NoGoal
DA
True, as long as a player has the 1st touch, skill and IQ. They can learn possession style of play. Example, IMO Luca Modric from Real Madrid has the abilities to play for Barca.
Girls Development Academy
- Thread starter Swoosh
- Start date
Sheriff Joe
DA
MAP,you will never see me get personal with you again, my bad.
MakeAPlay
DA
Did hell just freeze over and I missed the news report?
Sheriff Joe
DA
Don't fucking tell anyone.
NoGoal
DA
Get a room you to.
Sheriff Joe
DA
I've been hacked!
If the Arsenal girls stay at their ECNL team then how does US Soccer explain that they don't need to be on a GDA team? If the goal of the GDA is to properly train girls for US Soccer then why would US soccer not insist they train on a GDA team? If they stay on an ECNL team then who needs the GDA? I think that is a bit of a predicament for US Soccer - they didn't think that Arsenal deserved a GDA but yet three of the current roster comes from Arsenal.
NoGoal
DA
The irony!
Dos Equis
GOLD
One of the players was a product of neither the ECNL nor the DA, but was part of a pretty good Fullerton Rangers squad, until recently.
"Where they come" from is a great mystery US Soccer is still trying to solve, or more accurate, resolve.
CuriousOne
BRONZE
The 04 has been in the 02 GNT pool since last year. Naturally, she's smaller than the other girls, but she's incredibly skilled and has very high soccer IQ. On top of that, she's very speedy and shifty, so even though she's small, she knows when to get rid of the ball and therefore avoids getting knocked off.
Before the age group change, she was playing on an 01/02 team and was running circles around the older players, and some really good players! In GNT, there tends to be one or two very special yet younger players who will be playing up with older girls. The 04 is in the GNT U15 pool with the new cycle this year. She's just been called up for the U16 tournament.
CuriousOne
BRONZE
While it's true one of the girls isn't a product of Arsenal until last year, there are 4 other girls who are (2 weren't called up for the U16 tournament). So there are a total of 5 players (2 '02s and 3 '03s) in the GNT pool, 4 are Arsenal "homegrown". That's still pretty impressive coming from one team.
The question is why Arsenal isn't killing it in 02 ECNL. They've never missed more than 2 GNT players for a game, and they have lost even with full strength. In addition to the GNT players, they have other players on the ODP team, yet they are currently 5th in the 02 ECNL SW standings...
Yes, that is one of the big mysteries in the SW ECNL. Not only have they been invited to the GNT camps but also a large group of the team played together on the championship Cal South ODP team. Is it a coaching issue? or too many individual superstars that don't know how to play together successfully? I have heard many times the complaint about US Soccer selecting "superstars" but missing the boat about the girls being able to play as a team.
transplant
SILVER
That is interesting. I wonder is it is a case of what often seems to happen on higher level teams where there are 3-4 exceptional players and a cast of really good players filling out the roster. Could be that Arsenal talent drops off a little quicker than other ECNL teams in the area or there is a big upset to the team dynamics when 2 GNT players are missing? Hard to say looking in but an interesting observation none the less.
CuriousOne
BRONZE
Speaking of playing as a team, the CalSouth 01 ODP team with at least 8 players who have been called up to the YNT (2 played up in U17 World Cup last year) lost 4-1 to the FL team (no YNT players) in the ODP National Championship. Granted the CalSouth team doesn't regularly play together, but neither does the FL ODP team.
NoGoal
DA
There are 2 other teams that I know of in another age group. 1 had 3 YNT players and the other had 4 YNT players and both never won an ECNL Championship nor their own conference title. So it's NOT an isolated issue.
transplant
SILVER
I guess that also points to the corollary to this argument - which is top/elite players don't make the team successful. The middle 8-10 non-YNT, non-ODP could be the ultimate source of a team's ability to win it all.
Agreed. Blue collar players. Every team has them from youth to the professional level.
I don't know if you are including the other two that came from Fullerton Rangers, but they are also in the YNT team pool. In all honesty, half of that team isn't completely "Arsenal homegrown" as several of those players were pulled in/came from other clubs, and I believe there is even a player who lives in Vegas, as I was told by someone who is close to the team. (HOWEVER, there are hardly any teams, if any, in the big clubs that have 100% of their players from the same club since they started club, even though that team is an extreme example and then this can turn into an ethics debate about RB) .
On the other note, I think there are way more consistent YNT players on that team:
There is a circuit of 3 '03's in the U15/16 pool/team
There are 4 '02's in the U16/17 pool/team
That isn't incluiding those who were cycled out and those who have recieved a call up here and there.
About their league play:
From my understanding, they have chemistry problems. Up until a year ago, it was a completely different team, and only half the current team was there last season. They have some pretty phenomenal players, including both the ones that were pulled in but also the ones from the core team (RB was pretty brutal with the cuts to make the ECNL team and to be dropped down to the EGSL team). The problem is getting them to be good together.
NoGoal
DA
IMO, has to do with team chemistry, how much the girls like each other translates to how much they will play for each other. Not to mention, the coach!
If it was all about talent and how many YNT players a team has. Stanford should be the current 3 peat NCAA college cup champs.
LadiesMan217
GOLD
If your DD could join any 2001/2002 DA team, which team would you as a parent want her to join and why?