First, a shocking moment of clarity....

I'm predicting that Azzurri will NOT WIN this weekend!

2-1 Hurst.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled program...

Laimport wrote:First, a shocking moment of clarity....

I'm predicting that Azzurri will NOT WIN this weekend!

2-1 Hurst.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled program...

REC BALL....

Thought you were taking the year off, swoosh?

Quite the elitist, aren't you?

Wednesday night results

Premier 2
Real Madrid 1

Tigres 4
Pumas 1

Three horse race in D1 for the 2 Dallas Cup CL invites - Premier and Tigres tied for first with 18 points and RM third at 16 points.

rqps wrote:

TxHunter wrote:Wednesday night results

Premier 2
Real Madrid 1

Tigres 4
Pumas 1

Three horse race in D1 for the 2 Dallas Cup CL invites - Premier and Tigres tied for first with 18 points and RM third at 16 points.

Should be 4 spots for DCUP right? 2 for top teams in D1 and 2 for Host club... but Texans do not have two D1 teams and Texans may not hold 7th place. Those 2 host club places will go to 3rd and 4th places teams. (Based on how they did it last year)

Based on Remaining games:
FCD takes 1st based on goal diff
Tigres 2nd
RM 3rd
Pumas 4th 3 way tie for 4th goal diff decides it
Solar 5th
Tejanos 6th
Kicks 7th
Texans 8th
FCD 9th
TFC 10th

With PreAcademy everything has changed. this is my understanding: For U14 #1 and #2 out of Classic get an invite and the top Local PA team after the first round of games against one another. That should be Solar 98 PA. The host club gets two teams if they are 7th place or above in Classic 1. Since there is only 1 Texans in Classic 1 the next round goes to the #2 PA team either Texans PA or FCD PA (when they play their rainout the winner gets the Dallas Cup nod). If Texans Classic 1 teams does not qualify then the #3 team from Classic 1 gets the invite.

Clear as mud?

http://www.dallascup.com/qualproced/index_E.html

Dallas Cup Age Group Total Invitations Classic League Host Club Classic League Host Club Academy USSF Academy 1 USSF Academy 2 USSF Academy 3 USCS Pre-Academy
Under 19 6 1 1 1 1 1 1 None
Under 17 6 1 1 1 1 1 1 None
Under 16 5 2 2 None None None None 1
Under 15 5 2 2 None None None None 1
Under 14 5 2 2 None None None None 1
Under 13 4 2 2 None None None None None
Totals 31 10 10 2 2 2 2 3


(6) Alternate Pool Teams: Once each Dallas Cup age group is initially completed, the “Dallas Metro Area teams assigned to the Alternate Pool for each age group will be determined in the following manner:

(1) Dallas Alternate #1 Pre-Academy League team with next highest finish
(2) Dallas Alternate #2 Classic League team with next highest finish
(3) Dallas Alternate #3 Pre-Academy League team with next highest finish
(4) Dallas Alternate #4 Classic League team with next highest finish

The alternate pool may also include International teams and USA teams from outside the Dallas Metro Area. If deemed necessary by the Dallas Cup Selection Committee, alternate pool teams may ultimately receive an invitation to participate in the Dallas Cup. The team actually selected will be determined based on need and circumstances as well as performance as defined by the Dallas Cup

Solar 1
RM 0

FCD Premier 3
Dallas Texans 0

Tigres 3
FCD 0

Premier and Tigres qualify for Dallas Cup with RM's loss.

Does anybody have a score for Guameru and FC Hawks?

wahbs wrote:Does anybody have a score for Guameru and FC Hawks?

3-0 Guameru

omega striker wrote:

TxHunter wrote:Solar 1
RM 0

FCD Premier 3
Dallas Texans 0

Tigres 3
FCD 0

Premier and Tigres qualify for Dallas Cup with RM's loss.

Tigres should have scored like 15 on FCD! is that one of the teams that got "handed" a D1 spot?

So why'd they only score 3? Can't shoot straight?

Pumas 2 Kicks 0

Been watching Pachuca/Guameru for the last year and they are definitely a mid-tier 1st Division team. I believe they have only lost two or three times during the last twelve months and have played several D1 teams over that time. It's going to be really interesting to see how they do in the Texans Fall Tourney against some top quality teams.

If you're a fan of non-kick ball, possession soccer, this is the team to watch.
Especially #10.

???
Time will tell. I used to be a D1 and D2 Snob too.
All I'm saying is if you enjoy true possession style futbol, then there are few teams in D1 that play like this one.

Probably the only real difference between the divisions are the "athletes". I put that term in quotes because it is a relative term in youth soccer. Usually the better "athletes" are the early physical maturers, usually with the August/September birthdates.

All you need to do is look at the players. The better d1 and I'm sure the preacademy players are generally going to look older. With maybe a few exceptions for truly gifted/advanced technical players. (Center mids.)

So, the snobbery that goes on is really misplaced. At 13 and 14 years old, these physical distinctions are artificial.

At 16 and 17 the physical differences begin to fade and the real players begin to emerge.

Let's table this till after Texans Tournament.
And yes, surely you must mean the old Solar team.
There are two teams from D1 that would give this team problems,FCDP & Tigres.

Curious, is the FCD player pool that deep? I would have guessed that FCDP would have lost their 'top' players to preacademy?

Every team at every level even Barca uses a "kick and run" approach when the time and place dictates. What I have seen with the better teams is they build up from the back and when the opening is available they exploit it with their athletes. The better teams are calm when they have the ball on the backline and pass it back and forth to regain their shape vs the teams that just smash it out into the middle of the field with a hope and prayer of possession.

