Might as well start a general Footy/Soccer thread

Unlucky being yelled drives me nuts at my kids soccer games.

It wasn't unlucky it was a bad pass or shot.

And yes that free kick by Messi last night was as my daughter said "nasty".

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Originally Posted by Alpinord

A lot of early learning of bad habits and not 'getting the game' stems from well intending, ignorant non-soccer dads and moms as coaches. The basic ball skills of touch, trapping control, passing and moving to open areas get missed. This should be ingrained and natural from the outset (I could not believe how badly Bradley and the rest f'd up the midfield with poor trapping and basic passing.)

Another is the youth soccer system designed to extract money from parents believing that Johnny or Suzy will get to be the best if they drive all over the place to weekend tournaments vs simply getting a ball on their foot in the back yard or pick up games with other kids. It seems that gone are the 'sandlot' days where US kids would grab whoever is around and play whatever sport on their own. Soccer is only played if there is an organized practice or game by parents, club or other entity vs broad passion and desire to get on any surface with a ball. Many of the best players in the world did not start out on grass and buffed soccer fields.

A pet peeve is when a player blows a trap, pass' kicks the ball out of bounds instead of trying to make a play and 'unlucky' is yelled vs 'next time try this.....' and work on the basic skills.

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Too much emphasis on coaching.

In soccer nations boys play at every opportunity from the moment they can walk. With any item they can find..

In the US OF A it's taught to them and involves shouting adults, traffic cones and an hour a week for six weeks a year.

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Originally Posted by FussyDutchman

Agree with this, but imo he is one of the very few worthy of being mentioned in that conversation, and I'm old enough to have seen Pele play in person, albeit at the end of his playing career.

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Based on your user name I just wanted to tell you that as a Diplomats fan I wish i could have watched Pele play against Johan Cruyff. Unfortunately Pele quit the year I moved to the States. Still got to see him go head-to-head once with my man Beckenbauer tho.

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Originally Posted by seano732

Could say the same about Bradley.... He's turned the ball over at least four fucking times...... And there you go, Wondolowski is out for the second....

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Yeah...Bradley sucks as a center halfback. He loses the ball too much, plays backward and doesn't try to switch fields as much as he should. Not the distributor we need there.

Varsity vs. JV indeed.

My vote is for Pele as best player ever. Messi a close second, but maybe I am a bit nostalgic.

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Originally Posted by Kinnikinnick

I'd like to see some stats about how many unforced giveaways the us had. Its one thing to have to deal with Messi and Arg but its another to be your own worst enemy.

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Yes. Our touch with the ball was abysmal when compared to Argentina. Was it nerves or lack of skill? I am thinking a bit of both.

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Originally Posted by BigDaddy

Was that at Schaefer or Nickerson Field?:



I saw him at Schaefer, May, 1976 and he was still a stud at 35.

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My games were at Giants Stadium in 77. I was lucky enough to catch 2 games, one of which ended up being his final game where they played his Brazilian club team and he played a half with each, very cool to see as a 9yr old soccer freak. I ended up going to his camp a few years later and meeting him was one of the most memorable moments of my childhood.

Alpinord - Very true, although well intentioned most parents are not promoting the team aspect of the game and encouraging their son/daughter to shoot and score at every chance they get. I was lucky enough as a kid to be coached early on by a former long time HS coach who also played D1 in college so the fundamentals were first and foremost, every practice from a very early age. Each of my practices (regardless of age group) would begin with many of the same drills that I did as a kid, simple one/two touch drills, ball control, pass and fill etc.

