Odp

[Unregistered]

Very true my son got knocked off the ball by a player on his own team!! LOL BTW my son has D1 coaches calling him but he couldn't make ODP.

That's such BS.. Your son isn't that good.

[Unregistered]

That's such BS.. Your son isn't that good.

Like you have a clue buddy!! Piss off!!

[Unregistered]

Turning in to a normal TS conversation but will add my 2 cents. They are evaluating as they see it, whatever that means. Tired of the kids falling through the cracks garbage. If you don't try out then how can you make it. If you're with a small club and the coach or DOC doesn't help pass this information on then that's the parents fault for not doing research. No country in the world begs 11 year olds to come to their tryouts. If a player misses the first tryout and would like to participate the coach or DOC can make a call and get the kid involved. The blame also should be placed on the shoulders of the team parents keeping secrets. Keeping tryout dates a secret and not helping with rides to tryouts is sad.

[Unregistered]

Any soccer is good soccer. Players are good at the tryouts, just don't expect the deciders of who goes forward and who doesn't to be impartial. They tend to favor kids from bigger clubs and they are not good judges of what a good soccer players are. The problem with ODP is they only see the me player and not the team soccer player. Then when they select all the me players, they don't understand why they can't make them into team players and then they end up getting beat later on.

I actually like that, the me player, thanks can I steal this from you, I'm one of the parents from the non-chosen ones in another ODP thread, I'm going to use it that thread just to aggravate the chosen ones parents.

Signed Suzy Q

[Unregistered]

worth it

My oldest child did it and felt it was worth it. She was always very in awe playing against an ODP player before she went to a try out. Now she plays them like its not a big deal. It definitely boosted her confidence.
She claims she felt the coaching was pretty good. At least she felt she learned some.

[Unregistered]

That is what I am talking about, the me soccer. Soccer is a passing game, not a one on one sport. The ODP people value a ball hog, shoot and dribble even if there are 4 guys on you, than a perfectly weighted through ball.

The logic (if you will) behind this is simple. You can teach a kid to pass but some just cant be taught to dribble and take players on either they just cant or wont. Either way it is detrimental to a soccer player. Some kids as they get older get this some just are not wired that way. I am not saying its right i am just giving some logic behind it. The same kids that are missed at ODP are the same kids, that if they left the team the team would not do as well but no one notices them or appreciates them while they are there , kinda stinks.

[Unregistered]

That is what I am talking about, the me soccer. Soccer is a passing game, not a one on one sport. The ODP people value a ball hog, shoot and dribble even if there are 4 guys on you, than a perfectly weighted through ball.

Granted, ODP is not perfect nor are its evaluations, but you guys seem to be too harsh on them especially blasting them for looking at "ball hogs" (odd that the ability to dribble and consistently win 1v1's is derided in U.S. but highly valued around the world).

Here's what a Tottenhem youth academy scout says on the topic when scouting youth players: "It’s about trying to beat someone and get the ball past them, not pass it past them, we can all do that. Good movers, very smooth in the way they run."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/foo...screaming.html

You hear similar sentiment from academy scouts from around the world . . . a kid can learn to pass the ball at any age and so anyone can do it, but the ability to beat your defender 1v1 is very rare, and that's why those kids are sought out by the scouts. It's far easier for a great dribbler to also become a great passer, than it is for a great passer to become a great dribbler. Maybe you should encourage your kid to dribble as well as pass.

[Unregistered]

The point is coaches have two night to organize a team each week at the 14 above and if you can beat a player in the 1v1 your done. Still, the coach drives the tactical game and if a player does not conform he sits.

So your 1v1 at home or extra training.

[Unregistered]

Granted, ODP is not perfect nor are its evaluations, but you guys seem to be too harsh on them especially blasting them for looking at "ball hogs" (odd that the ability to dribble and consistently win 1v1's is derided in U.S. but highly valued around the world).

Here's what a Tottenhem youth academy scout says on the topic when scouting youth players: "It’s about trying to beat someone and get the ball past them, not pass it past them, we can all do that. Good movers, very smooth in the way they run."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/foo...screaming.html

You hear similar sentiment from academy scouts from around the world . . . a kid can learn to pass the ball at any age and so anyone can do it, but the ability to beat your defender 1v1 is very rare, and that's why those kids are sought out by the scouts. It's far easier for a great dribbler to also become a great passer, than it is for a great passer to become a great dribbler. Maybe you should encourage your kid to dribble as well as pass.

see it all the time where player has ball with no defender within 20 yards but she passes the ball to a teammate under pressure who loses it because shes terrified of dribbling or feels has to pass immediately (mostly from the parents' touchline).

[Unregistered]

see it all the time where player has ball with no defender within 20 yards but she passes the ball to a teammate under pressure who loses it because shes terrified of dribbling or feels has to pass immediately (mostly from the parents' touchline).

Most of the time they are terrified of dribbling because the other little greedy bastards on the team are yelling me, me, me, me, since they are so programmed by their parents to be so selfish and not natural team players, that I believe it stunts their growth as soccer players and as people. See, I believe it is much easier to teach a kid to be Selfish as they get older than to teach them to be unselfish. Also passing the correct way at the correct time is just as much of a skill as to dribble past someone. Look at pirlo. He will dissect your team just with his passing skills. Guarantee he was an unselfish player as a kid, he had to be, never had the speed not to be. But you go on thinking that dribble past 3, 4 players to then lose the ball and then not be able to pass is the right way.

