Anonymous wrote:My kid is still pretty young, but so far it seems like the kids who are really good technically are not so great tactically and vice versa. It's so interesting to kids with these fancy moves but making terrible decisions under pressure. They're doing all these juggles before practice and while waiting for instructions, and trying to show off their moves during scrimmages. But they hold on to the ball too long and either lose possession or make straight up bad decisions when passing. My child is the other way around -- not the best technically, but they have a pretty good vision for the field, they don't hold on to the ball too long, and mostly make good decisions about when and where to pass and when to shoot. They get a lot more playing time than the teammates with the fancy footwork. Not sure if that's coach specific or how it would be elsewhere too.

What age group are you referring to? We have a player who plays just like this at u11. Lots of moves, but almost zero productivity. I was just wondering if this kid will grow out of that later on down the road, or if they will continue to ball hog and lose it for years to come yet.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try futsal. Fast paced, lots of 1v1 opportunities in a short period of time, forces you to be technical.

Agree with playing futsal. I'm a big fan.
It has massive benefits for younger players say, under 14 which are the prime development years in terms of ball skill acquisition. After that, the game is more tactical because the players are bigger and the court becomes smaller because the players just take up more space. It is also more physical and more dangerous as the kids get older and the risks start to outweigh the benefits because of the surface alone. Futsal is a fundamentally different game than soccer. Different skills. Futsal is heavily sole of the foot reliant. Whereas soccer is not. You don't have time to do a lot of the key futsal moves in soccer. Why a lot of really good futsal players struggle on the field and vice versa. Bottom line...no futsal scholarships or big money in futsal last time I checked. It has its uses for development for sure and that is undeniable. Confidence on the ball and decision making in tight space are the main benefits in addition to high touch rates in low amounts of time. But, you need a futsal coach that understands transferable skills to soccer and how to teach them. Very few of them in our area.

Then why not just play indoor soccer instead of futsal?

The ball in futsal doesn't bounce much which keeps the game on the ground. Referred futsal dinsentives too much contact. The ruleset promotes cleaner fast pace game less fouls and bouncing ball with passing on the ground.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try futsal. Fast paced, lots of 1v1 opportunities in a short period of time, forces you to be technical.

Agree with playing futsal. I'm a big fan.
It has massive benefits for younger players say, under 14 which are the prime development years in terms of ball skill acquisition. After that, the game is more tactical because the players are bigger and the court becomes smaller because the players just take up more space. It is also more physical and more dangerous as the kids get older and the risks start to outweigh the benefits because of the surface alone. Futsal is a fundamentally different game than soccer. Different skills. Futsal is heavily sole of the foot reliant. Whereas soccer is not. You don't have time to do a lot of the key futsal moves in soccer. Why a lot of really good futsal players struggle on the field and vice versa. Bottom line...no futsal scholarships or big money in futsal last time I checked. It has its uses for development for sure and that is undeniable. Confidence on the ball and decision making in tight space are the main benefits in addition to high touch rates in low amounts of time. But, you need a futsal coach that understands transferable skills to soccer and how to teach them. Very few of them in our area.

Then why not just play indoor soccer instead of futsal?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What program (not club) works on aggressive/possession in 1v1? My son is extremely technical with his footskills but was never taught physical 1v1 soccer which seems to be all anyone cares about these days. He's fine at the level he's at but it's noticable the difference in aggressive 1v1 in games this fall and he just needs direction on his to handle/beat players if he's going to make a top team.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that if your son does a million moves that means success like many parents in the DMV. Watch the best leagues in the world and count how many step overs,maradonas and other complicated moves are done per game total. Not many. Master the basics. Simple actions at the right times.

This. Plus out run and win/protect the ball. Clean passing, play anticipation, and understanding your role on the team and field. Fancy footwork typically ends with holding the ball too long and losing possession.

My kid is still pretty young, but so far it seems like the kids who are really good technically are not so great tactically and vice versa. It's so interesting to kids with these fancy moves but making terrible decisions under pressure. They're doing all these juggles before practice and while waiting for instructions, and trying to show off their moves during scrimmages. But they hold on to the ball too long and either lose possession or make straight up bad decisions when passing. My child is the other way around -- not the best technically, but they have a pretty good vision for the field, they don't hold on to the ball too long, and mostly make good decisions about when and where to pass and when to shoot. They get a lot more playing time than the teammates with the fancy footwork. Not sure if that's coach specific or how it would be elsewhere too.