The whole club system for young kids is more or less a waste of time for 95% of players. There is some value to getting your kid proper instruction from the beginning but paying $2k a year for a U8 travel team is bullshit as far as I am concerned. In many, many cases, that I have seen it is just a business for those running the club despite whatever true passion they have for the game. I want my kid playing as many sports as possible not being beholden to club soccer year round, she is not in it to be a college player and I think too many parents are blinded by the delusion that their kid could be the next Landon or Mia. I agree, the "system" is rigged to keep the $ flowing in year round not just during the traditional season and discourages kids and more so parents, from playing other sports. My daughter will be a soph. in HS and plays soccer, bball, is on the snowboard team and just picked up rugby last season (which she absolutely loves now). She has very little chance of being a scholarship soccer player and none in bball or snowboarding (I am a however, mildly optimistic about rugby) but loves playing in all and I see no benefit of forcing a kid to focus on one sport year round.

The whole sandlot thing is a good point and one of the main reasons I believe the US will never have a national program that teams in So. American and some of Europe have, soccer is not and never will be our #1 sport here. Yes, the US Women's program has done amazing work in the last 10-15yrs so not to diminish that but the pool of world class players is very small and I believe will continue to be that way based on the competition from other sports. Very few of the kids I have ever coached are 100% soccer and as I said earlier, I don't think that is a bad thing, but in other countries like Argentina and Brazil these kid grow up playing every minute they can in bare feet and on anything that can even loosely resembled a pitch. That doesn't happen here and really never has although, I think it used to be more common when I was a kid since we had to make our own game most of the time.

Tippster - Nice catch! I am half Dutch but Cruyff was a huge idol as a kid (despite the fact I was a keeper the majority of the time) along with Beck who I got to see many times when he came to the Cosmos (after Pele retired unfortunately). The Cruyff Turn was one of my go to moves as a kid when I wasn't in net.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...25221236,d.dmo

I also used to watch the Cosmos at Giants stadium as a tyke. Good times.

Quakes at Spartan Stadium in the 70's for me. Got to meet George Best a couple times at soccer camp. He had a jersey he'd gotten from Pele that the player of the day got to wear. I was very proud to wear that in net one day.

Cruyff was 'the guy' and Pele was 'the god' when I started. As the others, Messi is simply above the rest in his time and there are more super quality players, gear, fields and access to watch today. It's impossible to rank who is or was best between eras, nor should it matter. Just appreciate what they and others bring to the sport.

Watching Argentina play the beautiful game, beautifully (and Messi delivering a hat trick in 30 minutes during his debut) plus last nights stellar performance ought to open a few eyes and minds. Messi exceeded the hype for this tourney and FOX couldn't have scripted it better. The topper will be if Argentina wins and Ronaldo continues to under deliver at the Euros and gets skunked. That'll sure fuel the debate on who's best in the world....ever.

Edit: Assist and goal for Ronaldo so far.

Hungary sticking it to Portugal 3-2. 60th minute. Good game

Ronaldo. Header. 3-3. 62nd

FKNA Iceland!

Hooolllleeee crap - Iceland thru to play England. You're going down you limey wankers :fmicon:

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Originally Posted by shafty85

Hooolllleeee crap - Iceland thru to play England. You're going down you limey wankers :fmicon:

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Highly fucking likely...

great line in the Guardian's report of ARGvUS

"It was like watching a wedding band joined onstage by The Rolling Stones."

Ha ha... classic!

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Originally Posted by PNWbrit

Too much emphasis on coaching.

In soccer nations boys play at every opportunity from the moment they can walk. With any item they can find..

In the US OF A it's taught to them and involves shouting adults, traffic cones and an hour a week for six weeks a year.

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This and the fact that we don't play for fun. If every public piece of grass had two small goals and kids went out and played 3v3 and 4v4 for fun after school, we would be competative w/ the top teams in about 10 years. Now, kids touch the ball 3 times a week, 2 practices and a game...

When we were kids we played soccer every day before school and at recess, just on a field no lines and with two rickety wooden football goalposts as goals, whatever number of kids divided into two teams. I don't think club teams even existed back then but we had some decent players considering no one had ever been coached at all. I guess those days are gone.

