The following video is split in half. One half is conducive to high-level development, the other isn’t. One half is 1 in a 1000 in our country, the other is the norm. If you find yourself nitpicking and making arguments otherwise, it’s highly likely you are THE problem. The eternal question of course, is how […]
Education
Xuxuh! American Youth Player Features for Manchester City and Receives MVP
Barely 12, John Kenneth Hilton, nicknamed Xuxuh (pronounced shu-shu) is a Chivas USA player who this past week lit up Europe! … Again. This time guest playing for Manchester City. But before we get to that, we’ve got two videos for you: Trying to capture the “wow” factor. Gives a sense of the multi-dimensional (complete) […]
Who are the American Soccer “Incumbents”?
I’ve used that term a lot on twitter, and was asked to define it. This was my response: Impossible in 140 chars. But here goes: The "incumbents" are those holding the power, their supporters, and their target demographic. — 3four3 (@3four3) July 27, 2013 Here I’ll go further … Traditionally the term is used for […]
Why “Developing All Players to Their Potential” is a Lie
You can not be all things to all people. You have to pick. Let’s consider you have a single roster that you get to work with for a certain number of hours per week. I think we can all agree this roster is comprised of players with unique qualities and varying levels of talent (or […]
Stop Playing Up! Start Playing down.
Let’s suppose that a coach would like his team to consistently execute deliberately orchestrated possession-centered, attacking, attractive, and winning soccer during matches. But it’s just not happening. Here are the two main possibilities: 1) The players are not at the level of competition. This is the most cited reason. And it’s most often not true. […]
Soccer Camps: What’s the Deal with Those?
Here’s a recent email I got regarding soccer camps: My son is 12 and [has been] in club soccer for 3 years. He loves the game and is in the top 25% of his team (not top 5%). He plays wing back right or left. Is short, fast and technical. My questions to you were […]
Barcelona Youth Academy 2001s are Ridiculous! Watch the video!
Here’s the video of our first match against FC Barcelona at MIC Cup. Watch carefully – this offers just a flavor of what gold standard football can look like for 11 year olds. Also, we did a report on this match. Context is king! Something we’ll be providing as we continue this path of soccer […]
Transition: Brian’s at Chivas USA and 3four3 Needs to “Grow Up”
Hi guys, Just a little update on what’s going on, and where that final report on how the MIC tournament concluded is at. After returning from Barcelona, there’s been a ton of activity behind the scenes. Some things are very ugly, but some things are great. Brian is now at Chivas USA (that of course […]
3four3 and CelebreightFC Partner Up: Time for Your Own Barcelona Experience!
We’re happy to announce we are offering trips to Barcelona for competition, opportunity, education, and experience. 3four3 has partnered with CelebreightFC in offering a component which has invaluable benefits to your soccer education. Why Barcelona? CelebreightFC is a company started by Danny Lederman, whose son Benny became the first American to join the famed La […]
Coaching Defined – The 3 Key Elements
What gets us in trouble is that anyone, absolutely anyone, can be a “coach”. Everyone’s got thoughts and a narrative about the game. And no matter how ill-developed, incoherent, or superficial they may be, that falls into the philosophy bucket. Everyone’s got activities. And everyone can take a player, or two, or 22, and […]