Anonymous
Post 04/01/2025 14:54     Subject: Possession
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It’s overrated now. Teams should play much more directly with balls over the top.


Clearly a post written to spark a debate, probably for the contrary point. But I will take the bait...

It is proven that there is a direct correlation between touch rate and player development rate in youth football. The more a player touches the ball, the better chance they have at improving as a player. If you play a direct style of football at young ages, like a lot of teams in our area do, you are by default, hurting the kids chances of becoming better players and reaching higher levels of the game because the touch rate for the players decreases dramatically. Players who have played mostly direct soccer in their youth clubs have a ceiling in terms of the levels they can achieve because their skills just won't be able to keep up because they haven't been on the ball enough to make decisions with it or manipulate it under pressure. Sure, will direct football win games? Yes of course. It is the fastest way to the goal. But if you're focused on youth development, and developing pro players , direct football is the killer of that.

Yes, kids need a tactical understanding of the game as they get older for sure. But with playing direct football you're also killing that understanding because they don't know how to move without the ball either (just run fast and hard). When players are pros or older, they play whatever the system requires. If you have only played direct football your entire life, you won't know any other way of playing and you're immediately less valuable of a player. Direct football is the easiest to teach and the quickest way to get results with players that don't know what they are doing or lack skill. If you're saavy about football don't let any youth coach tell you direct football is good for your son or daughter. It isn't.


100% this
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2025 14:35     Subject: Possession
If your midfield is weak then your team is poorly constructed. That's coaching, recruitment, & talent evaluation. Example, US u17 team against TnT yesterday. Surprise, we got another generation of immobile, uncreative CM's in the Andi Sullivan/Sam Coffey mold who can't break down a team parking the bus. Thought we were moving on from that with the likes of Barcenas and the SYC girl at Ajax. If players like that are in your midfield you never skip it.
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2025 14:01     Subject: Possession
Anonymous wrote:Direct Ball is where the midfielders spend the game watching the ball fly over their heads back and forth


True, but if they are weak and the reason why the ball isn’t getting past midfield, they should be removed from the equation on occasion if a team ever plans to win a game. Ask me why I think this way…..
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2025 13:57     Subject: Possession
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:One night, I went to a bar, I was with a woman. We walked all night. We laughed, we flirted, I paid for several drinks of hers.

At around 5 am a guy came in, grabbed her by the arm and took her to the bathroom. He made love to her and she left with him. But that doesn't matter, because I had most of the possession on that night.

To play along with your analogy...after repeating this for years, which of you will be better at conversation and relationship building and more likely to succeed in a long term relationship?


Different Poster, but fun game. If that long term relationship eventually ends in divorce (going to college/new club) might as well have fun in the moment.
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2025 13:54     Subject: Possession
Anonymous wrote:One night, I went to a bar, I was with a woman. We walked all night. We laughed, we flirted, I paid for several drinks of hers.

At around 5 am a guy came in, grabbed her by the arm and took her to the bathroom. He made love to her and she left with him. But that doesn't matter, because I had most of the possession on that night.

To play along with your analogy...after repeating this for years, which of you will be better at conversation and relationship building and more likely to succeed in a long term relationship?
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2025 13:34     Subject: Possession
Anonymous wrote:At ULittle ages yes, playing possession helps build technical skills, etc. However, once they get to 11v11, the players need to learn tactical awareness to figure out where the weakness is in the other team and exploit it. If the the short possession game is being taken away, then by all means go long and vice-versa. I see too many teams that are wed to a single style of play and completely fall apart when it doesn't work.


Thank you! Watching them make the same mistake over and over and over. I totally agree in teaching possession based/building out the back but after a certain point you just need to get it up the field!
Anonymous
Post 04/01/2025 10:06     Subject: Possession
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:One night, I went to a bar, I was with a woman. We walked all night. We laughed, we flirted, I paid for several drinks of hers.

At around 5 am a guy came in, grabbed her by the arm and took her to the bathroom. He made love to her and she left with him. But that doesn't matter, because I had most of the possession on that night.




Love this analogy! This is the direct passion that is missing.
Anonymous
Post 03/31/2025 13:12     Subject: Possession
Anonymous wrote:One night, I went to a bar, I was with a woman. We walked all night. We laughed, we flirted, I paid for several drinks of hers.

At around 5 am a guy came in, grabbed her by the arm and took her to the bathroom. He made love to her and she left with him. But that doesn't matter, because I had most of the possession on that night.


Your possession created a hours of opportunities but you did nothing with it....your loss.
Anonymous
Post 03/31/2025 13:11     Subject: Possession
Anonymous wrote:One night, I went to a bar, I was with a woman. We walked all night. We laughed, we flirted, I paid for several drinks of hers.

At around 5 am a guy came in, grabbed her by the arm and took her to the bathroom. He made love to her and she left with him. But that doesn't matter, because I had most of the possession on that night.


Anonymous
Post 03/31/2025 13:06     Subject: Possession
One night, I went to a bar, I was with a woman. We walked all night. We laughed, we flirted, I paid for several drinks of hers.

At around 5 am a guy came in, grabbed her by the arm and took her to the bathroom. He made love to her and she left with him. But that doesn't matter, because I had most of the possession on that night.
Anonymous
Post 03/31/2025 13:05     Subject: Re:Possession
Anonymous wrote:Possession is fine until you see how it’s not trained in training sessions. 30 minutes of dynamic warmups and technical drills, then 60 minutes of yelling “forward!” in the same session

If you ever get a chance watch SD Surf play + this will all make sense.

SD Surf switches from Posession to Direct depending on how the defense reacts.

Also they break down the field into 1st third (defense) 2nd third (mids) and attacking 3rd (forwards).

On top of consistent training/coaching from the club at all age groups they recruit the top players nationwide.

Once you see how they do things on the field it becomes ridiculously clear why other clubs aren't successful or have limited success.
Anonymous
Post 03/31/2025 12:53     Subject: Re:Possession
Possession is fine until you see how it’s not trained in training sessions. 30 minutes of dynamic warmups and technical drills, then 60 minutes of yelling “forward!” in the same session
Anonymous
Post 03/31/2025 12:45     Subject: Possession
I saw this title and thought it would be about the spectacular A. S. Byatt novel of the same name about two dead poets conducting a clandestine romance and two modern scholars tracing the biographical clues to that affair, but alas, it is soccer.
Anonymous
Post 03/31/2025 12:38     Subject: Possession
US has always had issues developing mids at both youth and national team levels. Kids aren't technical enough and the ones that you think are technical aren't they are only good behind cones and doing the same mechanical skill they have been taught....no IQ. To quote Cruyff "Technique is passing the ball with one touch, with the right speed, at the right time. to the correct foot of your team mate" until you all start watching games at this level of detail....you don't get it. Which is why so many girls you all think are world beaters are not, the US bar is low, very low.
Anonymous
Post 03/31/2025 11:03     Subject: Possession
Direct smashes bad teams and allies you to run up scores.

Direct only against better teams won't work. Because they'll just double whatever forward scores or make then chase the ball until they're tired.

There's nothing wrong with Direct but you need more than just Direct to play at the highest levels. This is what patents don't understand. They see the 7 goal blowouts + think their kid is ready to go bro. Then they play a team that can swith from possession to Direct and they get blown out of the water.