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Originally Posted by iceman

When we were kids we played soccer every day before school and at recess

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I always assumed you were born here?

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Originally Posted by PNWbrit

I always assumed you were born here?

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Yeah this was in the Boston area in the late '60's and early '70's. Not sure how it got started or anything but we played every day we could go outside, all the way through elementary school, even in winter if there wasn't much snow. We never even had a real soccer ball as far as I can remember, just those big red rubber playground balls. Definitely not typical for America I realize.

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Originally Posted by flowing alpy

Did you ever hear about Kyle Rote Jr.?

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Nope, I had to google him.

Why?

He was the USA man back in the day.

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Originally Posted by ~mikey b

He was the USA man back in the day.

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After last night's game someone should maybe ask him if he's interested in a comeback?

Edit: I did wonder if he was running in the ID 1 race against candidate James Piotrowski.

Ireland!!! My boys advance. I'll drink to that.

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Originally Posted by iceman

Yeah this was in the Boston area in the late '60's and early '70's. Not sure how it got started or anything but we played every day we could go outside, all the way through elementary school, even in winter if there wasn't much snow. We never even had a real soccer ball as far as I can remember, just those big red rubber playground balls. Definitely not typical for America I realize.

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I started playing North Shore early 70's. Soccer hit the coasts first and then moved inland. It was unheard of in the mid-west. Colorado had a lot of interest in the 70's onward due to the Latinos and foreigners in ski towns. Ski town soccer tourneys were always an epic adventure. :party:

Kyle Rote, Jr was the US soccer poster boy as the son of his famous dad and namesake, IIRC. He was not a stellar player but did generate American interest.

@the brit:He's a little past it at this point.

http://www.nebraskafca.org/wp-conten...orHeadShot.jpg

Not sure how good he was at soccer but he was definitely a good athlete in the day.

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Originally Posted by Sluff

Ireland!!! My boys advance. I'll drink to that.

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Fingers crossed for an Ulster v. Leinster/Munster/Connaught Euro 2016 Final.

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Originally Posted by Sluff

Ireland!!! My boys advance. I'll drink to that.

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Come on you boys in green!!!!

All this talk of best players and no mention of Maradona?

Breaking out the squeegees to push rain off the field chile v Columbia

Ireland!!!

Hellz yeah.

A lot of fun football in store this weekend.

USA need to beat Columbia to get revenge and to put the notion to bed that we can't beat Conmebol teams (although we've already beaten Paraguay and Ecuador in the Copa A)

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Originally Posted by Tippster

A lot of fun football in store this weekend.

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Oh hell yeah!

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Originally Posted by Tippster

A lot of fun football in store this weekend.

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Hell yeah!

So Italy win their group (the so-called "group of death") and get Spain. England finish second in their group and get Iceland? That ain't right.

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Originally Posted by Bobby Finstock

So Italy win their group (the so-called "group of death") and get Spain. England finish second in their group and get Iceland? That ain't right.

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Let us know if you also need help understanding the offside rule.

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Originally Posted by Bobby Finstock

So Italy win their group (the so-called "group of death") and get Spain. England finish second in their group and get Iceland? That ain't right.

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When Iceland beats England, they'll wish they at least had lost to Spain so they could blame it on inferior talent :fmicon: but yeah, that's a tough draw. The one side of the bracket with Spain, Italy, Germany and France is tough. The other side with maybe Portugal or Belgium as favourites? is a much easier path to the finals

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Originally Posted by iceman

Yeah this was in the Boston area in the late '60's and early '70's. Not sure how it got started or anything but we played every day we could go outside, all the way through elementary school, even in winter if there wasn't much snow. We never even had a real soccer ball as far as I can remember, just those big red rubber playground balls. Definitely gay I realize.

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FIFY

Icelandic commentator goes apeshit over late goal:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36604458

Pretty funny.

Wales... N Ireland...hard to choose a favorite here. Gonna have to be the boys in green.

Come on Wales!