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Is possession style soccer really useful for kids to learn?

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    Is possession style soccer really useful for kids to learn?

    In talking to coaches leading up to the current tryout season I've had almost all of them tell me how they focus on possession style play, trained in Barcelona, etc. What's the big deal? We're trying to teach our kids life skills - how to be competitive in life and strive to be great and win in their careers, business, etc. So why not teach them how to win and work on instilling that competitive and winning mentality in them?

    #2
    Because this is American soccer. Parents expect boot scoot and boogie wins on the weekend.

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      #3
      Not sure if the original post is sarcastic or not, but I for one am glad to see more clubs really focusing on playing soccer, passing, moving and building from the back. This is probably the best thing about soccer in America right now, the focus on passing vs just booting the ball up the pitch.

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        #4
        Originally posted by Guest View Post
        Not sure if the original post is sarcastic or not, but I for one am glad to see more clubs really focusing on playing soccer, passing, moving and building from the back. This is probably the best thing about soccer in America right now, the focus on passing vs just booting the ball up the pitch.
        I'm confident it was. But I agree with you, possession based soccer naturally teaches kids to look and think. These are things most youth players in our 50 states seem to fly on without until they finally hit their ceiling. At the highest levels, they are two of the most important skills. The more you've been practicing them, they better you'll be. And you can't suddenly upload 10 years of missed development on the pitch.

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          #5
          Position style sales pitch is just making excuses for not winning games. Don’t be fooled!

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            #6
            I'm definitely not expecting my kid to learn life skills in soccer, but if you want to go with that, possession style soccer requires a lot of teamwork, which is important in life and in the workplace.


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              #7
              Originally posted by Guest View Post
              Position style sales pitch is just making excuses for not winning games. Don’t be fooled!
              Can't tell if you meant to type possession or position. Depending on your use of that word depends on how truly stupid you are.....or brilliant

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                #8
                Possession in soccer is a means to an end; every team is possession based, in that I want to have the ball enough to score more goals than the opposition. Possession (or at least old-Barca Pep G. possession) was a style of play that relied heavily on minimizing the number of team possessions during a match (in every match the number of possessions by either team is the same; plus/minus one). The only way to attempt to achieve this level of play is to have players that understand the tactic and have the technical ability to execute the tactic. In the youth game, it's pretty hard.
                In the youth game the focus should be on developing the technical ability with the ball so that the player is able to execute the necessary tactic in any given situation. If that means you need to hit a 30 yard driven ball behind the opposition to risk giving up the ball, but gain and opportunity on goal, that could be the right decision. Personally, I think time of possession is overrated; it's what you do with the possession that matters. I've seen teams have 30%-40% possession have highly effective possession and score more goals and I've seen team have the ball 80% of the time and never get an opportunity on goal....which is better? Who knows?

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by Guest View Post
                  I'm definitely not expecting my kid to learn life skills in soccer, but if you want to go with that, possession style soccer requires a lot of teamwork, which is important in life and in the workplace.

                  I definitely AM expecting my kid to learn life skills in soccer. The most important ones. a) how to deal with a-hole parents. b)how to deal with a-hole coaches. c) how to deal with a-hole kids raised by a-hole parents.

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by Guest View Post

                    I'm confident it was. But I agree with you, possession based soccer naturally teaches kids to look and think. These are things most youth players in our 50 states seem to fly on without until they finally hit their ceiling. At the highest levels, they are two of the most important skills. The more you've been practicing them, they better you'll be. And you can't suddenly upload 10 years of missed development on the pitch.
                    Coaches said they want the team to play possession style. Then there are kids in the mid field cannot receive nor pass. Eventually my kid needs to boo the ball to the front from the box. Frustrated to see those games.

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                      #11

                      Originally posted by Guest View Post
                      Then there are kids in the mid field cannot receive nor pass.
                      Yeah, but oh boy can they dribble past the C team players! That's the most important part of the game, if you watch the highlight reels.

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                        #12
                        Going back to the original question (in the title), "useful" depends on what you/your kid wants out of soccer. I think (I'm not a professional, but happy to throw in 2 cents) possession-style soccer forces kids to be technically better and make better decisions - it relies less on athleticism and requires all teammates to be good (don't be a weak link!). At the same time, it is really boring - "take the ball, pass the ball" all day long. When there are goals, it typically is from a kid who takes the ball, beats a 1v1 or a 1v2 and scores (not simply due to overloading a section of the field) at the younger ages. Maybe it gets better at the older ages. It's like playing chess where pawns can go forward and backward.

                        In terms of life skills, I think this can teach patience, to build up from the fundamentals, be a good teammate, and to wait for the right opportunity to strike. On the other side, it can teach kids to be too patient and they learn that waiting is acceptable (and never accomplish much in life). The better coaches thread this balance so that while kids learn patience, they also know when to seize the moment in addition to the importance of team, stepping up, and taking care of your responsibilities.

                        I don't know - I just want my kid to have fun, but losing isn't fun :). I guess he might be more mature than me - when his team loses to a clearly better skilled team (as opposed to physically brutal), he can appreciate the skill level of the other players and strives to be better next time regardless of whether they play possession soccer. The right coach, in theory, should be able to help kids who are looking for help to be better.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by Guest View Post

                          I'm confident it was. But I agree with you, possession based soccer naturally teaches kids to look and think. These are things most youth players in our 50 states seem to fly on without until they finally hit their ceiling. At the highest levels, they are two of the most important skills. The more you've been practicing them, they better you'll be. And you can't suddenly
                          upload 10 years of missed development on the pitch.
                          It all starts when they are 8-10 years old. The bigger athletic kids run up and down the field scoring goals. The coaches love this and don’t bother developing good touch, working with both feet and passing skills. They just watch the more developed kid run up and down the field and the parents are happy when the team is winning

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                            #14
                            Originally posted by Guest View Post

                            It all starts when they are 8-10 years old. The bigger athletic kids run up and down the field scoring goals. The coaches love this and don’t bother developing good touch, working with both feet and passing skills. They just watch the more developed kid run up and down the field and the parents are happy when the team is winning
                            That is sad and the antithesis of barca.

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                              #15
                              Originally posted by Guest View Post
                              the antithesis of barca.
                              Antithesis of the club who just signed two of the fastest football players around - Auba and Traore?

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