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***Official Soccer Discussion Thread*** (5 Viewers)

Jose walks out on Presser

"Three-Nil.  You know what that means?  Three-Nil, but it also means 3 premierships...I have won more premierships alone, than the other 19 managers together.  Respect."

:lol:

Can't see him lasting until Christmas - but the PL is much more interesting with him in the league..

 
I can never remember if this is the thread where we discuss travel/club soccer, so forgive my faux pas if it's not.  Otherwise, I could use some advice on how to best handle (or not handle) a situation with my son.  

The long backstory: Son has played for a relatively competitive local travel team for 8 years - he's now U15 and in 8th grade.  From day 1, the coach has always said his long-term goal was to help the boys build a skillset so that they make their high school's JV team when they hit 9th grade.  He's good with the kids, but very prickly with parents and other adults.  The coaches for our other age groups, the club director, and the high school coach openly can't stand him.  On the other hand, he has donated countless hours a year to working with our sons.

A little over 2 years ago, we needed an extra GK for spring because our two keepers also played another spring sport and couldn't make every game.  My son volunteered to be the 3rd keeper - he never intended it to be permanent.  He did well enough in the spring that at tryouts for the following fall, the coach cut one of the other GKs.  My son could live with this, because he still got to play the field more than half the time.  He didn't love it, but felt he owed it to the team and GK#1 (who also liked to get some time in the field).

Last year, the split was straight 50/50, and my son was less happy with it.  With tryouts for this year approaching, I suggested he ask the coach to find another GK because he preferred playing the field (without going into detail, both GKs are also two of our better field players, and also among the handful that have seemed to hit a growth spurt).  Not sure what my son said to him, but the Coach did bring up to me that son told him that he didn't want to play goal.  I assumed the coach meant play goal for the club, and asked if he would be recruiting a new #2 GK.  Coach replied, "Oh no, I meant that he told me he didn't want to play goal in high school."  I guess that was where I should have responded, "But isn't the whole goal to get him ready for HS?"

The situation: Fast forward to our first pre-season tourney this weekend.  In the first game, GK#1 gets hurt.  He's OK, but likely out 4-6 weeks with a muscle strain.  This, of course, meant my son had to play goal for the rest of the tournament.  He played really well given the circumstances, but thanks to injuries, our lack of size, and losing a couple of 9th graders to JV, the whole team got pummeled.  We only scored 2 goals in the 5 games he played GK, and gave up 9 (3 on PKs).  Despite playing really well, he was totally demoralized.  And knowing he's the only GK for our upcoming Labor Day tournament and possibly the first half of the season just makes him feel worse.  Before the last game, another kid actually offered to play goal so Lex could see the field, and the coach nixed it: "you guys obviously need to get better at your real positions."

The question: When my son asked for advice, I told him he should talk to the coach and present the argument to him that playing GK full time isn't helping improve for HS next year.  But today when I talked to work friends with older kids that play HS sports, they seemed to think that my son is still young enough that I should be the one to approach the coach and say something.  I don't want to be that parent, and the coach also has a history of taking parental input very poorly.  Therefore, I'm inclined to stay out of it, but wanted to see if folks in the soccer thread thought I owed it to my son to bring it up with the coach.  

Thanks for reading...
A couple of points - I think you should approach the coach, as you did here.  Talk about wanting your son to work on non-GK skills, as that is where he is likely to play in the future.  Its a lot to ask of your son - to take on the coach.  It could be a great life lesson if he did it - but I am guessing he would not have the will power to really challenge the coach when the coach responds with "Do whats best for the team..."  Maybe a tag-team approach, where you support your son's talk with the coach - or you do it together, and let your son take the lead.

Second - playing GK has its advantages - I had a similar experience to your son, where I kind of got "stuck" in goal for a little while even though I was better in the field than I was in goal.  But, as GK, i got to see the field of play from a better perspective - and that is something that I think I took with me when I went back to the field - I was tactically more aware of what was going on, and where players should be.  That helped me make up for a lack of athleticism, by being able to "read the game" better.  That took me a long way...

 
Austin FC is doing merch drops all around town, promoted through social media, and they are killing it. Makes me happy to think that the average Austinite, who hasn’t been engaged in the Twitter wars for the last ten months, is legitimately excited about the opportunity.

 
And, because I’m a weirdo, I’ve also been watching the Nashville live streams. It’s uncanny how similar some of the arguments are.

 
Austin FC is doing merch drops all around town, promoted through social media, and they are killing it. Makes me happy to think that the average Austinite, who hasn’t been engaged in the Twitter wars for the last ten months, is legitimately excited about the opportunity.
any word on when they are going to announce the move formally?

