2023 FIFA Women's World Cup

[Cowtown]

I know people from
Syracuse whose son (maybe 13-14 years old) plays hockey that are regularly driving to weekend tournaments in Ottawa, Rochester, Niagara Falls, etc. which seems completely ridiculous to me.

My best friend's son was a top tier player, and by 15 he was exhausted from it. Told his dad he wanted to do other things than just play hockey. He wanted to ski and snow board, play lacrosse, have a job and some $$$, and maybe even a girlfriend. I know! Damn ungrateful kid!

 

[OrangeDW]

My best friend's son was a top tier player, and by 15 he was exhausted from it. Told his dad he wanted to do other things than just play hockey. He wanted to ski and snow board, play lacrosse, have a job and some $$$, and maybe even a girlfriend. I know! Damn ungrateful kid!

Paying big bucks and having kids travel around like professional minor leaguers do is absurd to me. So is putting them on TV. For any sport.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

Pay to play and a lack of a true meritocracy is problematic and (I think) a uniquely American sports problem (at least in comparison to the European sports model).

And when I say "pay to play" i am referring not only about the barriers that children from lower economic classes face (though I actually think this is less of a problem) but also the scores of players that have no business playing at certain levels but are there simply because mommy and daddy can afford to write the check (or find the way to afford it) and the club directors are too financially invested to pass it up.

I'm the father of sons, but my sense is that these issues are exacerbated even more with girls' teams than boys'.

At least on the boys' soccer side, you now have the MLS teams with the resources to have their academy teams not charge players who make it. - ie. the European model.

So, it is getting better on the boys' side.

Unfortunately, the pro teams on the girls side still don't have the financial wherewithal to do this so it is all still pay-to-play.

What pay-to-play "academies" do on the boys and girls side is have multiple teams in each age group. The fees paid by the parents of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th etc. teams allow them to provide scholarships to some players on the top team who, otherwise, could not afford it.

So, if your kid is offered a spot on a lower team, usually accompanied by some type of vague promise such as, "Periodically, he\she can practice with the first team; maybe with another year of seasoning your son\daughter will be ready for the first team." etc., I would turn it down.

But it is amazing how parents love the fact that their kid plays on the 4th team for PDA (a high-powered girls pay-for-play academy in New Jersey has has produced multiple national team players over the years) just so they can say their kid plays for PDA when all they are is a checkbook to subsidize the first team.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

I know people from
Syracuse whose son (maybe 13-14 years old) plays hockey that are regularly driving to weekend tournaments in Ottawa, Rochester, Niagara Falls, etc. which seems completely ridiculous to me.

My neighbors kid plays against that kid. I guarantee it. It’s absurd.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

I think that's fair. I also felt like Sweden was a better matchup for this squad to get for playing a group winner. They are limited in the final 30 a great deal which was in part due to our tactics but also their own poor execution.

It was most certainly a harsh result to go with excellent GK play from Sweden. They have always been a team that defends well and bests you on the counter and with set pieces.

Hope that we can get healthy for the Olympics and also we get a new manager in asap.

One last comment- it's been a very interesting WWC so far. A lot of disappointing performances from the big favorites to date. I have yet to see any controversy or the ball being used so at least there is that

Sweden vs Japan is going to be fascinating.

Japan's achilles heel, defending set pieces due to their lack of height, is Sweden's strength.

But Japan is going to run rings around them in the field.

And NIgeria put on a clinic on how not to play with a one-person advantage. They were the better team all game and put England in a world of difficulty by playing direct and over the top and allowing their speed to get in behind.

When England went down due to the Lauren James red card, they went from 3 at the back to 4 at the back and dropped deeper so as not to get beaten over the top.

Nigeria, instead of taking advantage of the extra player and all the extra space in midfield, continued to try and play long balls over the top.

 

[Orangezoo]

Sweden vs Japan is going to be fascinating.

Japan's achilles heel, defending set pieces due to their lack of height, is Sweden's strength.

But Japan is going to run rings around them in the field.

And NIgeria put on a clinic on how not to play with a one-person advantage. They were the better team all game and put England in a world of difficulty by playing direct and over the top and allowing their speed to get in behind.

When England went down due to the Lauren James red card, they went from 3 at the back to 4 at the back and dropped deeper so as not to get beaten over the top.

Nigeria, instead of taking advantage of the extra player and all the extra space in midfield, continued to try and play long balls over the top.

It's been fun to see just how far the African Nations have come along this cycle. South American to an extent as well.

Agree on Japan vs Sweden- very interesting matchup. Japan, the Dutch and the Aussie's are my 3 I feel the best about winning it all. Hoping its the Aussie gals as a nod to Tiana.

I actually wished I could pull getting up to watch the Colombia vs Jamaica match too as that will be a fun one too.

 

[ForCuseSake]

It's been fun to see just how far the African Nations have come along this cycle. South American to an extent as well.

