Tema: U20/U17 - Soccer

I've been lax in my updates. To sum up:

--The tie against Argentina was a strong showing against a solid team, and gave me some faith in our lineup, especially since it was the only game so far that we were able to use the three-CM set which I consider our strongest lineup. Unfortunately, the one point that we earned there doesn't really make a difference in the standings at all.

--The road loss against Canada was unsurprising but still disappointing, especially since they played on normal, and we couldn't score on 12 shots (5 on target).

So that brings us to this week, a game against Switzerland for all the marbles. Win and we're in the World Cup, lose or tie and it's a long four seasons to get back here. Fortunately, we've got no suspensions to deal with this week, and at least right now we're looking at a fully healthy squad. And we're playing at home. So I'd say there's a lot going for us here.

Also, a note about management:

I don't plan to run for re-election next year, nor am I going to volunteer as an assistant anywhere. It's time to let other people work on this, plus I've had less and less free time to invest here lately. I'm happy to talk to anybody about what I think it takes to run the team, or to have a discussion here about what we need to do to make the team successful (I don't necessarily think this season was a complete success, although that sentiment will be greatly affected by the outcome of Saturday's game).

I'm going to switch up the assistant manager for the rest of the season. zomg has been an incredible help this season with thinking through player selection and keeping an eye on the lineup when I'm not available. But with the season winding down, I'm also keen to give some experience to Iceman2525, who ran last season, is a candidate this season, and specifically offered to act as assistant to get to know the system. He'll be filling the role the rest of the way.

U17 team is in the exact same boat as the U20. Beat the Swiss and its a world cup berth (assuming we don't lose our goal differential), lose and we're likely on the outside looking in.

Great day for both youth teams! Chester Holmes lifts the U20's with two goals, and the U17's completely dismantle the Swiss, and both sneak into the World Cup!

Nice Nice job to both teams on qualifying for the WC on the last matchday!

Well, the U20's drew a pretty tough group:

-Czech Republic boasts one of the biggest manager bases in the game, and it shows in their depth. They'll be tough to compete with.

-Portugal is the only team to make it through the group stage undefeated.

-Denmark is the one team here that looks vaguely mortal, taking fourth in their qualifying group.

So, we've got our work cut out for us. Fortunately, we are undefeated in competition with Ashcraft, Henne, and Howard together in the lineup, including the big win against the Swiss to clinch advancement (with Ashcraft slightly banged up) and a tie against top-ranked Argentina. They're all ready to go for game 1 against Portugal on Monday.

Tough draw for u17 as well, all 3 teams are clearly stronger, so we'll have to pull a few upsets to move on.

GOOD LUCK to both of you!!

I've added next season's expected starters to the u17 team, the rest of the team is pretty set as well give or take a few decisions but won't be added until this season ends. If you've got 16 year olds around or above 700 OR and haven't paid much attention to their training...please start doing it now. There are a few 16 year olds that could earn a starting spot next season but their training is too imbalanced.

Well, that was a disappointing finish to the season...we outplayed Denmark and just couldn't create the offense to beat them, even with an added third forward in the second half. A win would've put us through to the group stage, too, after Portugal's tie with the Czechs.

So ends my tenure for the U20's...I'll set up the friendly schedule when that's available, but otherwise, I'm going to let Iceman2525 run the team for the next friendly or two before the elections. Everybody be sure to vote!

Hello everyone! I'm the new U20 manager and I just wanted to say imma keep you all posted on the newest updates and whats going on with the team. Also if you feel i overlooked one of your players for the team, feel free to tell me. Good luck to all of you this season!

Congratulations and keep it active here. We always want to see how the national squads do.

No kidding. I am working 12+ hours a day. Past weekends i either worked or slept. Funny is that I wanted to run for soccer but then there is no way I'd have time. I am hoping next season (2 from now) I wont be working crazy hours anymore

Tell Manum you want to be ASST. I backed down.

Very interesting start for me as U20 manager.

The team came out strong with an early goal and matching Turkey on shots. Was very pleased with how Chester Holmes was playing. Though Turkey starting at the 30 minute enjoyed a 30 minute dominance in the amount of shots taken and eventually an equalizer at minute 59. I was shocked and dissapointed.

Though after the subs came in at minute 60, we started to get back in our flow as our young gun forwards were making a lot of plays in Westfall and Colburn. Though none of their efforts turned into a goal. Wagner as Goalkeeper saved us today he only let in one goal after Turkey outshot us. 1-1 tie

Before I looked at the match report I was pretty upset as I felt that we would be able to handle Turkey(out shoot) and win the match by multiple goals. I felt as if i screwed this one up. but as I scrolled down at match importance they played on Very High and we played on very low!

So all in all I'm very pleased with how we performed in my first match as U20 manager. I still believe I have things to tweak and I now have new ideas for our next match. I feel we are moving forward as a team. A tie in international play when you're on very low and their on Very High is not that bad at all

Tmac and I will continue to try to make this team the best that it can be!