In a league with a full history of cringe worthy moments I am not sure any top the current selling of season tickets for Columbus next year...

 
It's been a while, maybe two years, since I posted about my YMCA League team, Dazed and Confused.

Well, it finally happened.  Once again, Mjolnirs is on the score sheet!

We fought our way to another 2nd place match finish tonight with a final score of 6-5.  I had one goal and one assist.  It was a banner night.

Our current record is now 0-1-5 with 20 goals scored and 35 against.

Yes, I'm telling everyone.

 
One step closer to Wolverhampton for TSO. Where he can speak his native language to most of the lineup.

The lead guy on my morning drive time news station is a Prem fan and today, just as I was passing a driveway flying a Chelsea(!) banner that I'd never noticed before, he gently chided his sports guy for not mentioning the ManU-Tottenham game yesterday in his bit. I was amused by that but those old dawgs aren't ever gonna talk about anything except Os/Ravens. "Is Manchester anywhere near Essex and Dundalk?"

 
united looked good for a stretch there... and then they didn't. should've put a couple in goal in that first half. and spurs looked completely disjointed in that first half- either due to the way united was playing or otherwise. certinaly figured it out at halftime.

 
united looked good for a stretch there... and then they didn't. should've put a couple in goal in that first half. and spurs looked completely disjointed in that first half- either due to the way united was playing or otherwise. certinaly figured it out at halftime.
I thought United was playing with their hair on fire in the first half, gang tackling all over the pitch. It just didn't work out and then the defense cracked in the second.

I'm pretty pleased to see Lukie Shaw healthy and out of the doghouse. He played really well yesterday, turned Trippier completely around on a couple of occasions.

 
scorchy said:
I don't want to be that parent, and the coach also has a history of taking parental input very poorly.  Therefore, I'm inclined to stay out of it, but wanted to see if folks in the soccer thread thought I owed it to my son to bring it up with the coach.  

Thanks for reading...
I empathize with you.  I have a u13 daughter who plays on a competitive team right now.  She wants to play on her high school team.  2 years ago, the girl that was playing gk decided she didn't like it, so my daughter volunteered to help out for the good of the team as no one else did.  That year, my daughter played 1/2 the time in goal, led her team in goals and assists and was the best player on the team by a mile.  The next year the other gk quit so my daughter was the full time gk and played about 80% of the time.  

Now, my daughter enjoys playing gk, She styles her hair and play like DDG (insert jokes here).  And while she is decent at it, she is short (about 5'1").  She is also still the best fielding player on the team.  

Fast forward to this past weekend, they had a tournament.  She played gk 80% of the time.  The 20% of the time she played in the field, she scored on a set piece screamer (proud parent moment there), scored on a pk, and had 2 more assists.  Her team lost in the championship game in pk's, where of course my daughter played gk and was demoralized but kept her spirits up as best she could.

I am completely stuck here.  We have approached the coach and while she understands our concerns, none of the other girls on the team have any want to play gk.  I really feel this club is doing a disservice to my daughter and the team, by having their best player 'stuck' in goal, but it is what it is.  This is more venting than advice, but I would suggest talking to the coach.  I am never 'that parent', this is my third child that played soccer, but this child really has the ability to be good - not talking USWNT good, but certainly good enough to start on a high school varsity team down the line if she progresses.  I do my best to hold my tongue when I can, but I also understand that the coach has 14 other parents probably telling them where their daughters should be playing too, or complaining about PT (which isn't an issue for us as my daughter has yet to sit a minute).  Hopefully, next year she'll be on the high school team and not have to worry about club playing much more, but who knows. 

g'luck to you and your son Scorchy,

Signed, been there done that.

 
I thought United was playing with their hair on fire in the first half, gang tackling all over the pitch. It just didn't work out and then the defense cracked in the second.

I'm pretty pleased to see Lukie Shaw healthy and out of the doghouse. He played really well yesterday, turned Trippier completely around on a couple of occasions.
Agree with all of this.  I was down on Luke because he had zero confidence, he may be the only player who has progressed the last year.

And I'm also :lmao: at Martinez at least until it happens  :oldunsure:

 
any word on when they are going to announce the move formally?

In a league with a full history of cringe worthy moments I am not sure any top the current selling of season tickets for Columbus next year...
September 4 court hearing is the next milestone. Everyone’s speculating that maybe an announcement will come after that.

