Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
I put responsibility on the player making the pass as well. He should know how the player he’s passing it to needs the ball depending on the situation. It’s very hard to receive a ball across your body and away from pressure if the person passing you the ball sets up you to fail.
Passing with some zip is important too. We took a big leap forward when we started to make the boys really sting the ball and put the onus on the receiving player to learn how to kill it.
If you look at my bio, you’ll see I’m a volunteer coach in a mid-level travel program that doesn’t have a huge population to choose from and is rarely position to recruit as a way of improving a team’s talent. I guess what I’m trying to get to the bottom of is that when we see the 3four3 video’s of U11/U12 teams playing phenomenal tactical/posession soccer, we are also watching boys execute all sorts of soccer skills in the process that many of our kids can’t do at that age (or older). Does it all come together because they are elite players, who have had plenty of skill training in the past, either formal or informal? Or is it possible to develop such competency as part of all of this tactical work?
My name is Alex Seldin and I have been a parent/volunteer coach of a U14 boys travel team in the Philadelphia area for four seasons. Our club covers a small area, so our team is mostly the kids who want to be there – not the cream of the crop athletically or technically. I became enamored of this kind of possession football because, frankly, it was our only hope. Our players were never athletically superior so “kick and run” has always been a losing proposition. Our motto has been “No Plan B” – we either possess and pass and move, or we die. It fits my way of playing as well; I succeeded in the high school and (to some degree) college ranks because of skills and game IQ; definitely not speed or strength.
As the group is aging and heading into high school, it may not last much longer, but I aspire to reach back and help my club by starting over with a U8 or U9 group. I’m hoping they will be my guinea pigs for what I learn here on 3four3.
Cheers!