Agree on Japan vs Sweden- very interesting matchup. Japan, the Dutch and the Aussie's are my 3 I feel the best about winning it all. Hoping its the Aussie gals as a nod to Tiana.

I actually wished I could pull getting up to watch the Colombia vs Jamaica match too as that will be a fun one too.

I liked watching Panama and Colombia.

Marta Cox's reaction to that strike of a lifetime was awesome.

 

[Orangezoo]

I liked watching Panama and Colombia.

Marta Cox's reaction to that strike of a lifetime was awesome.

Great moment. Colombia has been my favorite , non-favorite, watch. A couple more cycles and I expect they are a top 10 fifa women's program.

 

[crv1728]

I know people from
Syracuse whose son (maybe 13-14 years old) plays hockey that are regularly driving to weekend tournaments in Ottawa, Rochester, Niagara Falls, etc. which seems completely ridiculous to me.

It is ridiculous. I had a son on a soccer club team that started traveling from Albany to Long Island and Rochester and Buffalo. One of the dads of a team member started complaining to everyone that “we don’t need to travel this far to get our asses kicked.”
Very funny and very true. And that was at the U13 level. By U15, half the team was gone because parents figured out it was way too much.

 

[Orangezoo]

'Exploiting the rules': Matildas called out over divisive move in World Cup victory

Tony Gustavsson could be seen rallying his troops after Steph Catley went down. Read more here.

au.sports.yahoo.com

These complaints always kill me. The Danes could have easily pulled the same thing shortly after. They didn't and so they claim its borderline breaking the rules...

 

[upperdeck]

All the AAU bball trips for the kids to watch them get killed was a drag.. And while I would admit they got exposed to better play, they were small school kids who were not going on to college ball anyway, the real answer was better coaching.. Time would have been better spent getting a local summer league set of games in the area and playing up a level. No.. Lets drive to NJ and play teams 4-5 inches taller and deeper and the guards were too good for ours anyway so the rest of the team never got to even see the ball.

 

[Cowtown]

All the AAU bball trips for the kids to watch them get killed was a drag.. And while I would admit they got exposed to better play, they were small school kids who were not going on to college ball anyway, the real answer was better coaching.. Time would have been better spent getting a local summer league set of games in the area and playing up a level. No.. Lets drive to NJ and play teams 4-5 inches taller and deeper and the guards were too good for ours anyway so the rest of the team never got to even see the ball.

Parents trying to re-live their youth vicariously through their kids, pushing them to become the stars they never were to claim their rightful validity.

 

[upperdeck]

the thing about shoot outs is that you have to know the situation.. the US had 2 kicks that probably win the thing and missed the net. the US goalie actually makes 2 saves and loses and the Swedish goalie didnt have to make a save at all. As the last kick showed.. Get it on net any anything can happen, just like hockey

 

[upperdeck]

Parents trying to re-live their youth vicariously through their kids, pushing them to become the stars they never were to claim their rightful validity.

yeah.. And for us it was all the coaches. If kids didnt do the summer stuff they were not seeing the court in the winter.. Many of the kids were better baseball players and it was hard to play summer schedule for both sports. Coaches forget the basketball players play 20-25 games for 3-4 months and baseball up here is condensed, and you can barely get out to practice before the season is over..

 

[Newhouser]

Parents trying to re-live their youth vicariously through their kids, pushing them to become the stars they never were to claim their rightful validity.

A travel ball coach says the word "showcase" and parents will drive to Nevada thinking Jimmy or Janey is one game from getting a full ride.

 

[Cowtown]

A travel ball coach says the word "showcase" and parents will drive to Nevada thinking Jimmy or Janey is one game from getting a full ride.

We got 'em up here, too. Guys running summer basketball camps, promising parents their little Ethan or Alexandra will get that scholly. So later the kid hits 11th grade and is still only 5'-9" (like the parents), it's obvious their skills never developed because the team spent all their time travelling to tournaments in which they rarely saw the floor. Then after 2 or 3 summers, the coach leaves town, because the tournament schedule was really about the coach making contacts ...

 

[NineOneSeven]

I know people from
Syracuse whose son (maybe 13-14 years old) plays hockey that are regularly driving to weekend tournaments in Ottawa, Rochester, Niagara Falls, etc. which seems completely ridiculous to me.

It's tough in a way, because the ones who end up being the best of the best pros are often the ones on the extreme end that did that sport excessively from a young age. But, burn out is real. A good friend played a lot of soccer as a youth and was quite good. By the time high school rolled around, he just stopped playing. Was sick of it all those years and just got burned out. He absolutely could have played in high school though, without question.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

It's tough in a way, because the ones who end up being the best of the best pros are often the ones on the extreme end that did that sport excessively from a young age. But, burn out is real. A good friend played a lot of soccer as a youth and was quite good. By the time high school rolled around, he just stopped playing. Was sick of it all those years and just got burned out. He absolutely could have played in high school though, without question.

