Tin-Man

alright i am a Bearden fan, so... i do not know about best midfield, but they most definitely will be the hardest working midfield in the game which counts for alot, Bearden is pushing a 3-5-2 and have two outside guys that can run all day, and Cesar in the middle who will just about every 50-50. So i don't know about distribution which will come mostly from Ryan Radcliffe, but they will be hard to stick just because of their work ethic.

might i ask who you are, if you dont mind giving away your secret identity. just for you to know, Tom was my freshman when i was playing and that great player had to get my coat and my water for me at half time, haha.

you play for Brentwood and you are saying Bearden is overrated? even though they beat you all and then saying Tom Webster isn't a fantastic player? Tom Webster controlled his whole side of the field and sent many crosses right at the moth of your goal. as for Brentwood, you guys have a strng team within my experience, but you guys have a weak schedule year after year, if your team would push some harder games and get used to playing at an even higher intensity i think you all could get that title back. I think Bearden will do great this year, their defense is pretty set, my brother say they have a really strong freshman, i want to say Patrick, but i am probably mistaken, that will be playing varsity which i thought was great, a freshamn playing for the returning state champs. (just had to throw thta in there). Just watch Tom Webster this year and next year, he is one to look at, and he is a junior this year. as for their goalkeeper, Brian is great and will do well all this year, i say it is going to be really hard to get 2 goals on Bearden this year.

it is true that college coaches recruit mostly from club ball; however, high school soccer is very essential to a player that wants to play college ball because they are so many similarities. You have conditioning/preseason training practice everyday travel with team and see them everyday bonding as a team that you don't get with club ball my high school years made the transition into college alot easier, i think my high school ball helped alot. as for coaching, i learned alot of stuff in high school; granted i had two different coaches with two different styles. One being a control, move down the flanks (Oak Ridge), and the other being tactical defense with counter attacks or breaks in the opposers defense (Bearden). to say that high school is worthless is a joke, the sheer fact of playing so much soccer has to be a benefit no matter who your coach is, i don't care if your coach is Dr. Seuss the players will still benefit somewhat by it. I have watched CAK, Catholic, Christian Brothers, BGA, Gtown Houston, etc. play and those team plays really good soccer, great passes, great movement, great touch, great communication, great formation, etc. those things don't come along without good coaching. i am glad i had my high school soccer, The Tin Woodsman.

I find this rule to be a joke. Every college coach that contacted me contacted me by watching my club games, and then just kept up with the high school games. Everyone i know that i have talked to told me that their coaches also contacted them from watching their club soccer games. My point being that club soccer has more impact on your evaluation as a player than high school soccer does. With that being said, if their are 7 soccer players on the same club team that go to the same high school than one of them will have to move to a different club to ensure that they will all be able to play high school ball. Or if they realize that club soccer is more vital to college coaches they will not have the experience of high school soccer (which is a great experience, as it is more of a college atmosphere; practice everyday, conditioning session, travel as a team, etc.). Either way our soccer players are losing some kind of beneficial experience. The rule is a joke because it causes conflict in too many ways. If other teams want success, they will have to earn it. They cannot blame the players for living in a certain area, i am sorry that the best players all live in a secure area but their is no stopping that unless TSSAA wants to move families to a different area so that schools will equal on the soccer field. Soccer is getting better everywhere, there have been many upsets and close games with teams that used to be blowouts, i say give it time. It is a competitive sport, that means that some teams will just plainly be better, but to hurt a team by saying that they have unfair benefits is insane. The TSSAA should not be able to regulate what club teams players play for.

well, i ahven't been on for a while and just heard that our girls won state (Bearden that is). well congratulation girls, i didnt make any of the games because i had soccer myself, but my little brother said you all played really well. And congrats to Coach Turner, many people think that you don't know what you are doing, but one thing they can't say is that you don't know how to win b/c you do. good luck next season girls. p.s. how do i become a PLUS member?

maybe this is how the Czechs play, alot of teams hold a confrontation line where they do not high pressure until the opposing team crosses that line, why try and win the ball in a place where the other team has no chance of scoring? it just wastes energy that could be used for an attack.

in my experience, it is easier to score on a packed in defense. i agree that Ronaldo is having problems but they should just get him off the field.

i dont know about ol' Brazil, i watched the first half and they did not look to be all that great. maybe Croatia is just very good, but Brazil didnt seem to have it all worked out.

oh for sure.

well it would seem ike boys lub soccer is ruled by Knoxville, with 3 out of five state titles being in Knoxville, one in chattanooga, and in one from Nashville

um McBride??? ya he blows. Lewis cant even make a trap, did you see him try to trap that ball and it just rolled over is foot. and Beasley, on that direct kick they played to him on the outside; he couldn't trap either. Maybe they should go back to the beginning where they can learn the fundementals of the game. They also do not shoot, that Czech took a shot from about 30 yards away and nailed it while USA is waiting for the perfect ball. Landon Donovan does not need to be playing forward, he needs to be in a spot where he can make little simple passes like he always does anyway. What is this now, the 12th international game in which he hasn't scored? i believe it is, but i might be wrong. The defense does not pressure anything; in the first goal the guy crossing the ball had about five minutes to set up, where was the defender stepping to him? We gave their midfielders all day to get the ball turn and pass. The intensity level was sickening low, i about slapped myself in the head for playing the same game as this team that represents our soccer. I swear the 88' TNFC team could go do better, at least they try for everything. I don't know, maybe i am being a little hard on them, but they definitely stunk today. p.s. GO HOLLAND!!! p.p.s who else was impressed by the Ivory Coast?

