TOP TEN 08’ BOYS TEAMS

Miyagi, it looks like there are quite a few Classic D1 teams playing in the Plano Labor Day tournament.

Plano Labor Day has traditionally been the giant on this weekend. U90C has been growing the past couple years, though.

Interesting considering that 4-5 of the top 08’ teams have traditionally played in the U90 Labor Day tournament. But as long as they are staying “active” and playing against good competition I guess it doesn’t really matter which tournament they play in.

Yeah it looks like all the top teams decided to go to Plano for Labor Day this year. Rayos (Classic League D2 team) really stepped up this weekend. They played the gold division and beat the #2 team in region 3, AND beat 3 classic League D1 teams (including solar Ackerson). They ended up losing in the semi finals, but still an impressive weekend.

As for the gold division champions, Solar McKinney looks like they just took care of business. 30 points in group play!! Wow. And 2x 5 goal games against Texans Salazar. They only gave up 2 goals all tournament. That is a dominant, well coached team

The Championship game Solar McKinney vs Liverpool Heighway was a nail bitter and could have gone either way. Solar squeezed go ahead goal in on a ball bouncing around on a corner kick. Both teams played well, Solar plays great team ball and indeed took care of business.

I’m not too surprised about Rayos’ performance. They barely missed qualifying for D1 this year.

It’s still early, but Solar McKinney is looking like the team to beat so far this season.

I watched the solar McKinney vs Liverpool game. Liverpool played a great game for sure But I think Solar dominated the game possession wise. They just had trouble finishing their numerous chances. Once Liverpool scored, they seemed to go to complete defensive mode. This may have been a tactical error so early in the game against a team like solar.

SoccerToneloc wrote:The  Championship game Solar McKinney vs Liverpool Heighway was a nail bitter and could have gone either way. Solar squeezed go ahead goal in on a ball bouncing around on a corner kick. Both teams played well, Solar plays great team ball and indeed took care of business.

I watched the Solar McKinney vs Liverpool Heighway Championship game. I agree that it was a nail biter, but DISAGREE that it could have gone either way. I think the game was "nail biting" because Solar threatened to score so often, but just couldn't put the ball in the net. As far as the game going either way, I don't think Liverpool ever really threatened with another true scoring chance after their goal. After Liverpool scored first, coach played a very defensive game. It takes more than one goal to beat that Solar team.

Liverpool Heighway vs Solar McKinney was a fantastic game to watch. Both teams had played 5 games going in to the championship. Liverpool seemed to dominate play 3/4 of the game. Solar got lucky on roll in goal that put them ahead. If not for that, game would have gone in to PK's. Look forward to watching these 2 teams compete again in Classic League. 2 VERY solid teams that are fun to watch.

Liverpool dominated 3/4 of the game? We must have been watching different games. I was watching the one where Solar had the ball on the Liverpool side of the field for most of the match. I'm sure the game was fantastic for our Liverpool parents to watch because we managed to stick around so long. How did LFC dominate without putting any shots on goal? The goal Liverpool scored was just as lucky as the one Solar scored because it was off a defensive error.

Yeah, clearly you're here for the argument LiverpoolDad, and I surely don't have time for that. You do have jokes though, so I'll give you that much. "The goal Liverpool scored was just as lucky as the one Solar scored because it was off a defensive error"

Not really here for the argument, just stating my opinion on the game. Thanks for taking the time to respond. that's what makes these forums so interesting. The Liverpool boys played great. By no means do I take anything away from them. I was just amused by your statement that Liverpool dominated 3/4 of the game and Solar got a lucky goal. As I stated, the ball was on liverpool's defensive side of the field most of the game. how is that dominance for Liverpool? Solar did struggle to score though. If they would have been playing like they normally do, the score could have gotten up to 4-1 like the last time they played. But to call Solar's goal lucky? Cmon man. They earned that goal. I'm glad you find my comment "The goal Liverpool scored was just as lucky as the one Solar scored because it was off a defensive error" funny. It was supposed to be a joke because it was based off your comment that "Solar got lucky on roll in goal that put them ahead". I think neither goal was lucky...that's the point I am making. Both teams earned their goals. It was an entertaining game. They will get to play again in Classic League. That should be a good game as well.

I was at that Solar vs Liverpool game. I think it was very entertaining, but I have to agree with Liverpool Dad. I feel Solar constantly had the ball on Liverpools half and threatened to score a bunch of times. Aside from the goal in the first half, Liverpool didnt really pose too much of a threat of scoring again.

