Monday 11 April 2011

Blowouts.

A lot has been made about the blowouts that are happening in this tournament but I really don't see the big deal. People have talked about adding playoffs and relegating teams but I don't see this as an issue. This tournament is self regulating. The stronger teams beat down the lesser teams until they either improve or are forced quit the tournament. Now it may seem like we having teams quit takes away from the tournament but it doesn't really. For example last year there was a Chile Men's team which was becoming worse each year until in dropped out. It was replaced by this year's Sudan team a  much stronger team. A new team always fills in the void and the quality of the tournament increases each year. In my opinion the best way to dissuade blowouts is to have blowouts now.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

greece is in one of the easiest pools, they would not last in group d at all, there horrible, they have been lucky so far thats all, you ll see they will lose in quarterfinals by more than 4 goals, and then they'll come on here and whine,cry about how unlucky they were, but really just a bad team

Anonymous said...

prime example is Greece- they never got blown out last year but they lost everygame. it was not fun- this year as of now they have 3 wins and a tie. its a pretty decent recovery, every year since we started we have had the same 15 players, . what i am trying to say is, teams think they can be better next year by adding new players- thats crap. they need to practice and work harder. if teams fold they should never be allowed to come back in . it would disgrace this tourney. what would help this tourney is if there was an actual enforced rule of heritage players but that will never happen . There is absolutely no proof of heritage in this tourney. anonymous made a good point to just work harder to improve your team. its 9 vs 9 soccer , just practice and stay with a system. Relegation would be stupid, the tourney would never grow.

Anonymous said...

I think a qualifying tournament is a waste of time and money. I play on England and it was obviously no fun to get shown up by a much stronger Ireland team, but I don't want to quit because of that. It would be nice to see the talent spread around a little bit more than it currently is, but ultimately if weak teams want to play in the tournament, I think beat downs like that are what's needed to encourage improvement.

I think Mike is right that the blow outs are incentive to shape up or pack it in. Teams like England and other weaker teams just have to work towards improving their teams. Five or six yeas ago there were four good teams (Ireland, Jamaica, Canada, El Salvador) but look at things now. Six years ago who would have thought that France, Poland, Ukraine, Sudan and Laos would be legitimate competitors?

A lot of the weak teams have solid 17 and 18 year old players who just are not comfortable with the physical style of men's play, but give them a few more years of this, as long as they don't get discouraged, and they could be some of the next generation of WCP stars.

Nobody likes a blowout, especially when you are on the field on the wrong end of it, but I don't think booting the teams out is the option. This tournament needs more countries and cultures, not less... The talent will keep coming as it grows, but blowouts will always happen, just like in every major sport in the world, regardless of the level.

Anonymous said...

It is hard to disagree with Mike Collins but, I have to in regards to the blowouts in the tournament. There have been rumors around the facility that if things are not looked into that some teams may not enter. Do you think that is a possibility? Take the ROI v England. Most of the England players did not want to play the game to begin with and they really did not play in the second half. Not taking anything way for ROI they are a very strong team but it is not very exciting to watch and I am sure it wasnt that exciting to play in. As a player, would you like to play in a close game or blow out?

Do you agree with a qualifying tournament that was mention on the weekend?

Anonymous said...
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Chris said...

I think relegating teams would make things a lot more interesting as teams would have a little more insentive to go out and find better players, I don't think it's something that really needs to be done and it would be A LOT of extra money and work as well. Blowouts happen at all levels of sport whether a team is really good or really bad, and every now and then that team that destroys all others gets caught off gaurd (IE: Greece tying France, or N.Ireland tying ROI a couple years ago). Blowouts can help give teams a little extra incentive to get their shit together for next year. Helps keep more countries in it, and helps make teams a little better. I know for us on Team Scotland, the games we look forward to the most this year are the games against Germany and Jamaica...the teams that blew us out last year...a couple of our returning guys have said nothing about the other teams other than having a closer game against those 2 teams.

Anonymous said...

I am giving some props to the previous comment by the England player. Great perspective from someone on the other end of a blow out. Thanks for your perspective and opinion. I agree that this event needs more cultures, not less.

Also, I am one who cheers for the underdog so I say let everyone play!

Anonymous said...

England is full of a bunch of whiney babies. Get over it.

Mike Collins said...

I will also give a shout out to the England player. I really respect the comments coming from the other side as I don't always see or get them so thanks for your perspective.

Anonymous said...

I sense another ROI blowout tonight

Pele' said...

Consider the atmosphere of the tournament if some of the teams/cultures are eliminated.I believe the focus of this event is to integrate culture and promote cultural unity and the growth of soccer.

Every year I have been reading about someone complaining about heritage verification and rules etc...from what the organizers tell me the rules increase due to teams always looking for loop holes and trying to manipulate the rules......WHY!?. When should they start trusting the fact that teams will just stick to the theme and support the ideas and philosophy of the event. I think the reps should be held accountable and I feel very disturbed that teams try and break rules and then complain about it.

I also heard last night that there have been several teams trying to sneak people in through the change room doors!!...that is a complete slap in the face to the fans,organizers and teams that support this event.

Anonymous said...

iam assuming its prob the youth players sneaking people in. All those younger kids that are so annoying that dont even watch the games that just walk back and forth to yap to there friends during games. where are the parents get your damn kids to sit down.

Chris said...

This isn't a problem of kids sneaking in...it's a problem of adults sneaking people in...I've seen it first hand.

Chris said...

I think relegating teams would make things a lot more interesting as teams would have a little more insentive to go out and find better players, I don't think it's something that really needs to be done and it would be A LOT of extra money and work as well. Blowouts happen at all levels of sport whether a team is really good or really bad, and every now and then that team that destroys all others gets caught off gaurd (IE: Greece tying France, or N.Ireland tying ROI a couple years ago). Blowouts can help give teams a little extra incentive to get their shit together for next year. Helps keep more countries in it, and helps make teams a little better. I know for us on Team Scotland, the games we look forward to the most this year are the games against Germany and Jamaica...the teams that blew us out last year...a couple of our returning guys have said nothing about the other teams other than having a closer game against those 2 teams.

Chris said...

I think relegating teams would make things a lot more interesting as teams would have a little more insentive to go out and find better players, I don't think it's something that really needs to be done and it would be A LOT of extra money and work as well. Blowouts happen at all levels of sport whether a team is really good or really bad, and every now and then that team that destroys all others gets caught off gaurd (IE: Greece tying France, or N.Ireland tying ROI a couple years ago). Blowouts can help give teams a little extra incentive to get their shit together for next year. Helps keep more countries in it, and helps make teams a little better. I know for us on Team Scotland, the games we look forward to the most this year are the games against Germany and Jamaica...the teams that blew us out last year...a couple of our returning guys have said nothing about the other teams other than having a closer game against those 2 teams.