rainbow_unicorn
PREMIER
Stealing the ball from their own teammates?!? And is she knocking other team or her own players on their ass?? LOL. Any normal coach would tell that girl, "what the heck are you doing?"
Coaches - What do you look for?
- Thread starter Supermodel56
- Start date
Supermodel56
SILVER ELITE
You'd be surprised... omg, have I got stories for ya... and coach never said a thing (at least not that we're aware - which to be fair we shouldn't hear about it if he did - but the behavior continued throughout the season...) I'll also add that in just about every other aspect, the coach was actually fantastic - which is why I find the attention on aggressiveness so fascinating.
Zerodenero
GOLD
In addition to aggressiveness, mental resilience is mandatory to foster growth - on AND off the field.
Below is a clip of Jacqueline Novogratz, a highly successful entrepreneur/philanthropist who shares a few thoughts on this topic which in my experience, directly correlates to sports, business and the game of life.
Link: https://www.forbes.com/video/5334588524001/
Mystery Train
GOLD
Wait, someone just double check my count here: we're 4 pages in and we've had one coach respond so far? So then 3.9 pages of parents talking about what they think about what coaches think? Got it. Carry on.
Socal United
SILVER ELITE
I wanted to say the same thing since I was the coach but it went the route it normally does....
Zerodenero
GOLD
I wanted to say the same thing since I was the coach but it went the route it normally does....
Lol. Maybe so..... But in all reality, the parents are the most relevant, impactful coach a player will have in their life.
Socal United
SILVER ELITE
There is no disputing that. That said, the question asked what coaches look for.
Bdobyns
SILVER ELITE
The USWNT is not taking the average, they are taking the exceptional. All college programs want the exceptional, however, I would be willing to bet that once the exceptional are committed, size will play a big role in where scholarship dollars are spent.
Supermodel56
SILVER ELITE
That doesn't even make sense... if the most exceptional players are on average between 5'6"-5'8" why the hell would scholarship dollars all of a sudden favor bigger players?
Maybe check out TopDrawerSoccer and look at the top 100 freshman recruits... here's the top 10 and last 10 so you can see the consistency. in fact, as you go down the list, it would appear that all things equal, more shorter/avg height players are selected. What it tells me is that height/size in itself is not really an advantage for soccer in the long run - if your DD's projected height on the growth chart falls between 5'6"-5'8" you're in pretty good shape. Even in the top 10 recruits, less than half are over 5'8" and only one player over 6ft.
#1 - Jessie Fleming: 5'3"
#2 - Ella Stevens: 5'9"
#3 - Deyna Castellanos: 5'6"
#4 - Tierna Davidson: 5'10"
#5 - Taylor Kornieck: 6'1"
#6 - Jennifer Westendorf: 5'9"
#7 - Annika Rodriguez: 5'2"
#8 - Kristina Schuster: 5'7"
#9 - Kaiya McCullough: 5'8"
#10 - Chloe Froment: 5'7"
Avg height: 5'7.5" Range: 5'2"-6'1"
#91 - Beattie Goad: 5'7"
#92 - Avery Hay: 5'6"
#93 - Chandler Backes: 5'9"
#94 - Emily Hess: 5'4"
#95 - Doro Greulich: 5'10"
#96 - Hugrun Olafsdottir: 5'7"
#97 - Alyssa Jefferson: 5'5"
#98 - Ali Russo: 5'4"
#99 - Mary O'Hara: 5'4"
#100 - Laura Hamilton: 5'7"
Avg height: 5'6.3" Range: 5'4"-5'10"
Bdobyns
SILVER ELITE
Really, you don’t get it? How many WNT players are there? How many D1 programs are there? There is more scholarship money out there than spots on the WNT. Of course you are going to get more girls that are around the 5’6” range because that is where the majority of girls fall. The number of girls 5’8” and above are more rare and thus that much more desired. Doesn’t mean that they are better. When a D1 programs has a chance to grab defenders and forwards that are tall, they will take the risk. My little turd is 5’6” and with studs, she can say 5’7”. Many D1 coaches told us that they want center backs that are tall and that if she wants to play defense, she will be playing outside back.
BTW watch out for that #9 on your list.
coachrefparent
GOLD
Maybe the tallest (6+) girls aren't playing soccer in college? Basketball, volleyball? It is strange though.
Supermodel56
SILVER ELITE
That is really interesting! I was just reading on how taller people are supposed to be faster because they have longer strides - but this could explain why "shorter" people actually may have an advantage in soccer since you're not always running in a straight line... perhaps once you reach a certain height and/or stride length, there are diminishing returns... it also differs for men vs women due to differences in center of gravity.
Bdobyns - its true if you look at the breakdown, defenders seem to skew taller, as are keepers. Different positions require different skill sets and body types.... while there are always exceptions to the rule, the lesson may be that as you train, bear in mind positions that are more natural to your body type.
