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”, […]
Education
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 […]
5 Positive Influences for US Soccer in 2010
This year has made me a bit more optimistic for the future of the US game. When compared to my sentiments in years past, this one has been by far the best. No our national teams have not shown any progress, MLS and college remain barely watchable, and our youth development is still piss poor. […]
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 […]
A Huge Thank You to Our Readers!
A couple days ago was 3four3’s first birthday! We averaged roughly one post per week – this is post #62. Thank you so much to all our readers who give us an audience. Believe it or not, you guys are helping to raise the level of US Soccer, which is the very reason for this […]
How A High Level National Team Coach Could Influence US Soccer
While the system and philosophy of soccer in the US as a whole must change, if we had a top-shelf coach we would take a huge stride. If someone like Marcelo Bielsa (I know he’s off the table) took over … The Current National Team Pools Would be Decimated Maybe 2 or 3 guys from the […]
Do Soccer Predictions Make You An Authority?
I was accused on a forum the other day of not sticking my neck out by making predictions. Even though I had, and shared their location (more on that later), this person’s statement disturbed me. Was this an attempt to discredit me? Or is this something people use to assign authority? I’d like to think […]