Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Soccer coach here-

At this age, your player needs to become excellent on the ball. A lot of times as you see in older teams, players who were midfielders will be molded into a defender. Players who played as a defender when they were young will get phased out simply because they aren't good enough on the ball. Your player can have the edge if they continue to play in defense but they have to be extremely technical.

? for Soccer Coach - Have a young U12 player Center Back on top team (by any external measure - gotsoccer, major tourn). Had a gap in development (major health issues - missed time on the ball in U10/U11). As they slowly returned, they naturally fell in to center back for every minute of each game (coach style) bc they are athletic, mentally tough, good read on ball & speed/play of players. However, feel they have a weaker technically from team mates - from gap in touches. In situations, like this - still possible to fill that technical gap?

For what it's worth, come from athletic family with lots of college athletes but not in soccer , kid definitely has that athleticism - but definitely a parent who is not soccer smart or pretends to be. . . . .

Yes, your young center back needs to be getting touches on the ball every single day. We're talking 1000 touch drills, passing against the wall working on first touch and dribbling. It needs to be every day though to get back up to technical level of others. Ideally at U12 they should still be getting experience playing in multiple positions.

Anonymous wrote:Soccer coach here-

At this age, your player needs to become excellent on the ball. A lot of times as you see in older teams, players who were midfielders will be molded into a defender. Players who played as a defender when they were young will get phased out simply because they aren't good enough on the ball. Your player can have the edge if they continue to play in defense but they have to be extremely technical.

? for Soccer Coach - Have a young U12 player Center Back on top team (by any external measure - gotsoccer, major tourn). Had a gap in development (major health issues - missed time on the ball in U10/U11). As they slowly returned, they naturally fell in to center back for every minute of each game (coach style) bc they are athletic, mentally tough, good read on ball & speed/play of players. However, feel they have a weaker technically from team mates - from gap in touches. In situations, like this - still possible to fill that technical gap?

For what it's worth, come from athletic family with lots of college athletes but not in soccer , kid definitely has that athleticism - but definitely a parent who is not soccer smart or pretends to be. . . . .

Soccer coach here-

At this age, your player needs to become excellent on the ball. A lot of times as you see in older teams, players who were midfielders will be molded into a defender. Players who played as a defender when they were young will get phased out simply because they aren't good enough on the ball. Your player can have the edge if they continue to play in defense but they have to be extremely technical.

Anonymous wrote:OP, could you ask other coaches in your club whether they would be interested in doing training for a fee? Our child's coach doesn't do this, but we found another coach who was happy to, just by asking around.

My son (also U12) is usually a defender (left back). He is not big or super fast. He does all of the necessary things that people describe above. His coach says he would be even better if he were willing to take more contact, but that is tough when he is 70 lbs and many opponents are over 100 lbs.

Coaches will help.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I have seen in youth soccer at younger ages is that the coach will put the worse players on the team at defender to hide them. Starting around U11 or U12, the defenders begin to become critical so the coaches start to hide the worse players at the wing positions instead.

Defenders need to have the very solid basic skills like first touch and sureness of ball possession. In addition to solid basic skills, the defender needs to know positioning and physical play without fouling. Outside of specific training for this I would recommend watching professional soccer matches to understand that aspect of the game.

In general, outside backs most critical ability should be speed as they have to counter the opposing teams fast wings. Height is usually somewhat important for Center Backs since they are able to head a lot of balls kicked into the box but they also need excellent basic ball skills as well.

Defenders should focus on being very proficient with the basics of touches and possession of the ball. On a psychological note, defenders should be ok with the Strikers and Offensive players getting all of the credit for wins since their play will always be overlooked when they play well and they will be blamed for all losses when they make a mistake.

NAH. On all my kids youth teams, they hide the weak on the forward wings because they can do the less damage there. You can't have poor/weak/slow kids in the back.

That is what he said. Starting at U11 or U12 the wings are where they hide them. You can hide them at defense prior to that (U7-U10)

OP - seems the discussion has taken a left turn so to answer your question...try the Player Progression Academy (PPA). They offer private training.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I have seen in youth soccer at younger ages is that the coach will put the worse players on the team at defender to hide them. Starting around U11 or U12, the defenders begin to become critical so the coaches start to hide the worse players at the wing positions instead.

Defenders need to have the very solid basic skills like first touch and sureness of ball possession. In addition to solid basic skills, the defender needs to know positioning and physical play without fouling. Outside of specific training for this I would recommend watching professional soccer matches to understand that aspect of the game.

In general, outside backs most critical ability should be speed as they have to counter the opposing teams fast wings. Height is usually somewhat important for Center Backs since they are able to head a lot of balls kicked into the box but they also need excellent basic ball skills as well.

Defenders should focus on being very proficient with the basics of touches and possession of the ball. On a psychological note, defenders should be ok with the Strikers and Offensive players getting all of the credit for wins since their play will always be overlooked when they play well and they will be blamed for all losses when they make a mistake.

NAH. On all my kids youth teams, they hide the weak on the forward wings because they can do the less damage there. You can't have poor/weak/slow kids in the back.

Sorry!! I see that’s what you said. My mistake

Anonymous wrote:What I have seen in youth soccer at younger ages is that the coach will put the worse players on the team at defender to hide them. Starting around U11 or U12, the defenders begin to become critical so the coaches start to hide the worse players at the wing positions instead.

Defenders need to have the very solid basic skills like first touch and sureness of ball possession. In addition to solid basic skills, the defender needs to know positioning and physical play without fouling. Outside of specific training for this I would recommend watching professional soccer matches to understand that aspect of the game.

