critics complain about, except for lack of goals):
- diving
- play acting
- anything else to con the referee into making a call
And the sad part is they don't need to do any of the above shit. They're better than everyone else as it is.
- diving
- play acting
- anything else to con the referee into making a call
And the sad part is they don't need to do any of the above shit. They're better than everyone else as it is.
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To me, the people who identify Barcelona with that first and foremost are just people who don't really like them (which is no crime, of course). I've watched the majority of their games for the last 5/6 years, and can't really recall anything that most other teams don't do.
Sergio Busquets (flopping, feigning injury to get calls) and Luis Suarez (biting, cheap shots, etc) ruin that team for me. I despise how those two players play.
Plus, I just don't like Barcelona's style. I don't like tiki taka. I don't like seeing a team hold 65%+ of possession and pass the ball into the net twice a game. The reason why the Premier League is so exciting for me is two-fold:
1. No game is ever a "lock." Any team can get a result in any game. Yes, the bigger teams do much better than the bad teams, but shock results are common. In La Liga, Barca and Real are going to win every game that's not against each other or maybe Atletico. It's boring.
2. Atmosphere. You can't beat English soccer atmosphere IMO.
Don't mind me, I'm a romantic. I'm a sucker for Barcelona's style, but I totally get that people prefer 'heavy metal' Soccer, as Jurgen Klopp would so delightfully put t.
You're right on the atmosphere too. As much as I like the continental game, I can't deny that the English game is as passionate as it gets. It's a way of life here.
Speaking of dudes named Juergen..............Juergen Klinnsman is about to find himself out of a job if the USMNT loses (again) to Guatemala tonight. Pathetic.
Yeah I read some Tweets from some American guys I follow and they don't seem too happy with him!
Can't say I know a great deal about the USMNT to be honest. Only saw them at the last World Cup.
There's not much to know except we have extremely poor depth, and the starter-caliber players we do have are mostly so-so except for a few high-caliber guys from Germany who have American fathers.
And our biggest problem is we do not have a dependable goalscorer. That's always been and will continue to be our downfall. It's tough to field a good team when all of our super athletic athletes go out for baseball, basketball, or football. If we had Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, and the like on our team, we'd look very different.
Yeah, that's the thing. Soccer is really the only lucrative team sport in this country - it dominates so obscenely - so all of our best athletes go into that.
It's probably for the good of the rest of the world that the American athletes don't become masters at Soccer... they'd be unstoppable!
Did I hear correctly that if the USMNT loses tonight - that they miss the World Cup or whatever it is they're qualifying for? I'd imagine that would be a killer for soccer's progression in the US. How the hell do you not steamroll these teams? Guatemala... Trinidad & Tobago... are you kidding me?!?
It is incorrect that we will fail to qualify if we lose tonight (though it certainly will make it pretty damn difficult if we do lose). See this link for info , top two in each group advance.
Basically, tonight is game four of six in this round of qualification. Although a win isn't 100% necessary, it's basically a requirement. Like we wouldn't be mathematically out, but we'd need help to qualify. Trinidad & Tobago is a pretty legitimate team but Guatemala is lousy. There is absolutely no excuse for us to have lost to them 2-0 in Guatemala on Saturday or Friday or whenever it was. There's just no excusing it, period. We played a bad game but it doesn't matter. We should never lose to a country like Guatemala.
If we don't get 3 points tonight, it's gonna get ugly. I have my suspicions that Klinnsman has lost the team already. His player callups have been pretty stagnant and boring lately too (except for Darlington Nagbe, I like that call-up). And yes, us failing to qualify would be crippling for U.S. soccer.
The good news is, if we can recover and make it out of this group and to the next round (which we should), the final qualification group is much easier. It's six teams and you play every team home and away, so 10 games. The top 3 of 6 automatically make the world cup, and the 4th place team plays a home-and-away playoff against a country from another region, and the winner of that qualifies. So basically, if we make it to the final round, we just have to finish in the top half to make it.
By the way, the USMNT game is at 7:25 on ESPN2. You should at least give it a look, Hark. It's always more fun to watch a sport -- even if you don't like it -- when national pride is involved.
And yes, FIFA is an awesome video game. I play it way, way, way too much.
And yes, FIFA is an awesome video game. I play it way, way, way too much.
Ya, I'll tune in. I watched all of the US men's World Cup games when they were going on (and most of the rest of the games). And the USWNT semifinals and finals. I watch the Euro when its on. I always enjoy games where it's pretty much a must win for one side or the other. That way you don't get a 90 minute stall-fest. I think the game would be better if substitutions stopped the clock (so you don't get the winning team doing their 1st sub at 82'... guy slowly crawls off the field waving to every single fan on his way - patting each teammate on the back; then repeat with another sub at the 85'; then repeat with your last sub at 88', pretty much erasing the last 8 minutes of the match), and if there was some version of stall-control (a shot clock obviously wouldn't work, but something to that effect. Maybe something similar to a "10 second violation" if you don't get over midfield in a proper amount of time or something like that).