Friend of my son was similar but even more extreme. His father actually started a soccer school for boys up here. Half a day of schoolwork, and half a day of training. Thought it would be brilliant for boys who struggle to stay still during the actual school part. His son was the top rated player in the state for years, started tailing off thru the first few years of hs, ended up quitting before his hs senior season, and never even pretended to go to college.

And yeah, the school flamed out as well. And the boy knew he had no funding for college coming from his parents because they spent it all on the school.

 

[MSOrange]

Why Andonovski was always the wrong choice to coach the USWNT

After two calamitous tournament exits in a row, it's time to move on from the USWNT coach. This team can rebound and be better in 2024, but to do that, it needs a fresh start on the sideline.

www.espn.com

 

[Orangezoo]

It's tough in a way, because the ones who end up being the best of the best pros are often the ones on the extreme end that did that sport excessively from a young age. But, burn out is real. A good friend played a lot of soccer as a youth and was quite good. By the time high school rolled around, he just stopped playing. Was sick of it all those years and just got burned out. He absolutely could have played in high school though, without question.

Yeah unfortunately you see that burnout that pushes kids away from the sport altogether when it's no longer fun

 

[IthacaMatt]

Why Andonovski was always the wrong choice to coach the USWNT

After two calamitous tournament exits in a row, it's time to move on from the USWNT coach. This team can rebound and be better in 2024, but to do that, it needs a fresh start on the sideline.

www.espn.com

At a certain point, players get "old", sports-wise. This was that tournament for many US team leaders, like Rapinoe, in particular. Then, they had injuries to their midfield and their central defense.

And the coach didn't really play any of the bench, when we were getting over-run by other teams in midfield. It's like we imported a coach with 1990s era tactics to boot it long, and just let the physically-superior US women run down the ball, power past the defense, and muscle it into the net.

The US needs to adopt more modern tactics. But to do that, the US has to develop players with better technical skills. We don't have to go gegen pressing, but if we played to our strengths as a nation, that's what we'd do, until we can start developing, recruiting or identifying players with better on-ball technique.

We have some very talented young players, but they don't really have a coherent team concept. It was just awful to watch. The one US play was to boot it long toward Alex Morgan (very cute, by the way ...), who basically just tipped a header forward for someone to run onto.

That was the whole freaking offense! Has this manager ever watched the men's game in Europe, like anytime in the last 10 years ???

 

[Cowtown]

At a certain point, players get "old", sports-wise. This was that tournament for many US team leaders, like Rapinoe, in particular. Then, they had injuries to their midfield and their central defense.

And the coach didn't really play any of the bench, when we were getting over-run by other teams in midfield. It's like we imported a coach with 1990s era tactics to boot it long, and just let the physically-superior US women run down the ball, power past the defense, and muscle it into the net.

The US needs to adopt more modern tactics. But to do that, the US has to develop players with better technical skills. We don't have to go gegen pressing, but if we played to our strengths as a nation, that's what we'd do, until we can start developing, recruiting or identifying players with better on-ball technique.

We have some very talented young players, but they don't really have a coherent team concept. It was just awful to watch. The one US play was to boot it long toward Alex Morgan (very cute, by the way ...), who basically just tipped a header forward for someone to run onto.

That was the whole freaking offense! Has this manager ever watched the men's game in Europe, like anytime in the last 10 years ???

re: gegen pressing

I noticed certain teams - Colombia, Netherlands, et al - fairly sprinted to pressure the ball all over the field until someone somewhere mishandled the ball and created a turnover. Like forechecking in hockey. Is this what you're referring to? I thought that style of play was chaotic, random, uninteresting to watch. No sustained play, just hair-on-fire pressure the ball. I wouldn't waste the time to watch it again.

 

[IthacaMatt]

re: gegen pressing

I noticed certain teams - Colombia, Netherlands, et al - fairly sprinted to pressure the ball all over the field until someone somewhere mishandled the ball and created a turnover. Like forechecking in hockey. Is this what you're referring to? I thought that style of play was chaotic, random, uninteresting to watch. No sustained play, just hair-on-fire pressure the ball. I wouldn't waste the time to watch it again.

Yes, but the reason it can be successful, just like fore-checking in hockey, is because if you turn over the opponent's possession, you are much closer to the opponent's goal, and more likely to get a quality shot if you act quickly.

In soccer, it gained a hold in Germany, and is an interesting tactical antidote to the Barcelona style tika-taka, possession based tactics, hoping to wear out the defense while they chase your attempts to overload one side or the other of the defense.

 

[Cowtown]

Paying big bucks and having kids travel around like professional minor leaguers do is absurd to me. So is putting them on TV. For any sport.

I figure around half of those "hockey dads/moms" do it so they can brag about their kid to friends and colleagues at work.

 

[OrangeDW]

I figure around half of those "hockey dads/moms" do it so they can brag about their kid to friends and colleagues at work.

Yes! And post pictures on social media about it!