I think FCDP, RM, and Tigres all play very similar styles. The level of competition dictates how the teams play when pressed or pressured on the ball. The games between these three have all been 2-1 or 1-0 games that went down to the wire.

As for the question on FCDP players, they were formed as a merger of Andromeda and FCD Premier from U13. They lost five or six total players (I think) to PA split between the 97's and the 98's.

I agree with Omega, the D1 Teams athletes and the ground they can cover will make a difference when playing Pachuca/Gaumaru.

The only D1 team that has ever blown out Pachuca/Guameru was Tigres.
P/G tied FCDP, lost to RM 3-2 and beat Castro 4-1.They have beaten half the teams in D2, including the 1st place team 4-0 and have not lost any games in D3 or in Plano all of last year.

Everything I'm hearing today is exactly what 97 parents were saying bout Irving Elite, who are now in 1st place in D1 after promoting from Plano, I believe. That's why I'm saying,
the snobbery of D1 parents is extreme. I know, I used to be one. Higher club fees do not equate to higher quality play.

Wait for Texans Tourney. You will be pleasantly surprised.

I hope you are right and that your team fares well - I have always liked the fact that this age group has many smaller clubs and independents represented. In any sport it is always easier for a team to get up to play a higher ranked or higher seeded team than the other way around.

I have no doubts that your team should playing at a higher level and the whole classic league seeding places too much importance on what you do at U11 Qualifying tournament. Looking at your record against Classic 1 teams you are 1-0-2. Beat TFC Royal and lost to RM and Tigres.

I have BB's that have played at all levels. It doesn't matter the age group at the younger ages, but the Bigger Stronger Faster teams have a decided advantage over the more possession skilled teams. Possession teams play a prettier game and more enjoyable to watch, but that doesn't always equate to Win's and Losses.

The Fall Festival will be a good test, your team is not going to sneak up on anybody anymore and everyone will be ready for you. if you do well, hats off to your team, if you struggle, hats off as the team is still doing very well.

In the grand schemem of things, team results really don't mean that much anyway.

In fact, from a development standpoint, it's probably better to be a star or impact player on a d2, d3 or even a Plano team. Especially at U14 and below.

The idea is to develop more complete players. When you put a 12 yr old on a stacked team, they are usually given a certain role to play. Therefore they begin to play within themselves.

I guess it's okay to be the very best player on a top team, but everyone else probably loses the opportunity to develop other parts of their game.

People make the mistake of equating team success with individual player success....just because a kid is on a 'winning' team doesn't mean he's developing properly.

There are quality players outside of preacademy and d1.

omega striker wrote:

ALaMadre10 wrote:The only D1 team that has ever blown out Pachuca/Guameru was Tigres.
P/G tied FCDP, lost to RM 3-2 and beat Castro 4-1.They have beaten half the teams in D2, including the 1st place team 4-0 and have not lost any games in D3 or in Plano all of last year.

Everything I'm hearing today is exactly what 97 parents were saying bout Irving Elite, who are now in 1st place in D1 after promoting from Plano, I believe. That's why I'm saying,
the snobbery of D1 parents is extreme. I know, I used to be one. Higher club fees do not equate to higher quality play.

Wait for Texans Tourney. You will be pleasantly surprised.

lol dude your joking right? you sound like every other parent trying to justify the greatness of a certain team in a lower division, thing is this a team like pachuca/guameru is a core team with 1 or 2 main scorers, the TEAM is going to be structured around those players shut them down the team closes up shop! now alot of changes will happen each and every year in classic league teams especially the big clubs so they are alomost NEVER the same team from seasons past and its takes time for teams to GEL depending on players? PA hurt alot of the D1 teams this year,im willing to bet that team will lose their top players before they make D1

oh and for what its worth this same team struggle to beat a "mid tier" 99 D1 team this past summer 2-1 so sometimes things can be that way just like teams will totally dominate another and miss 20 shots on goal and make 1 and then you have people thinking wow they only beat them 1-0 but does that show the quality of play? nope just nature of the beast.
and that irving elite team.... well they gobbled many D1 players from big clubs that are playing for free or next to nothing so dont go thinking thats a team that started together(same players) and just moved up!

I’ve been called D1 snob an Elitist. With that being said, I still believe this is not the same Classic League from years past. The overall level of player talent and play is different. I believe i read on this site one of the teams even lost a National Team Pool Player. Pachuca/Guameru is a nice team. They basically have 3 main players. Number 10 is a special player, #13 & 3 are nice complimentary players some of the other players might be suspect against different talant levels.

Come here when you have played in the Top Divisions of some quality tournaments. Forget what I said don’t let the bastards get you down. I can understand how proud you are of your team….Keep believing in your team call your shots.

It’s a lot more fun to say I told you so.

I hope your team does well.

Swoosh, I don't doubt what you're saying about CL being watered down. There's no question. It has to be. The bigger clubs in particular, have had to move lower level players up to fill the rosters.

Which is why I'm going to be making a change soon. Hard for me to justify the time and money spent playing against mediocre competition. I can appreciate what the coach is trying to "teach". But it is a step back as far as I'm concerned.

That said, a lot of world class professionals weren't always at the top of their age groups in their formative years. Messi was moved around a lot at barca between the top and bottom teams within their academy. (Yeah, I know this isn't Barca but the same logic applies here.)

Situations change. Not every kid is going to develop at the same rate.

I still maintain though that a lot of these "better players" are where they are due to physical maturation more so than anything else. (With a few exceptions...the ones that are physically mature AND footballers with technique and brains.)

The rest are 'role players' that have the advantage of early puberty.