Thanks for clarifying. Yes, he was not referring to Italians or Spanish. And, as you said he was talking about the pool of players he worked with and compared the two ethnicities. I’m not personally a fan of his and have disagreed a bit with him and his brother when the blogged on 3four3. I do like his development style and his trainings. You can find them on YouTube and are Barcelona methods.
WWC 2023
- Thread starter espola
- Start date
rainbow_unicorn
PREMIER
This sounds like a statement coming from a US parent with a low soccer IQ
What I've seen is that many "latin" parents think their kid can do no wrong + for whatever reason deserves to be on XYZ superteam because they're the next Messi or whoever.
While it's good to support your kid when the dad is 5'1" and the mom is 5'0" thr likelihood of their kid playing professionally at the highest levels is low.
In American football they're equivalent to the "Quarterback Dads" who inject themselves into team politics + do ridiculous things just so their kid can play quarterback. Even when the kid is obviously a lineman at best.
Hardly.
1. My prior was we Latinos had a better understanding of the game. I’ve revised my prior based on experience, personal academic and professional. I’m an equal opportunity snob now for all soccer parents of all stripes.
2. my main objection is the Mexican style of the game: very physical, not very creative.
3. While I am certainly not the most knowledgeable, given the time I’ve put into study, I certainly would happily stack up my soccer knowledge against the vast majority of soccer parents and a great deal of the coaches too. We who inhabit these boards regularly including present company can typically say that.
I’ve had a small peak into the quarterback world from writer acquaintances that do gridiron football. All I can say is wow. We have nothing on them. Drugs, qb parents paying tuition costs for other players specially receivers, the transfer games, the demands.
Id see it from the perspective of a barrio kid who has been offered a scholarship. They’ve had money thrown at them and been told they are great— I wouldn’t be surprised they think they are gods gift.
The Carlsbad QB has committed to Alabama. A number of receivers have transferred in to play with him including "allegedly" a total stud WR from Florida.
Soccer players make great football players.
I know of a soccer player playing for Navy.
And yes the soccer nonsense + politics prepares crossover players very well for American Football.
I was thinking more along the lines of footwork and body control.
Orangeteam
SILVER ELITE
I don't. My last baseline was the study was supposed to be for a few years and it ran into the covid shut down. What happened after that I haven't heard. I don't have too much to do with USSF other than social pleasantries and the occasional discussion about a player.
My friends in Germany have good things to say, especially at the Federation level.
This is the most recent US info on line i could find. It has some vague info about their phase 2
Double Pass
www.doublepass.com
Women peaking in their 20's physically and skills wise? Where did you hear that load of sh.. I completely disagree. Girls finish developing much faster than boys. If they are 14/15 and did not get the skills and touch needed to play at the highest level they are done... They will never develop the skills and proper touch after that. After puberty most girls go south if they did not develop before...
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I don't think its a matter of not having the talent but the type of player the US is scouting. Players that are mostly physical and fast but lack technique and tactical IQ. All great individual talents that were never taught to play as a team becasue they carried their youth teams on their back based on individual talent and physical traits. The girls youth soccer system's fault of building big strong physical teams that rely on 1 or 2 players to carry them in the attack.
I'll disagree with this one. Girls that put the time into their first touch after puberty can still develop that. But girls that look good before puberty might not look good after puberty. Sadly, as the girls go through puberty, parents get very angry with coaches and blame them for benching their players or moving them down to a lower team even though their players have great first touches and instincts plus always a starter before. Once Puberty hit, all these technical players/ or fast quick players struggle because girls either catch up to them OR they slow down themselves and their bodies won't let them do what they did before. It's tough.
Some girls hit the puberty lottery and develop into agile, quick and fast players that only need to put work into their first touch. If you're this lucky, then just put an hour a day into your touches and over 2-3 years, you'll definitely catch up by 16-17.
