http://mobile.slate.com/articles/sp...se_soccer_a_player_on_the_world_football.html Absolutely fantastic read on long-time "coach" and ex-pro Tom Byer and his influence on Asian football, mostly notably in Japan. I have never heard of this guy but it's pretty evident that his training methods and the impact on Japenese players like Keisuke Honda, Tadanari Lee, Shinji Kagawa is well respected and legendary in its own right.
There was a thread about him a while back - it included a video interview that was really interesting. https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/threads/tom-byer-on-youth-soccer-development.1977061/
He had a few interviews on the Beyond the Pitch podcast too, recently. He has a huge contract with Chinese football to set up their entire youth development system.
It's an interesting piece, but the fundamental premises are pretty faulty. Coerver is damn near universal in the US, and has been for decades. And just deciding to put a soccer segment into, I don't know, SpongeBob SquarePants would be a pretty flagrant waste of cash. Byer's assertion at the end is also pretty ********ed up. MLS can definitely improve in terms of youth development, but playing it like we're miles behind Japan is silly and reeks of agenda-driven writing.
Our youth development is miles behind Japans though...I don't disagree with his statement at all. He focuses on developing technical skills for children, the USSF is focusing on giving more games to teenagers.
the focus on individuality and practicing alone seems pretty crucial to me. We all like to think that academies will pop out top players like a assembly line, but in reality its a herculean effort by individuals in order to not only make it but transcend.
Tom is coming home. This could be verrry interesting for youth development in the US. https://www.si.com/soccer/2017/10/26/tom-byer-us-soccer-pilot-program-seattle-sounders-japan-china
Pretty sure he'll still be based out of Tokyo. Still does a lot of work of Asia. I think he's starting work with Russia too. Was just in Moscow.
Don't have Sirius but would be interested in what happened here: Tom Byer signed a 6-month contract w/ US Soccer for his pilot program, "Soccer Starts at Home." The program never got off the ground. The story of its demise & the federations lack of interest on #TheCoachingAcademy @SiriusXMFC 2pm/7pm ET @tomsan106 @GrantWahl @WAYouthSoccer— Glenn Crooks (@GlennCrooks) May 23, 2018
If you have HBO GO... Real Sports (Monthly HBO Sports Documentary program hosted by Bryant Gumbel) did a short (15 minute or so) investigative journalism piece on Tom Byer and his impact in Japan a few months ago... can't remember which month off the top of my head but it was super interesting... I think it interviewed Kyle Martino and maybe some others USsoccer people.. Basically just teaches kids to always have a ball on them at all times from a young age to develop close ball control which is the bedrock of a great player... It did wonders in Japan apparently.. If I ever have kids and am roped into coaching youth soccer I'd take a look at what Tom Byers does.