Anonymous wrote:Try futsal. Fast paced, lots of 1v1 opportunities in a short period of time, forces you to be technical.

Agree with playing futsal. I'm a big fan.
It has massive benefits for younger players say, under 14 which are the prime development years in terms of ball skill acquisition. After that, the game is more tactical because the players are bigger and the court becomes smaller because the players just take up more space. It is also more physical and more dangerous as the kids get older and the risks start to outweigh the benefits because of the surface alone. Futsal is a fundamentally different game than soccer. Different skills. Futsal is heavily sole of the foot reliant. Whereas soccer is not. You don't have time to do a lot of the key futsal moves in soccer. Why a lot of really good futsal players struggle on the field and vice versa. Bottom line...no futsal scholarships or big money in futsal last time I checked. It has its uses for development for sure and that is undeniable. Confidence on the ball and decision making in tight space are the main benefits in addition to high touch rates in low amounts of time. But, you need a futsal coach that understands transferable skills to soccer and how to teach them. Very few of them in our area.

Anonymous wrote:This is the fashion now for coaches who come from other sports. This one-on-one play really only comes into play at the higher youth levels on the wing. If your boy is playing that particular position then by all means focus efforts there.

Otherwise having a technical but undersized player [boy] is an issue for American soccer. No amount of training one-on-one without size and athleticism will work. Full stop. Nevermind Modrich. Or Iniesta. Or for goodness sake the great Lionel.

I’ve seen it repeatedly on my son’s team. Extremely technical but undersized in American soccer - gets you on reserve team. Sad fact. Even if you ball out.

If you’re paying a part of your mortgage with a highly remunerated side gig like travel soccer and you may be shakey on knowledge and tactics - you want the players as Adonis as you can get (to cover, perhaps, your lack of soccer acumen).

Rant over. To answer your question Howard U coach Gyau who runs pricey but effective clinics would do the trick for more reps.

Best of luck! It’s a wild, unregulated world in travel sports!

I would say that in my experience beating players and speed/endurance is what that coach teaches mainly. Why you see a lot of 1v1 drills and track and hill running at the clinics. This is mainly because that is what his game revolved around when he played and that is what he knows best. But brute force and speed, while a critical part of the game, is only one part of the game and everyone won't have blistering speed or elite power. There will always be someone faster than you and when that happens what will you have?? And if you spent your life looking at the sport through that lens, you will have a hard time seeing the other aspects of the game for what they are and for the value they bring. Especially so for a youth player who is building his or her identity as a player. Unfortunately, if you need to learn the other finer aspects of football, as a center attacking mid, defender, CDM, you might need to go elsewhere to get those details. Not everyone can teach all things or all positions and most coaches in our country teach what they knew as players best. Everyone needs to be able to be comfortable on the ball. 1v1 helps with that without question. But if you're a defender for instance, I wouldn't be spending a ton of time on going at people because that isn't what your position demands. Van Dijk will never be Mo Salah and vice versa. No matter how much they train at the opposite position. There isn't a one size fits all model in football and those clinics are that. You don't have a ton of time in this game and if you want to be truly elite, you have to be exacting about how you spend your time. If you're doing what everyone else is doing, you will be just like everyone else. Average.

One of the Pp’s here: this was a really informed discussion! Thanks!

Try futsal. Fast paced, lots of 1v1 opportunities in a short period of time, forces you to be technical.

The biggest issue I see in most players that think they are "technical" is that they practice mainly on cones. Cones have their place in training for sure. But cones will only get you so far. You need to train against defense and at speed to make big progressions. All these kids doing fast feet drills on cones for Instagram are getting on the field and getting stuffed more often than not. Again, cones help, but they are one part of a good training regimen. Not THE training regimen. If you don't play and train with pressure there is only so far you can take your game. Same as all of these young kids running hills and running around the track. It's ridiculous. At older ages, yes. You need to work on power and speed. But at u9-u15 you need to work much more on your skills. Stamina can be built with the ball. Stamina can also be built in a few months. Ball skills take years. Paying someone to watch your kid run around the track or hills at young ages is honestly the stupidest thing I have seen in DMV parents. Why you don't see European academies running their kids to death. They train them on stamina with the ball not without it. Rant over...

