WHAT NOW?

ARTICLE #1 of many
OBJECTIVE: Help the kids get better.


The DA is expanding…. Is the quality of coaches expanding too?

Phenomenal idea by the US federation. The DA is essentially a league for the best players in each age group. Great concept; get all of the best players(athletes) and have them playing against each other in a more competitive (athletic) league. Truly a phenomenal idea.

The players join the DA hoping to play against better competition. And more importantly, hoping to become much better players. While the competition is certainly more intense, the quality is still average at best. Especially if you know what a great level looks like. The most important purpose of the league is hardly ever accomplished. The Development is almost non existent, as no player has reached the level of play the league is expected to deliver.

After more or less 10 years of existence, the DA has not been able to produce a single great player and much less a world class player. US youth Soccer in general has not been able to produce such players. Pulisic is perhaps America’s best player ever! He is not yet a world class player, and he is not a product of the DA. Why is this great approach not working? When hypothetically only good players make the DA rosters, since they are handpicked. Those good players go from training 2 days per week with an “average team”, to 4 days per week on a “good team”, with soccer becoming their main “life focus”. With all that handy, why is it not truly working?

The answer is simple. In order for a player to develop from a average to a great player, the player does not need to be playing in the most competitive league or with the good players. Those things certainly help, yes they do, but not nearly as much as having a well prepared and knowledgeable Coach. And the lack of such coaches is exactly the reason why the US continues to fail to produce high level players. What good is it to have all the tools handy, if you don’t know what to do with it? Coaches make or break players. A well prepared and knowledgeable Coach can turn bricks into diamonds.

At the professional/business level, Coaches are considered great primarily because of their winning record. While the same criteria applies to the US youth soccer, given the great business it is. The W/L record should not be used to classify coaches. It’s the development level, and if were to use using simply the development criteria to classify the Coaches. We would quickly realize the US Youth soccer at all levels is full of average Coaches. It’s a fact. The minimum individual growth and quality of play says it all. No disrespect intended. The reality is obvious. If it wasn’t for private skills sessions a vast majority of the “good players/teams” would not be good.

The Coaches figured the winning formula, and winning became the ultimate and really only goal. As a result there’s a strong emphasis on winning and status, to the point that we don’t realize just how bad the level of play and quality of players/coaches is. Making the parents the number 1 problem in this issue. The lack of soccer knowledge leaves the parents ignorant to winning/losing versus development. Thinking that Winning = Development, and thus giving more credit to winning than the actual player development.

Rather than focusing on the status, or brand, focus on who’s coaching your son. And ask yourself the most important questions; How much has he/she really improved? Is he on track to becoming a complete and well developed player? Is that even something his/her Coach is working towards?

Here is some information to help you better understand things:

There are more people playing soccer in Texas, than there are people living in Iceland…. Iceland is going to the World Cup..

The US has more and better fields, more youth associations, leagues, clubs, teams, players, gear, and more people playing soccer than there are people living in; Uruguay, Portugal, Croatia, Belgium…. And yet all of those countries have better teams, and much better players than the US. Why is that???? YOUTH COACHES!!!!!!! The foundation…..
We have over 24,000,000 registered soccer players from academies to the adults. And around 4,000,000 registered players at the U17 level. Meanwhile the living population in Uruguay is around 3.5 million. Portugal 10.3 millions. Belgium 11.3 millions.

Right now a vast majority of the kids have a weak foundation. They lack the tools and proper understanding of the game. All because their COACH lacks the tools and proper understanding of player development. Great business minds, poor coaching knowledge for the youth and most important stage of a player’s development.

What’s the point of having a super league if a vast majority of the COACHES don’t know how, or refuse to focus on developing the players? Why create so many opportunities, when the players are not being trained well enough to make the most of those opportunities.

Great concept, but until the coaches or their philosophies changes. It’s a waste of time, unless average is something you’re comfortable with.

With the current number of registered soccer players the US. I am sure that we have a Messi out there. But if our coaches keep stealing the player’s creativity and continue to assess players based on size. Continue to try to win at all cost without identifying the right talent. We’ll keep being a mediocre country in the soccer world. It is the Coach and training that will make the kids fall in love with the game, and want to be playing everyday.

For those that keep saying paying to play is the problem, I guarantee you that if it becomes free, it will be the same exact thing. We will still be a mediocre country when it comes to soccer. Simply because the same guys will be in charge. The problem are the coaches….

Think about this…
After spending 6+ years playing DA, which is supposed to be the best of the best. Why do those players still end up at Junior colleges, NCAA D3, D2 and NAIA…. With the same players they were playing with or against at their regular club. If the training and level of play is that good, all of those players should be playing NCAA D1. And don’t even bother mentioning grades. You and I both know just how far a College coach will go to get a player.

I was watching the U17 Adidas cup…. I felt like I was watching bumper cars. All US Academies have the same type of players, and play the same way. Absolutely nothing exciting. They are building a bunch of robots. The international Staff couldn’t have been more disappointed.

