PSA who?

Exactly.

Before I get all nasty with this … just a touch of background.

I went to watch the final of a U.S. Adult Soccer Association regional (huh?) between a team called PSA Elite and a team that Eric Wynalda formed, Cal FC. (That was May 6th)

These are two teams that were just slapped together this past month in hopes of qualifying for the US Open Cup. No tradition, no history of playing together for months or years. None of that.

To this day, PSA Elite has not had a single training session! Not one! The players just show up for games.

Anyways, I decided to film the match and make some clips of every sequence where at least 5 passes were stringed together. Credit to Wynalda for his player selections! Not bad man, not bad.

Video: PSA in white, Cal in Red

Fast forward a week later …

US Open Cup 1st Round (May 14)

Cal FC’s opponent
They are the Kitsap Pumas. Last year, they were the PDL Champion and advanced to the Open Cup 3rd round where they fell to the Seattle Sounders 2-1.

Cal FC beat them 3-1.

PSA Elite’s opponent
They are the Portland Timbers U-23 squad. A professional organization, with presumably top-tier coaches, and presumably top-tier player selections.

PSA Elite beat them 3-1.

Time to Get Real

You can do all the fucking roster analysis (cough … speculation … cough) you want, but it should be inexcusable that people aren’t asking some serious questions about these results!

Instead, it’s a nonchalant attitude as if these things don’t matter. Or it’s simply the typical culture of excuses based on presumption and superficial, novice-level, reasoning.

Let’s take the biggest ‘shocker‘ here: the Portland Timbers result.

I’m the first to say anything can happen in a game. And I’m also the first to caution against single match analysis without witnessing the game. For all we know Portland could have demonstrated clear superiority for 90 minutes and PSA Elite had a couple breaks on the counter.

What concerns me is the silence and lack of attempt at genuine inquiry.

I want to hear loud and important questions like:

• Does Portland care about its U23′s? How fucking much?
• Does Portland have the best coach possible for the U23′s? How do you know? What was the criteria?
• Is Portland going balls out to get the best possible players? If not, why not?
• Who selects Portland’s players?
• How were player selections done?
• Who’s PSA Elite’s coach?
• Who are PSA Elite’s players?
• Who selected PSA Elite’s players?

and a crap load of other things.

I can hear the responses now, and they’re too fucking simple people. Think bigger! Think deeper!

Is this the case?

That’s what I want to know. And that’s what you should want to know and demand!

No lame ass, weak ass, novice-level and presumptuous excuses. Not only do you not learn anything from that, but you continue to give an easy ‘pass’ to the US Soccer pyramid. You say you want progress, but you’re actually just complicit with the status quo.

You people are mediocre. Why aren’t you striving for excellence?

Can you tell I’m pissed?

Imagine how ballistic I’ll be if either of these no-name teams manages to oust their next opponent.

Cal FC faces the Wilmington Hammerheads (USL Pro).
PSA Elite faces the Carolina Railhawks (NASL)

Here’s the complete Lamar Hunt US Open Cup bracket.

p.s. Is Eric Wynalda out to prove something? Hmmm …

In the US, people point to “culture” as our fundamental impediment to excellence.

And the arguments come in many flavors. But what they say essentially boils down to one theme:

Numbers

We don’t have the numbers, they say.

• Numbers in terms of audience
• Numbers in terms of consumers
• Numbers in terms of money
• Numbers in terms of “best athletes” (whatever that means)
• Numbers in terms of how many years MLS (or any infrastructure) has been around

They argue that if we did have the numbers (always sold out stadiums, NFL level TV audiences, MLB level player salaries, a 70 year old league instead of 19, etc …), that would change everything. Our problem of mediocrity would be solved.

Wrong!

So what’s England’s problem? They have it all!

And yet. And yet the English player and team is no Spain, Holland, Brazil, Argentina, Italy, France, or even Germany.

