The Youth System in the ‘States has always been a bit of a sore subject. We have 300 million people, 3 million of who play youth soccer, yet we struggle to create the talent necessary to compete for the ultimate prize in International soccer, the World Cup. Those who follow U.S. Soccer closely tend to look to the youth squads to see how the national team will look in the future. While most players who play for the U-17s, U-20s or U-23s will never be serious contributors to the full national team, the stars of those teams tend to make the jump fairly quickly, Jozy Altidore, Charlie Davies, and Stuart Holden are good examples of that. Continue reading “Looking South, The Shifting Focus of the U.S. U-20s”
Of all the things that contributed to the United States Round of 16 exit at the 2010 World Cup, perhaps the most glaring deficiency of the team was the defensive cohesion. The Americans conceded first in all of their matches barring the Algeria game (although truly, they almost did in that one too, with a Algerian shot going off the cross bar) and found themselves climbing out of the grave time and time again. To be successful at a World Cup, a team doesn’t have to sparkle offensively, as long as their defense stays stout, and they can find timely goals. The Yanks had the latter, but not the former.
Continue reading “Pondering the Future of the American Back-Line”
I’m thrilled right now. The US won their first game of the Olympics, against the opponent that undoubtedly is the easiest to beat. It wasn’t the most beautiful win, but we have 3 points out of a possible 3 points and that’s all that matters. We still have to play Nigeria and the Nedtherlands, but I think there’s a sunny outlook for these Olympics. Continue reading “USA 1-0 Japan: 6 Points to Think About”
Good Morning All. I was going to do a running commentary of the game as many of you know, but I slept right through my alarm this morning. That’s the price you pay for some jet lag I guess. Anyway, the US Olympians took a giant step towards qualification for the knockout rounds by winning against Japan. Stuart Holden’s 47th minute goal was the difference and the US held on for the win. Continue reading “USA Downs Japan 1-0 in Olympic Opener”
We’re less than a day away from the Olympics starting, and with no real soccer news to report yet today, we’re going to do a little guessing. Below are the Olympic groups and then below that, you place the teams that win and come in second in their groups where they are supposed to be. I think you guys get it. Continue reading “Olympic Soccer Predictions”
