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Breakers/Scorpions to reshape Eastern MA

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    #31
    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
    I’ve got to think that this development of Breakers/Scorpions is going to cut into the Stars program and NEFC if they end up practicing somewhere other than Braintree.

    The Scorps need to focus more on competing against the Stars and worry less about NEFC and MPS. Stars have been dominating Scorps on the field (Stars ECNL and B teams are superior to Scorps in just about every age group), in recruiting battles for top players and in attracting local coaches (including former Scorpion coaches). I would hope that the affiliation with Breakers was done with that in mind and not so that a bunch of insecure yahoos on TS would have fodder for their counterparts at NEFC and MPS (real and imagined).

    It will be interesting to see if other franchises in the NWSL follow suit and announce partnerships with local clubs in their area. I believe the CEO of Sky Blue has a couple of kids that play for PDA and I imagine Sky Blue would like to partner with PDA in some manner (although I don’t think PDA would abandon their brand). If that happens, and other NWSL franchises also partner with regional powerhouse clubs (and the league succeeds this time), than perhaps Scorps will have finally out maneuvered the Stars in a meaningful way.

    Last time that happened was about 5 years ago when Scorps won the recruiting battle to become "destination team" in the current U-18 age group. On the other hand, I'm not sure the Meehan twins (or Mewis sisters) are walking in the door anytime soon.

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      #32
      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
      I’ve got to think that this development of Breakers/Scorpions is going to cut into the Stars program and NEFC if they end up practicing somewhere other than Braintree.
      No effect on Stars, other than to prevent a player or two from defecting. Stars won't be losing any of their top players to a team that they beat like a drum.

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        #33
        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
        The Scorps need to focus more on competing against the Stars and worry less about NEFC and MPS. Stars have been dominating Scorps on the field (Stars ECNL and B teams are superior to Scorps in just about every age group), in recruiting battles for top players and in attracting local coaches (including former Scorpion coaches). I would hope that the affiliation with Breakers was done with that in mind and not so that a bunch of insecure yahoos on TS would have fodder for their counterparts at NEFC and MPS (real and imagined).

        It will be interesting to see if other franchises in the NWSL follow suit and announce partnerships with local clubs in their area. I believe the CEO of Sky Blue has a couple of kids that play for PDA and I imagine Sky Blue would like to partner with PDA in some manner (although I don’t think PDA would abandon their brand). If that happens, and other NWSL franchises also partner with regional powerhouse clubs (and the league succeeds this time), than perhaps Scorps will have finally out maneuvered the Stars in a meaningful way.

        Last time that happened was about 5 years ago when Scorps won the recruiting battle to become "destination team" in the current U-18 age group. On the other hand, I'm not sure the Meehan twins (or Mewis sisters) are walking in the door anytime soon.
        btdt, enough already.

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          #34
          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
          btdt, enough already.
          Not even close. Just some fairly obvious (and innocuous) observations from someone who no longer has any vested interest in any of the named clubs.

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            #35
            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
            Not even close. Just some fairly obvious (and innocuous) observations from someone who no longer has any vested interest in any of the named clubs.
            And for clarification purposes Cyberman is not the person going on every thread writing "btdt, enough already." None of those posts appear to me to be btdt although it's possible one or two are. Anyway, this appears to be the work of someone like the "Zzzzzzzzzzzz." In other words, a true troll. Cyberman, Cyberman, Inc, and all Cyberman-affiliated companies and agencies dissociate entirely from the "btdt, enough already" culprit. Not our style.

            You can find Cyberman posting on a somewhat non-btdt topic on the girls 2013 High School thread.

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              #36
              Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
              Multi-sport athletes become better overall soccer players. The cross training and competitiveness learned in other venues, all contribute in the long run. Smart coaches and clubs recognize the importance to injury prevention and for player development and make roster space for top, devoted, multi-sport talent.

