What's wrong with kicking deep?

[Guest]

bootball is hella boring

[Guest]

Play the game right sh*theads

Right…..

[Guest]

I don't disagree with you. I just hate people screaming bootball. Yes it does happen, but it's not always the case. Is it not beautiful for a premier league outside back to look up, see a winger on the other side making a run into space, and hitting them with a 60 yard dot? People around here would call that bootball and prefer 20 passes between the backs and mids that never are a threat to be stolen, but are also never a threat to the defense. I think intention is what makes it beautiful.

Also, while it's not a strategy, sometimes a defender needs to realize they don't have great options and cede possession to the opponent. I would prefer they kick it as far as they can, and hopefully we press and keep them pinned, vs playing one out (or more common, a no look kick to the middle of the field where the other teams 8 or 10 is waiting for it.) This situation is also common at a young age where many of the mids and others defenders are not giving the pressured player options. Again, they are young. Most important thing is intention and learning.

Bootball to me is very different than on occasion playing direct with an accurate ball to a player making a great run. Bootball is the go to fallback of coaches that don’t have any other ideas and they are coaching their mids and defenders that he with the strongest leg prevails and just kick it forward blindly on a wing and a prayer and then puts their one fast kid up front and says run after it. Very rarely is it a player seeing a run and dropping a dime to their winger. Those passes are amazing when they happen and appreciated - even by those who praise the tiki taka. Here - it is just kids blindly swinging at the ball. Boring.

[Guest]

Nothing wrong with kicking deep and letting your stars take over. It's the same as when it is taken to the corner and then blindly crossed to the middle. It is also accepted to kick deep on the kick off hoping you get control on the opponents end. The uswnt needs to sacrifice possession and send it more. Use your athletic ability and win it.

[Guest]

Nothing wrong with kicking deep and letting your stars take over. It's the same as when it is taken to the corner and then blindly crossed to the middle. It is also accepted to kick deep on the kick off hoping you get control on the opponents end. The uswnt needs to sacrifice possession and send it more. Use your athletic ability and win it.

Terrible take.

[Guest]

Bootball is the go to fallback of coaches that don’t have any other ideas...

I'm sure they have other ideas. It doesn't take a genius to figure out the alternative is building up through passes.

But the problem is when the midfield players aren't good enough to control possession. This happens all across youth soccer. So sure, coaches could work on building those skills, but it takes time.

So, they decide that the better/safer tactical choice is to look for the long ball as soon as possible.

[Guest]

I'm sure they have other ideas. It doesn't take a genius to figure out the alternative is building up through passes.

But the problem is when the midfield players aren't good enough to control possession. This happens all across youth soccer. So sure, coaches could work on building those skills, but it takes time.

So, they decide that the better/safer tactical choice is to look for the long ball as soon as possible.

And at younger ages coaches should take the time to build those skills. You only build those skills through reps. If winning is the priority, kids never get the reps.

[Guest]

Nothing wrong with kicking deep and letting your stars take over. It's the same as when it is taken to the corner and then blindly crossed to the middle. It is also accepted to kick deep on the kick off hoping you get control on the opponents end. The uswnt needs to sacrifice possession and send it more. Use your athletic ability and win it.

There is something wrong with it, it’s boring. Sure maybe you’ll win but watching a game with creative plays is better entertainment.

[Guest]

The more commie kickball our country plays the worse we do in international competitions. Bring back the long ball!!!!

[Guest]

There is something wrong with it, it’s boring. Sure maybe you’ll win but watching a game with creative plays is better entertainment.

Soccer should be entertaining!!!!

[Guest]

indeed it’s not the bootyful game

[Guest]

You all can't see the forest for the trees. If we are really talking about development, style of play isn't what we as a country should be focused on. Also, bootball isn't a style of play. It is not knowing how to play.

The first key is ball control and skills. This should start around 2, in the home, and continue outside of training. Should never be a main focus of team trainings. Time is too limited to be working on individual things. Give the kids drills to do at home. Have them film and submit it for accountability.

Drill head checking every practice at younger ages. Should be like breathing. No thought about it. Once you have foot skills and awareness ( always head checking) you can now receive a ball and already know what your options are. Now you can start talking about style of play.

