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[quote=Anonymous]People continue to refer to possession soccer when they are in fact referring to nothing more than playing with structure and shape. This is fundamentally the system that is taught at a few clubs in this area at early ages, along with playing out of the back. Let’s be really specific about what this means and what the alternatives would be. First, anybody on the field is likely to receive a pass and must make a decision about where to go next. Not just the goalie, a preferred defender, a wing and a striker. Everybody. Second, everybody must be aware of where they need to be on the field. If they are not working in proper spaces, the possessor of the ball cannot make any decisions because he won’t have good options. This is nothing more than playing in triangles, which everybody eventually learns to do (and was taught even in the 80s in youth soccer in this country, albeit when we were too old to do much with it). Third, and this is really the least understood part of what a few of these clubs do, they have a very specific shape and approach to defending. This is actually the most difficult part for kids to understand and apply. The reason these clubs appear to play possession is because they are often playing with more structure and shape than their opponents, who can neither possess the ball for long nor understand how to defend spaces against an organized team. There is nothing magical about this. Just very few clubs are willing to do it at younger ages. You have to have patience for losses and tolerance for risk. Not a lot of those qualities in this area. These clubs are not encouraging creativity. They are consistently encouraging the easy way out and a lack of discipline that results in fewer options for more skilled players and therefore less reward for creativity. I don’t like dogmatic approaches to anything, and I agree that players should learn a variety of ways to play, but I strongly disagree that structure cannot or should lot be taught to younger players. It is essential for all that follows, and kids who are able to play in this system will have far confidence than all of the players on more direct teams who get very few touches or decisions on the ball. Just my opinion and of course reasonable people may disagree. [/quote]

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