ECNL friendlies this weekend...

dallas 1968 wrote:

MiddleClass wrote:

I am hoping Solar, FC Dallas, Sting or Texans can close the gap on Socal this year.  Socal has had three different teams win the most prestigious events over the last two years in the 01 age group.

Don't hold your breath.

I don't think there is much of a gap. Watched the 01 ecnl games online and surf is a small cut above everyone else, but I wouldnt put any of the other socal teams as clear favorites over the best of ntx.

Sometimes it comes down to a break here or there, but slammers, hawks, bethesda, gsa, etc are all about the same as the top ntx sides. I agree with most of what middleclass said...there isnt much doubt the top third of ecnl is the most competitive in the country. The country, not the globe. Lol. I don't agree with the "across the board", as the bottom third of ecnl has too many teams that get hammered inside and outside of ecnl for me to make that claim. I do think there is a small gap from top of usys to top of ecnl...mostly depth and next level tactics. Either way, I was just having fun with the tightly wound elitists, since I learned last week there is a whole other stratosphere of elitism beyond ecnl.

you should pay closer attention to the slammers....

Grifter wrote:you should pay closer attention to the slammers....

I have payed plenty attention given DDs team has played them 4 times in the last few years. Before watching the surf vs slammers ecnl final I would've said slammers was the better team. When surf won surf cup back at u12 i was surprised because we thought slammers were the better team having played them both.  Slammers has a better defense than surf, but they dont have the same level of sophistication in the attacking third. It will be easier for surf to upgrade their D than it will be for slammers to match surfs style of play in the attack. Surf is vulnerable to the one fast fwd running in behind whereas slammers has mucho speed on their backline. But surf can score so many different ways, and their middle and attacking thirds are on a different level than anyone else.  They are not as athletic as slammers top to bottom, but their soccer IQ as a team is off the charts. I don't get caught up in scores...if you watch the games it tells the real story.

So Cal teams have a distinct advantage over the NTX teams when it comes to recruiting and  team depth.  Take a look at where these teams reside....most are anywhere from 25 miles to 150 miles apart....and they are still in Southern California.  Take NTX for instance.....you have (5) five ENCL teams....add Kicks and you have (6) six teams with talent dispersed across each team.....agreed?  Any player can/will/might move to another team and make that team incrementally....a bit better.  Take a whole region....(where Slammers, So CAl Blues) with huge populations and put one team together.... and there....you have San Diego Surf and Slammers.  

What if we had 2-3 teams in ECNL, 1-2 in Premiere League and presto....you have NTX clubs that are making it deep into Nationals every year.  I could be totally wrong, but for the math guys on the forum...look at geography, population and # of top level programs and it is pretty clear that So Cal teams have a recipe for success.  

Not to mention....they can play soccer year-round in 70 degree weather.  Far from the 105 degree, dog days from hell games we will be playing next week.

IMO....Slammers is the team to beat at U15....if they have the same team they brought to Nationals.  A lot of folks wondering how a team that lost both in-season games to Surf....dominates them in the Finals.  For what it's worth...I was on the sidelines for that game and Slammers did in fact "Slam" Surf.  So...with respect to Grifters...he is right!  Slammers had the hardest run to the finals as well as the hardest group bracket.

Beat everyone in group, Solar, Sporting KC and Bethesda....R1 Finals....beat Michigan Hawks.....Finals....beat Surf.

Big Poppy wrote:So Cal teams have a distinct advantage over the NTX teams when it comes to recruiting and  team depth.  Take a look at where these teams reside....most are anywhere from 25 miles to 150 miles apart....and they are still in Southern California.  Take NTX for instance.....you have (5) five ENCL teams....add Kicks and you have (6) six teams with talent dispersed across each team.....agreed?  Any player can/will/might move to another team and make that team incrementally....a bit better.  Take a whole region....(where Slammers, So CAl Blues) with huge populations and put one team together.... and there....you have San Diego Surf and Slammers.  

What if we had 2-3 teams in ECNL, 1-2 in Premiere League and presto....you have NTX clubs that are making it deep into Nationals every year.  I could be totally wrong, but for the math guys on the forum...look at geography, population and # of top level programs and it is pretty clear that So Cal teams have a recipe for success.  

Not to mention....they can play soccer year-round in 70 degree weather.  Far from the 105 degree, dog days from hell games we will be playing next week.

Winning!

