L'estartit Another prime time showdown against one of the top youth academies in world football.
The Netherlands have produced countless world class players with Ajax being the conveyer belt. Johan Cruyff, Edwin van der Sar, Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Kluivert, Marco Van Basten, Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder, and Nigel de Jong to name a few.
It came down to goal differential and FC Barcelona ended up scoring 6 on Begur, securing 1st place in our group. This meant we would now face 2nd place from group D, EF Baix Ter, a local Catalunya team.
We had them scouted well, and knew it would be a much different game then the one we faced vs Cherry Orchard last night.
After a monumental draw against FC Barcelona at noon, we had to shift our focus to our last pool play game against Irish side Cherry Orchard. They had just come off consecutive losses to Barcelona (9-0) and Begur (2-1) and had nothing but pride to play for.
The second day of MIC would be the most anticipated match day, not only for the boys here, but for all the players who came before them and for the club and for US soccer. El Super Clasico between FC Barcelona and Total Football Academy (that's us) was on the minds of all in MIC.
After months of intense preparation, the day had come for our MIC Cup debut. A pleasant 25 minute bus ride to Begur to take on local youth club Begur in their hometown stadium. A great atmosphere awaited the team and we were ready to get the well oiled machine running.
Opening Ceremony: Three of our boys facing us in the foreground.
The Giants Smash the Minnows 3/27/13
Day 1 of the MIC allowed for the Giants of the soccer world, Manchester United, FC Barcelona, Ajax and Villareal, to showcase their class against local inferior teams.
After a long trip across the Atlantic the squad was dying to get a game in. A local club in Barcelona, Juniors FC, Infantil "B", would be the perfect test for the boys. We arrived for pregame at their modest sporting facility.
Pregame Warm up was shaky, and the players looked jet-lagged tired legs caused for some uncharacteristic poor touches.
We've mentioned the phrase 'Set Tactical Work' often, but I know this is a foreign notion to the American Soccer Community at all levels.
So let me try to give a more familiar concept. Set Tactical Work is essentially Choreography.
Here's an example from the 3four3 curriculum.
Now, Rich asked the following:
I think for many of us at the younger ages, it goes back to what I asked in the comments section a number of months ago: how often and what depths do you go into for set tactical work at U9, U10, U11, U12?
What gets us in trouble is that anyone, absolutely anyone, can be a "coach".
Everyone's got thoughts and a narrative about the game. And no matter how ill-developed, incoherent, or superficial it may be, that falls into the philosophy bucket.
In case you don't follow us on Twitter or Facebook, we were in St. Louis, Ft. Lauderdale, and Indianapolis last week for the MAC Hermann award, MLS combine, and MLS superdraft, respectively.
The most worthwhile thing to mention from the combine and draft is the comportment of Chivas USA.
