No the goalie should not blast it everytime he gets the ball. If the defense has space they should potb. But if the opponent is pressing high then that means there is open space downfield and it's not a bad idea to go long (aim for a forward). Man City just did this against Tottenham last weekend. Ederson punted long to Gundogan who scored. I'm pretty sure Pep approves of that play. It's a smart play. Gundogan has good odds due to Spurs high press, lots of space behind and a novice defender (Sanchez). Always fun to see a keeper get an assist.
Did you also see when Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto aligned a few weeks ago? Hadn’t happened since before Christ was born. And you notice the key difference that he’s not under pressure? it much different situation than your “there’s defenders near me, gotta blast it aimlessly.
I wonder if @rca2 is still around. What are your views today? After approximately 5 years of USSF changing the number of players on the field for U-littles (7v7 to 9v9 before 11v11) as opposed to the old transition of 8v8 to 11v1. Do you still believe direct/counter attacking method is the preferred teaching approach? My experience having worked with U-littles the 7v7 and 9v9 spaces with different tiers throughout the past 10 years tells me the changes led to a tangential battle. The players that shine at Under-little stage have superior athleticism combined with a lot of technical training. The first generation players that will only have played 7v7 to 9v9 will graduate to the 11v11 game this year. Wonder if the longer termed coaches notice any substantial differences between this generation of players and older generations. 2007 age group went through their own changes as well. Started 8v8 then switched to 7v7 before 9v9 if I recall correctly. 06's played 1 year of 9v9. I think though, starting with the 2008 age bracket, the player ID approach by many youth organizations changed.
Feel sorry for your players. If your goalie makes a long pass you prob yell at him "Did you also see when Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto aligned a few weeks ago?"!!! And make him feel bad. I never said aimlessly. Make a long pass ideally, but as a last resort you can blast it far upfield to remove pressure, that is not aimless. Or you can go out of bounds. But again that is last resort. And going long does not have to be aimless. You seem obsessed with tiki-taka. (btw I like tiki-taka but it's not the only way to do things, but it's fun to see and it's good if the skills are there).
I am still around, but due to health reasons I stopped coaching and playing 5 years ago. So I don't have any fresh insights. My views remain the same although I may express them differently sometimes. Smaller fields and sides don't change my approach because what they represent is cutting out the middle third of the field and essentially in a SSG every time you win the ball, it happens high up the field. I don't have to tell you that my progression from direct attacks to a more patient approach doesn't mean I discourage or prevent players from playing smart. A coach should always keep in mind his view of the senior game as his end objective and coach consistent with that end. Otherwise you teach bad habits which have to be untaught later in development.
"Tiki-taka" was originally a derogatory term for the Spanish national teams penchant at the time for endless, purposeless, short passing. That is why I use other terms (i.e., positional play) to describe Barca's style of play. Rondos are the means to develop the required skills to play a highly technical style. Playing in small spaces is very unforgiving of even small technical and tactical mistakes. It teaches players smart disciplined play.
I like tiki-taka. I like potb. But it requires a high degree of skill. It's about shades of gray. It's not like you either potb or you don't. It's not that you either do tiki-taka or not. You do it to some degree. It depends on the skills of the players. And skill of opponent. Pep said tiki taka isn't for just possession and passing around; it's to move the opponent. But while tiki taka worked well for Barca in the Pep era, it doesn't overall win Champions League titles consistently. I think if you are short, agile, in hot environment, grew up playing futsal, then tiki taka is your thing. (Man City has the shortest avg height in PL - coincidence? no) If you are tall, strong, fast, cold environment, then you will do less tiki taka and more counter attack and more crosses. There is no wrong or right. It depends on the types of players you have and on the best tactics to beat a particular type of opponent (the way Bayern beat Barca by forcing them wide/clogging the middle and by doing a high press because they knew Messi could not out sprint their fullbacks).
From my experience with LA and OC areas, the field dimensions are relatively unchanged from the 8v8 size field for the 7v7s. The 7v7 divisions also regularly play on the same field used for 9v9. More transitions and more direct play is what I've seen out here for the 7v7 divisions. The 9v9 divisions transitions with play still being direct. Not always route 1 mind you. More and more players taking on their defender 1v1. I don't recall seeing any tiki-taka (heavy horizontal passing) and the ulittles. My assumption is that players should be better at identifying 2v1 advantages, higher quality attacking and defending in 1v1 situations as they enter the full sided game.
