Here’s an interesting article discussing (the lack of) training compensation for USA youth clubs. If you’re not familiar, the basic idea is that FIFA requires professional clubs to pay a fee to a young player’s youth club when they sign that player to a professional contract. However, because as usual the US soccer infrastructure is […]

Saw a tweet recently that read: “The worst thing about youth sports? Adults.” My kid played in a recent large soccer tournament near Denver, and in the first game the opposing coach was ejected by the referee for arguing and berating the ref, and in the second game a parent was ejected for yelling at […]

Well, it’s tryout season for youth club soccer and some of us, er I mean some of you, are considering switching clubs. With that in mind I ran across the following advice from a proverbial Soccer Mom: 1. Try to keep an open mind and keep all of your options open. 2. Look at the […]

So I’ve been showing the kid breakdown videos of Barcelona. How to create space with dribbling. How their tactics and movement use that space. Movement off the ball. It’s made little Sam I am excited about soccer like nothing else in a long while. Then Bayern Munich happened. The child couldn’t believe it. How could […]

Tryout season is nearly upon us. As in other years, I’ve heard parents talking on the sideline about switching clubs. I once asked a coach to compare two clubs. He said, “Same shit, different shirt.” I appreciate honesty. So you’re probably not going to see much difference if you switch clubs. They all claim “development” […]

I love this video. Obviously not the only way to play or the only formation to use, but the simplicity of explanation is compelling. Of course, there are always questions: Why would you use this formation over another? How do you teach it? When is this formation not ideal? What type of players does this […]

Read this: 2 Fundamental and Objective Metrics to Judging a Coach?s Quality. In fact, read every post in that blog. I don’t agree 100% with every post, and disagree with several, but 3four3.com put into words what I’ve always felt instinctually but couldn’t articulate. It’s the best exploration I’ve found of what is wrong with soccer in […]

So, how should you pick a youth soccer club for your child? The answer is, you shouldn’t. By definition, most kids are average, or below average, soccer players, and really should be playing recreational soccer. “Select” soccer is a misnomer. There’s nothing select about it after the first or second team per age group. If […]