Thanks for the explanation. I personally don’t think it was a dump and chase situation. I wrote about that play to illustrate that players should strive to communicate with each other in order to make a play work. Also for context, these are U9/10 rec players. Would I prefer that they build out form the back and make 8 passes to advance into attacking position? Sure, of course I would, but the reality is that kids at this level aren’t capable of doing this, so the objective is to have fun, which is borne from success, which (unfortunately) is measured by scoring goals. As for joysticking, is reminding a player that they’re on defense really joysticking? I’m honestly asking? I try to instruct the defensive players to be aggressive, but to communicate when they’re going to attack to their teammates so that the goalie isn’t hung out to dry if the attack goes awry. at this age level, part of my objective is to make sure that players don’t get so discouraged that they give up the game. I’m trying to learn here and I value your explanation. It’s helpful.
At u9/10 they will start to become proficient at passing if you drill it consistently. Some good drills for this are the triangle game and the hour glass drill, the later allows growth to building from the back. If your issue is getting scored on a lot, my preference is a smiling diamond setup for 9v9. This formation plays into 433, 442 or any combination born from those lines. This also plays into something you have to get them to understand too, play the position don't let the position play you... your outside defenders shouldn't stop assisting the attack from their side, when they are your center back needs to recognize this and shift out of position to cover the now open side. 4 back line with the outside slightly in front of the CBs, 1 DM, 2 AM, 1 striker. Played properly as they start understanding positioning etc you'll start to see consistent 5 man attacks and 5 man defense with only 8 field players.
Totally agree with you regarding what players are capable of doing at the U9/10 level. But keep in mind that this is rec-level soccer. The best and most committed players at this age group are playing Travel Soccer at our club. My players are kids that have no interest in playing Travel and this is only for fun (or in some cases, their parents are making them play). At our club (and I get that other clubs do it differently), we don't have team practices. I have the kids one hour a week (at the game). No time to drill. We do a club wide skills sessions once a week, but it's not team based and not every player attends. There's no time to drill anything. I'm lucky if the players remember what their general assignments are, let alone staying in formation. For a Travel team, this advice would be fantastic. But it's just not realistic to implement for rec-soccer (at my club).