Tab Ramos interview

Along these lines, which of the following is a more plausiable explanation for Cristian Roldan's omission from the U20 squad:

A. His abilities mysteriously disappeared while he was in camp.
B. He doesn't have an agent.

 

Best thing here could be the small sided game thing. One of the most lacking part of most US players game.. Ball control in small space very important to be able to do that at the highest level andahelp maintain possession elp

 

Small sided games shouldn't just be something our youth setup does. It should be THE ONLY thing young players do and the number of player should increase as the players get older. U6-U8 should be Maybe 4s or 5s, U-9-10s 5s or 6s, and so on until U15s are mostly playing 11s but with 9s on occasion. From then on games during training can be small sided but ball skills in tight areas should be second nature.

In short there is no good reason for full 11 on 11 before the middle teens. Everyone should be seeing the ball often and in 1v1, 2v1, 3v1, 2v2 and 3v2 situations making quick judgments and executing passes, developing touch. Smaller goals should be used as well. Our biggest weakness as a footballing nation is touch and control. You are only as strong as your weakest link and it's obvious that teams exploit our nats by using high pressure and fast counters in odd man and 1v1 situations.

 

I think Tab's biggest problem is that he's more of a coach, not a manager at this point. He should be teaching kids how to trap a soccer ball or open up space for a teammate. These are professionals (19 of the 21). They need someone who can manage them, put them out there with a good game-plan and adjust that game-plan, if needed. He had no previous managerial experience prior to taking the U-20 job. He might be very good in 5-10 years, but right now he's a poor manager. He should've started at a lower level. Just handing someone with no prior managerial experience the U-20 job was a bad decision. It's a lot easier for someone with no prior experience coaching or managing to start out teaching little kids how to do certain things than to take control of managing high level professionals. If you make a mistake, its a lot less scrutinized teaching kids and you probably have a lot more margin for error.

I really like Men In Blazers, by the way. I think ESPN made a mistake not giving them their own show after the WC. People (myself included) really started to take notice of their work at that time.

 

http://www.socceramerica.com/articl...es-us-progress-mls-and-you.html?edition=16685

Tab Ramos on new rules, U.S. progress, MLS and youth clubs
January 12th, 2017
4:31PM

 

A U20 youth coach for the US actually spends very limited time with the players. And he spends a miniscule amount of time training the exact group of players that end up being the roster at important events. In fact, a U20 coach never has his "best team," even at the two big events. That's due to players not being released from Europe every cycle. Would Tab Ramos benefit from Pulisic and CCV for CONCACAF qualifying this cycle? Of course. Its very unlikely that he gets them.

So in reality the most important part of a U20 coach's job should be player selection and then game management. If the U20 coach has to teach the kids how to play the game, then we're in big trouble. That's not his role. [The only USYNT manager who has that type of day-to-day coaching role is the U17 coach in Bradenton.]

I don't think its even necessary to worry about which player is the best prospect for 10 years down the line. Tab Ramos isn't some sort of master talent scout. The U20 coach's job is to pick a team that will win the CONCACAF U20 Championships and do as best as possible at the U20 World Cup. And that does mean picking some players that he think will fit into his game plan and style of player over other equally talented prospects.

I mean, we should all hope that we're going to leave out good prospects at every position. There should be a Christian Roldan left out in every position. We should be developing lots of good depth of talent in that regard.

 

I agree that the job is a manager, but I think Ramos is a poor manager. Poor tactics, poor roster selection. I suggest he's more of a coach than a manager at this point. He's someone who should be the #2 for the U-20's and is working with them on the training field (the times there are U-20 camps), not the guy who picks the team and tactics.