Good morning everyone! It's such a beautiful morning today and I have a question. My kid has only played forward. For 3.5 years in a row. But now I feel he needs to learn the midfield position. I mean, how many years in a row does he need to play forward? Isn't that gonna hold back his development? I feel in the midfield is where kids learn the most. So all kids should play it at some point.
They should specialize at 13 or 14 up until then all positions. GK should be playing on two teams if you want them to be high level from early on. One in field one in GK. not go to GK specific until 13
Should I push for my kid to play midfield? Because I feel that this is the best position to develop technical skills and soccer IQ, since they are touching the ball a lot and receive and passing a lot and scanning. But the problem is my kid resists it, but recently he caved and said fine he'll not complain and he's willing to play half the time in midfield and half forward. The problem with kids is they don't know what's best for them. But I believe playing midfield is best, so they should do be exposed to it at least say 30% of the time or something.
The kid who went the farthest (D3) from my oldest's cohort was mainly a winger from u9-14 travel. He was CF for the middle school team. In HS he spent time at CF and Winger, all conference, 2 state cup finals runners-up. But for his comp club, he was a CB. In college, he was a good, intelligent ball playing CB. It didn't hurt that he ended up 6'3", but he was still a bit more of a bean pole than a linebacker. Few coaches do it, but they really should be rotating kids through all positions up until HS age. Similar to "for the next 2-3 weeks, you kids are my CB, you kids are my MF, you kids are my Forwards". Give them time to work on a position against more than one opponent. And 2nd the note on keepers, u9-12 they should be playing in the field half the time up until u15. Like full time keeper on their most competitive club, and field player on a community or inhouse league.
My son played as a midfielder essentially his entire club "career". In Middle School, his clueless coach played him as a forward just because he was one of the few players on that dreadful team with any ball control skills (he should have been further back but whatever). Then in college, he played as an outside back in a 4-2-3-1. His professional & semiprofessional career he mostly played up top, or as a winger. So who knows.
I agree that's how it should be. But I don't think I've seen that ever since my kid started playing competitive soccer (going on 4 years now). There is a little bit of rotation, but not much. And I feel like my son has gotten the least rotation as he's never played midfield. So I voiced this to the coach and he said my son is not open to playing other positions. And I said I want you to force him to play it.
I think midfielders can go on and play anywhere because they learn a wide variety of skills, including soccer IQ.
I brought it up to the coach and he said my son isn't open to playing other positions and that other kids will do whatever he asks. But to me that's not a good enough reason. The coach should not be swayed by the whims of a 10 year old. He has made lineup decisions by asking the 10 year olds who would guard that guy and so forth. In other words, as a coach you can ask everyone where they want to play or you can tell them where they are going to play and I think the coach should, at least half the time, do the latter. So... if my son isn't going to get any midfield minutes... this is what I am mulling over in my head a lot lately. It's stressing me out lately. I have contemplated what to do. I can go up higher, to the boys director and/or technical director. I can ask for him to be put on another team. I can leave the club. My kid likes his teams so I'd hate to pull him off of it. But if he's not going to learn midfield now... then when? He'll be a teenager soon. I don't want to wait until he's 13. If he plays nothing but forward from U8-U13... that will be 6 straights years of forward. I mean, how much forward does he need to play. I don't that's ideal for his development. The midfield is where you learn more intently certain things, like scanning, so I feel its important. Plus I know some people think you don't know where a kid will end up, but I think you can tell in some cases. Because for some kids you have an idea of their biological characteristics. So I'm pretty sure my kid when he's 18 won't be a winger because he wont' be quick enough, he won't be a striker because he won't be strong enough. He will most likely be a midfielder. He will probably end up about 5'9" with a medium build. He's already a great passer, probably the best on the team. I just haven't seen any other kids do perfectly weighted through balls like my kid. He releases the ball quick. The kids he has in the midfield now dont' like to release it, they over dribble and lose the ball which is antithetical to midfielder play. The problem with my kid is he's been told to "say high" the past 3.5 years due to playing striker mainly so now he's not used to running back and defending. So his workrate is not high. But I think if he were given time to adapt to that then he'd be good. Though I would also argue that workrate is not always good in a midfielder necessarily. Some midfielders have a high workrate but I can name plenty of pros who didn't, because they were efficient. Anyways that's another story. I do think a team needs some high workrate players on the team but not every single player needs to be that. It depends on the team. Some coaches seem to think that workrate is not teachable. But I disagree. I am going to work on this with my kid. I never emphasized it before, until now. Maybe I'll train him to play with high workrate when he plays midfield (if that's what the coach wants). Ie, he needs to know how to switch up his style based on the positions (midfielder vs forward).