Except in this test Ronaldo was actually taller than the sprinter. The other thing is Ronaldo does both straight line and zig zag running during the game, thus would be used to both and have experience with both. The sprinter would only be used to straight line. Give him a few months running the zig zag and I'm pretty sure he would cut down his time. My DD has really long strides which gives her great straight line speed. The coach has worked with her on shortening her stride for certain situations to help with quicker changes of directions.
One thing I've always felt is that shorter girls might have an advantage with balance while running and getting bumped. A taller girl might be able to be knocked off her stride a bit easier. This is just a feeling, with no data to back it up.
rainbow_unicorn
PREMIER
Finally, people are starting to get that height is not all that important in soccer. Yes, you need height if you're a center back or a forward to win headers and hold the ball. But everywhere else on the pitch (not including air situations) height can work to your disadvantage. Tall people (over 6'2" for men and maybe 5'8" for women) tend to be slower/less quick.
Supermodel56
SILVER ELITE
I would even venture to say you don't need all tall forwards depending on formation and skill levels - better to mix it up, give the defense different looks and styles of play to deal with, and exploit the mismatches.
Completely agree. Tall forwards are good for over the top and chase it kind of tactics but not a discriminator for possession-based attacks. I know everyone points to Messi (5'6"-ish) but look at many other successful forwards (e.g., Aguero, Naymar, Griezmann,...) and none of them are more than 5-10ish. Ibra is an exception, along with Christiano - both over 6' tall. Luis Suarez, who I consider to be the most complete forward player today, is 5'-11".
As for winning headers, there are two components in the equation. Timing and vertical leap ability. Many shorter players win headers over taller. What you care is the players ability to jump high (for the ultimate vertical reach) and ability to read the ball for timing the jump. The key is to execute the jump at the right moment.
Bdobyns
SILVER ELITE
How many goals are scored and games won because of a set piece? According to one source (http://eplindex.com/19280/importance-set-pieces-stats-analysis.html ), nearly 40% come from set pieces. According to another site, http://statsbomb.com/2013/07/how-do-headers-compare-to-shots/ , headers score 12% of the time whereas shots are at 9.1%. So if you can add some height to your team, especially for set pieces, there is probably a greater chance for a goal and thus a victory. So, as one of hundreds of college coaches that have money to spend (some more and some less), you want people that can get their head on the ball.
In high school games, many coaches sub in a tall player on corner kicks, or a big thrower for a throwin. Under competition rules that inhibit substitutions, those players have value only if they can play effectively the other 90% of the game.
Here is another silly stat - 25% to 30% of corner kick attempts result with the ball going all the way through or over the crowd in front of the goal. Very few teams station a player over there.
I remember a game earlier this season where we had a fill-in coach. Normally our team has a tall forward playing the #9 and the team often plays over the top, run and dump balls to him. Pretty much anytime the ball is in the midfield, the players look to put the ball over the top to the forward.
But about half-way through the game, the guest coach took out the tall forward and put in a small technical player at the #9 position. You could hear an audible groan from the parents on the sideline. For about the first 5 minutes, the team continued to play over the top balls to the little forward. It soon became painfully obvious they were just giving the ball away playing it over the top. So about 10 minutes in, you could see the players start playing the ball to the little forward's feet. He would check in and lay-off the ball for combination plays. Pretty soon our team was actually getting possession in the attacking 3rd and the outside mids and attacking mid were getting more involved in the attack and began creating higher quality chances on goal.
For much of the season, our team had been playing a counter-attacking style, but within just 15 minutes of changing the forward, it completely changed the look of the offense. There's nothing wrong with having a tall forward, I just think coaches should be more willing to experiment, particularly with their smaller players.
After that game, the smaller player never played forward again. Not sure if the guest coach ever relayed a complete game summary. So the tall player returned to forward permanently. Though I did hear the parents weren't happy when he was on the bench much of that game.
But about half-way through the game, the guest coach took out the tall forward and put in a small technical player at the #9 position. You could hear an audible groan from the parents on the sideline. For about the first 5 minutes, the team continued to play over the top balls to the little forward. It soon became painfully obvious they were just giving the ball away playing it over the top. So about 10 minutes in, you could see the players start playing the ball to the little forward's feet. He would check in and lay-off the ball for combination plays. Pretty soon our team was actually getting possession in the attacking 3rd and the outside mids and attacking mid were getting more involved in the attack and began creating higher quality chances on goal.
For much of the season, our team had been playing a counter-attacking style, but within just 15 minutes of changing the forward, it completely changed the look of the offense. There's nothing wrong with having a tall forward, I just think coaches should be more willing to experiment, particularly with their smaller players.
After that game, the smaller player never played forward again. Not sure if the guest coach ever relayed a complete game summary. So the tall player returned to forward permanently. Though I did hear the parents weren't happy when he was on the bench much of that game.