Some good points have been made, but I'd like to offer a couple of other thoughts. First, a basic idea of the game is to move the ball away from the goal you defend and into the other. (For these purposes, I treat possession, back passes, etc., as part of how best to move the ball towards goal.) Kids who are just learning the game, though, don't always understand that. I coach U7, and a couple of our kids have not fully grasped the concept. Some kids, though, come to the game with an instinctive focus to go at goal--so anything we teach comes on top of that. Second, it takes skill to control and properly distribute a ball out of the back. It has to be learned, and until it is, offensive players will charge through and take the ball. Thus, defenders get rid of it quickly. As they grow more comfortable, they may hold onto it longer. Third, it takes a while for midfielders and forwards to learn how to make themselves available when the defender has the ball. Learning how to move off the ball takes a bit of time. Fourth, a lot of the above comes with trial and error, which requires a great deal of patience from kids, parents and coaches. gkm1 posted how his daughter's team was outplayed while learning a particular style, but after a couple of years surpassed the teams that had beaten them. What I liked there is the patience evident there. One poster gave an example of a 3-0 game, asking who the better coach was. I assume that was not the poster's view, but an idea of the view that must be overcome if players are to develop. In some instances, kids can learn more (and play better) when losing than when they win. Fifth, these are just kids. I was bothered that a U10 coach is complaining that his players have not abandoned other sports to commit themselves fully to soccer. Try to keep it fun for them, even as you teach and critique. We worry that 75-80% leave the sport by age 14 (which I understand includes those who leave after one season in u8). I've heard from someone familiar with the polling data that one of the reasons given most often for quitting was that the sport demanded too much time; another was that the practices, coach's attitude, etc., had made the game like work and the kids no longer enjoyed playing. Sixth, before riding the poorly-trained coaches too hard, remember that many/most are volunteers, especially those working with the younger kids. While older-age-group coaches may wish that the kids who reach them could be better trained, it may well be that the previous coaches did outstanding work. As someone who has been involved at coaching with high school and college players, let me tell you that coaching really young players is an entirely different animal. You may worry about the defender passing the ball out of the back--I worry that he'll get stepped on because he won't stop playing with an anthill. Sometimes it is like herding cats.
I definitely prefer the Dutch method of development: everyone's trained as an attacker at the younger age levels. I'm talking 15, 16,17, 18, 19 year old kids. As I have begun to study the way our players develop here, I'm amazed at how competitive we are at the senior national team level. I can only put that down to one thing: sheer numbers of players. Easy solution: Coerver's New Era.
I found this topic very interesting and have a perspective from Canada you might find amazing. In general, the Canadian women's programs promote some of the worst form of kick and chase soccer on the planet. It can be effective because of the amazing athleticism of the players who play the game in Canada. Watching the Canadian national women's team is simply watching them give up possession everywhere on the field and then working their butts off to try to regain the ball only to reliquish possession once again by playing long, searching, futile passes. Until recently all of the higher positions in soccer across Canada were occupied by coaches that preached this style (mostly ex-brits and one single minded Norwegian). Excuses for using this style were that the overall skill of the player base was poor and the only way for Canadian Women to compete internationally was using the "Direct" style dictated by the National team coach Even Pellerud. This is and has been far from the case but women that can play possession are not advanced through the system or are simply coached to change their style. Thankfully the National Men's side and one Provincial (ie. State) organization (SEE Below) have come to their senses and have gone to a possession philosophy. You may ask yourselves, how can one country's two National teams have two different styles of play? POSSESSION SOCCER The Technical Director of The Ontario Soccer Association has the philosophy of "Possession of the Ball" soccer in place across Ontario. Ontario can now identify and share a "style of play" that will be developed up through the ranks starting with the very basic grass roots programs working up to the elite and other complex aspects of the game. Both Coaching Development and Player Development within our Province will benefit with a positive possession attitude. WHAT IS POSSESSION OF THE BALL PHILOSOPHY? There is no simple, or any one answer to the question, "What is, "Possession of the Ball" soccer?" Some purists may say it is familiarity of the game, while others claim it is a God given talent. Regardless of opinions the plain and simple fact is, the Canadian soccer players (with exception) have major problems controlling and maintaining possession of the ball in game situations. This philosophy encompasses more than striking a 40 yard ball into a striker or passing a 15 yard ball out of the back. It accounts for more than executing a 1 yard take-over in midfield. Possession soccer is a combination of all three and a great deal more because it incorporates a positive attitude! Coaches and individuals in charge must remain positive and open-minded when educating our players. They must believe in their abilities and pass their knowledge on to both players and colleagues. "A sign of the times", Possession soccer will be endorsed and accepted by all participants within the Coaching system across the Province. If we do not embrace this philosophy, we will remain fragmented, with no specific plan. The enjoyment and learning in the game of soccer is best demonstrated through maintaining possession of the ball. The end result of being able to maintain possession is obviously scoring a goal and the only way to do this is to keep the ball and move in a positive direction towards the opponent's goal through a combination of basic individual and team maneuvers. This requires an understanding that: If we possess the ability to play we should possess the ability to play with possession. We as Canadians have become comfortable with playing a limited touch game. This has been, in effect; the ball played wide, the ball played long, and the ball crossed into target areas where the battle is on to score. It has been written by a former National Coach that "limited touches will produce goals.” " Our inability to score goals" reflects and substantiates that philosophy was totally unacceptable. The game itself is the best teacher of all. If we play "what we rehearse" all the time we become predictable. Encourage players to initiate how the team plays. Let them show that their individual ability to attack is their best defense. When