Sounds like your kid needs to be more coachable. And, that people need to understand they’re still 10 years old.
how does he become more coachable? i don't understand, can you explain he's been on the top team for 4 years now, so he must not be that uncoachable or else they would have pushed him down, no?
i think a coach needs to be stern and not a snowflake. a teacher doesn't ask the kids is they want to do their homework or if they feel like taking a test.
What about this makes it sound like he is coachable? No, you turned it around on the coach and said it was the coach's fault. Both are at fault. If a coach puts a kid somewhere, especially a 10 year old, the player should do it. If a coach says they are going to do something, then stick to it. It's not hard. But, at the same time, coaches are walking on eggshells these days because if they do the wrong thing or say the wrong thing, even if it isn't wrong, then people come headhunting for their jobs. Coaches cannot make Little Johnny or Little June upset or parents will yank the kid and go to another club (or try to get coaches fired). It impacts U-Littles to HS to college. Simple as that. From helicopter parents to snowplow parents...no coach's job is easier now than it was 5, 10, 15, 20, to 30 years ago.
One possible downside of forcing a player to play "other" positions is that he might not actually learn anything from it if he's totally, utterly not into it. How about trying to encourage your son to try playing other positions? If that works then he can take the opportunity the next time it arises.
Thanks, I did talk to him (my son) a few times about it. I said its time to learn a new position. You can't just play nothing but forward for many years straight. I said if you don't agree then I'm going to ask them to put you down on a lower team or take you to another club. He finally agreed to play 1/2 of his time in midfield. He just has an ego and likes scoring goals. But for his long term development he needs to learn midfield. He doesn't know this but I know this. He's too young to know what's best for him. I think he is starting to enjoy passing.
I know this with my son. Currently in MLS Academy. You can not force anything. It has to be organic and what they want. Manipulating them to get what you want will lead to resentment. I go back to the swim coach he had when he was 7. He let the littles do whatever they wanted. I asked why? He said if you don't when they are 14 they are going to get up and get out of the pool and never swim again. Different sport, but the kid has to lead the way. All you can do is support. If he loves scoring feed that, at that age you just need to foster love of the game. Development will take care if itself. If he wont have the size to score at the top levels, maybe he plays at a lower level and just loves to play.
I hear you but, this is a broader topic in that... shouldn't all kids get exposure to midfield at some point? To me it seems it would be part and parcel to learning the game. Because that is where there is more scanning and turning. You don't believe every kid should try all the positions? This isn't about "manipulating" them as you put, which sounds like a way to dismiss real conversation about development of a soccer player. There is no manipulation. I'm not hiding or being sly about any of my words. To develop, a kid must do a variety of drills, learn a variety of skills. Defending drills, midifield drills, forward drills. And try these in games, at some point. I can't imagine playing nothing but one position for 10 years straight is wise.
Completely disagree. Kids don’t know, especially at U10. Frick, at 18 years old they don’t know. They need exposure. They need pushed out of their comfort zones — even adults do. If we let kids make their own decisions, they’ll watch cartoons all day and eat candy. Kids can grasp a lot, so pushing them a little to explore is what benefits them as a whole.
Gumbal, let me ask this - what position does your son play? and all the positions he has played ever? let's see if your anecdotal theory holds true
Manipulating might have been the wrong word. Yes totally important to develop a well rounded player. It sounds like you convinced him to play Mid half time and it was his choice which is great. That was all i really meant. Making them think it is their idea. Which is sorta manipulating, but kids need that. My kid is a keeper, Been one since second grade. Full time. however, to make his feet good enough to get to the level he is at now he played on two teams. Played up as a GK until u14, where he switched to full time only. He played his own age in field. Mostly CB but when allowed he played striker, but it was coaches call. He didn't care he just loves to play, Also, I would recommend if you have the time and energy private 1v1 training where he can develop the skills a midfielder has, especially if you do not think the size will be there for up top,
In a nutshell, I told my son he has to play some midfield. He has to learn another position. Or else I'll pull him from the team. That's about as direct as you can get and the opposite of manipulation. GK is a unique position.