Why?
Because the real cultural problem is not about the numbers!
It’s a fundamental and personal socio-economic issue. It’s in the attitude and the way of life.

p.s.  I’ll be writing dozens of articles on this topic. It’s huge, and riddled with loads of things people are frankly blind to, or scared to talk about. Help get me started with your contributions.

Rite of Passage

Until you cry for a team, you probably don’t have what it takes.

Not as a player, not as a coach, not as a fan, not as a reporter, not as anyone.

It means you don’t feel this game in your soul, it means you don’t understand the genuine emotional labor involved and the sacrifice, it means you lack skin in the game.

And without that, why would you go the distance? Why would you pursue and explore the tiniest of details? How can you be devoted to excellence?

I don’t think the point is getting across.

As it relates to a post, let me just say that it’s ok if a reader “doesn’t get it“. People can’t be convinced or changed with a solitary article – not at their core anyways.

Every time I write one of these, my brain screams:

• “Oh, but what about this?”
• “And I should tell them about that detail!”
• “And how about all these other supporting arguments?”
• “Oh … this is the perfect opportunity to show them why they’re misguided.”
• …

this goes on and on and on.

Pretty soon you realize you need a book, or manifesto, to do a good job of transmitting a block of thought. And hence standing a chance of changing someone in some way.

But … a blog (and its comments) can act as a sort of IV drip.
Small and consistent units of nutrition that by themselves accomplish little, but over time compound. And that can be powerful.

Be careful whose needle you stick yourself with.

1. their soccer age
2. their global soccer literacy
3. their racial, cultural, or national prejudice

Soccer Age

How long you’ve been involved in the game, plain and simple. If you’re fairly new, say within the past 10 years, it’s quite easy to fall into the trap of thinking this is just a “fad”. This group went from not having this ridiculously dominant Barcelona, and hence no mainstream talk of possession, to the rise of perhaps the greatest team of all time. And the consequent rise of the term possession splashed all over the place.

Thus the perception of a “fad”, or some transient style of play that will go the way of the dodo when Barcelona is dethroned.

Global Soccer Literacy

In general, this could be a tough one if you’re not multi-lingual or multi-cultural. In other words, pure Americana / English.

Anyways, it means you have been mostly stuck with the EPL, MLS, and all accompanying English language media. The precise culture that historically does not place a premium on retention of the ball. Sure, you may watch La Liga, Serie A, Champions League, or whatever … but who are you listening to during pre-game, game, half-time, and post-game? Who’s primarily writing the stuff you’re reading?

And that’s what you’ve been ingesting for years, either as a player, fan, parent, or coach in this country. That’s all you’ve been swimming in!

What this group does not understand is that “possession” has been an emphasis of every traditional soccer power (except England and to a notable degree Germany) forever. And finally, even those countries seem to be biting the bullet and adjusting their fundamental philosophies (or at least the discussions are certainly taking place). How long will it take the US?

Prejudice

Let’s not pretend it doesn’t exist at the racial, cultural, or national level.

A Litmus Test:

If you hear anyone so much as hint at possession being some transient phenomena, you shouldn’t be learning from them.

I’m dead serious!

The majority of you likely joined us after the U11 video. That means the chunk of posts you’ve seen since, have been about kids playing soccer and our trip to Spain. So cute youth soccer stuff.

Well, you’re in for a big ass shock if you think that’s what this site’s about.

You’re not going to be getting little heart-warming stories about kids playing this game, and silly “youth soccer development logic”, or the mindless parroting of what perceived US Soccer authorities say.

Not at all!

You know what you’re likely to get here instead?

Consistent slaps of cold hard truth across your face. Yep, that sounds about right.

You’ve decided to subscribe to a site that’s unlike anything in the country. First and foremost, the things that are written here don’t come from reporters or “fans” of the game who for whatever reason chose to write about the sport.

The stuff that’s spit out here comes from a totally different place. It comes from deep within our soul. And it comes from people who actually know what the f they are talking about. Wait! Not just talk, but actually produce. You’ve seen it right? Well that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

Oh yeah, and if you can’t handle the occasional f-bomb, just unsubscribe right now and go read some clueless material elsewhere. There’s thousands of banal, innocuous, and totally clueless media to choose from. But hey, at least their vocabulary is filtered.

