Anzac wrote:
Qwiss! wrote:
Evolutionary advantage!
When my kid started I tried to focus on too much I think. At 5 the most important stuff if just playing and getting kids used to contact. When my eldest started playing proper 5 aside matches at 6 they were all looking at each other, the first thing they had to get over was the fear of getting hurt and the fear of hurting others. Other than that control while running. Almost every kid loves fancy little tricks, I see more drag backs per game than passes. It almost never works though because they don't have the control after the trick beats the first man to keep going. The kids who score the most and win matches for my lads team are the ones who can move quickly with the ball at feet.
I recall an article years ago that talked to the likes of Juninho & others, and he was saying in Brazilian youth development they didn't consider positions or roles before age 10 and mostly played Futsal to develop technique and control, and didn't play on a full sized pitch until they were 14 which was also about the time they started to develop tactics and positions/roles.
AW used to talk about technique as being akin to the foundationd for a house around which everything else was built upon.
Tbf they don't enforce positions in my son's games either. And it's 5 aside at u8 and u9. Then it goes to 7 aside. It isn't 11 vs 11 until they're teenagers. In Ireland a while ago they started focussing kids on trying to play like Barca/Spain at the time but over trained passing to the detriment of flair and individual skill. It's more balanced now.
We are lucky as my kids coach is Portuguese and played at a pro club for a little while so he knows what he's at. Some teams are coached by Dad's who haven't played football since they were kids