Great stuff Veritas. We have some of the best players in the world and we will always have top players. We will always have a great team that can win it all. However, our style is still fast & physical and not enough pass & go and sharing the rock. Futbol should be about trust and passing the ball back and forth and look for those opportunities to put one in the back of the net. I saw a lot of direct and over the tops more than basking and weaving from the back to the front for a score. I can, based on my eyeballs, see many countries playing a pretty brand of futbol and it's fun to watch.
There is always room to improve first touch but technical ability needs to be done pre puberty if you are girl that is to become a masterful technician in the futture. But I agree with you that puberty can turn a technical player into a slow sluggish player. The point I'm trying to make is technical ability will be very hard to develop after puberty, same goes for men. Not saying you won't improve but having the technical base pre puberty will definitiely help and take you to the next level especially if you are one of the lucky girls part of the puberty lottery. Boys tend to be more fortunate in that aspect and you see a lot more lottery winners.
A friend of mine coached at the Ajax academy. Winning was never the point at that level. Development was key. Ajax has a curriculum and the focus of the games was on what concept(s) a team was currently working on. If the technical director did not see the team demonstarate that area they would never question the coach why they lost or won, but rather why that concept was not employed. If it was used then there was a decision was it mastered or did they need to continue to focus on it.
Here is an example of a young lady that one could say overcame the challenges that Nayella faced. Her parents are immigrants (Mexico) who do not have a great deal of means. She is from Pico Rivera. Her early years were spent playing in a boys league in Whittier. When the DA came to be her parents brought her try out and immediately was recognized as a talent. She then left to ECNL. She is now part of the Mexican National team U20's and is attending/playing at UCLA.
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Boys and girls might be able to develop a decent touch post-puberty, but I think its nearly impossible to develop that innate touch, particularly first touch, that is going to elevate your speed of play and decision making to a world class level. IMHO the most important physical skill you need to fully develop your soccer IQ is your first touch. If you can't calmly and cleanly receive the ball its going to delay and distract from your decision making. From what little I saw of the USWNT at the World Cup, it seemed they struggled to settle the ball, which just slowed the game down and to let their opponents recover.
First touch is one thing that can be developed and improved with training. Like most basic skills in soccer, one needs to start early. Things like speed or coordination are innate, but I guess they can be somewhat improved with training. Things that require several skills, one of them innate, are extremely rare to see in players (think of superconduccion or natural dribbling). The main problem of the USWNT in this world cup, besides the obvious catching up of perennial soccer powers, was the low soccer IQ of many of the players (which actually were the best players available for the most part). I'm sure that the ugly system of VA was conditioned by the players available to him. Hopefully the soccer played in the NWSL improves with better coaching, because this league is the main source of players for the USWNT. The NWSL is almost unwatchable, simply by paying attention to these games and knowing that most players play regularly like this, one could predict that the USWNT was doomed in this world cup. Moving forward the USWNT will continue contending in international competitions because the IQ problem will be addressed, but the years of total international domination are gone and the USWNT will be just 1 of 4-5 excellent teams in any given tournament.
whatithink
GOLD
So England through to the final.
Maybe US soccer should take a long hard look at the England coach. This is her fourth tournament with a record so far of
There may be a trend there ...
Maybe US soccer should take a long hard look at the England coach. This is her fourth tournament with a record so far of
- 2017 Euros, coached Netherlands, winners
- 2019 World Cup, coached Netherlands, second
- 2022 Euros, coached England, winners
- 2023 World Cup, coaching England, finalist
There may be a trend there ...
whatithink
GOLD
The best USWNT players should go to Europe both for the pay and the play - if they are good enough. It is now mirroring the men's game from a platform and opportunity perspective.
The difference in the age profile and experience (i.e. academy development not youth soccer / college) is also starting to tell, e.g. the scorer for Spain yesterday is 23 - she passed the 100 appearances for Real Madrid last season; the bench impact player for Spain is 19.