Even Worse than F-bombs

Something else you must be able to stomach – and far more threatening – is a likely head-on collision in worldview. Not just a soccer specific one. A general one.

You know why?

This is threatening because you will be challenged at the core of your beliefs. And that’s going to make you angry. Insulted even.

So there it is guys

Think you can handle this?
Think you can lower your defensive barriers?
Think you can make a concerted effort to not rationalize things so that your worldview remains intact?

You sure you want to stick around?
Now’s your chance to jump ship and continue living in your comfortable soccer pigeonhole.

Oh and before I forget and you conveniently label all this as X or Y, I don’t do this for shock value. This is what’s in my belly when talking about the sport!

So if you’ve made it this far, here’s another crucial takeaway in regards to soccer development at all levels:

Peace.

Coaching is an art!

How do you capture this art?

People have been asking me for ‘curriculum’ and things detailing what it is we do. How do we produce our end product they say. Here’s a quickie from our State Cup final:

If you can’t see the video, click here.

They seem to think there’s a cookbook to make this happen, a recipe that can be followed. And that we’re not sharing for whatever reason.

John Pranjic, a longtime 3four3 contributor, happened to be in Southern California yesterday and chose to attend our Sunday training session with the U11′s. He wrote the following:

I think I can speak for Gary and say that they aren’t hiding anything or keeping any secrets! It’s all out in the open and ready to spread like wildfire. I was in the area this morning and Gary invited me out to watch the teams train. All access, right on the touchline.

I don’t think a video or series of videos will ever be able to capture the overall experience that these kids and coaches get. There is too much to capture! I used to be one to beg Gary to post videos and he would always respond with things like “it’s a monumental task” and “I’m not sure what type of hack job I’d do at it.” I completely understand after visiting today’s session.

Sure, he can film a training exercise and write out the dimensions of the grid, # of players, and some rules of the game, but it will never mimic the live product. You can’t capture intensity on tape. Unless you can hear the 10 year old boy panting as he is making his runs… the video will never do his effort full justice. And I bet most people would be shocked at the way the coaches interact with players. You wouldn’t fully understand unless you saw every little interaction- during an exercise, between exercises, and off to the side. (BTW… Amazing how much respect these kids have for the staff!)

Coaching points are good to hear, but the coaching points he gives his boys won’t apply to many/all other teams. He can demand certain things because his players are capable of certain things. His coaching points are specific to his teams/players needs. I for one can’t just go back and say the things I heard to my teams. They wouldn’t make sense. It all goes back to creating your own identity and philosophy as a coach. A series of videos and info will only help if you can use them to mold something of your own. You can’t just replicate it.

With that said- I do look forward to seeing what Gary and the crew come up with as far as a curriculum. I know it’s not going to be one big show and tell session. And I know that it will definitely demand us to think! I’m excited. Hopefully my ugly face didn’t make it onto the tape today! 

Thanks again for the invite, Gary! Another life changing moment provided by 3four3!

With the release of our U11 video showcasing unseen before soccer in the States, and the subsequent chronicling of our younger U10s and those U11s competing in Barcelona, I’ve been bombarded with emails from coaches, DOCs, and parents from across the country (internationally even). Our club president, Paul Walker, has been receiving inquiries about our program as well.

Thank you all for your gift of spreading the word!

But what’s going on with our program in Southern California doesn’t have to stay here. We can bring the program to you too!

Let’s Collaborate!

Six other clubs around the country have partnered up with us, and are now enjoying the benefits of the Barcelona-USA Collaboration Program.

Northern California
Arizona
Nevada
Texas
Ohio
New York

One caveat and benefit: All of our partner’s enjoy exclusivity within their own state and no other Club will have the ability to collaborate with us within it (Exception: California & Texas). Furthermore, each of our partner’s can expand their own programs within their own state.