Coaches should break down game film with a minimum of a few players a week. Most parents and kids past u13 should be able to do this themselves also. Most kids can watch film and see their own mistakes that they don't realize they are making on the field.

Outside of a couple teams, we aren't there and parents/coahces don't care. Parents REALLY don't care when the kid is on a "top team". Most kids don't realize they are falling behind. By the time they realize, it is probably too late.

[Guest]

I have mixed feelings on this. I will admit to riding the possession high horse. Learning possession doesn’t make you superior. Players need to learn and use a variety of styles. Some teams boot it, but they have players that can do it accurately and have players that have the touch to receive it. That being said, I do think more effort needs to go into teaching and learning possession-based soccer, since it’s less intuitive. You don’t need to teach a kid to boot it. That comes naturally. Despite that, you’ll see teams where every mid receives, turns, and boots it regardless of whether that's their best option. I don’t like the idea of teaching players to be robots, but you can see it happens. (To be fair, you also see kids that have learned “possession” so well that they collect and pass backwards every time).

[Guest]

I have mixed feelings on this. I will admit to riding the possession high horse. Learning possession doesn’t make you superior. Players need to learn and use a variety of styles. Some teams boot it, but they have players that can do it accurately and have players that have the touch to receive it. That being said, I do think more effort needs to go into teaching and learning possession-based soccer, since it’s less intuitive. You don’t need to teach a kid to boot it. That comes naturally. Despite that, you’ll see teams where every mid receives, turns, and boots it regardless of whether that's their best option. I don’t like the idea of teaching players to be robots, but you can see it happens. (To be fair, you also see kids that have learned “possession” so well that they collect and pass backwards every time).

I would say the root of both issues you bring up stem from the same issue. Not having the foot skills and awareness to play the game properly.

Kids who play it back or boot it forward every time (usually it's one or the other for certain kids and can be dependent on position) do it for the same reason. They don't know where the defense is. or don't have the confidence to control the ball under pressure. The play it back kids have realized that they don't get in trouble if they aren't the ones to lose possession. This is a result of drilling into their brains how important possession is. Kick it forward to nobody kids tend to be mids I feel. This is because backwards passes can create huge problems. A kick down the field might lead to some favorable situations. If there isn't a player there, they act like someone should have been making a run. To me it's a lot like running to the corner and kicking a ball into the box without knowing where your runners are. Sure it turns out well sometimes, but isn't good soccer.

Again, I think the key to not having robots is having kids learn the fundamentals earlier. We keep thinking if they play enough games and scrimmage enough the skills will come. You wouldn't teach a young chef buy showing them Michelin calibre dishes, and figure by trying to make them enough they would eventually pick up knife skills, etc. Skills and awareness allow creativity. Then coaches just have to allow it as well. This is also a problem. unfortunately.

[Guest]

I would say the root of both issues you bring up stem from the same issue. Not having the foot skills and awareness to play the game properly.

Kids who play it back or boot it forward every time (usually it's one or the other for certain kids and can be dependent on position) do it for the same reason. They don't know where the defense is. or don't have the confidence to control the ball under pressure. The play it back kids have realized that they don't get in trouble if they aren't the ones to lose possession. This is a result of drilling into their brains how important possession is. Kick it forward to nobody kids tend to be mids I feel. This is because backwards passes can create huge problems. A kick down the field might lead to some favorable situations. If there isn't a player there, they act like someone should have been making a run. To me it's a lot like running to the corner and kicking a ball into the box without knowing where your runners are. Sure it turns out well sometimes, but isn't good soccer.

Again, I think the key to not having robots is having kids learn the fundamentals earlier. We keep thinking if they play enough games and scrimmage enough the skills will come. You wouldn't teach a young chef buy showing them Michelin calibre dishes, and figure by trying to make them enough they would eventually pick up knife skills, etc. Skills and awareness allow creativity. Then coaches just have to allow it as well. This is also a problem. unfortunately.

Sounds like a cook here or a restaurant owner. I agree with everything you said. However, having raised a few athletes, I think that we attribute more reasoning to those little brains than is actually happening. I love the example about running into the corner and crossing the ball. You’ll watch kids do it over and over again. They need an adult to help them see that the strategy is not working. They might do so by asking questions during the game or after they notice the pattern. If it concretizes the pattern might take forever to break or never be broken.