Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone in the DA plays possession. That’s real soccer and it what they teach.

You think everyone in the DA plays possession? Well, either one of two things must be true. 1) you have no idea what possession soccer looks like 2) you have not watched many, if any, DA games. You also must think college soccer is possession soccer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone in the DA plays possession. That’s real soccer and it what they teach.

You think everyone in the DA plays possession? Well, either one of two things must be true. 1) you have no idea what possession soccer looks like 2) you have not watched many, if any, DA games. You also must think college soccer is possession soccer.

Anonymous wrote:Being a DA team - as in being in that league - does not magically mean a team plays possession, especially in the newly formed girls DA. How do you know if your team is playing possession? Do they play out of the back, or does the goalie and/or defenders engage in a lot of long balls forward? Do they pass in all directions? Make angled passes? Or are they generally trying to forcing it forward? Do they play free kicks to feet, or is it a big ball forward? Do the goalies take a consistent active goal with controlled balls or throwing it to feet, or do they do drop kicks? Does the style of play force players into a lot of 50/50 balls, or is it being played in coordination with player movement? Are throw ins used to change the point of attack or just to make some big toss down the line and let it be a foot race?

Most teams I have seen will do at least a little possession or at least a little direct play. So the question is usually what does a team do most of the time?

I have seen true possession DA teams (and ECNL teams for that matter), and definitely some direct teams, and some that just blast big clears defensively every time it's in the final third. It takes patience for a coach to live with the mistakes that will necessarily come from a possession game, especially in a team with lower talent.

It's important to note that a possession style of play does not have a specific number of touches per player.

Anonymous wrote:Not this discussion is on topic in any way, but the distinctions being made are too simplistic. An earlier poster pointed out that a team can be possession oriented and still make direct plays when tactically beneficial to create a scoring chance, or to avoid problems defensively. Sure, a keeper who punts every ball and a defense that clears every ball does not have an orientation to possession ball. That stated, this is not what I’ve seen in any GDA game. What you may find, particularly in the older age groups of some clubs, is that players skew toward more direct play, because that was how they were trained in previous environments. I’ve found that the younger kids in most cases have been better trained to be possession focused. This varies between clubs, obviously. But, the main point is that teams do not need to exclusively play a tiki taka style possession game to have a possession focus.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not this discussion is on topic in any way, but the distinctions being made are too simplistic. An earlier poster pointed out that a team can be possession oriented and still make direct plays when tactically beneficial to create a scoring chance, or to avoid problems defensively. Sure, a keeper who punts every ball and a defense that clears every ball does not have an orientation to possession ball. That stated, this is not what I’ve seen in any GDA game. What you may find, particularly in the older age groups of some clubs, is that players skew toward more direct play, because that was how they were trained in previous environments. I’ve found that the younger kids in most cases have been better trained to be possession focused. This varies between clubs, obviously. But, the main point is that teams do not need to exclusively play a tiki taka style possession game to have a possession focus.

Every single team in the younger ages? No way, not a chance. Some teams, sure. Not even the boys' DA has that perfect a level of compliance, and the girls ECNL never did.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not this discussion is on topic in any way, but the distinctions being made are too simplistic. An earlier poster pointed out that a team can be possession oriented and still make direct plays when tactically beneficial to create a scoring chance, or to avoid problems defensively. Sure, a keeper who punts every ball and a defense that clears every ball does not have an orientation to possession ball. That stated, this is not what I’ve seen in any GDA game. What you may find, particularly in the older age groups of some clubs, is that players skew toward more direct play, because that was how they were trained in previous environments. I’ve found that the younger kids in most cases have been better trained to be possession focused. This varies between clubs, obviously. But, the main point is that teams do not need to exclusively play a tiki taka style possession game to have a possession focus.

Every single team in the younger ages? No way, not a chance. Some teams, sure. Not even the boys' DA has that perfect a level of compliance, and the girls ECNL never did.

Reading comprehension....the word "most" was used. Of the DA teams I have personally witnessed, WS-VA included, the youngest age groups did tend to possession style ball, not kick and run.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not this discussion is on topic in any way, but the distinctions being made are too simplistic. An earlier poster pointed out that a team can be possession oriented and still make direct plays when tactically beneficial to create a scoring chance, or to avoid problems defensively. Sure, a keeper who punts every ball and a defense that clears every ball does not have an orientation to possession ball. That stated, this is not what I’ve seen in any GDA game. What you may find, particularly in the older age groups of some clubs, is that players skew toward more direct play, because that was how they were trained in previous environments. I’ve found that the younger kids in most cases have been better trained to be possession focused. This varies between clubs, obviously. But, the main point is that teams do not need to exclusively play a tiki taka style possession game to have a possession focus.

Every single team in the younger ages? No way, not a chance. Some teams, sure. Not even the boys' DA has that perfect a level of compliance, and the girls ECNL never did.

Reading comprehension....the word "most" was used. Of the DA teams I have personally witnessed, WS-VA included, the youngest age groups did tend to possession style ball, not kick and run.

