I’m a bit late to the U20 topic, but this is not a news outlet; it is an education outlet. In case you’re not up to speed, we lost to Guatemala and were eliminated from the U20 World Cup for the first time in 8 cycles. And as with most US Soccer failures, many across […]
Soccer Education
Barcelona vs Real Madrid: Stop Bitching and Start Understanding!
The so-called diving. The exagerations. The ref badgering. Most of you complain about it and the players that are most notorious for it. But this is what happens when a team, in this case Madrid, decides it does not want to play straight up. And I don’t blame them – I’d certainly do the same. […]
The Recipe For World Class
A general outline not meant to capture exceptions: 1) Be obsessed with the game. 2) Put in your 10,000 hours. 3) Have coaches for many years at the youth level that can polish you. 4) Debut professionally as a teenager. Again, with a coach that has a clue. 5) Get transferred to a “big club”, […]
More on Development [Video]
This is a nicely done short film. And when viewed through the lens of player development … well you figure it out.
If You Think It’s Boring …
then you still have a lot to learn. Yes, once again I’m referring to possession. Everyone has their preferences; which are usually formed from experiences, education, and culture. And that’s fine. For instance, some pieces of art may be great, but I might think: “wtf is this … next.” And it’s likely because I haven’t […]
Requirement For Mass Player Development
There can be no player development factory without monetary incentive. First let me be clear; without competent coaches, all the money in the world will not develop a quality player. So assuming there’s a capable coach, what makes you think he will do everything in his power to develop his pupils? And I assure you, that’s […]
UNC Soccer Takes Two of Our Girls
I want to congratulate Brooke Elby and Taylor Ramirez and wish them the best in their next soccer chapter. North Carolina head coach, Anson Dorrance, recruited and got verbal commitments from the girls in the first half of 2010 during their U17 season. And last week he got their signatures. What They Can Teach Us […]
Winning vs Soccer Development? Part II
This winning vs development argument always seems to revolve around technique. I discussed a bit in part I of this series how a coach can only go so far in technical development. But people talk over and over again about how our professional player’s lack of technique is the biggest problem. Again, we’re missing over […]
Winning vs Development: Really? That’s the problem?
I’ve said it before and will say it again: We have only just begun the discussion on what’s wrong with soccer in the States. This discussion always surfaces, and rightly so, when we flounder on the international stage. Perhaps most recently when the US women lost to a lowly Mexico side, and subsequently limped in […]
Youth Soccer Coaching Philosophy: The Right Way
One of our readers from Ohio truly believes his U14 son has a great coach who can develop players. He is Coach Everett Palache, from Cleveland United Soccer Club, and with his permission I’m sharing an email he sent to his team. Pay close attention to the soccer philosophy … Hello all, Here is the […]