Click on the map to find out more.

Little Neymar (Uly) introduction to the club

Woke up nice and early to eat some breakfast and prepare the boys with a tactical walk through. We centered on how we wanted to attack in possession and defend against Soccer Stars USA’s 3-4-3 formation.

Boys looked ready and anxious. Got them prepped in our locker room and around 10:15 we took to the field for warm up. If there’s anything the tournament lacks, it’s proper warm up time on the field. Games start without delay every hour. Most facilities don’t have sufficient space to have a proper warm up with the ball so it’s just a little 15 by 5 strip of turf adjacent to the goals.

We opened with our 4-3-3 formation and came out with lots of intensity. We started our only early 2000 (in terms of age), Nathan at left back since Togo was having some pain in his foot during warm up. A few minutes into the game and we were in on goal. Misa cleverly dummied a ball at the half way line and the center back bought it leaving him in on the wing 1 v 1 with the keeper. Uly was making a dashing run on the weak side accompanying Misa directly to goal. Misa decided he was going to finish by himself and his effort went straight to the keeper. An early chance to take the lead was wasted.

It didn’t take long to create a second chance. Same scenario, but this one from the left flank. Misa was in the box and this time squared the ball to an open Uly. His first touch to settle got away from him and then his shot was blocked. Probably should have 1-timed it. Again, a chance wasted that we knew in a game like this had to be put away.

To USA Soccer Star’s credit, they knew how we play … building up out of the back and through our midfield, and did a great job pressuring us into mistakes. One of those mistakes almost cost us midway through the half. Our keeper, Jesus, made a brilliant foot save this time to keep USA stars off the board. Their pressure on our goal kicks never let us get comfortable on the ball. Turnover after turnover in the back. Our midfield was lacking the precision in our passing to get the ball to our front 3 who were all 1 v 1 with their 3 man back line. We suffered to get to halftime with the 0-0 scoreline.

At the half we quickly rehearsed with the boys how we wanted to come out of the back. How to play short on goal kicks and each time our GK had possession; but to bypass our 3 center mids who were all marked tight and get it straight to our forwards.

The boys understood the plan but, with little rehearsal in training, had a difficult time executing. Midway through the second half USA Soccer Stars broke through and scored after having a shot blocked at the top of the 18, the rebound was collected by an unmarked player and finished into an empty net. It seemed offsides to me since there was only 1 player between the ball and the striker when he received (as gk was on top of 18). We will look at the video later to confirm but the fact is we were now down a goal with just under 12 minutes left.

We switched to a 3-4-3 ourselves to: (a) match their numbers in midfield (b) attempt to get more men in the box when getting the ball wide to our winger, and (c) create 2 v 1 situations a lot easier on the outside with our midfield now having to cover shorter distances to get to offensive third.

We created a great opportunity through Uly on the left side as he dashed into the box, a clear hand ball by the defender was waived off by the ref (a clear pk, but the ref gave advantage) and Uly crashed his shot off the top crossbar. Again, we felt the pk would have been a lot better than getting the advantage call.

The minutes ticked on and we created one last half-chance off a corner that Misa headed high and wide. Out of the cup we went. The boys gave it their all in this closely contested match, but the athleticism and size of the older USA Soccer Stars proved to be too much. We give up 6 months to a year in age to most teams in the tournament.

The Aftermath

After this devastating blow we addressed the boys in the locker room. It seemed like a funeral service as the boys were in tears. This group is not used to losing games. In fact, they’ve only lost one match in regulation over the last 2 years in all tournaments and competitions and it was when I was handed a 1 match ban for questioning a referee about a violent foul on our GK . Needless to say, we consoled the boys and told them to let this be a learning lesson. We use this pain to fuel the fire in each player – it will propel them through the upcoming season. As I’m sure you know, one can usually take more valuable lessons from a loss than a W. For the coaching staff, it was time to rehearse a plan B when playing older and more athletic opponents. We need the boys to know exactly what to do when being pressed inside our defensive third and how to solve this problem on the fly.

