San Diego ECNL Nationals

4-3-3 wrote:I don't think there is all that big a gap. Two things I see:

1) NTX teams are lacking in sophistication compared to socal and some NE teams in the attacking third. Vast majority of NTX offensive production relies on speed or physical mismatches against less athletic defenders. 

2) NTX constantly sells itself and its parents on the idea that Texas ecnl conference is the toughest in the country. Believing such to be true, ntx doesnt step outside this bubble to get reality checks other than the few ecnl national events.  Socal and other areas do. This bubble allows ntx teams to put together rosters and lineups that can dominate texas ecnl conf standings year on year, but dont hold up as well facing the top level teams. 

The two are likely related...our teams are not forced to learn to defend sophisticated attacking combination play, and we're not forced to learn it because we dont need it to handle STX and OK.

Consider the fact that Sting 97s were the last team formed in usys era and prior to the full blown ecnl starting @u14....no ntx team since...starting with 98s on back, has won a national championship.  Pre-ecnl, ntx was a perennial player on national championship scene with at least one team per age group bringing a title back during their tenure in MOST years...91s...92s...93s...94s...95s...97s...from 2008 to 2011 3 of the 4 u16 national champions were NTX...but now we have complete shut out for NTX 98s on up?

How to fix? Probably starts with stopping this pretending that the TSC and Houston Rush of the world represent better competition than ntx had in the pre ecnl era, and challenging our top teams to seek out better comp and different styles of play. Consolidating talent at older ageds into 3 or 4 teams instead of 5 might help, but not sure that would matter if you rarely  face teams sending runners in from all sorts of angles and sharing the ball with precision in the attacking third...and defenses with great organization and just as much pace our fast fwds.

AtThePitch wrote:You are right homeboy.  It's worthless, no hard work required, zero competition.  It's a rec path to a fake title...

I won't be feeding anymore trolls todsy...

4-3-3 wrote:I don't think there is all that big a gap. Two things I see:

1) NTX teams are lacking in sophistication compared to socal and some NE teams in the attacking third. Vast majority of NTX offensive production relies on speed or physical mismatches against less athletic defenders. 

2) NTX constantly sells itself and its parents on the idea that Texas ecnl conference is the toughest in the country. Believing such to be true, ntx doesnt step outside this bubble to get reality checks other than the few ecnl national events.  Socal and other areas do. This bubble allows ntx teams to put together rosters and lineups that can dominate texas ecnl conf standings year on year, but dont hold up as well facing the top level teams. 

The two are likely related...our teams are not forced to learn to defend sophisticated attacking combination play, and we're not forced to learn it because we dont need it to handle STX and OK.

How to fix? Probably starts with stopping this pretending that the TSC and Houston Rush of the world represent better competition than ntx had in the pre ecnl era, and challenging our top teams to seek out better comp and different styles of play. Consolidating talent at older ageds into 3 or 4 teams instead of 5 might help, but not sure that would matter if you rarely  face teams sending runners in from all sorts of angles and sharing the ball with precision in the attacking third...and defenses with great organization and just as much pace our fast fwds.

Homeboy wrote:That USYS national championship for the 01s isnt a real national championship. Can't be as ECNL teams are not competing for it. Same can be said about ECNL National Championship.

DA will help fix the elite level of play because there are fewer roster spots to be taken. Each age group will have 27 spots. Currently each age group has about 90. So only the true special players will be playing.

4-3-3 wrote:I'll still be pulling for Kicks as the last hope for NTX this year.

Wannabe wrote:

4-3-3 wrote:I'll still be pulling for Kicks as the last hope for NTX this year.

I understand that this is an ECNL discussion but I wanted to remind everyone that there is a NTX team going for a "True National Championship" in U13.

Good luck Solar Chelsea Red 03G.

newbiefornow wrote:From the Guardian today. This is why I love Soccer, there really is no "right" way to play it.

The Stade Velodrome is awash with the Tricolour. It’s everywhere, floating on a sea of noise. The French players approach the fans and join in a communal Iceland viking chant. And, you know what, after that gutsy performance it doesn’t quite seem as cheesy as you might think.

“So far this season Leicester have shown us that possession counts for little, Portugal showed that a team with a superstar and 10 others can triumph over a well-drilled team familiar with each other over a long period, after Iceland had seemed to prove the opposite earlier on. And now France are disproving the line about the importance of game management having been virtually shut out of the game for the majority of this match. I’m so disillusioned, I don’t know what to think anymore. Is football the new Hollywood where nobody knows anything?” wonders David Wall, perhaps wandering around lost in a maze.