Poly - Another one for Sasho (2013)

[TMAN]

For the 2013 class.... Zachary Steffen from FC Delco club up in the Philly area. He's a top 30 kid and a difference maker. He's a goalie. Sasho is defintely loading up at the position as that is goalie # 3 in the last 2 classes. This kid Steffen , is reportedly the real deal.

Still waiting word on a high school striker that Maryland is on for the 2012 class. Don't believe there's been an announcement yet by the player.

OK, on the current squad, I go back to the Clemson loss down in Clemson... 2 things I believe has happened from that game that's perculated going forward. First point, I think the squad has lost a little confidence. Granted they've had some tough luck with red cards, and yellow cards accumalating with some of the current players but I don't see that swagger they were carrying from the beggining of the season to the middle of the season when they were killing people. Second point, they're like a baseball team,.... all of sudden their top hitters are in a slump. Casey Townsend and Patrick Mullen have hit a dry spell. To have both of them come up empty , well it's tough to win games. You also have to look at opposing coaches strategies against Maryland where they're surrounding Townsend and daring the other Maryland players to beat them. Look for Sasho to make some adjustments for the NCAA run. Despite the late season cracks in the foundation, I expect them to make a deep run. Getting WVU though (expected next Sunday) is going to be a tough game.

Tman.

 

[POLY1967]

The 2012 young man you are refer to, he is a local kid( D.C. ), isn't he ?

McDonogh beat Gilman 1 - 0 in the MIAA final. Normally I would have posted the article, but with the Sun's new policy about how many times you can view their site I was unable to.

 

[TMAN]

Potential recruit I'm refering to is not local. He's from the northeast.

I have to believe that Maryland is going to be eating nails on Sunday for their first NCAA match this Sunday. I would think whoever the opponent is , is going to be N Trouble but Maryland needs to strike fast and first. This team needs some confidence right now..

Tman.
This post was edited on 11/17 3:35 PM by TMAN

 

[POLY1967]

Hoping it could be Christian Hernandez.

 

[TMAN]

It's not Herandez but this kid is pretty dam good. He's a striker and I confirmed this morning that he's done to Maryland and should announce between now and Xmas.

Hernandez is reportedly turning pro. Still I wouldn't be surprised that Sasho is still trying to turn the kid to get him to come to Maryland at least for one year.

t.

 

[Nemo69]

OT but...

I have several friends who have played soccer in Europe and are huge soccer fans abroad. They both feel that US soccer at the highest Club level and at the Olympic level will never mature until the US players get into international competition faster and that college soccer actually impedes their progress in doing this.

I'd like to hear your thoughts if I might. I think the move to hire Klinsman by the US was meant to start the process to go along this kind of track. In other words, this Coach wants a certain type of player in mind.

Nemo

PS Like your take on all things sports, TMAN...

 

[POLY1967]

Re: OT but...

I posted an article below dated oct0ber 13 that reads " TMAN have you seen this article ". It basically is what you are talking about . The U.S. Soccer Federation is asking for the top high school players to forego playing for their high school teams, but rather play for their academy teams where hopefully the competition is better.

 

[Nemo69]

Re: OT but...

Wish you could post that in this thread. That is precisely the point these two were making. One guy said almost precisely what you said and simply decries the entire state of soccer in the States. He sees the potential, but the ability to move on to excel is not there. Plus, the college game is not at the caliber of the international game.

 

[TMAN]

Re: OT but...

I still think your going to find most kids will want to play in high school. The handful of tippy top guys will go academy. I can understand that but we're also talking money here with these academy's and a lot of families don't have the dineros to put the kids through these so called what I call "camps".

I understand the U.S. federation thinking and about improving the U.S. changes. But the bottom line is the truly elite athlete who has 4.4 speed (think the top strikers in the world with their closing speed), are still going to choose football or basketball first. That's a huge hurdle for this country when it comes to soccer. Thats what the U.S. Soccer federation needs to turn the tide on. The Torey Smiths of the world need to put on soccer cleats instead of football shoes. Then the U.S. has a chance to put a team out there to go toe to toe with the likes of a Brasil each year or Argentina.

Do you guys really think the top kids with profound skills will choose soccer over say football? I don't but I could be wrong. I think that's the real issue in this for the U.S. team. The academy idea, I hear you but I"m still a beliver that with the exception of say a couple hundred kids, most of the kids will play for their high school team. The tippy top guys might go the academy way sure, But that's a 1 percent of all the college prospecets out there in my opinion. Maybe I'm wrong on this.

t.