We have a lot of players…. We just don’t have Coaches…. Find your son a good coach and enjoy the ride. Everything else will fall in place.

I’ll leave you with this.

Giovinco 5’4 -
Insigne 5’4 -
Verratti 5’5 -
Valbuena 5’5
Xavi 5’6
Santi Cazorla 5’6 -
Alexis Sanchez 5’6 -
N’golo Kante 5’6 -
Jordi Alba 5’7 -
Iniesta 5’7 -


If those players were born and raised in the US, do you think the coaches would have given them a chance??? Or Would Peter Crouch be the Coach favorite? Our Coaches continue to value physicality over talent.

REMEMBER QUALITY IS NOT QUANTITY.

the parents are the problem (me included). how many parents do you hear saying they are going to leave their current club because the team doesn't win enough. the kids just want to play. I never see any kids just playing pick up soccer - ever. go to Europe or S America and there are kids playing in the street. if you want to be good at anything, you have to live, breathe, and crap it. I remember playing pickup basketball and football as a kid- don't remember ever playing a game of pickup soccer. you can't blame coaches- they are making their livings off of this because we have allowed it. everyone wants a title. I want my kid to play DA! for what purpose exactly? he will probably end up hating soccer by the time it even matters to his or her future because these systems drain the fun out of it.

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just-a-dad wrote:the parents are the problem (me included).   how many parents do you hear saying they are going to leave their current club because the team doesn't win enough.  the kids just want to play.   I never see any kids just playing pick up soccer - ever.  go to Europe or S America and there are kids playing in the street.  if you want to be good at anything, you have to live, breathe, and crap it.   I remember playing pickup basketball and football as a kid- don't remember ever playing a game of pickup soccer.   you can't blame coaches- they are making their livings off of this because we have allowed it.  everyone wants a title.  I want my kid to play DA!  for what purpose exactly?  he will probably end up hating soccer by the time it even matters to his or her future because these systems drain the fun out of it.

Soccer is just now becoming a part of the American homes... Most parents are still very much unaware of the culture of the game. It's up to the Coach to teach it in a way that will make the kids want to play as much as possible. Much like it's up to the Coaches to educate the parents and help them understand that although winning is important, winning does not mean development.

But then again, winning is the most important part of the business formula. Most of our winning coaches right now are so bad, they wouldn't even be allowed to coach Rec in Europe. But the W matters here, so who cares about player growth?

I agree with you baller07.  With the success of the national team back in the 90's, it was thought that soccer would grow in the US with that generation of players moving into the coaching roles.  Taking their experiences and applying them to the youth soccer system.  Questionable if that has really worked.

Unfortunately, money/revenue drives everything.

In the argument of pay to play there are so many talented kids that will never get looked at....as has been stated so many times before.

Our youth coaches should not rely on coaching 2-4 teams as their only form of income.  If they had an"8-5" job and coached because they loved the game and wanted to develop players the motive of money would not be an issue (not as much at least).  As for compensation parents still would cover their travel expenses or pay them a stipend.

Of course you still have to make sure the coaches have the right knowledge too.  That is where the US federation could set new standards for coaching.  Just about anyone can go get a coaching License.  We need better coaching clinics that stress the importance of development.

But yet again the business of youth soccer in the US is such a BEAST, I do not see the motive of money and wins ever being replaced by development.

Definitely agree with what is being said.  It can be hard for some parents who don't know soccer to first know what they are looking for and find the coach that might be the right answer.  

Outside of the US there is a business of youth soccer in the rest of the world.  It's just more focused on the player because most of the rest of world football adopts FIFA's solidarity mechanism and training compensation.  Annex 4 and 5 for some light FIFA reading.

https://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/administration/regulations_on_the_status_and_transfer_of_players_en_33410.pdf

Clubs get paid on the player they trained and developed and therefore there is more emphasis on developing the player vs. just having a winning record (at least that's the methodology).  Granted they still want to win.  MLS and US Soccer are not structured this way and therefore no solidarity compensation is ever given to the training/developing club.  

So the only way for US Clubs to receive compensation is to charge the players....parents.  And yes I agree that we as parents are much to blame because we want little Johnny on a winning team and we equate winning with development.  And to be honest it's hard for a good coach who is trying to develop players and not winning to keep talented players on his/her team.

Going back to solidarity payments...I honestly haven't researched this in much detail as it relates to US Soccer and MLS other than it doesn't happen.  While working with a Regional Bundesliga team I asked how much the kids paid to train and I was told 5 euros a month by one of the coaches.  I asked how the club could afford this and they said they made most of their money by transferring their players to larger D1 and D2 Bundesliga teams.  The teams us Americans are more familiar with.

Just a different model that seems to be working.  That and US is still trying it's best to grow a soccer culture.

baller07 wrote:

We have a lot of players…. We just don’t have Coaches…. Find your son a good coach and enjoy the ride. Everything else will fall in place.

I’ll leave you with this.