In general, outside backs most critical ability should be speed as they have to counter the opposing teams fast wings. Height is usually somewhat important for Center Backs since they are able to head a lot of balls kicked into the box but they also need excellent basic ball skills as well.

Defenders should focus on being very proficient with the basics of touches and possession of the ball. On a psychological note, defenders should be ok with the Strikers and Offensive players getting all of the credit for wins since their play will always be overlooked when they play well and they will be blamed for all losses when they make a mistake.

This. Missed shots and opportunities don't seem to register on the sidelines. It is always the defenders fault, even when their kids aren't performing any magic up front or chasing back to help out.

Anonymous wrote:What I have seen in youth soccer at younger ages is that the coach will put the worse players on the team at defender to hide them. Starting around U11 or U12, the defenders begin to become critical so the coaches start to hide the worse players at the wing positions instead.

Defenders need to have the very solid basic skills like first touch and sureness of ball possession. In addition to solid basic skills, the defender needs to know positioning and physical play without fouling. Outside of specific training for this I would recommend watching professional soccer matches to understand that aspect of the game.

In general, outside backs most critical ability should be speed as they have to counter the opposing teams fast wings. Height is usually somewhat important for Center Backs since they are able to head a lot of balls kicked into the box but they also need excellent basic ball skills as well.

Defenders should focus on being very proficient with the basics of touches and possession of the ball. On a psychological note, defenders should be ok with the Strikers and Offensive players getting all of the credit for wins since their play will always be overlooked when they play well and they will be blamed for all losses when they make a mistake.

NAH. On all my kids youth teams, they hide the weak on the forward wings because they can do the less damage there. You can't have poor/weak/slow kids in the back.

What I have seen in youth soccer at younger ages is that the coach will put the worse players on the team at defender to hide them. Starting around U11 or U12, the defenders begin to become critical so the coaches start to hide the worse players at the wing positions instead.

Defenders need to have the very solid basic skills like first touch and sureness of ball possession. In addition to solid basic skills, the defender needs to know positioning and physical play without fouling. Outside of specific training for this I would recommend watching professional soccer matches to understand that aspect of the game.

In general, outside backs most critical ability should be speed as they have to counter the opposing teams fast wings. Height is usually somewhat important for Center Backs since they are able to head a lot of balls kicked into the box but they also need excellent basic ball skills as well.

Defenders should focus on being very proficient with the basics of touches and possession of the ball. On a psychological note, defenders should be ok with the Strikers and Offensive players getting all of the credit for wins since their play will always be overlooked when they play well and they will be blamed for all losses when they make a mistake.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Most defenders in the upper age groups and even college were not defenders until late in their soccer career. Many coaches wait to place kids in a position. Defenders are the best athletes on the field and need, speed, range, and power, height and size is also a bonus.

They need to be able to do everything.

I am the poster whose U12 child normally plays left back. They do rotate the kids a bit (sometimes he plays midfield, and they make everyone do at least one game as goalie). The problem is that many of the players on the team only know how to play/want to play forward positions, and are useless as defenders, whereas DS is better at defending and weaker at forward positions. So during games, the coach has been playing people where they are best. But, I guess that's self-perpetuating the problem, because the other kids are not learning to improve at defending, and DS is not improving as a forward player.

That is why the coaches at higher levels, including college level will move players. i learned this form college coaches who ran the coaching clinics. At the younger ages all the kids and parents want to see their kid score over the years the coaches will put the stronger all around players on defense
even at high school level the coach sometimes has my kid who is a defender play up just to spark things on offense.

My kids got stuck at center D last year, the older one left wingback as well. They weren't thrilled. But, for a lot of the reason you mentioned. It was painful at times because the forwards were not finishing and they were both really great finishers. I think the games could have been different---and not so defensive play on our part. It was a great learning experience though. This year they both got moved to attacking Center Mid and they are thrilled. The time in the back definitely improved their overall game.

What is interesting to me is how different coaches have identified them at certain positions. Some see things very differently---and some of it also has to do with the teammates and their strengths/weaknesses as well. Of course, there are always an overabundance of kids that self-identify as 'forwards' I always told me kids to tell any Coach when they ask where they play to answer 'anywhere'. "My preference is midfield, but I can play anywhere on the field but keeper'. Coaches love that. Building that versatility young is good, as well as having a good attitude and realizing you won't get to play where you want all of the time---but it's a chance to improve your overall game. As they get older there is always going to be a lot more competition to fill the most desired spots so if you have more versatility you will have more opportunities.

Anonymous wrote:

Most defenders in the upper age groups and even college were not defenders until late in their soccer career. Many coaches wait to place kids in a position. Defenders are the best athletes on the field and need, speed, range, and power, height and size is also a bonus.

They need to be able to do everything.

I am the poster whose U12 child normally plays left back. They do rotate the kids a bit (sometimes he plays midfield, and they make everyone do at least one game as goalie). The problem is that many of the players on the team only know how to play/want to play forward positions, and are useless as defenders, whereas DS is better at defending and weaker at forward positions. So during games, the coach has been playing people where they are best. But, I guess that's self-perpetuating the problem, because the other kids are not learning to improve at defending, and DS is not improving as a forward player.

That is why the coaches at higher levels, including college level will move players. i learned this form college coaches who ran the coaching clinics. At the younger ages all the kids and parents want to see their kid score over the years the coaches will put the stronger all around players on defense
even at high school level the coach sometimes has my kid who is a defender play up just to spark things on offense.