I've wasted waaaaaay too many hours on the FIFA video game. I haven't played in a couple months though since I finally cut myself off.
Basically the easiest way for soccer to make itself more entertaining to non-soccer fans and even hardcore soccer fans is for the refs and governing bodies to grow some balls. To wit:
1. Start carding players like crazy when they dive, flop, or feign an injury. Do it, keep doing it, and do it some more, and eventually that shit will work its way out of the game. Flopping and faking injury is the biggest turn-off to non-soccer fans (and frankly it turns me off too, but I still watch). It's pathetic. Additionally, card like crazy for what you mentioned Hark, time-wasting on subs and all of that gamesmanship.
2. This dovetails with point #1, but the refs have to start calling fouls for contact and not for the spill it causes. One of the reasons injury feigning and flops is so rampant in soccer is because nowadays, refs probably won't call a foul if you DON'T exaggerate your foul. You see a very, very similar issue in basketball with the charge/block. Defenders exaggerate contact for fear of not getting the call if they don't.
3. Somehow convince the media not to focus so much on the "soap opera" side of soccer. I can't equate this to any American sport (except maybe NASCAR) because soccer is so terrible about it. Because the season is so long and because British newspapers hover much closer to "tabloid-esque" than American papers to, the result is off-the-field shit or trivial on-the-field shit always overshadows the games. Whether it's a player getting arrested, a manager fighting with one of his players, a player fighting with another player, or managers waging war of words with each other, there's always way too many trivial things that take center stage. Eliminate that shit.
And yeah, on FIFA, I do Career Mode which is the biggest time suck known to videogames. You can spend literal hours on that crap just tweaking things between one match and the next, especially if you're in the transfer window.
Actually, the way kids should be coached are to focus on individual skills first and team approach later when they get to be 13-14. The reason for this is that it is relatively easy to teach someone (especially someone old enough to quickly grasp the intricacies of spacing, etc) about teamwork, but teaching and developing coordination and ball skills is much tougher at an older age. Think about it this way- is it easier to teach a 16 year old to juggle with his left foot or stay in position during the course of a game? But on the flip, it's probably just as hard to do either with a 6 year old. But I also understand that if you focus on team instead of ball skills, you win more games, so it's not an easy thing to do.
If you teach team skills at a young age, they will win games when they are young and lose them when they are older. When you teach individual skills at a young age, they will lose games when they are younger and win when they are older.
And it took some adjusting for me to grasp this, but I coached my daughter's team from age 4-9 and talked to some people much smarter than me and read books that backed them up.
2-0 U.S. at halftime. Not a super pretty half by any means, but it's effective. We've had a ton of possession.
4-0 win. So I got the scoring I was looking for. Doesn't look like this Olympic qualifier is going as well though. Why are there two separate teams?
Olympic soccer is U23.
(Soccer doesn't take the Olympics very seriously since they already have the World Cup)
Yeah, I didn't say they were wrong for using the model they use. I simply said I don't like it and it's not as much fun. But I have a buddy that coaches the U14 boys premiere team in this league and I trust his knowledge of coaching children and of soccer above anyone else's. He said it's a good model, so I believe him. And there's no doubt that the kids that play in this league go on to be pretty damn good soccer players. So I'll grin and bear it.
Ya I figured it was something like that. Although the best players under 23 still go to the World Cup team if there's a scheduling conflict I imagine right? Considering the 17 year old that subbed in late in the game.
World Cup and Olympics take place in different years, so they never overlap. And Pulisic (the guy who subbed in) is a bit too young to feature for the 23's right now, IMO. He needs to keep focusing on doing his thing at Borussia Dortmund in Germany.
Right- it's not as much fun because games have nothing to do with winning or even being competitive as a team.
That's why coaching girls is better because most girls play the sport for the social aspect, not the competition. Whereas boys play to win all the time.
I disagree--LC is trendy in every way. I don't know of one person who rooted for them before this season. Hell, since half way through this season. Most Spurs fans have been fans forever. Most Americans jumping on the soccer bandwagon this year ONLY pull for one of your big four. They have never even heard of anyone else. Hell, I'd bet most of those pull for Man U because they can't even name one other team. Yes, Arsenal always seems to finish one place higher, they also have not won the PL title in quite some time either. Your Moo U. reference just makes you another soccer snob who sucks! LOL.
Haha I'm just messing with you about Spurs. And you know people who follow Leicester? I don't know a single one who does unless he's an ex-pat.
I was jokingly trying to connect your post to the LGBT discussion in the other thread. GMAFB
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