Part 1 touched on why it makes more sense elsewhere in the world. Here in Part 2, we look at some incentives and consequences for instituting coach siloing in the American environment. An Organizational Perspective Looking at a club perspective there’s this sense that efficiencies are introduced, that it’s just simpler to have a conventional […]
Should Coaches be Siloed in Specific Age Groups? Part 1
You may have heard people talk about siloing coaches in age groups many times. It goes something like this: A club should assign coaches to an age group, not to a team. For example, John has a U13 team. When the season ends, that team moves on to a different coach that coaches U14. John […]
An “All Value, No Fluff” Soccer Education
For the impatient, you can sign up to this free education here. But it would be awesome if you read this article first. There’s no question we need better soccer education in our country. So over the past 7 years, Brian and I have taken on that challenge. Of course it’s been much longer if […]
The Myth of the Best Players
Who’s better? Neymar or Ronaldo To me, this is a no-brainer and practically a litmus test for who I shouldn’t pay attention to. But there are people, for one reason or another, who think different. And right there, in that one phrase, “for one reason or another”, is where the myth busting of the “best […]
Not Allowed in American Soccer – Leicester City FC
I think we can agree that fulfillment of potential is something we all yearn for. But what if the path to fulfillment is taken away from you? What then? Well, compared to the rest of the world, American soccer is set up precisely to do this. Limit, or even take away, one’s potential. Whether you […]
American Soccer can Be the Global Superpower if …
Well, the discussion has been raging for 100 years. And yes, American soccer has a century’s worth of rich history. But unfortunately most of the mainstream discussions have been superficial. Deep dives are few and rarely, if ever, come from mainstream media outlets. That’s simply not their mission. But it is ours. We want to […]
Jurgen Klinsmann and Leadership: Let’s Get Raw & Real
The following was submitted to 3four3. It does well at hitting the mark. Landon Donovan is painfully shallow and naïve calling for Jurgen Klinsmann’s firing if USMNT loses to Mexico in upcoming CONCACAF matchup. Firing Jurgen is akin to cutting off your nose to spite your face. Despite a player pool and youth pipeline chock-full […]
Pay to Play and the Link to Promotion Relegation
First, let’s get something straight. Pay to play will always exist because there will always be a demand for such services. Not to mention services and infrastructure are not free, and so must have a business model supporting the expenses. Now that we have that out of the way, let’s properly contextualize. Pay to play […]
The Best Coaching Advice You’ll Ever Get, and Probably Ignore
Go master how to properly train 10 different rondos. Stop making forays into exotic topics like ‘guided discovery’ or some academic neurological studies on learning. Stop it with the hundreds of sport session planner diagrams, and your buffet of drills. Stop it with buying a new soccer book every week, thinking somehow your art will […]
The State of the American Soccer Establishment
Purple: We love you, you guys are doing great. Keep up the good work. Keep at it, and one day you could be great. Tan: You’re ruffling feathers that may get you in some trouble. The system will work to bring you back into the purple fold. And if it doesn’t, perhaps some action will […]