Anonymous wrote:What program (not club) works on aggressive/possession in 1v1? My son is extremely technical with his footskills but was never taught physical 1v1 soccer which seems to be all anyone cares about these days. He's fine at the level he's at but it's noticable the difference in aggressive 1v1 in games this fall and he just needs direction on his to handle/beat players if he's going to make a top team.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that if your son does a million moves that means success like many parents in the DMV. Watch the best leagues in the world and count how many step overs,maradonas and other complicated moves are done per game total. Not many. Master the basics. Simple actions at the right times.

Anonymous wrote:This is the fashion now for coaches who come from other sports. This one-on-one play really only comes into play at the higher youth levels on the wing. If your boy is playing that particular position then by all means focus efforts there.

Otherwise having a technical but undersized player [boy] is an issue for American soccer. No amount of training one-on-one without size and athleticism will work. Full stop. Nevermind Modrich. Or Iniesta. Or for goodness sake the great Lionel.

I’ve seen it repeatedly on my son’s team. Extremely technical but undersized in American soccer - gets you on reserve team. Sad fact. Even if you ball out.

If you’re paying a part of your mortgage with a highly remunerated side gig like travel soccer and you may be shakey on knowledge and tactics - you want the players as Adonis as you can get (to cover, perhaps, your lack of soccer acumen).

Rant over. To answer your question Howard U coach Gyau who runs pricey but effective clinics would do the trick for more reps.

Best of luck! It’s a wild, unregulated world in travel sports!

I agree with this for the most part. American soccer revolves around size and speed. To a fault. It's the easiest way to win games without doing a lot of coaching. And in. America we have a massive coaching problem. Coaches can't really teach technical players and play because they werent those players themselves or they don't have the proper soccer education to teach at the highest levels. If you want your son to be more impactful on the field teach him how to evade traffic. Not go to it.

Anonymous wrote:What program (not club) works on aggressive/possession in 1v1? My son is extremely technical with his footskills but was never taught physical 1v1 soccer which seems to be all anyone cares about these days. He's fine at the level he's at but it's noticable the difference in aggressive 1v1 in games this fall and he just needs direction on his to handle/beat players if he's going to make a top team.

Extremely technical can mean different things to different people. If it means he can make fancy moves with the ball then that is your problem. Smaller kids have to use what they have to their advantage. I don't care how small you are, if you have impact on the game you will play. Period. You don't need to work on his 1v1 in my view. You need to work on his game intelligence. You're trying to put him into physical duels when he is undersized. That is a disadvantage for him. Work on how to constantly know where the space is and evading defenders as opposed to going at them. If he is a winger, to the PPs point, maybe that is different. A small player has to be smarter not stronger. This starts with scanning at an uncomfortable level to have more field understanding and spatial awareness.

This is the fashion now for coaches who come from other sports. This one-on-one play really only comes into play at the higher youth levels on the wing. If your boy is playing that particular position then by all means focus efforts there.

Otherwise having a technical but undersized player [boy] is an issue for American soccer. No amount of training one-on-one without size and athleticism will work. Full stop. Nevermind Modrich. Or Iniesta. Or for goodness sake the great Lionel.

I’ve seen it repeatedly on my son’s team. Extremely technical but undersized in American soccer - gets you on reserve team. Sad fact. Even if you ball out.

If you’re paying a part of your mortgage with a highly remunerated side gig like travel soccer and you may be shakey on knowledge and tactics - you want the players as Adonis as you can get (to cover, perhaps, your lack of soccer acumen).

Rant over. To answer your question Howard U coach Gyau who runs pricey but effective clinics would do the trick for more reps.

Best of luck! It’s a wild, unregulated world in travel sports!

What program (not club) works on aggressive/possession in 1v1? My son is extremely technical with his footskills but was never taught physical 1v1 soccer which seems to be all anyone cares about these days. He's fine at the level he's at but it's noticable the difference in aggressive 1v1 in games this fall and he just needs direction on his to handle/beat players if he's going to make a top team.