Is soccer the easiest team sport to coach?

[Anonymous]

Yes it is. Here are the othe major team sports and why they are harder to coach.

Football - lots of substitutions, 22 or more players, special teams, overly complex set of rules, and greater chance of player injury.

Basketball - greater number of substitutions, ability to set picks, three pointers v. two pointers, and lots of timeouts.

Baseball - more situational plays and data to consider, scenario specific pitcher v hitter considerations, and just really boring to watch and sit thru.

Hockey - faster paced, more subs, more frequent playing short / power play situations, but other than that pretty comparable.

Lacrosse - probably the most comparable so will call this one even.

[Anonymous]

Flag football is the easiest.

[Anonymous]

So in your world, only what the coach does on game day matters? It’s a 1-2 day per week job?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So in your world, only what the coach does on game day matters? It’s a 1-2 day per week job?

How many coaches on a football staff? Have you seen an NBA bench? There as many coaches as players.

[Anonymous]

Soccer players are more responsible with in game decisions. Football is situational rehearsal, prediction and execution. Every play is new situation that if coached well is both recognized and the proper play both called and executed.

Soccer, other than set pieces is more of a dynamic way of thinking and reacting in the moment. 11 players must be on the same page with little in game instructions or coaching. Soccer players have far more in the moment autonomy than most sports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Soccer players are more responsible with in game decisions. Football is situational rehearsal, prediction and execution. Every play is new situation that if coached well is both recognized and the proper play both called and executed.

Soccer, other than set pieces is more of a dynamic way of thinking and reacting in the moment. 11 players must be on the same page with little in game instructions or coaching. Soccer players have far more in the moment autonomy than most sports.

+1.

That's what makes the game so beautiful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Soccer players are more responsible with in game decisions. Football is situational rehearsal, prediction and execution. Every play is new situation that if coached well is both recognized and the proper play both called and executed.

Soccer, other than set pieces is more of a dynamic way of thinking and reacting in the moment. 11 players must be on the same page with little in game instructions or coaching. Soccer players have far more in the moment autonomy than most sports.

No. The coaches change formations, players, have a plan to shut down the other team while attacking its weaknesses. A good manager’s adjustments at 1/2 or throughout the game will win a lot of games.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Soccer players are more responsible with in game decisions. Football is situational rehearsal, prediction and execution. Every play is new situation that if coached well is both recognized and the proper play both called and executed.

Soccer, other than set pieces is more of a dynamic way of thinking and reacting in the moment. 11 players must be on the same page with little in game instructions or coaching. Soccer players have far more in the moment autonomy than most sports.

No. The coaches change formations, players, have a plan to shut down the other team while attacking its weaknesses. A good manager’s adjustments at 1/2 or throughout the game will win a lot of games.

Yes, those are more macro adjustments but how to play in a different formation is something that is trained over time not in a week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So in your world, only what the coach does on game day matters? It’s a 1-2 day per week job?

+1
Yes soccer coach has less "coaching" going on during the 90 minute game than other sports. A game with a running clock and no break in the action will always provide less opportunity for in-game coaching then games with individual plays, timeouts, etc.

[Anonymous]

Yes. Definitely agree with the PP.

While Soccer IQ is very important for a player to have, I noticed that coaches don’t spend anytime teaching it. They mostly tell the kids to watch a lot of professional and WC games so they can learn. While I agree with this approach, I wish they could spend some “classroom” type of sessions to go over plays, tactics, when to pass, run into space, etc.

[Anonymous]

Any team sport is easy to coach if you have no clue how to do it. Anyone who is an "expert" in coaching or coaching at a high level will tell you how challenging it is regardless of which sport they coach.

[Anonymous]

What makes the game beautiful is that you can play as you want to without the coach being able to micro-manage how you play.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I didn’t say the game wasn’t beautiful. I also wasn’t talking about the players and their IQ. I was talking about coaching. Anyhow. I got the inexperienced answers I was looking for. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I didn’t say the game wasn’t beautiful. I also wasn’t talking about the players and their IQ. I was talking about coaching. Anyhow. I got the inexperienced answers I was looking for. Thanks.

You asked an inexperienced question so you received inexperienced answers!

Like one PP indicated, everything seems easy until you thoroughly understand & have experience.

[Anonymous]

What a load of BS.

Soccer coaches are some of the worse coaches I've ever seen teach any sport.

The game is neither more beautiful or difficult than any other sport.