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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think there are a lot of straw men arguments on this thread.

There is a difference between the best way to win a game and the best way to develop players.  In order to develop, players need to touch the ball in competitive situations.

Clubs which emphasize playing styles which encourage all players to touch the ball frequently tend to end up
(a)  with players who are more capable because they have developed
(b)  winning more games than they otherwise would have, as result of this better player devlopment

Development in this context means that these players have devloped a better first touch, the ability to make quick decisions under pressure, and the ability to pass quickly and accurately.  Irrespective of playing style, these clubs tend to retain possession better (even if they are not playing a strictly possession style) than other clubs because the kids make better decisions and more accurate passes.

The clubs which do this best tend to stress the importance of making good decisions.  In particular the balance of risk vs reward.  So

(1)  In defense, look to pass out if possible rather than hoof the ball away giving it straight back to the other team.  Hoofing is still allowed if there really is no good pass available - or of course if there is a [b]good[/b] high reward long ball pass on.  But well coached teams will usually have a pass available because the kids know how to move, create space, and show behnd the line.

(2)  When considering a riskier pass (and most longer passes fall into this category) weigh the reward correctly against the risk.  Sure - if you can see that a long ball can be played into an area where there is a high chance of a scoring opportunity devloping then go ahead and play it.  But if your long risky pass isn't going to result in a significant advantage then take a different option.

(3)  If nothing is on - do not mindlessly play the ball forward simply to lose it.  Instead move the ball around the field quickly forcing the defense to react until something opens up.

None of this precludes playing long balls.  And you will see the best youth teams in the area play long balls when a defense is holidng a high line in an attempt to crowd the midfield.  And because they have kids who can play those balls accurately and wingers who can run on to them and finish, what usually happens is that the defenses change their strategy.  They start to defend much deeper and the good teams are able to change the way they attack in response.

That is how the good teams play.  Now - what about "kick and run" teams?  I have never seen SYC 07 play - so I have no idea if this applies to them.  However there are many clubs who don't manage to effectively teach the above - perhaps because it requires the acceptance of losing games while the kids are learning - or perhaps because they're just not very good teachers - or maybe because they're working with kids whose technical skills are just not at a level where they can be successful trying to do this.  In any event there are many teams where the kids play a lot of long balls.  Not "good" long balls where they see a chance of completing a dangerous pass - the defense just hoofs the ball almost every time they get it.  90% of the time it goes straight back to the opposition.  They don't play through the midfield - not because they are making tactically sound decisions in response to the way the defense is set up as they continue to play this way even against a defense playing deep to cover the long ball, but because they simply can't do it - they can't complete the short, quick passes with a high enough success rate not to give the ball away after two or three passes.  And defenders, when they win the ball, do not calmly take a second to look up and evaluate their options - confident in their ability to mantain possession; instead they panic and apply the boot as the first option.

And at younger ages this style of play can be successful even against teams of the first type for two reasons:

1.  The opponents are still young and developing themselves - they are far from perfect and their decisions are neither as good as they will become later, nor is their execution always perfect.  As I noted above, learning how to play this way involves losing games sometimes while sticking to the plan anyway.  Teams trying to play in a way which develops the kids are prone to making mistakes in dangerous positions and giving away soft goals as a result.  The good coaches will encourage the kids to keep playing this way though as they know that the only way for the kids to learn to do it well is to live with the mistakes while they are learning.

2.  An early developer - big, fast and strong - can physically dominate defenders.  This kid will get on the end of more long balls than the quality of decision/pass deserves and he can score goals.

BUT teams who learn to depend on the big, fast striker, while they might well win games for a while, do NOT improve.  Because they are not practicing any of the skills which will allow them to improve, and because over time their opponenst do improve and the big, fast kid becomes less physically dominant.[/quote]

Thank you for actually taking the time to lay all this out.  For everybody else:  does anybody disagree with any of this here in developing too teams at area clubs?  If not, why aren't more top teams playing this way at younger ages?[/quote]

If only I'd taken a little longer, I might have fixed all the typos / spelling errors.  Oh well :-([/quote]

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