Big Poppy wrote:So Cal teams have a distinct advantage over the NTX teams when it comes to recruiting and  team depth.  Take a look at where these teams reside....most are anywhere from 25 miles to 150 miles apart....and they are still in Southern California.  Take NTX for instance.....you have (5) five ENCL teams....add Kicks and you have (6) six teams with talent dispersed across each team.....agreed?  Any player can/will/might move to another team and make that team incrementally....a bit better.  Take a whole region....(where Slammers, So CAl Blues) with huge populations and put one team together.... and there....you have San Diego Surf and Slammers.  

What if we had 2-3 teams in ECNL, 1-2 in Premiere League and presto....you have NTX clubs that are making it deep into Nationals every year.  I could be totally wrong, but for the math guys on the forum...look at geography, population and # of top level programs and it is pretty clear that So Cal teams have a recipe for success.  

Not to mention....they can play soccer year-round in 70 degree weather.  Far from the 105 degree, dog days from hell games we will be playing next week.

IMO....Slammers is the team to beat at U15....if they have the same team they brought to Nationals.  A lot of folks wondering how a team that lost both in-season games to Surf....dominates them in the Finals.  For what it's worth...I was on the sidelines for that game and Slammers did in fact "Slam" Surf.  So...with respect to Grifters...he is right!  Slammers had the hardest run to the finals as well as the hardest group bracket.

Beat everyone in group, Solar, Sporting KC and Bethesda....R1 Finals....beat Michigan Hawks.....Finals....beat Surf.

its hard to beat the old eye test... I watched a little of the Slammers v Solar, first pool game of nationals, and I was thoroughly impressed at the way they played and handled Solar. Solar is a great team and always has been. We were a part of that organization for a long time and have nothing negative to say about them, but the slammers are legit (to reemphasize Big Poppy above).

Agree with most of what Bpoppy wrote. But wasn't consolidation into the top few teams what NTX had before ECNL? Didn't NTX face the best of oklahoma consolidated in one team, and the best of STX consolidated in about 2 teams?

After looking at u14 conferences, and the "what could have been", I speculated over a year ago that ECNL effectively weakened (diluted) NTX and strengthened STX. I was slammed for it at the time, but nothing in how things played out last year changes my opinion. It looks like ECNL has given STX more ability to recruit across the region. Now, they can even pull kids from out of state to play stx ecnl.  

98s (i think) are the first age group to have gone start to finish through ECNL. I wish someone could take the time and trend out commits for NTX vs STX for the 8 years before 2009, through the post ECNL years up to class of 2016.

I wonder what the datawould tell us about the impact on NTX total # of commits, quality of schools and regional vs out of region signings. I did a little bit of this analysis a couple years ago. It wasn't complete, but from what I started, it looked like STX was the clear winner.

Of course I'd love to engage a debate between NTX parents about which socal team is better. LOL. Slammers are an awesome team, not taking anything away from them. Kicks is 2-1-1 vs slammers and 0-3 vs. surf. We know how relatively tough bethesda is - Kicks has played them and seen them multiple times at tournaments. Sure some will claim the rosters were dramatically different...sorry, don't buy it.

IMO, Hawks fell off after u13 (compared to the best few teams in the nation). They were huge at 13, but as the girls have grown, hawks don't have physical advantage anymore, and if anything a lot of their bigguns are now a step slow, especially along their back line.

Two USYS teams beat hawks in national league, and hawks then dominated ecnl, until seattle. Slammers beating hawks says something, but doesn't say slammers is a ton better than the other teams that did the same thing.

And have to agree to disagree about slammers dominating surf at ecnl finals. From the online feed, I saw a tightly contested game on both sides...didn't see any "domination". Slammers finished their chances, surf didn't. Doesn't matter who you are, it's hard to keep beating the same team when you are closely matched. Surf has beaten slammers so many times over the years, slammers were bound to get one. Kicks might be the only NTX team to have lost to surf (both sting and solar have beaten them), but surf's track record the last 3 years kinda speaks for itself.

I really don't care if surf or slammers is better at winning games...lol..I'll admit this might be the dumbest debate I've ever taken up on TSN in all my years! Both of those teams' technical style of play is something to behold (and aspire to).

Nothing but respect for socal given their top teams continue to play each other in many venues -  regardless of league designation. Hard to imagine this hasn't helped them maintain their college placements lead through the years. Yeah they have the demographics, but for their ecnl teams and usys both, doesn't appear socal has had any net decline.

Guess Who wrote:I wouldn't give a lot of insight to the 02 friendly's. They played up against 01's but the teams where sub par. So feet might of look good, but wouldn't take a lot from it.

D'feeters 02 ECNL won against Sting Higgy 3-1 in first league game play yesterday.. But Im not gonna take a lot from that.. LOL