Here’s our U-19s doing a one-touch warmup before last Monday’s National Cup game.
It is 7 v 7 with 2 neutrals (in blue). The dimensions of the grid are roughly 32 x 20 yards (about 1/10 a soccer field).
If you can’t see the video, click here.
Things To Keep in Mind
- This was only the team’s 3rd meeting.
- You will not see any D1 college program be able to put on a display like this.
- We have been to U-18 & U-20 National Team Camps and never seen such a thing.
- This team is represented only by southern california players. Imagine what we could assemble with access to the whole country!
- We’re still missing 6 bad-asses who will join the party later.
Roster
FORWARDS:
Ruben Gonzales
Ernesto Hinojosa
Dion Acoff
Enrique Cardenas
MIDFIELD:
Jose Altamirano
Alex Lopez
Richard Menjivar
Jonathan Prieto
Eddie Valencia
DEFENSE:
Facundo Bruno
Jaimeson Hearne
Everett Pitts
Bryan Ponce
Samuel Prieto
Daniel Rogers
Players Soon to Join the Party
Carlos Alvarez (F)
Jacob Barron (M)
Eric Flores (D)
Jose Gomez (M)
Blake Hylen (GK)
Cris Mendoza (F)
Who would you say is good at developing players in the Pomona area?
Oh boy …
Identification of quality coaching is the “Holy Grail” of soccer in the US.
In all our years I can say I only know of 4, maybe 5, coaches in Southern California that are on a different level (all on the boys side and none in Pomona).
We’ve only been on the girls side for a bit over 2 years (so far I can’t recommend anyone).
Now for some context:
* There are close to 1000 coaches in CSL on the boys side. I estimate we’ve probably been exposed to several hundred. Exposed enough for me to be comfortable judging whether they are GOOD or not (ie they could be decent, but not good).
* Our exposure is mostly limited to Boys U13 – U19 and Girls U16 – U19.
I know this is the biggest issue for everyone! I’ve received dozens of emails asking for recommendations. As such, the first product we are working on at 3FOUR3 is something that helps with the identification process. I wish I had answers for you now. But I promise we will soon be able to provide some. Please stay tuned …
For now, a decent first order litmus test for U13 and higher can be found within these articles:
http://blog.3four3.com/2009/08/30/college-soccer-analysis/
http://blog.3four3.com/2010/01/20/fundamental-guide-to-soccer-iq/
More to come Rivelino. Thanks for asking!
Great video, Gary! In my opinion, this is one of the most important and beneficial drills that can be practiced. This improves a player’s touch, movement, vision, passing and overall ability to react quickly. I’m very happy to see this being implemented with our youth players, but it’s sad to read that this isn’t common at the higher levels. For the benefit of our country’s soccer, I hope we can get more people to realize this soon. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Tony!
Yep, it’s all about Soccer IQ and the Technical Quality to execute.
Well the supposed “higher levels” do try to do this. They just don’t select the right players nor are they able to instruct properly.
Looks like good stuff.
I always try to get my team to play One touch football and the ball usually spends more time out of bounds then on the pitch.
Howd you get your hands on this video anyway?
Hi Dylan,
Haha, one-touch football in a highly reduced space exposes those players that just don’t “have it”.
It also should let you know as a coach where the deficiencies are for everybody. And if you know what you’re doing, your instruction should make things better over time.
The video?
This is our team and our video. We recently purchased a “hi-pod” camera system, and are filming everything.
Really great stuff in this video. One improvement the team could have is using the entire field. I only saw a few full field switches, but whenever that happened there was much more space for the team in possession. Overall the team looks really good. We did this drill on my U-17 team, it definitely requires a high soccer IQ and forces team creativity. It’s important for players to realize that passing is an art just as much as dribbling. What foot to pass to, the pace of the pass, the spin on the ball, are all things players must consider with every pass. A huge difference between the top European leagues and other soccer is the deep understanding they have of passing.
On the money Oliver!
The value and details of passing is something that is not emphasized in the States. It needs to be taught, rewarded, and applauded – just as a goal is.
It is such a great feeling when completing even the simplest of passes, if done with beautiful technique and calmness. This is a detail that we need to make our players proud of. This is a detail that our fans need to understand and appreciate.
In Brazil, Argentina, Spain, and the rest of the world powers … the “Ole’s” and goosebumps come out with passing. Why shouldn’t we emphasize it here?
As far as the video, you’re right. Perhaps a couple more switches would have made things perfect. However, we need to be careful not to promote too many long balls. They are far more susceptible to a turnover than playing simple.
This team played in Lancaster with Argentina uniforms this year they move the ball well, do they have any college players on the team or all high school kids still?
Hey Ricardo!
No high school. They’re either in college or not in school.
Oh okay yea you could tell. They seem to have something that other teams didn’t. More experience I suppose. But yea this is a good team, we need more teams like that around my area.