Supporters Group is also working on a brand launch. We are all tired of being “MLS in Austin SG.” And we are out of scarves to sell.

I agree that selling tickets in Columbus while this is going on is a huge miss.

 
scorchy said:
I can never remember if this is the thread where we discuss travel/club soccer, so forgive my faux pas if it's not.  Otherwise, I could use some advice on how to best handle (or not handle) a situation with my son.  

The long backstory: Son has played for a relatively competitive local travel team for 8 years - he's now U15 and in 8th grade.  From day 1, the coach has always said his long-term goal was to help the boys build a skillset so that they make their high school's JV team when they hit 9th grade.  He's good with the kids, but very prickly with parents and other adults.  The coaches for our other age groups, the club director, and the high school coach openly can't stand him.  On the other hand, he has donated countless hours a year to working with our sons.

A little over 2 years ago, we needed an extra GK for spring because our two keepers also played another spring sport and couldn't make every game.  My son volunteered to be the 3rd keeper - he never intended it to be permanent.  He did well enough in the spring that at tryouts for the following fall, the coach cut one of the other GKs.  My son could live with this, because he still got to play the field more than half the time.  He didn't love it, but felt he owed it to the team and GK#1 (who also liked to get some time in the field).

Last year, the split was straight 50/50, and my son was less happy with it.  With tryouts for this year approaching, I suggested he ask the coach to find another GK because he preferred playing the field (without going into detail, both GKs are also two of our better field players, and also among the handful that have seemed to hit a growth spurt).  Not sure what my son said to him, but the Coach did bring up to me that son told him that he didn't want to play goal.  I assumed the coach meant play goal for the club, and asked if he would be recruiting a new #2 GK.  Coach replied, "Oh no, I meant that he told me he didn't want to play goal in high school."  I guess that was where I should have responded, "But isn't the whole goal to get him ready for HS?"

The situation: Fast forward to our first pre-season tourney this weekend.  In the first game, GK#1 gets hurt.  He's OK, but likely out 4-6 weeks with a muscle strain.  This, of course, meant my son had to play goal for the rest of the tournament.  He played really well given the circumstances, but thanks to injuries, our lack of size, and losing a couple of 9th graders to JV, the whole team got pummeled.  We only scored 2 goals in the 5 games he played GK, and gave up 9 (3 on PKs).  Despite playing really well, he was totally demoralized.  And knowing he's the only GK for our upcoming Labor Day tournament and possibly the first half of the season just makes him feel worse.  Before the last game, another kid actually offered to play goal so Lex could see the field, and the coach nixed it: "you guys obviously need to get better at your real positions."

The question: When my son asked for advice, I told him he should talk to the coach and present the argument to him that playing GK full time isn't helping improve for HS next year.  But today when I talked to work friends with older kids that play HS sports, they seemed to think that my son is still young enough that I should be the one to approach the coach and say something.  I don't want to be that parent, and the coach also has a history of taking parental input very poorly.  Therefore, I'm inclined to stay out of it, but wanted to see if folks in the soccer thread thought I owed it to my son to bring it up with the coach.  

Thanks for reading...
I like the idea someone else brought up of going with your son let him do most of the talking. Sometimes coaches like this when a player goes by themselves feels like he can bully the player and deflect the situation if needed. By a parent being there the coach has to be more straight forward. If he's not taking your son seriously step in. He should be showing his players the same respect as he wants from them to him. Also if theres other team/Club options and the coach doesn't look interested you can always threaten to leave. I played in a baseball league where there were other options available and one kid did this with a coach on another team. Coach changed his attitude and opinion real fast because the kid was his best player. 

My dad coached soccer for yrs between myself and then my brothers for yrs I'm 30 and my youngest brother will be 26 in Dec. The commissioner of the league was the HS soccer Varsity coach he was from Argentina and grew up playing there. My dad was more about the kids having fun then competition as well as learning the game He never had issue of playing kids. He ran into a few problems while coaching with parents trying to live through their kids. However the situations were never terrible. My baseball team last year dad pulled his son off the team because he thought "He wasn't given enough PT including pitching" however our league limited how many innings per week and pitches a kid could throw in that week. Kid had a scholarship to a real good school in the south like LSU or something but dad over worked him and he blew out his arm SR year never to play again. My dad has dealt with numerous bad coaches and parents over the years. I think the best you guys can do is go together and tell him straight and be honest. If you want bring up the idea that other people in Goal could help give them experience and if needed can play keeper in the future. I also would tell coach that this doesn't mean he won't play keeper if the coach wants him to but he just would like to see the field more as another position player. This will show that your son still wants to help the team anyway but expressing his concerns. 

