393
« on: May 01, 2007, 10:43:55 PM »
I wanted to take a different approach since men done start to ask for the head of Anton. There is no way of getting around the fact we lost the game 3-0. At the same time we have given up 5 goals in 2 games. The most recent history against the US would normally generate a stat sheet that reveals total dominance but it was not like that this time around. We had our opportunities and the US made the best of theirs.
I wanted to take you all into the US preparation and see how it is different to ours. The US is divided into 4 regions. These regions are the basis for their Olympic Development Program (ODP) teams which are used to form their youth national teams. Each region comprises of at least 12-16 states. Each state has a state team of at least 18 players which is picked from a pool of at least 100 players per state. Some states may have as much as upwards of 300 players trying out. These state teams becomes the basis for the regional teams which may comprise anywhere between 30-35 players. So when you look at the 4 regions the US U-17 NATIONAL TEAM OF 22 players is picked from this pool of 130 players or so which was generated from a pool of over 7000 players.
This process is conducted each year so there are players on the team right now who will not be there when they go to the youth chapionships in Korea. Most importantly they can pull in players at anytime that may be deemed a quality player who deserves a look. Players are also looked at from the Bradenton academy in Florida. Before this team got to Jamaica they played at least 20 games since Jan 13th. Some of the teams they played against were DC United, Chicago Fire, NY Red Bulls KC Wizards, Miami FC etc etc.
So as we can see the pool the US is picking from and the preparation is quite different to ours. So I can only wonder how differently it would be if our preparation was as close to the US. The pool of players they are drawing from dwarf ours many times over and I know we haven't played that many quality games since January. I will not even touch the fitness training, psychology sessions and nutrition programs these players are exposed to year round. So this is what Anton and his team was up against in Jamaica.
I still feel we need to build on this performance.These young players will only continue to further developed through sound coaching and playing against the best possible local and international competition that is available. So my advice to you Anton is to just keep on working and continue to do the very best yo can do. At the end od the day it will either be good enough or not good enough. All the best boys against Canada and the Reggae Boyz
DARK MAN X ( A TRINI BROTHER WHO WORKS WITH RED BLUE AND WHITE)
Post modified and put into paragraphs to make for easier reading.....Moderator[/i]
Show Posts