I think you are spot on. The horizontal movement is what happens at the first team professional level. The Barca youth teams don't start out that way. They start the way you envision. Rondo's can be used to teach players how to break lines with relatively short combination passes (2v1). Once kids have dribbling and striking down (1v1), rondos make a lot of training sense. Crawl before you walk, walk before you run. Your youth players should look exactly like you envision, not like the Barca first team under Pep. Your kids will likely find ways to break lines vertically and get the horizontal movement they need with diagonal balls to find open space and stretch zone defenses. If you can get U14s seeing and playing in the gaps, you are doing better than most coaches! The best thing about diagonal passes is that they don't destroy the team shape like "Route 1" does. Make the other team work twice as hard as your team.
I disagree because the purpose of player development is to build the ability to play the game. You don't build a high degree of technical skill by saying "Oh the players aren't skilled at first touch and passing so we are not going to work on those areas." A development coach should work on building all skills, both weak ones and stronger ones, and with both feet. Player development is not about winning games. (AAA baseball is an excellent example. Managers are judged by how many players they get ready for the majors, not by how many minor league championships they have won.) Coaches should focus on improving the players while leaving the focus on winning to the players. If you make playing fun, the kids won't care what the score line is as long as they get to play.
I agree. I am looking at these pros, but that should not be applied to youth. I agree they should develop and not worry about winning, so potb and take all the risks in the world, it doesn't really matter until what about age 16 or so. Though I do think that a lot of these development drills (say learning to build from the back) should be done during practice sessions rigourously, but they could tone it down a bit during a real game. I think you should try to win a real game. A game is not a place to try out a newer skill, imo (unless you're under say 10 or 11 yrs, then who the heck cares, just play and learn).
I hadn't visited this forum in y ears. Apologies, what is PoTB? Tiki-taka was a phrase coined by Spanish press (probably pro-Madrid) critical of the way Barca would pass the ball horizontally in midfield. To them it was cowardly that they wouldn't risk the ball by playing passes forward. This particular style was due to one player influence in the team Xavi Hernandez. IMO, a youth coach's first job in the US environment is to help players develop a passion for the game. Once you have the passion, skills will improve dramatically by the kids on their own. The more you enjoy the process the more time you are willing to spend on it away from an organized format. Sometimes less is more. When Johan Cryuff signed a 2 year contract to have the Cryuff Institute consult and run the Club Deportivo Guadalajara side in Mexico, one of his first statements was he could not turn them into the Mexican Barcelona. What he could do, was teach them the principles of a possession oriented attacking team, and they would adapt the ideals and use their local identity/qualities to express them. There is a few differences of the way Barcelona play and the way Bayern or Man City play. Notably the fullbacks play way different on Man City did they did at Barca or Bayern. Here's a decent primer.
POTB = Play Out of The Back. Cool video. I think most important to note is that Pep utilized the strengths of the individual players, which influenced the tactics.
After every World Cup, FIFA releases a compilation of stats. One stat that has recurred for at least twenty years is that a majority (70%+, IIRC) of goals are scored 7 seconds after a turnover or within 5 passes after a turnover. The modern game seems to revolve around controlling/generating/preventing the transition points. Barca, under Pep, maybe Cruyff, had the goal to recover the ball within six seconds after losing the ball. Probably no coincidence since goals are scored within 7 seconds after loss of possession. Controlling the transition. Possessing the ball attempts to limit the amount of turnovers. Counter pressing, gegenpressing has the goal of generating turnovers in a territorially advantageous part of the field. Mourinho with Inter and Real said “we don’t want the ball”— he said they were waiting for mistakes and turnovers. Also, why tactical fouls are so powerful (and need to be punished accordingly). It can’t be separated from attacking and defending but these moments are super critical and the speedy, concerted reaction of players is something that is really critical to the game.
This is actually one of my pet peeves. I understand why coaches do it even at the u-littles. I get it. Refs don't punish tactical fouls harshly enough at u-littles imo. I understand, usually the refs at these ages are inexperienced. Still arghkladjklfd ! Sorry rant over.
One of mine too. Kids need to learn how to play fairly before they learn how to cheat. After that first yellow card, players lose the crutch of cheating.