 
I empathize with you.  I have a u13 daughter who plays on a competitive team right now.  She wants to play on her high school team.  2 years ago, the girl that was playing gk decided she didn't like it, so my daughter volunteered to help out for the good of the team as no one else did.  That year, my daughter played 1/2 the time in goal, led her team in goals and assists and was the best player on the team by a mile.  The next year the other gk quit so my daughter was the full time gk and played about 80% of the time.  

Now, my daughter enjoys playing gk, She styles her hair and play like DDG (insert jokes here).  And while she is decent at it, she is short (about 5'1").  She is also still the best fielding player on the team.  

Fast forward to this past weekend, they had a tournament.  She played gk 80% of the time.  The 20% of the time she played in the field, she scored on a set piece screamer (proud parent moment there), scored on a pk, and had 2 more assists.  Her team lost in the championship game in pk's, where of course my daughter played gk and was demoralized but kept her spirits up as best she could.

I am completely stuck here.  We have approached the coach and while she understands our concerns, none of the other girls on the team have any want to play gk.  I really feel this club is doing a disservice to my daughter and the team, by having their best player 'stuck' in goal, but it is what it is.  This is more venting than advice, but I would suggest talking to the coach.  I am never 'that parent', this is my third child that played soccer, but this child really has the ability to be good - not talking USWNT good, but certainly good enough to start on a high school varsity team down the line if she progresses.  I do my best to hold my tongue when I can, but I also understand that the coach has 14 other parents probably telling them where their daughters should be playing too, or complaining about PT (which isn't an issue for us as my daughter has yet to sit a minute).  Hopefully, next year she'll be on the high school team and not have to worry about club playing much more, but who knows. 

g'luck to you and your son Scorchy,

Signed, been there done that.
Yeah in your case coach seems stuck with no other options. It's a lose lose. Hopefully if she is playing club next year the Coach has another keeper or two on the club to help this situation. My question is and I never want to see it happen but what happens if you daughter is injured and can't play? Has the coach given any thought to who her back up is? if so maybe try playing them some minutes in net a match here and there? 

 
In Andy Martial news:

Anthony Martial wants to leave Manchester United but the club management want to keep him and refused approaches from Milan and Atletico Madrid. United want to avoid another Salah and De Bruyne cases with Jose Mourinho and even offered Martial a new contract [RMC Sport]

 
In Andy Martial news:

Anthony Martial wants to leave Manchester United but the club management want to keep him and refused approaches from Milan and Atletico Madrid. United want to avoid another Salah and De Bruyne cases with Jose Mourinho and even offered Martial a new contract [RMC Sport]
If they want to avoid another Salah and De Bruyne situation, why not just play him?  :confused:

 
In Andy Martial news:

Anthony Martial wants to leave Manchester United but the club management want to keep him and refused approaches from Milan and Atletico Madrid. United want to avoid another Salah and De Bruyne cases with Jose Mourinho and even offered Martial a new contract [RMC Sport]
Maybe the next manager will get more out of him

 
scorchy said:
I can never remember if this is the thread where we discuss travel/club soccer, so forgive my faux pas if it's not.  Otherwise, I could use some advice on how to best handle (or not handle) a situation with my son.  

The long backstory: Son has played for a relatively competitive local travel team for 8 years - he's now U15 and in 8th grade.  From day 1, the coach has always said his long-term goal was to help the boys build a skillset so that they make their high school's JV team when they hit 9th grade.  He's good with the kids, but very prickly with parents and other adults.  The coaches for our other age groups, the club director, and the high school coach openly can't stand him.  On the other hand, he has donated countless hours a year to working with our sons.

A little over 2 years ago, we needed an extra GK for spring because our two keepers also played another spring sport and couldn't make every game.  My son volunteered to be the 3rd keeper - he never intended it to be permanent.  He did well enough in the spring that at tryouts for the following fall, the coach cut one of the other GKs.  My son could live with this, because he still got to play the field more than half the time.  He didn't love it, but felt he owed it to the team and GK#1 (who also liked to get some time in the field).

Last year, the split was straight 50/50, and my son was less happy with it.  With tryouts for this year approaching, I suggested he ask the coach to find another GK because he preferred playing the field (without going into detail, both GKs are also two of our better field players, and also among the handful that have seemed to hit a growth spurt).  Not sure what my son said to him, but the Coach did bring up to me that son told him that he didn't want to play goal.  I assumed the coach meant play goal for the club, and asked if he would be recruiting a new #2 GK.  Coach replied, "Oh no, I meant that he told me he didn't want to play goal in high school."  I guess that was where I should have responded, "But isn't the whole goal to get him ready for HS?"

