According to Webster's Dictionary soccer is, "A game played on a field between two teams of 11 players each with the object to propel a round ball into the opponent's goal by kicking or by hitting it with any part of the body except the hands and arms —called also association football." So clearly Cardinal Newman played legitimate soccer.
Quote: However, if the coach knows what he is talking about and the players are skillful enough to execute it. Then it works very well. A perfect example is the Northwestern Trojans.
But when you do not have the skill to execute that kind of soccer, logic would dictate that they find a style that works for them. Clearly Cardinal Newman did just that, and they got the closest to beating Northwestern of anyone so far.
Quote: That is like kneeling down every possession in football and praying for your defense to get lucky and get a defensive touch down. When teams have actually tried to play straight up with NW or a real defensive formation they have gotten beat by a fair margin. I have said this earlier the only teams that can play actual soccer against NW or Irmo are NW and Irmo. So if they meet I expect it to be a well balanced game with a last minute goal deciding the outcome.
It seems rather arrogant to believe that your way is the only legitimate way to play soccer. I do not condone playing with nine in the box in all instances, but clearly it has its place in the game and was the most viable strategy for Cardinal Newman when they played Northwestern. It certainly was not pretty, but who can argue that it was effective.
