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 […]
Solutions
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 […]
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 […]
Come Join 3four3 in Vegas or San Diego this Summer
You told us in person, you told us via emails … and you better believe we’ve been listening. So here we go, we’ve started working on launching two events this summer: A coaching conference / summit A player camp Coaching summit Location: Las Vegas, NV Date: July 25, 26 or August 1, 2 3four3 contact: […]
[Podcast] What’s Wrong with American Soccer?
Listen in below, as John Pranjic does a great job of hosting a discussion on topics ranging from how and why 3four3 got started, to where we are now, to where we’re going. And of course the biggest problem with American soccer – a system that limits our market’s potential, disincentivizes investments, alienates the majority […]
How NOT to Coach Playing out of the Back
It’s like everywhere I look in American soccer media, and to quite an extent, the English as well, the advice being thrown around on player development is the worst thing you can follow. The inspiration for this article came from Twitter via a coach posting the following activity he runs (& recommends). I saw the […]
Introducing San Francisco City FC – a Supporter Owned Club
Hello everyone! I’ve been lucky enough to be a member of the 3four3 community over the past few years. Back in 2011, Gary was kind enough to post what amounted to my first piece of published soccer writing. That first article launched my illustrious career as an obscure soccer blogger and podcaster. These days, I’m […]
What Coaches Can Learn from Louis van Gaal’s Recent Statement
Newly appointed Manchester United coach, Louis van Gaal, recently stated it’ll take him at least 3 months to get his team to start executing the way he wants to play. 3 months! And he’s got a whole staff behind him working around the clock. 3 months! And he’s got all international level players. 3 months! And the […]
6 Points that Improve Top Level Talent Assessment through Video
The Bottom Line Capture the ‘WOW factor’ with a short video (the shorter the better) to peak interest. In-person talent assessment is hard enough, so your video(s) need to kick ass. Video must be good quality, or your audience will leave after 5 seconds. In a long-form video, try to capture all 4 player properties […]