Here is a good video with Romeo Jozak on development (Croatian Football Federation Development Curriculum), it covers some of the how and why for each stage of development. The book goes into much more detail. Also, why certain coaching temperaments and overemphasis on tactical and positional demand is a detriment to player development in the long run starting below U-12 level.

If you make it to the end, there is a good Q&A section where some of the reasons why are brought up. He mentions Tom Byer, Barcelona, exceptional talent, why the US vs Europe models are not comparable directly and approaches should be different.

I really liked the quote of coaches "Coloring the eyes" of the players. It is very true.

A lot of coaches here need to accept they need to devote more time to skill acquisition vs tactics and positional play because of the US environment. Plain and simple, there will be time for tactics and competition, just not too early.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAAX82ff3eY&t=11s&ab_channel=InsideTheAcademy

Again the Barca references are to a club that is solely dedicated to developing professional assets of player contracts. And this will become more so now that Barca is in such debt.
To say that a U11 travel team in US should operate like Barca only makes sense if you are comparing similar identified talent.
Also ask yourself where Barca gets it talent v develops it. Messi came in at 13 so he was U14. Barca buys talent as much as it recruits it now.

It used to be different.
xavi was identified by Cruyff and they played him up and in a position that he struggled with due to size but cruyff could see that was where he needed to develop.

Rotating. In general is good but may not be for a particular player.

Anonymous wrote:I think the point is, if Barcelona sees the attributes that lend themselves to playin more in a natural position, while keeping an eye on the ability to translate to another position later then perhaps we could learn to be a little more patient ourselves. La Masia is very patient with players they believe in long term and in turn parents trust them. They don't just move a kid to various positions and claim that is development. They will move a kid but keep them in the flavor of their skill set. A CB will play in various spots through the middle up to possibly attacking mid but most likely seeing spot duty at holding mid.

This seems to me like the right approach: let coaches spot the natural attributes of players that lend themselves to playing more in a natural position; move around in nearby positions (e.g. CB to RB/LB/midfield; striker to right/left wings and midfield); and don't just rotate players around the field to offensive/defensive positions.

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Anonymous wrote:Here's an example of what's being discussed. These kids are 8 years old.

https://youtu.be/s3PcdKdbkVU

The difference is parents of kids playing at Barcelona don't complain to the coaches when their kid plays CB and not striker.

Is "parents complaining" really a new thing, or unique to soccer in the USA? I mean, I'm sure parents everywhere in every sport complain about all manner of things.

I'm still mainly just curious about which is the better way to develop young players: (1) identify their naturally strongest positions/talents and play to those strengths; or (2) move them all around the field to become "well-rounded" players.

One data point is what the best youth clubs in the world do with their players.

Do you really think a parent in Spain is going to walk up to a La Masia coach and tell him where to play their son?

Good luck with that.

Barcelona pays for those players education room and board and all expenses.
Parents don’t pay anything. Nothing.

Barcelona does rotate players. The games you are seeing o YouTube are like Real Madrid academy v Barcelona academy and you are seeing the finals typically. So you are seeing one lineup. They do rotate in practice scrimmages and tournaments.

I’m not sure the Barcelona data point for selected gifted and talented kids in an immersion program is relevant to travel soccer to be honest with you.

I think the point is, if Barcelona sees the attributes that lend themselves to playin more in a natural position, while keeping an eye on the ability to translate to another position later then perhaps we could learn to be a little more patient ourselves. La Masia is very patient with players they believe in long term and in turn parents trust them. They don't just move a kid to various positions and claim that is development. They will move a kid but keep them in the flavor of their skill set. A CB will play in various spots through the middle up to possibly attacking mid but most likely seeing spot duty at holding mid.

If you really care, there is a pretty light book on the subject called "Croatian Football Federation Development Curriculum." I have not found too many other books on the subject, but any other suggestions are welcome. It has some good information in it if you are curious.

The section on Phases of Development has a note for u-8 to U-11:
"Players will rotate through several positions in order to avoid premature specialization, and that also includes the role of goalkeeper."

Take that for what you will. I can see both sides of the argument, but to me, if the player only plays one position, they are getting a pretty limited view of this particular sport very early that may affect them much longer than it should. Also, most people coaching are working in a silo with limited players. So the bias toward seeing certain "talents" at that age may be more team need than individual player need.

Who knows....