shirivelli
BRONZE
I have been reflecting on and found similarities with some of the NorCal soccer teams to the EPL clubs. Some may agree or agree to disagree but hope there are some glimpse of true here and not all purely subjective. Feel free to comment on your insights as you see.
- MVLA (Manchester City): Top dog in EPL (I mean NorCal). If you are good, players are flocking to MVLA, especially for the girls’ ECNL teams. Club knows it too with their stellar college placements and league dominance for many years now. MVLA still shows diligence and wants to do well, but they are no longer so ambitious like some of the competing teams in the area. MVLA may be like Nike with their past market dominance, but we know what happened to Nike without innovation but relying mostly on their Air Jordans (e.g. Adidas, Hoka, On). Many of the club fans are also plastic glory hunters, so it can shift real fast when Man City is no longer dominating with reduced interest from TV deals (I mean colleges).
- Mustang FC (Arsenal): Others might see them as boring accountants and east peninsula dwellers, but their red jerseys stand out and look flashy. They are getting serious, and not sure if it is true but heard that they are now charging a fee to players for their ECNL May tryouts. Club has been steadily building their team pipeline of youngers to content for the majors too. And Mustang is in the ideal east peninsula location to attract talents in the area and even possibly the players from more inlands.
- FC Bay Surf (Chelsea): Often viewed as glory-hunting Tories from San Jose. They have a chip on their shoulder versus MVLA (I mean Manchester City) to compete for the league titles. FC Bay also recruits heavily, and if you are good, they allow players to play up and allow girls to compete in the boy teams, and many more to attract talent. They really want to be the top dog in EPL (I mean NorCal).
- Placer United (Newcastle United): No-frills team with grit and determination over flair with their small-town charm. Club doesn’t like their cross-town rival San Juan United (I mean Sunderland). Player movements between these two clubs are heavy season over season too. Not sure if the Placer supporters also take their tops off like Newcastle when it’s freezing outside but have seen some short-sleeved parents out there during the Winter State Cup.
- San Juan United (Wolves): club is proud of their Sacramento location and seen as a “sleeping giant”, but unfortunately, it has been in that status for many years now. Having a few of the sizeable clubs nearby, including Placer United and David Legacy, does not help with consolidating talent in the area to compete at the top level. Club has good facilities, but they do charge for tournament parking.
- De Anza Force (Manchester United): a fallen giant that swears they will win more this season. Others see them as a great night out ruined when someone makes a joke about slipping in recent years. Remembered for when De Anza (I mean Fergie) was here in their glory days. They are trying to figure it out, but something is just not clicking, especially with attracting top talents to the club like it used to.
- Lamorinda United (Southampton): seen as a well-run, community-focused club with a strong youth academy in recent years. Many positives are cooking here with the latest development of female players to USYNT and/or college placements including Stanford. It may still be considered a bit “vanilla” or lacking the edge of more dramatic clubs, but it’s getting noticed in the Bay.
- Almaden FC (Tottenham FC): reputation for being a “nearly” club, often finishing in the top half but not quite winning the league with no major silverware. Feeder club to MVLA, De Anza Force and Bay Area Surf. Every season, their best players mysteriously disappear to ECNL (I mean to Bayern Munich). There is a culture of “Spursy” at play here.
- Santa Clara Sporting (West Ham United): Their fans are seen as classic East Santa Clara-ers, tough and royal base. Many of their coaches have win-at-all-cost mentality and very vocal with their players. SC Sporting may have one of the lowest club costs in the Bay without many sub tier teams in the same age group.
- Los Gatos United (Fulham): Have somewhat polite fanbase in the league, known for calmly watching matches from the comfort of their riverside seats. Have yet to see supporters watching while sipping tea, but there were some parents at times drinking mountain dew at the sidelines. LG United is also a “nearly” club like Almaden FC with all the similar characteristics. This may be the reason why (on top of proximity) they actively exchange players between them season after season.