Saw some of the Liverpool/solar final and obviously the solar team is going to be the one to beat this season. How about we talk about some of the other teams? Would love to know what you all think of some of the other D1 teams and how they performed in the Plano tournament

Soccermom2888 wrote:Saw some of the Liverpool/solar final and obviously the solar team is going to be the one to beat this season. How about we talk about some of the other teams?  Would love to know what you all think of some of the other D1 teams and how they performed in the Plano tournament

Looks like only a few D1 teams did well, considering a D2 team made it to the semi final. But looking at the results, here are some observations on my part:

- FCD Lovegrove: must have lost a lot of their top players from when they were Frisco Sporting FC. However, beating Colleyville Evolution is a good sign that they can still put some very good games together

- Colleyville Evolution: I think one of the most underrated teams in D1. Tough draw for them in this tournament. The loss to Solar Juliao was uncharacteristic. Don't know how that game actually went Maybe someone can provide some feedback??

- Dallas Texans Salazar: probably had the most disappointing tournament. Everyone had this team as a question mark especially since they didn't have to go through qualifiers. a loss to evolution and 2 big losses to solar McKinney. This team is struggling right now

- Solar Ackerson: I think this team has not recovered from their top players leaving. They are not close to the level they were at when they were Liverpool Rush. solar Juliao made it to the semi final...thus, this team could quite possibly be only the 3rd best solar team in D1

- Solar Katic: Played a good game against Rayos, but other than that, they struggled all weekend. But remember, this tournament drew some of the top 08 teams, so it was never going to be an easy task.

- Solar Juliao: played a good tournament. didn't lose a single game till the semifinal against McKinney. This is a team that will stick around in games if you don't put them away. It will be interesting to see how they do in classic league

- FCD West Blue: This team seemed to play well too. Close loss against Liverpool and 2 ties in group play. Just in my opinion, this team is missing an offensive spark. They have a really fast player playing Center Back, I am surprised he is not playing up top as he puts a lot of pressure on defenses when he makes offensive runs.

- Dallas Texans Stavrou: This used to be a dominant team, looks like that has changed. I'm sure some of their top talent moved up to Texans DA though

Taking the top 2-3 players off every dominating team except for Solar McKinney (from what I’ve seen) has made the year much more interesting and leveled the playing field. It has also made the “who are the top teams” discussion wide open and from early looks, d1 looks like over 50% should be in d2 or worse. Top d2 teams would beat bottom half d1 teams and bottom d2 teams aren’t better than non some classic league teams. Parity is exciting and it shows that Chambers didn’t get it right with the QT.

Tournaments appear to be the litmus test this year.

For the sake of the 09’ teams, I’m hoping that “Chambers” adjusts the format for next years qualifying tournament.

I watched the Allegiance Black 08 Pedro vs Solar East 08 Ackerson match on Saturday classic league division one because my son's team will be playing against Allegiance soon. Allegiance dominated possession, and dominated defensively. They have a strong blonde hair boy playing center back They were very impressive, dominating possession like 90-10. In my opinion they are easily one of the top 5 teams in the classic league.

I think that Solar Ackerson just may not be what we originally thought they were. Along with the loss to Pedro, they also lost Sunday by a score of 7-0. I think there are really a clear top 3 and then everything else is really questionable. It is still early, so I could be wrong, but top 3 in my eyes are Solar McKinney, Liverpool Heighway and Dallas Kicks Black. It looks like Allegiance plays Liverpool Heighway this weekend. That will be interesting to see the result. Allegiance had a 3-3 tie with FCD West to start the season (and FCD West just lost to Solar Juliao) so I am not too convinced with Allegiance as a top team just yet. The 2 teams I am interested in seeing is FCD Suarez and FCD Molina. They have started the season with 3 wins, but haven't played a winning team yet. As I said though, its still early in the season. A loss or tie by a "top team" changes everything at this point.

LiverpoolDad, I agree with your statement that it is very early and everything could change. I understand why Solar McKinney is considered the top team, not only based off of Classic League results, but also based off of tournament history. But why is everyone so quick to call Liverpool Heighway and Dallas Kicks black clear top 3? Yes, the kicks have won their 3 CL games, but they havent been super convincing.A close 2-0 win over DT Salzar, and a surprising 8-5 win over winless lightning. I say surprising because they allowed 5 goals. And yes, Liverpool has 3 convincing wins, but they were against the bottom 3 teams in CL. I think there will be plenty of surprise teams this year that just havent gotten rolling yet.