Giovinco 5’4 -
Insigne 5’4 -
Verratti 5’5 -
Valbuena 5’5
Xavi 5’6
Santi Cazorla 5’6 -
Alexis Sanchez 5’6 -
N’golo Kante 5’6 -
Jordi Alba 5’7 -
Iniesta 5’7 -


If those players were born and raised in the US, do you think the coaches would have given them a chance??? Or Would Peter Crouch be the Coach favorite? Our Coaches continue to value physicality over talent.

Ugh. I've seen plenty of talented players that are shorter in statue on fields in DFW over the past eight years. I've rarely seen the talented tall player that is in demand on top clubs. My favorite 2006 boys coach in DFW is made up entirely of boys that are half my son's size. It's not about size, speed, or physicality (alone). I seriously doubt our US Men's roster decisions are made on size, I'd guess it's (still) more about politics (unfortunately).

The US is slowly moving away from size, speed, and physicality and trying to build out of the back, play forward, backward, inside and out, and build for the right scoring opportunity. Did any of you take the time to watch our friendly against Paraguay on March 27th? Young roster, smallish in size, built out of the back. US soccer is changing.

I do agree that coaching matters. But tell me where we find these world class coaches for our BB's. What tree do they grow on? Are they all British? I've heard lots of British accents on the local pitches, but I wouldn't say it always results in better play. I'm fortunate that my son plays for a National A license coach that has coached for over thirty years. I've read and heard criticism about "these coaches getting their licenses and pretending like they are coaches vs. all these great coaches without licenses that were former players". I couldn't disagree more. I think coaching education is the key. Find a coach that has taken the time to get educated, that communicates well with your child, that you can afford, that you live close enough to to make their practices....

US Soccer players for reference:

Strikers/Forwards
Jordan Morris 6'0
Bobby Wood 5'10
Dom Dwyer 5'9
Kekuta Manneh 5'9

Midfielders
Will Trapp 5'10 (Bradley's potential replacement at the "6" is three inches shorter)(Sergio Busquets by reference is 6'2).
Darlington Nagbe 5'9
Tyler Adams 5'9
Kenny Saief 5'9
Christian Roldon 5'8
Christian Pulisic 5'8
Kelyn Rowe 5'8

Fullbacks
Jorge Villafaña 5'9
DeAndre Yedlin 5'8

Centre-back
Matt Miazga 6'4
Cameron Carter-Vickers 6'1 (well below average height for top clubs).

World class players (won't hear anyone complain about their size, speed, or physicality):

Strikers/forwards
Zlatan Ibrahimović 6'5
Romelu Lukaku 6'3
Álvaro Morata 6'2
Cristiano Ronaldo 6'2
Harry Kane 6'2
Robert Lewandowski 6'1
Gareth Bale 6'1
Danny Welbeck 6'1
Luis Suárez 6'0
Leroy Sané 6'0

Midfielders
Nemanja Matić 6'4
Paul Pogba 6'3
Dele Alli 6'2
Marcos Alonso 6'2
Michael Carrick 6'2
Moussa Sissoko 6'2
André Gomes 6'2
Mousa Dembélé 6'1
Zinedine Zidane 6'1
Xhaka 6'1
Casemiro 6'1
Toni Kroos 6'0
Ivan Rakitić 6'0
Mesut Özil 6'0
Marco Asensio 6'0
Jordan Henderson 6'0
Victor Wanyama 6'0
Kevin De Bruyne 5'11
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 5'11
Ronaldinho 5'11

Fullbacks
Joe Gomez 6'2
Luke Shaw 6'1
Danilo 6'0
Davide Zappacosta 6'0
Antonio Valencia 5'11
Nélson Semedo 5'10
Sergi Roberto 5'10
Kyle Walker 5'10
César Azpilicueta 5'10
Andrew Robertson 5'10

The idea that soccer is for shorter boys, that play with skill and just a little physicality is absurd.

Soccer is a fast, physical, and often violent game (on all levels). Those with the physical, mental, and technical abilities that are coupled with the right youth and advanced level coaches should rise to the top, regardless of size.

Good points baller07 but I disagree on mostly
USA don’t qualified to the WC not because of the system, on my opinion was to old players, & most because we have a kid the he think he is Messi,Ronaldo,Maradona & Pele together when he come and play for the national team,
Iceland small country then Texas and it’s going to WC on the same thing you talking about size did you even know what it’s the height average of Iceland players probably not on the entire world it’s more about size and physical and speed and technical not just technical you mentioned country’s like
Uruguay. 179.8 cm
Portugal. 180.5 cm
Croatia. 184.3
Belgium 183.8
La Liga 180.57
Premier league 182.52
Thats it’s funny

https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-soccer-articles/the-high-cost-of-american-coaching_aid43981

Another good article on lack of educated coaching in US vs. other countries and the higher cost of that education in the US for coaches. $3,000 for a B license program and $4,000 for an A? Germany charges less than 600 for a UEFA A license.

And the ratios they discussed in the article of A and B heck even F coaches to the millions of players in the US is astounding.