Great article. "they are pretty good at development too". Well, that's the point. The Spanish have a long tradition of playing it at the feet and building. The Americans have a long tradition of trying to use their athleticism in direct soccer as opposed to finesse. There are two ways to go at this. One is to say run-and-sock 'em soccer is o.k....it's just our American style...s the rondos and the passing game.....s the rest of the thinking soccer is a negative game about mistake avoidance instead of making the score....let's develop our own American style based on who we are and what works and stop trying to imitate others.
The other is to say that the possession game really matters and we should try to develop it...but it takes time to develop that game and teams that try to do it are going to lose against teams that play the direct style...since we have a play to pay system, and coaches are only judged on wins/loses (there really is no other official stick parents have to judge them, in fairness to the parents), the emphasis on winning and losing hurts the development of the possession game, especially early on. U.S. Soccer, rightly or wrongly, has made the decision learning the possession game is important, and its recommendations are to deemphasize winning as a result until age 12, but they lacked the courage of their convictions to make that mandatory, which meant nothing changed. It's like the old saying, you can have it fast, good or cheap...pick two. You can have it competitive, possession-oriented or professional, pick 2, under the current pay to play system.
Note Spain doesn't have the same pay to play system. They select kids from a very early age. What jumped out at me most about the article was 8 hour bus trip. It's a job to these kids. It's their future, so of course they are invested in it. Video review and then laps before training even begins? Well they don't say but you can imagine how much time they are practicing.