For the last 1-2 years, Solar McKinney and the Dallas Kicks were always considered to be in the top 10 of the 08 teams, even prior to most teams losing their top players to DA. Solar has definitely continued their consistency even in the loss of some their players to DA. As one parent mentioned previously, The Kicks, while inconsistent at times, can and have beat most of the top teams including Solar McKinney. Not many teams can say that. Liverpool Heighway is sort of new to the “top team conversation”, but I think it’s fair to say that they have peaked peoples interest with their recent tournament performances. I agree with LiverpoolDad in that I too am interested to see how the FCD teams perform over the next few weeks. I believe that one of the FCD teams even tied Solar McKinney during the King Tut tournament, so that should make for a good match when they meet in league play. As stated earlier, it’s still early and this is all just speculation until the season plays out and the teams have the chance to compete against each other on the field.

Miyagi, I don't think Kicks really entered the conversation of top teams till about the last year. You mention them beating Solar McKinney, but when I look at got soccer game history, I see only a single (1 goal) win over McKinney. And looking at McKinney's performance that tournament (3 losses) I am certain that this must have been an experimental lineup, players missing etcetera etcetera. I don't see any other top team victories for the Kicks. Indoor league games don't count even if they are played outside lol. I do however, see plenty of losses and ties to teams by the kicks. 2 Losses to Alegiance, NTX United, FCD Blue, Frisco Sporting, Tigres, and TIES with FCD West Gonzalez, FCD West Adrian, FCD ETX. They may have won a few tournaments, but they were small tournaments with no top teams. They don't play in Supercopa, Plano Labor Day, and they got 3 losses in Vegas Cup. I will give them credit that they have the ability to beat some top teams...but I am not sold on them as a top team yet. They may prove me wrong though.

LiverpoolDad wrote:I think that Solar Ackerson just may not be what we originally thought they were. Along with the loss to Pedro, they also lost Sunday by a score of 7-0. I think there are really a clear top 3 and then everything else is really questionable. It is still early, so I could be wrong, but top 3 in my eyes are Solar McKinney, Liverpool Heighway and Dallas Kicks Black. It looks like Allegiance plays Liverpool Heighway this weekend. That will be interesting to see the result. Allegiance had a 3-3 tie with FCD West to start the season (and FCD West just lost to Solar Juliao)  so I am not too convinced with Allegiance as a top team just yet. The 2 teams I am interested in seeing is FCD Suarez and FCD Molina. They have started the season with 3 wins, but haven't played a winning team yet. As I said though, its still early in the season. A loss or tie by a "top team" changes everything at this point.

Liverpool Dad, in this post, you state Kicks are a clear top 3 team. Now you state you are not convinced they are a top team? I am confused. I think you are just on here trolling and picking fights lol

Not sure what LiverpoolDad’s criteria is, as all the teams have lost or tied other teams in the past, and hence forth why I and others have repeatedly stated that the Kicks can be inconsistent at times, but based the games I’ve seen and the GotSoccer records, with the exception of Solar McKinney, there isn’t a team I would rank over the Dallas Kicks. They are clearly a top team until proven otherwise, and that’s without question. And he mentions the Kicks only had a one goal victory over Solar? As if we are discussing basketball or football. Lol.

I admit I am doing a little bit of goading. When it all comes down to it, I am just really curious to see how Classic League ends up. Based off qualifiers, there is no telling who is who really. I do honestly feel that Kicks are one of the top teams behind solar and Liverpool. I was just trying to get a rise out of Miyagi, who clearly seems to be a Kicks parent or fan IMO. But I will say this: some teams are really tough matchups for others. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see these top teams lose or tie against some middle tier teams.

I wish more people would get on here and talk about the 08 landscape. The 07 forum is constantly getting posts. Soccermom asked us to talk about some other teams. Well Soccermom, what are your opinions on the teams, and which teams would you like to discuss?

Liverpool Dad, you will have to try a little harder to get a rise out of me. It’s just soccer so nothing to get emotional about. It is what it is. Teams win, lose, or draw, and their records speak for themselves. Liverpool Heighway is a good team. But they are somewhat “new” to the scene, so i can’t put them above the Kicks just yet. And for the record, I am not a Kicks parent. But I do respect what they have accomplished as an independent club.