players have possession of the ball they can enjoy the challenges, by expressing their enjoyment by playing a composed passing game and as a result, the confidence of the player and the team grows. Ontario paves the way to lead and encourage all Provinces across Canada to join in with successful Soccer Nations around the world, to develop and play "Possession Soccer!" Looking back fifteen years I recall our concentration was focused on the so called elite players and the so called elite coaches that were in control at the upper end of the game in our Country and as I have always been of the opinion that our problems lay at the other end of the spectrum where the youngsters play, I had no listeners. Incredibly, almost a generation of schoolboys soccer players later the upper echelon concedes that radical changes are required, but offer no philosophical support for the coaches who can make the difference. The Ontario Soccer Association's Technical department has attempted to bridge that gap with quality certification programs, the Club Head Coaching program, the most qualified coaching instructors in Canada and significant signs of success are very noticeable. Link: http://www.thesoccerhalloffame.ca/O...95f3805aeca48f568525681c007c5a5b?OpenDocument
I completely agree with the 'lack of confidence' assessment. And I completely agree that by U17, most of the habits, good or bad, are already formed. I try to emphasize positive possession from day one. And sometimes it works better than others, depending largely on the personnel. The U17s I coach in indoor right now have good skills, but not the assertiveness. As such, we tend to get sucked into whatever style the other team plays, instead imposing our own style. We react, instead of initiating. We've played 8 games and in 7 of them, we've either tied (2) or lost by one goal (5). We're comparable to anybody in the league in skill but we don't have the confidence to be assertive and give us that little edge that matters in close games. For the school, I coach a younger (middle school) team and being decisive on the field is something that's an integral part of every practice from day one. Obviously I hope to win every game but it's more important for me that they get better and play the right way. But possession takes patience. And if the coach doesn't have it, the kids won't have it.
Boy, this is an old thread! I learned quite a bit from reading one of the first posts, mine from 4 years ago. I was smarter at that time. Actually, I feel even better about this subject now than I did then, and I was a relative optimist 4 years ago. I do see good possession soccer. Saw it back then with U10s, see it now even more so with U14s. Two years ago, I saw a group of area U12s outpossess Alajuelense's youth team a match. (Alajuelense is one of the two biggest clubs in Costa Rica, along with Saprissa.) How can you be called a kick-and-chaser if you outpossess a hand-selected Central American team of prospective youth professionals? The summer before that, I travelled to SoCal and saw several other teams that were of equivalent or better ability at possession. It's out there. And yes, Canadian women's soccer is primitive stuff! Strong young ladies, though.
Yeah, I read the entire thread and there was some good stuff. I liked seeing JohnR's thoughts on his U10 after my seeing him mainly as a U13. One of the questions I saw posed struck home: My U10 got one of these at a practice last night. It was with another age group and we got lured there to help scrimmage. Instead of a free scrimmage, it was a session on being a transformer - being able to go both ways. They walked the kids through various strategies and would stop play to illustrate coaching points (the first time I've seen that done outside a coaching license course). I was quite happy about the entire session. My son had the opposite reaction, "I thought it was supposed to be a scrimmage and not a talk-a-thon!" Oh well, I hope some of it sticks...
Personally, I would consider that practice a waste of valuable time, particularly at that age. These kids need to be touching the ball, not listening to some adult yammering on about tactical play.
And BTW, this was just recently posted in another forum. I think it makes the point about touching the ball rather nicely.
I always find it funny for those that argue that you can't win with possession soccer. I haven't coached for awhile, but last time I did was for the local Y with U10s. My team had only a couple of "good" players while the other team had some bigger, faster kids. The other team basically just kicked to their best players while the rest of the team watched. Each team had half of the field to practice on and we'd scrimmage after every practice. I ran my practices in the same manner with different drills, but essentially the same concept -- work on ball skills early and then build up combination and passing play. Each kid had a ball from warm-ups until some of the combination drills. In those activities I tried to maximize touches for everyone. In the first couple of games, the other team killed us. After a couple of practices though, all of the kids improved their confidence with the ball and they looked to work together, both on defense and offense. The other team continued to play the same way. The other team didn't win again until the end of the season when the other coach didn't want to sub anymore so he sent on all his players -- leaving us with 5 fewer on the field. They still only beat us by one or two goals in that game. Another example is when I coached U9-U12 with the same team. The first year we didn't win a single game, but I kept the same concepts. Luckily I had some great parents who realized that I knew much more about soccer than they did, so no one complained. Plus the kids had fun. The next year we went undefeated. In the third year we only had a couple of loses. Both of these teams had no problems scoring goals. They would generally win by 3 or more goals each game. They didn't win because of better players, they won because everyone worked together as a team. Along with that, all of the players improved their individual ball skills and tactics. Coaching youth soccer is not about winning every game at all costs, it's about helping every player on the team to get better and have fun.
Yep. Go back and read my second post, about my kid's U10 team that was good at possession. The next year, as U11s, they clobbered everybody in the State, including the State Cup final by a score of 3-0. That was not a terribly athletic team, either. It selected from a pool of about 40 kids, whereas my community team had 160 players at U9 tryouts (!) and picked youths who were on average larger, stronger, and faster than the kids who populated my boy's team. FYI, almost everybody has quit soccer on that community team, and the few who are left wouldn't have any chance of making my son's current squad. Wasted potential of good athletes. Sad.
Yah it is sad that they're not still playing, but at least they learned how to play good soccer at one point. It may not mean much now, but it may make a big difference down the road when their stuck coaching their kids.
I took it as a win. It wasn't a normal practice - he was helping out. If he hadn't been there, he would have been on the playstation. And it wasn't all about talking - there was some actual playing involved.