[Unregistered]

Most of the time they are terrified of dribbling because the other little greedy bastards on the team are yelling me, me, me, me, since they are so programmed by their parents to be so selfish and not natural team players, that I believe it stunts their growth as soccer players and as people. See, I believe it is much easier to teach a kid to be Selfish as they get older than to teach them to be unselfish. Also passing the correct way at the correct time is just as much of a skill as to dribble past someone. Look at pirlo. He will dissect your team just with his passing skills. Guarantee he was an unselfish player as a kid, he had to be, never had the speed not to be. But you go on thinking that dribble past 3, 4 players to then lose the ball and then not be able to pass is the right way.

losing the ball by poor passing decision is no better than losing the ball by poor dribbling decision. both result in loss of possession. but you keep on deluding yourself that dribbling is bad, bad, bad but passing is good, good, good in all situations. like everything in soccer, whether a decision is good or bad depends on the situation. but no doubt you're that parent yelling at that kid with acres of space around her to pass, pass, pass

[Unregistered]

see it all the time where player has ball with no defender within 20 yards but she passes the ball to a teammate under pressure who loses it because shes terrified of dribbling or feels has to pass immediately (mostly from the parents' touchline).

What cracks me up is when this happens and a roar goes up from the parents congratulating her for "good pass" "good idea" "unlucky" NO, it was a freaking terrible idea and pass.

[Unregistered]

Granted, ODP is not perfect nor are its evaluations, but you guys seem to be too harsh on them especially blasting them for looking at "ball hogs" (odd that the ability to dribble and consistently win 1v1's is derided in U.S. but highly valued around the world).

Here's what a Tottenhem youth academy scout says on the topic when scouting youth players: "It’s about trying to beat someone and get the ball past them, not pass it past them, we can all do that. Good movers, very smooth in the way they run."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/foo...screaming.html

You hear similar sentiment from academy scouts from around the world . . . a kid can learn to pass the ball at any age and so anyone can do it, but the ability to beat your defender 1v1 is very rare, and that's why those kids are sought out by the scouts. It's far easier for a great dribbler to also become a great passer, than it is for a great passer to become a great dribbler. Maybe you should encourage your kid to dribble as well as pass.

While I don't disagree with your assessment that the players need to learn to dribble, let's be careful to look to the English academy system for an example. In the same article it also says:

The academy product is flawed,’ says Mark Warburton, assistant academy manager and the architect of the new model, based on one at Ajax in Holland. 'It involves hours and hours of driving, hours of standing outside watching the boys with the rain lashing down, getting home at half nine or 10, eating meals in the car, being behind on homework, and always being generally tired, because that is what it takes to be a pro footballer – it’s always been that way. But it’s not that way in Holland, or France. So if it works there and we’re buying their players, doesn’t that tell you that we’ve got to change the way we do things?’

What the top academies i the world, in Germany, Spain and a couple in Englamd(Man City not Tottenham) is decision making and learning. Deciding when to dribble(sometimes dribbling is the best option) and when to pass(sometimes passing is the best option). So a player that only dribbles well or only passes well needs further development to become a top player. Unfortunately the ODP coaches are pretty remedial all things considered and often do not understand what they are seeing. They may see a player succeed but not understand why the succeeded. Could have succeeded making wrong decisions due to superior atheism. The top academies in the world weed those players out. It is all about decisions and how fast you make them and having the tools to execute your good decision(passing, dribbling, shooting).

[Unregistered]

losing the ball by poor passing decision is no better than losing the ball by poor dribbling decision. both result in loss of possession. but you keep on deluding yourself that dribbling is bad, bad, bad but passing is good, good, good in all situations. like everything in soccer, whether a decision is good or bad depends on the situation. but no doubt you're that parent yelling at that kid with acres of space around her to pass, pass, pass

You don't know me, you have no idea that I would be yelling pass, pass, pass with acres of space all around a player. You have some valid points and I totally agree, but no need to attack. I think we agree on the same thing here, but earlier in this thread the point was that it is ok for a kid at a young age to just try to dribble through as many people as he can, even if there is a better decision to make a pass to a teammate. I believe we need to be teaching kids to make good decisions with the ball, whether that is dribbling into open space or making that good pass to make the team better. There was an article that was shown as an example of a tottenham coach saying that it is better to find a player that will be a ball hog and just try to take players on, since they can teach him later to be a good passer. I say that is bull crap, it is better to find players that are good decision makers. I guess that is why the US is now ahead of England as a soccer nation.

[Unregistered]

[QUOTE=I guess that is why the US is now ahead of England as a soccer nation.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, That's why at least a 1/3 of the D1 Colleges here in America are filled with English/Scottish players coming over.

Are they taking American players in their universities over there?

The U.S. has gotten better but as long as we have the NFL, NBA & MLB as our primary sports we (yes, I'm American) are not a better "Soccer Nation"