              Asking kids to specialize in solely soccer at U13 or U14 is sheer madness, especially when even top teams only practice for a couple hour and a half sessions a week.
              That is false. Multi sport athletes are athletic but what they lack is technical ball handling skill. Their technique and skill will be trailing behind someone who has focused on just one sport. The Ajax model is many touches on the ball that is how you become better and Barcelona coaches do not want multi sport athletes they want players to work on technique. We encourage playing many sports but then we always wonder how the USA is unable to create technically skilled players...

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                #37
                Rumor has it MPS and Stars players are very
                Interested in Breakers/Scorpion tryout. This should
                be interesting fodor for everyone on TS

                Comment


                  #38
                  Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                  That is false. Multi sport athletes are athletic but what they lack is technical ball handling skill. Their technique and skill will be trailing behind someone who has focused on just one sport. The Ajax model is many touches on the ball that is how you become better and Barcelona coaches do not want multi sport athletes they want players to work on technique. We encourage playing many sports but then we always wonder how the USA is unable to create technically skilled players...
                  Agreed. My kids (younger than U14) have improved dramatically after dropping their winter sport and dedicating themselves to soccer and strength-and-conditioning training.

                  The allure of the multi-sport athlete is generally overrated. I speak from personal experience. Had I specialized in one or even two sports (including soccer), I would have been far more technically adept and, in the long run, successful. Yes, I became and remain an excellent all-around athlete, but that didn't help me much with my realistic sports dream.

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                    #39
                    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                    That is false. Multi sport athletes are athletic but what they lack is technical ball handling skill. Their technique and skill will be trailing behind someone who has focused on just one sport. The Ajax model is many touches on the ball that is how you become better and Barcelona coaches do not want multi sport athletes they want players to work on technique. We encourage playing many sports but then we always wonder how the USA is unable to create technically skilled players...
                    How do you suggest getting the touches? A couple hour and a half sessions a week in seAson isn't getting it done. The most technical, skillful kid on my daughters team excelled at a couple other sports, recruited for all 3 in college. Picked soccer which was her passion. No surprise. She spent multiple hours outside organized practices playing whenever and with whomever was available. Secondary sports built fitness, kept her fresh for soccer, and provided great cross training which likely overcame her lack of innate athleticism.

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                      #40
                      The best part about this "deal" for Scorps and Breakers is that it's ruining TS with redundant threads.

                      Comment


                        #41
                        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                        How do you suggest getting the touches? A couple hour and a half sessions a week in seAson isn't getting it done. The most technical, skillful kid on my daughters team excelled at a couple other sports, recruited for all 3 in college. Picked soccer which was her passion. No surprise. She spent multiple hours outside organized practices playing whenever and with whomever was available. Secondary sports built fitness, kept her fresh for soccer, and provided great cross training which likely overcame her lack of innate athleticism.
                        The part that everyone not from this country never seems to get is that the American athleticism IS a big advantage. On the girls side we have been one of the major players on the scene for decades. Why stop what we are doing. The purists are always telling us to play away from our strengths and more like Spain or like Japan and yet those styles aren't really all that successful in the end as evidenced by the recent Champions League results. What the Germans showed us was that execution is the primary factor in success, not style. In the end what really makes the difference in all of this is the individual kid's personal drive to be great. Anyone who thinks that paying some coach to spoon feed a child soccer skills and that will make a difference is destined for a big let down.

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                          #42
                          Athleticism will become less a differentiating factor in women's soccer as other countries embrace the game. Which means skill and technique will increase in importance. We don't accept basketball players that can't do basics like dribble, pass or shoot free throws. Neither should we in soccer.

