Reply to Difference between 9v9 and 11v11

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My kid will be going into 11v11 next fall.  Is there any difference besides team size and field size?  He's on the 2nd tier team for the club this year.[/quote]

As previous posters have said, fitness and spacing are both massively different.  But, I would offer that there are some other differences that are often overlooked by parents and those things are:

1.  Passing accuracy:  becomes much more important full field because lost passes in space can lead to goals much easier because closing/tracking the player down/tackling is harder as there is more ground to cover.

2.  Off the ball movement:  This is where kids at this age are woefully inefficient.  Watch almost any u13 game and most kids just watch the ball and aren't thinking about what happens next.  Because of this, very few people are in good positions and the game because a 9v9 game on a full field.  Because the field had been so much smaller, the premium on off the ball movement was arguably less because the players could recover and transition much faster. Now, understanding shape and your role in that shape matters much more on both sides of the ball.  Particularly, getting back on defense.

3.  Managing difficult passes/first touch:  Much more passes and balls will be bouncing, in the air, under pressure and coming at a faster pace. Again, at u13 this is where kids struggle.  They are more used to receiving balls on the ground and less out of the air.  But the players that can manage the difficult passes the best, meaning bringing it under control in one or two touches, will shine because they will appear to be playing faster than the others.  I can't tell you how many games I've watched at this age that look like pinball because the kids can't trap balls that aren't on the ground.

4.  Too many touches on the ball becomes more obvious (bad): When you have so much field to cover to score, when you see players take 5-7 touches on the ball and go no where or pass it to someone next to them or 5 yards after those touches, it looks ridiculous.  Too many kids think that doing fancy moves makes them stand out and the reality it doesn't.  In most cases it looks like the player doesn't know what they are doing and lacks soccer IQ especially when doing these moves in their own third.  Dribbling is an important skill.  But dribbling when it is time to dribble and knowing when it is time and when it isn't, is a more important skill.

5.  Chipping is now a big part of the necessary skill set:  If your kid can't chip the ball he/she will have less optionality in their game.  Chipping is big part of playing on a bigger field.  If your kid can chip with both feet, they are at an advantage.[/quote]

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