Westwood, CA – Made the 45 minute journey on a free Sunday afternoon to catch the Bruins-Lions. From a soccer standpoint it was a disappointing 90 minutes. However, I got to see the only player on the 3four3 watch list that I had never seen. It was well worth the trip. Kelyn Rowe is a […]
Analysis
5 Positive Influences for US Soccer in 2010
This year has made me a bit more optimistic for the future of the US game. When compared to my sentiments in years past, this one has been by far the best. No our national teams have not shown any progress, MLS and college remain barely watchable, and our youth development is still piss poor. […]
UC Davis Soccer is an Insult to the Game
Went to the UC Davis vs Cal State Northridge game on Saturday. Regardless of these teams not being soccer powers, the trip was worthwhile for two reasons: 1) I got 90 minutes of laughter. 2) I got to see three players with quality on the field. I’ll cover the first here and the second in […]
Spain: The Champion of Possession Soccer
Soccer won in 2010! I think the two best teams got to the final, and the best team got the trophy. This is the best thing that could have happened to soccer in our country. Perhaps more people will at least begin to appreciate what dominating possession can do. Unfortunately there are still some who […]
US National Team U20s: Dallas Cup Report
Another crack at some Elite competition for US mens soccer and another failure! The US U-20’s were paired in the Super Group at Dallas Cup with the Mexico U-20’s, Vancouver Whitecaps, and Eintracht Frankfurt. With a National Team, player selection is usually critical as there is little time to work. This is usually the case all […]
US Soccer 2009 (Part IV: Nothing’s Changed)
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, […]
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 […]