                          Comment


                            #43
                            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                            The part that everyone not from this country never seems to get is that the American athleticism IS a big advantage. On the girls side we have been one of the major players on the scene for decades. Why stop what we are doing. The purists are always telling us to play away from our strengths and more like Spain or like Japan and yet those styles aren't really all that successful in the end as evidenced by the recent Champions League results. What the Germans showed us was that execution is the primary factor in success, not style. In the end what really makes the difference in all of this is the individual kid's personal drive to be great. Anyone who thinks that paying some coach to spoon feed a child soccer skills and that will make a difference is destined for a big let down.
                            This post is so transparent but I will have to address it in the morning. It is true that talent and drive often are underestimated, but that doesn't thereby make training and quality of training/competition irrelevant. Someone is obsessed with how many folks are destined for "a big let down." I seriously doubt that is a genuine concern. The posturing is just completely out of control.

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                              #44
                              Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                              This post is so transparent but I will have to address it in the morning...
                              The suspense is unbearable. Can't wait to hear your pearls of wisdom. <yawn>

                              Comment


                                #45
                                Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                                Athleticism will become less a differentiating factor in women's soccer as other countries embrace the game. Which means skill and technique will increase in importance. We don't accept basketball players that can't do basics like dribble, pass or shoot free throws. Neither should we in soccer.
                                No doubt you have to have the requisite touch to play the game at a highly competitive level but the idea that we have to train it and our kids into the ground so they can compete against the Japanese is just wrong. The big problem the US women have when they lose is the same problem Barca had (and Penguins for that matter), their defense lets them down. That has nothing to do with developing touch and everything to do with understanding the flow of the game and the ability to outmaneuver an attack to close down space.

                                Since this thread is actually about the Scorpions reshaping soccer around here lets take this back to them and talk about how they actually approach soccer. When you watch one of Fred's practices he spends all of his time basically building touch and 1 v 1 skills. He is very methodical about it which is why his Scorpions players generally excel at that aspect of the game. It is also probably why this other poster is so enamored with developing touch. The Scorpions tend to recruit speed and athleticism so they can build upon this foundation to implement an aggressive attack oriented philosophy that simply overwhelms many teams. On the flip side though, team defense has never been a concern of Fred's. He's never really had a need for it. His attacking style tends to keep the ball in the opponents end and when it does come the other way he usually has enough speed on the team to react and get some numbers back. This is made especially easy when playing against the very direct styles you often see in club soccer. The truth is though, he places such little emphasis on defense that often times his great teams didn't even have goalies and just rotated field players through the net. At a lot of levels of youth soccer this formula works extremely well, especially when you have a truly great player like a Mewis, but overall even his great teams begin to struggle as other teams become more sophisticated and start to match their aggressiveness and athleticism. They usually all face their Barca moment. The Scorpions style of soccer is very distinct and produces players that fit a very specific style of play. When it works, it work well, but when you don't have the coaches or players to implement it the results are not nearly as favorable. The end result often times is players who are developed to play one system and one system only.

                                Besides Fred's penchant for ******* people off, his philosophy on soccer is a primary reason why the Scorpions have faltered of late. Now that the player talent on the south shore has gotten spread out so thinly it puts even more emphasis on producing highly technical players that can overcome athletic deficits with technical superiority. The problem has been that as the club has tried to expand it hasn't been able to attract the number and quality of coaching at the younger age levels that it needs to build those technical skills. A big part of the disconnect has been Fred's myopic focus on foot skills. He just hasn't been able to get coaches to replicate what he does and so the players are not as well prepared as they need to be to out play an opponent's athleticism with skill. You see the results in the standings. The lack of them of late has as much to do with the lack of coaching as they do with a lack of player talent.

                                If the Scorpions are in fact going to reshape soccer in Eastern Mass, not only is Fred going to have to find a lot more technically proficient players, he is also going to have to find a lot more coaches that share his myopic views on soccer if they are going to be successful playing the way Fred's Scorpions teams have traditionally played. It will be very interesting to see which direction the Breakers/Scorpions actually head in since we have been told that the Breakers have already inserted a new Technical Director's who has been charged with building and instituting a "new" training curriculum. This could shape up to be a battle royal of soccer philosophies rather than a reshaping of soccer in Eastern Ma.

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