Ajax (yes, the real Ajax)

Versus the world-renowned Ajax academy

Lucky for us, the pain and tears didn’t last long. The Ajax head coaches contacted our tournament guide and requested a friendly for that same night at 8pm. They had scouted our team in anticipation of playing us in the quarterfinals and we both ended up losing in round of 16. We quickly accepted the invitation.

Danny and I spoke with the boys to inform them of the news. We got a mixed reaction as most of the boys were still crushed from being eliminated and didn’t really look enthused to play. It was time to share the significance of playing such an elite soccer academy like Ajax. The dutch school has provided one of the best pipelines to professional football in history. Also, the message was loud and clear. The sign of a true champion and competitor is shown the game after an adverse result. The boys eyes lit up and they were now ready to compete.

Kickoff was at 8pm local time under the lights at L’estartit stadium. We had seen Ajax play in their pool play games in which they went 3-0 with 34 goals for and 1 against. This was an aggressive team that wants to attack, attack, and attack. They play a 3-4-3 with a high line who wants to press you and keep you inside your own half. At kick off, we instructed the boys to play a ball in behind their high back line to our right winger Jonathan Estrada. Alex Mendez delivered the perfect ball and Estrada got in behind to round the keeper and give a 1-0 lead 10 seconds into the game. What a dream start!

Ajax quickly rebounded and 8 minutes later equalized off a clear offsides missed by the ref. Another quick note, in all preliminary games leading to the quarterfinals it was a 1 man ref system with no linemen. It’s not an easy job so you have to live with the close calls. Our boys kept pressing them with their high line leaving a ton of space for us to get behind. Alex Mendez again sprayed a beautiful ball behind their line that Neymar junior (Uly) collected and finished. Charly nabbed a 3^rd goal to give us a 3-1 lead at the half.  Again, our boys were having trouble finding a rhythm playing short out of the back with the high pressure Ajax was bringing, but never once did we resort to punting the ball a la americana.

We reviewed again how to beat this high press with playing our CB and him 1-timing it by our midfield to a winger that would check out and back to the ball to lose his marker. We changed half the team at the break to get all the boys equal time against such a prestigious rival. The team came out a little flat and before we knew it 3 goals in quick succession had us down 4-3 with under 10 minutes to go. You knew Ajax can score and score in numbers having won 19-0 the night before when we scouted them. Made some changes and brought our attacking firepower back on. Sure enough, on a quick restart after being fouled near the Ajax box, Alex Mendez used his smarts to pick out Jonathan Estrada who again calmly beat a defender and finished inside the 6 yard box. 4-4!!! What a game!

The final whistle came and boys were again sporting big smiles. Ending the trip on a high note playing against and tying Ajax was a huge accomplishment.

Sidenote 1 – Ajax players were all super super technical. They were amazing with the ball at their feet and all of them can hit a bomb from 30 yards. It was clear how they are being taught technique way before team tactics. Also, it is always attack mode for all 11 players. Defending is not their strong suit, although high pressure is definitely something they work on when losing possession.

Sidenote 2 – In between our r16 game and Ajax friendly I drove out to Torroella de Montgri to watch Barcelona vs Leganes quarterfinal game. Ben Lederman started and wore the mythical #10 shirt. He put on quite a show during the first 25 minutes. He has the cleanest ball-handling skills on his team. He is different, with an elegance on the ball rarely seen in a player his age. Hans Schonhoffer, a friend of mine and professional coach at Espanyol B watched the game with me. I asked him at half what he thought of Danny Lederman’s son so far. He asked me which player it is? It told him #10. He could not believe that was the American boy in the Academy. He truly thinks that Ben is a special talent and may one day make the break on the international stage if he keeps up with his development. Barcelona won the game 6-0 to secure a spot in tomorrow’s semis vs Manchester United.

Video with examples to follow.

You think there's a size difference?

