Seems whenever I see a video of La Masia or other euro academy players, it is a very, very high level. Especially when compared to US youth players. I assume that these academies are very selective and that these players are technical, smart and athletic before they get there. It’s clear that our DA system is quite a bit behind. But what about the next level or 2 below this level? I know things are organized differently overseas- but does I’d love to see some footage of these tier 2/tier 3 type of players. And then compare them to our “traditional” US club player. (This comes from watching the freshman team at our HS all season. About 60 players tried out. 23 made the team. They all play club soccer. The soccer is pretty ugly. Lots of goal kicks and throw ins. )
When you are talking fundamentals, the "level" of the club doesn't matter. Only the coach matters. I have seen some pretty incredible U-Littles. At that age, good players are developed, not recruited. The million dollar question is: What happens the next year? Player development is a long term effort. What is needed is good training every year, not just the first year.
I don't have any first hand experience, but my assumption is the level is higher based on two factors. The first and biggest factor is a soccer culture where kids are exposed to the game constantly throughout daily life and not just at training and games. If you eat, sleep, and breathe the game, it's going to make a difference. The second factor is experience and training for coaches, ie institutional knowledge. My presumption is that most soccer countries have a coaching system that evolves over time as players play under experienced coaches, and then when players wash out of actually playing, some of those players become coaches themselves, building on the experiences passed down from the previous generation. Our soccer coaching culture is at a much earlier stage of development where a lot of current coaches probably didn't play under highly trained coaches themselves. I use myself as an example. When I'm at a coaching course, instructors or other coaches will say something, and it's like I never even thought about that being a thing. If I'd played under more experienced coaches myself, my own coaching would be a few steps further along from where I am now. Then, my players would be getting a more high-level education from me, and they would pass that on to their kids or kids they coach when they're done playing.
A few years back a local club team (mostly 02s) went to Italy and played a lower level tournament against italian/french/swiss teams in northern italy. You can probably figure out which games are from the tourney if you look at all his uploads. The US team eventually became a USYS Regional team.
Thanks for posting that. I think that proved my theory- that lower level youth soccer in Europe looks about like our high/mid level soccer in the US. The ball seemed to stay on the ground a bit more than what I see in the US. But there wasn't anyone carving up the field with ridiculous skill and/or speed. I think the best part was seeing the field set up. Looked like a typical American club soccer field. Middle of a neighborhood. Fake turf. Dimensions a bit short. Sponsorship signs hanging all over the fence. (Compared to when you watch a video of a high level academy game - It's in a stadium with perfect grass and perfect measurements).
I think the biggest difference is that the kids on those teams could someday play for their club's senior team, or get sold to a team higher up in the pyramid. I don't think any of the American kids dream of repping the badge on the O-30 team in 12 years in the local men's league (they had a team that did well there and promoted to the O-40 league iirc )
Simple enough. At least in la liga, look up any "segundo division" team then search YouTube: 16+ "juvenil", 14+ cadetes, infantile and alevins. From what I've seen, the speed of play is much higher and the technical is much sharper. It's hard to see, because most of what you get is "highlight" stuff so you don't really get passage of play.
There's a lot of footage from the MIC tournament. This covers a range, from the early 3four3 teams that went over and held their own with barca and ajax to soccer tourism teams that are thrown together for easter week "play in barcelona" trips, and all levels in between.