3 FOUR 3 — Passionate students of the beautiful game

Report: U-18 National Team Camp

January 2, 2010

I was at the Home Depot Center Friday night were the participants of the U-18 camp played against a couple of PDL teams comprised of college players.
I arrived 20 minutes from the end of the first game where they lost to Ventura County Fusion. I was told 4-1. All I can say from watching the [...]

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US Soccer 2009 (Part IV: Nothing’s Changed)

December 30, 2009

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, we need to inspect [...]

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US Soccer 2009 Year In Review (Part III: The Senior Team)

December 30, 2009

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 month [...]

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US Soccer 2009 Year In Review (Part II: U-20s)

December 28, 2009

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 guys [...]

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US Soccer 2009 Year In Review (Part I: U-17s)

December 27, 2009

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 of [...]

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Coast Soccer League Age Distribution

December 23, 2009

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 [...]

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World Cup Coaching Salaries

December 12, 2009

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 only [...]

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Tim Vom Steeg Criticism and College Soccer Playing Time

December 6, 2009

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 [...]

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World Cup Groups Are Set for South Africa 2010

December 4, 2009

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
Group F
Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia
Group G
Brazil, North Korea, Ivory Coast, [...]

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Now This Is Beautiful Soccer!

December 1, 2009

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 should be demanding, [...]

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