After a good nights sleep it was breakfast with the team at 9am to kickstart an important day. Two more group-play matches awaited us at 1pm and 5pm. Danny and I had individual meetings with several players to show them some of the good and bad things we did in our first game. Matches are being recorded and then broken down in the evenings by Daniel Rogers for analysis.

1st Game

Our 1pm game was in L’estartit, 2 blocks away from the hotel so we rested well before taking a short stroll to face Selecion de Salt (a local selection from city of Salt, a Catalunya team). The boys were again in business mode and ready to punch our ticket to the knockout stages.

The opening 10 minutes showed the Barca Academy boys in clear control of the game. Ball was moving patiently from left to right awaiting the right moment where we found numbers going forward to combine and go to goal. In the 10th minute our patience paid off, as Alex found Uly with a beautifully filtered ball to leave little Neymar 1 v 1 with the keeper. Uly threw some body fakes, dribbled by and finished for the 1-0 lead. Two minutes later Neymar junior (Uly) toyed with the right back in the corner of the 18 yard box, provoking a clear pk that he slotted home for the 2-0 advantage. Right before the halftime whistle, Pooky (Cesar Rivera) lobbed a neat through ball that Richard latched onto and flicked over the rushing gk for a nice 3-0 lead.

Our instruction was simple, keep the ball moving and rest in possession to save our legs for the afternoon game. The more we have it, the less we run. Forgot to mention it was quite warm, with the synthetic turf burning your soles it drives field temperatures even higher. Point taken: Barca Academy completely monopolized the ball en route to a 5-0 scoreline. Justin hit a pk and Uly completed his hat trick with a clean finish in the 42nd minute.

Watch video of goals for U11 FC Barcelona-USA vs Selecion de Salt

2nd Game

A light snack, then rest for each player in their respective rooms. Our second game of the day was at 5 pm. The opponent was a team made up of GIANTS! No joke! The team is Nakhid International FA from Lebanon. The boys are supposed to be under 12 years of age but they were all the size of the parents on our team. A couple of them literally shave!!! Facial hair and all. Needless to say it was going to be a tough test for our little guys. At that age, it is normal to be physically intimidated by an opponent twice your size. (Just to understand the magnitude of it, both teams in our pool were refusing to play these guys and demanded an investigation). Tournament officials assured them all paperwork was in order and threatened the teams with forfeiting all of the games if they did not play. They ended up playing with the Lebonese team winning 3-0 and 7-0 – so we were playing for first place in the group. A draw would suffice to win the bracket.

We mentally prepared the boys for what they were about to face. Solution to the physical mismatch? Keep the ball, and move it fast so they won’t be able to touch you. Do we need to go shoulder to shoulder with these giants? HELL NO! When we lose the ball, press in unison, poke it away and keep it again. Does Barca get into physical tussles when they play the Germans, Norwegians, Russians, ect? We all know the answer there.

The game against Nahkid was not our best. Sloppy in the build-up. Panic at times when what seemed like a 17 year old striker would come and pressure. So naturally, our clean build-ups were sporadic. The midfield play was key in keeping the ball in their half of the field. Our 3 forwards were pressuring really well – not letting Nahkid get comfortable and forcing them into long balls with no destination. We’d simply put the ball on the ground and begin circulating it. Our goal came off a set piece. Uly hit a nice shot that hit the cross bar, with Louie Arellano pouncing on the rebound to score the games only goal. Not that we were short on clear scoring opportunities, but we squandered all of them. Suffered a bit of pressure in the last few minutes but held out for the 1-0 victory.

Winning Goal Celebration Video

*sidenotes – the whole crowd (~150 people) were pro Barca USA and whistling at the ref for his poor performance throughout. They’d also jeer the Lebanese mens team whenever they’d complain about a call. It was an incredible atmosphere for the boys to play in.

Off to bed to rest for tomorrow’s game. Opponent? USA Soccer Stars. A local team from Southern California composed of several top tier clubs … a u12 all star team per say. A tall task is in order since we give up 6 months to over a year in age to their players. After today, I doubt we’ll be physically intimidated by anyone.