It’s easy for the blind faithful to spout off the following as evidence we have “arrived”: Qualified 1st to the Wolrd Cup out of CONCACAF Got to the final in the Confederations Cup by knocking out #1 ranked Spain Got to the final of the Gold Cup But like I said in the last post, […]
Archives for December 2009
US Soccer 2009 Year In Review (Part III: The Senior Team)
Thought to be kings one day and subservient the next – this is the mark of a team that wants to join the exclusive club of world soccer powers. The case for US Soccer was no different in 2009. We climbed Mount Everest by beating #1 ranked Spain, and then got obliterated by Mexico a […]
US Soccer 2009 Year In Review (Part II: U-20s)
We continue our 4-part series on recapping the US Soccer National Teams with a look at the U-20s performance. This is the age group that is most frequently targeted by critics as the point where our system fails in player development. While 18 to 20 year-olds in other countries are making regular professional appearances, our […]
US Soccer 2009 Year In Review (Part I: U-17s)
This is the first of a 4-part series that will recap the results of our National Team’s 2009 results. We start out by examining the U-17s. Usually the players on this squad form the foundation upon which the U-20s and the senior team are built. So if you want to look at the likely future […]
Coast Soccer League Age Distribution
I originally started this post as an introduction to the Coast Soccer League for our readers outside the southern california area. I wanted to go through the history and an explanation of why it is so successful with it’s teams dominating national level tournaments. But as I began digging through the data, I found something […]
World Cup Coaching Salaries
The globalization of markets has enabled soccer to grow regardless of current economic conditions. One only need look at expanding player salaries and astronomical investments clubs are making. The $94 million Real Madrid recently furnished to acquire Cristiano Ronaldo is a clear example of the money that circulates the modern game. But clubs aren’t the […]
Tim Vom Steeg Criticism and College Soccer Playing Time
A discussion has been ongoing in the socalsoccer forums the last couple of days. The topic began when UCSB lost to UCLA in the NCAA sweet 16. UCSB is known for being a very physical team. They’ve been labeled dirty, thuggish, low class, and the list goes on with fingers pointing at coach Tim Vom […]
World Cup Groups Are Set for South Africa 2010
The World Cup draw took place at 9 am PST and the groups are set! Here they are. More detailed analysis to follow! Group A South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France Group B Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, Greece Group C England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia Group D Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana Group E Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon […]
Now This Is Beautiful Soccer!
The day US soccer starts demonstrating combination play like this, is the day we’ll graduate to the next level. How many times have you ever seen it on our National Teams or MLS? Here’s the video. (If you can’t see it, click here). This is what we should be striving for, this is what fans […]