I guess "any GDA game" means different things to different people. That's incorrect as well, but if someone can't recognize the difference, then they can't be considered credible anyways.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being a DA team - as in being in that league - does not magically mean a team plays possession, especially in the newly formed girls DA. How do you know if your team is playing possession? Do they play out of the back, or does the goalie and/or defenders engage in a lot of long balls forward? Do they pass in all directions? Make angled passes? Or are they generally trying to forcing it forward? Do they play free kicks to feet, or is it a big ball forward? Do the goalies take a consistent active goal with controlled balls or throwing it to feet, or do they do drop kicks? Does the style of play force players into a lot of 50/50 balls, or is it being played in coordination with player movement? Are throw ins used to change the point of attack or just to make some big toss down the line and let it be a foot race?

Most teams I have seen will do at least a little possession or at least a little direct play. So the question is usually what does a team do most of the time?

I have seen true possession DA teams (and ECNL teams for that matter), and definitely some direct teams, and some that just blast big clears defensively every time it's in the final third. It takes patience for a coach to live with the mistakes that will necessarily come from a possession game, especially in a team with lower talent.

It's important to note that a possession style of play does not have a specific number of touches per player.

All good points. Easiest thing to spot is how often the goalkeeper punts or the team takes long goal kicks. Building out of the back is a sure sign of a possession mentality. However, you can build out of the back and then impatiently launch long balls into 50-50 situations all day long. That is no longer possession football.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being a DA team - as in being in that league - does not magically mean a team plays possession, especially in the newly formed girls DA. How do you know if your team is playing possession? Do they play out of the back, or does the goalie and/or defenders engage in a lot of long balls forward? Do they pass in all directions? Make angled passes? Or are they generally trying to forcing it forward? Do they play free kicks to feet, or is it a big ball forward? Do the goalies take a consistent active goal with controlled balls or throwing it to feet, or do they do drop kicks? Does the style of play force players into a lot of 50/50 balls, or is it being played in coordination with player movement? Are throw ins used to change the point of attack or just to make some big toss down the line and let it be a foot race?

Most teams I have seen will do at least a little possession or at least a little direct play. So the question is usually what does a team do most of the time?

I have seen true possession DA teams (and ECNL teams for that matter), and definitely some direct teams, and some that just blast big clears defensively every time it's in the final third. It takes patience for a coach to live with the mistakes that will necessarily come from a possession game, especially in a team with lower talent.

It's important to note that a possession style of play does not have a specific number of touches per player.

All good points. Easiest thing to spot is how often the goalkeeper punts or the team takes long goal kicks. Building out of the back is a sure sign of a possession mentality. However, you can build out of the back and then impatiently launch long balls into 50-50 situations all day long. That is no longer possession football.

It's not so simple. Man City plays possession ball. Everyone would agree with that. But when the other team is pressing, Ederson takes a long goal kick with his rocket left leg. Not because he is impatient. But because he has drawn the other team into a press after many short passes on his distribution. Then he makes the long pass behind the defense often to an open forward. There is no offsides on a goal kick. That is still possession soccer.

Anonymous wrote:Here's a good example from WS-VA's U16/U17 team just a few months ago. Look at about the 1:15 mark, when the goalie picks up the ball. She ends up punting it, but it's not because playing out of the back wasn't a good option. They don't even try. In that situation, when the GK picks up the ball, a possession-based team is trained to immediately get into shape to try and play out - the CB's drop off and get wide of the box, the FB's push a little higher and get wide to the line and open up, and the MF's look to get free and make themselves available as options. The WS players do none of that. This is not a team that is trained to play out of the back, and a team that is not trained to play out of the back is not a possession based team.

https://youtu.be/bmN8rgWl8-Y

Anonymous wrote:Here's a good example from WS-VA's U16/U17 team just a few months ago. Look at about the 1:15 mark, when the goalie picks up the ball. She ends up punting it, but it's not because playing out of the back wasn't a good option. They don't even try. In that situation, when the GK picks up the ball, a possession-based team is trained to immediately get into shape to try and play out - the CB's drop off and get wide of the box, the FB's push a little higher and get wide to the line and open up, and the MF's look to get free and make themselves available as options. The WS players do none of that. This is not a team that is trained to play out of the back, and a team that is not trained to play out of the back is not a possession based team.

https://youtu.be/bmN8rgWl8-Y

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's a good example from WS-VA's U16/U17 team just a few months ago. Look at about the 1:15 mark, when the goalie picks up the ball. She ends up punting it, but it's not because playing out of the back wasn't a good option. They don't even try. In that situation, when the GK picks up the ball, a possession-based team is trained to immediately get into shape to try and play out - the CB's drop off and get wide of the box, the FB's push a little higher and get wide to the line and open up, and the MF's look to get free and make themselves available as options. The WS players do none of that. This is not a team that is trained to play out of the back, and a team that is not trained to play out of the back is not a possession based team.

https://youtu.be/bmN8rgWl8-Y

That's a single case. If you actually attend WS-VA games you may see the same team get into position and the keeper rolls it out. We are on a younger team and more often the balls rolls out to feet than is punted. The keeper will punt when the other team is in a high press and vulnerable over the top. This is a decision. I can say with certainty that I've seen coaching to shape and play from the back because I've seen/heard the guidance from the sideline.