The situation: Fast forward to our first pre-season tourney this weekend.  In the first game, GK#1 gets hurt.  He's OK, but likely out 4-6 weeks with a muscle strain.  This, of course, meant my son had to play goal for the rest of the tournament.  He played really well given the circumstances, but thanks to injuries, our lack of size, and losing a couple of 9th graders to JV, the whole team got pummeled.  We only scored 2 goals in the 5 games he played GK, and gave up 9 (3 on PKs).  Despite playing really well, he was totally demoralized.  And knowing he's the only GK for our upcoming Labor Day tournament and possibly the first half of the season just makes him feel worse.  Before the last game, another kid actually offered to play goal so Lex could see the field, and the coach nixed it: "you guys obviously need to get better at your real positions."

The question: When my son asked for advice, I told him he should talk to the coach and present the argument to him that playing GK full time isn't helping improve for HS next year.  But today when I talked to work friends with older kids that play HS sports, they seemed to think that my son is still young enough that I should be the one to approach the coach and say something.  I don't want to be that parent, and the coach also has a history of taking parental input very poorly.  Therefore, I'm inclined to stay out of it, but wanted to see if folks in the soccer thread thought I owed it to my son to bring it up with the coach.  

Thanks for reading...
With the added benefit of having met your son, I'd say he's completely old enough to tell the coach that he'd prefer to not play goal.  And I'm not sure he should really need to convince the coach of his the wisdom of his position on that.  Of course, the coach could blow him off, but he'd blow you off too.

 
Austin FC is doing merch drops all around town, promoted through social media, and they are killing it. Makes me happy to think that the average Austinite, who hasn’t been engaged in the Twitter wars for the last ten months, is legitimately excited about the opportunity.
BOLD!

 
Native said:
If they want to avoid another Salah and De Bruyne situation, why not just play him?  :confused:
He's not very good.  I don't think he's ready for a big club like United.  He probably will blow up somewhere else, but I just don't think it's going to happen with all the pressure that comes with United.  

 
He's not very good.  I don't think he's ready for a big club like United.  He probably will blow up somewhere else, but I just don't think it's going to happen with all the pressure that comes with United.  
I disagree wholeheartedly.  He is one of their more skillful attacking players with the potential to be great.  IMO the problem is he is held to a higher standard then anyone else.  Sure he doesn't smile and doesnt look as happy as Lingard, but if he isnt perfect on game day he gets hauled off or benched for weeks at a time, then gets a chance and again has to be perfect or hes out for another month.  No one can perform that way.  His form was great going into January and they bring in Sanchez and instantly start him over Martial.  Why?

Other players are dismal or loose the game for United and continually start and get playing time.  Play the kid.Let him loose and let him attack.  For more then 45 mins a month.  

 
I disagree wholeheartedly.  He is one of their more skillful attacking players with the potential to be great.  IMO the problem is he is held to a higher standard then anyone else.  Sure he doesn't smile and doesnt look as happy as Lingard, but if he isnt perfect on game day he gets hauled off or benched for weeks at a time, then gets a chance and again has to be perfect or hes out for another month.  No one can perform that way.  His form was great going into January and they bring in Sanchez and instantly start him over Martial.  Why?

Other players are dismal or loose the game for United and continually start and get playing time.  Play the kid.Let him loose and let him attack.  For more then 45 mins a month.  
He flashes brilliance and then disappears.  I agree he has great potential, but he's just not consistent enough.  I'm not a huge Sanchez fan, but he's a clear upgrade over Martial.  I sympathize with Martial--Manchester United is an insanely difficult place for a player to develop.  The scrutiny is over the top.  You have to perform or you're left out.  Look at the situation now--people are losing their minds over two losses in a row.  

 
He flashes brilliance and then disappears.  I agree he has great potential, but he's just not consistent enough.  I'm not a huge Sanchez fan, but he's a clear upgrade over Martial.  I sympathize with Martial--Manchester United is an insanely difficult place for a player to develop.  The scrutiny is over the top.  You have to perform or you're left out.  Look at the situation now--people are losing their minds over two losses in a row.  
If Sanchez was moved to the right (where he played for Barca) and Martial was given a run on the left that front three would rival anyone.

I agree its a tough place to play.  Expectations are high as they should be for the top club in England.  Problem is he performs and gets left out while others constantly let the team down with poor play and are starting the next three games.

 

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