i don't know but Tom Webster joined that team, congrats Tom (and little Showtime) did Brandon Tarr play? i heard he hurt his arm or something of the sort.

anyone know who took the U17 state title?

hey, nike impact is hosting a 3 vs 3 tournament on July 28th and July 19th, i would really like to play but i do not know if there will be enough players interested in my age group to have a tournament, so if any one is interested go to: www.impactusanike.com and find the details

yeah, i'm playing at the university of the cumberlands, and i plan on being a coach.

whoa, good game. I play for diadora and we played the stars and had them at a zero-zero tie until about 12 minutes left in the game when a rolling ball went between our keepers legs, after that we just shut down, a goal like that really discourages a team. they scored two more goals after that and beat us 3-0. They had more possession and more opportunities, they are a strong team, i was really hoping they could pull it off. Ya TNFC is very good, they also beat us 3-0, two of their goals were off of deflections from saved shots from our keeper, very strong on offense because they hustle and have people moving in every spot of the field. do you know if Matt Fessenden played in the Stars game. He got dead legged in the semi finals and sat out for the rest of the game?

what was the score of the Stars/TNFC for u-18 boys?

i agree 100%. if a player can play on two teams, i do not see the problem, especially at a young age where a player can only gain form the experience of more game time.

firts thing, i never said that a knoxville team would beat TNFC ever, so please try reading. secondly, Knoxville teams as of right now have scholarship players, myself, Khader, Rico, Ben Lawson, and i am sure there are others from the Stars that i do not know about, and Doug Hall (i do not know about Joey and Joel) was given a scholarship to Maryville College but decided to go to UT. thirdly, as for state finals, Joey Pierce, Doug Hall, Joel Adams all played for Catholic high school, one of the 'fantastic five' from CAK plays for the stars, Khader, Jay Lutz, Rico, Andrew Hinkle are players from Bearden that just won a state final. so, I think that the experience is pretty leveled out, and might i add that the two Knoxville teams played in a higher premier group last season as well. your last part, congrats to TNFC, i am very happy for their success and admire their team, I am trying to make it so that their is a team from Knoxville that come up with that kind of success; you make it sound like i am doggin TNFC. p.s. where is Bristol going? i am quite interested, he really played well in the state final game and i do not thin BGA would have won without him.

ya i'd say it would be next to impossible and sadly, i am going to have to wait until i can get started on my 'soccer movement'

i think you are putting too much emphasis on individuals here, to me a team is made by heart, movement, communication, trust, and unselfishness. All these things can be taught to a player (except heart, but good team building can give a player motivation, or just a good captain). Seriously though, a team that is always talking and moving and has been playing together for 8 years is going to be a great contender. Soccer is a game of thought, and if a coach can get the fundementals at a young age, then they can work with a player on how to take pictures and where to look when you get the ball and when to make a run or when a center midfield becomes a forward because they have momentum, all that kind of stuff. A team needs to be a team, not a disbanded bunch of kids that give up after two seasons, where is the loyalty? i don't know, i guess i am a little crazy, but i just think that a good 'team' will beat any team with a bunch of great players. here is an example: Bearden's alumni game, Bearden has a great alumni team, individually superior to Bearden's squad this past year, and yet sense alot of Bearden's alumni come from different ages and have not played with eachother in a long time, we got beat 3-1. Just because Bearden's team played better as a team and understood who could do what and they knew when a player was going to make a run, etc. i guess i just can not wait until i am a coach, i will show you all what i mean (hopefully anyway).

I'm way ahead of you you put up a division 1, a division 2, and if need be a division 3 team for each age group. I would do this nonetheless just for practice issues, it is always good to have a team to scrimmage. This could also be used as a motivation device, pushing players to play hard so they can make the division 1 team, or have good players in the division 2 team fill in for a teammate that may be absent or the like. I know it sounds too simple to be true, but it would work. (in my opinion) i remember when i lived in Texas, my coach had a two teams in different divisions and we played Stop/Action scrimmages all the time in practice, where the coach can stop play and ask a player why he passed it to a certain spot or made a certain run, or point out where an outside mid needs to be when the opposing team has the ball pushed up into that players defensive third, etc. All those things can be done at a young age and can be done with the teams in each age group. p.s. i am only going to have 15 players on my team

seriously, Knoxville needs to hit up ONE club, not be spread around the city and such with three or four clubs. There are only benefits from this, i can not think of a downside. Sometimes teams do not have fields because some fields are being used by other clubs, if there was one club then field times could be arranged. Also, in the year of 88' if all the talent of Knoxville came together we could put up a great match for TNFC, and i mean a run for the title. I do not know so much about other age groups, but i definitely feel it is about time people get over their petty differences and decide to do this right. Who's with me? i think we should start a petition or something, there are enough good coaches willing to coach as well.