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I don’t understand her point at all. The game is changing so radically and so fast that even high level coaches have trouble understanding the ramifications of the current game. Unless the coach announces the tactics, the viewer is being asked to guess at instructions on the fly.
Asking casuals to understand it isn’t fair. I’m a coach and I have trouble. It’s a game and her comments are really asshole-ish.
I definitely agree with her on one point: her comments did make me angry.
I’m still in a “we need to grow the game in the US” phase of my fandom, and you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Berating fans ands prospective fans for not being knowledgeable enough, and that they can’t trust commentators to help them learn isn’t going to draw new fans in or help existing fans build their knowledge. Instead, it’s going to make soccer seem inaccessible and unknowable.
It’s cool that you coach. What age group/level?
Well said. I can’t agree more.
I coach a middle school over in West Seattle and I love it. I dont have the pressure of club soccer and honestly they’re just happy to have me. It’s mostly U12 and my focus is intro to tactics. We start with the 433, then I have them morph to a 451 based on the flow of the game. Then we transition to a 343 and we talk about how responsibilities change based on formation and flow. By the end of the season my team makes their own changes on the fly in game.
It’s fuckin great. The kids are getting better every year, and I don’t mean a little. My JV squad this past season would have kicked the shit out of my varsity team from three years ago. American soccer is screaming forward and it’s great to be a part of it.
And fuck anyone that wants to denigrate it. Seriously, what the hell was she thinking?
She was making a comparison to French fans, who are tactically more knowledgeable. I've seen plenty of people complain that the US coverage isn't tactically focused,and let's face it, it only got more drama based during the last 2 world cups. It seems to be the US way... focus on the personal struggles and victories, and point out what's going wrong with the team. At the end of the day soccer is entertainment, so I guess that's fine. And most people will find entertainment in arguing a player's opinions ( see Carli Lloyd).