Last Saturday’s Atletico Madrid vs FC Barcelona game was a perfect example of modern top-level soccer.
It had everything – skills, technique, creativity, excellent off-the-ball movement, great defending and goalkeeping, playing out from the back, spacing, pressing, shooting, passion, pace, team work….the list goes on.
This is how huge the gap is in our country. This is where we need to be if we want to compete internationally.
And to reach this level of soccer sophistication requires a fundamental revamp of how we teach, play, and organize soccer. It starts with our coaching quality, and includes finding a way for our best/better players to avoid college soccer.
I’m including here a 12-minute highlights clip, but it doesn’t do the game justice. I strongly encourage you to find a recording of the full game and watch it with your soccer-playing kids. It’s very entertaining and a great learning opportunity.
NorCal Soccer Dad 
Good stuff. The game from January 2016 is even better. Athletico were all over Barca despite going down to 10 and then 9 men. It is the best game I have ever seen. Simeone would be a great next US national team coach…
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Thank you for the reminder, Brian. Yes, that was a very entertaining game too. And I thought the same about Simeone for MNT coach…I can’t imagine any of our players performing with as little energy and enthusiasm as during the Trinidad game with him as coach…
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