Should youth teams be judged on results or # of eventual senior team players?

[Observer]

So I asked someone what do these big clubs do to get their young players to buy into the concept of playing off the ball and working hard to get it back.  The person said a couple of revealing things:

1 - Clubs train their minds at a young age what they need to do when they lose the ball.  In essence, they condition their central nervous system to react a particular way.
2 - Competiton.  You have X amount of time to prove that you really want it.  If you don't, you're out.  Competiton for places is the biggest motivator.

I totally understood the competiton thing, but the conditioning the mind thing surprised me, but it makes a lot of sense.

Of course it is a cricital factor in the total development of the player. We tend to only focus on what our players can or cannot do with the ball., but football is a brain game and at the highest level that's where the differences occur in split seconds; so at the early ages when motor skills are being developed (ages 3-10) the technical aspects (this is also an area where the central nervous system is conditioned) have to be developed; after that the brain is being developed (11-16) so tactical awareness then become the focal point of the player's development. I witnessed several sessions last summer at my camp two guest coaches from Barca worked with some players who we thought were quality players for their age; most of the sessions focused on their ability to play off the ball and execute a certain skill with precision once the ball was recieved. Many of the players struggled because they became mentally fatigued even faster than they were physically fatigued.

  Yuh know I remember an old saying from one of my old coaches. "All muscle and no brain "

[truetrini]

If the purpose of the youth teams is to be a feeder for senior teams then how do we judge their progress as players?  Not by qualifying to play in tourneys?  And not through their performances in said tourneys?

No one in their right mind expects an U-17 team to eventually be the senior team...maybe one or two players...but to say it is a feeder is rubbish really.

[trinikev]

If the purpose of the youth teams is to be a feeder for senior teams then how do we judge their progress as players?  Not by qualifying to play in tourneys?  And not through their performances in said tourneys?

No one in their right mind expects an U-17 team to eventually be the senior team...maybe one or two players...but to say it is a feeder is rubbish really.

Well I wouldn't quite call it rubbish, as as even if one or 2 players from the youth teams consistently make it to the senior ranks, then it is a feeder of sorts. That said, it certainly isn't be all and and all of what youth programs should be setting out to achieve.

IMO a structured youth program with a long term goal would prepare a greater number of players with the physical and mental makeup to succeed on the professional/international level. This should, in turn, increase the national player pool, increase competition for places, and should raise the level of team performance as a whole. So i guess ideally for me it is about developent, with an eye towards improving the overall level of players making up the senior player pool.

[truetrini]

countries with successful junior teams, consistent qualifying and consistently performing admirably in junior tourneys usually have good senior teams...true

[asylumseeker]

While Rome is burning and some are twiddling or fiddling ...

From the U.S. Soccer Communications Center -- May 15, 2009

U.S. U-15 GIRLS' NATIONAL TEAM TRAINING JOURNAL FROM PALO ALTO, CALIF.
Palo Alto, Calif.
April 11-19, 2009

Coaching Staff
Michael Dickey (Head Coach)
Jorge Cruz (Assistant Coach)
Janine Sparza (Assistant Coach, Goalkeeping)

Camp Facts

    * 24 players invited into camp - All players were born in 1994 except for one who was born in 1995.

    * The purpose of the camp was to develop players in preparation for the U-17 FIFA Women's World Cup in 2010. The 1993 born player pool, now in the identification stage, will be added later.

    * The team was based in Foster City, Calif. and trained at Stanford University.

    * Competition included two top level U-18 girl’s club teams, two Division 1 Women’s University teams and one semi-pro Women’s team (Sacramento Storm).

    * The goals for the week were: focus on technical corrections and repetitions; working collectively in small groups to create chances to score and defend; improve speed of play in transition from defense to offense; improve decision making against high level opponents; and discover the abilities of players in new positions on the field with a different system of play.

Day 1 - Arrived into Northern California

    * Dynamic warm-up without a ball (coordination and flexibility).

    * 8v8 (six minute games) - Players determined their own formation for each game they played and altered it for each new game.
    * The session ended with technical finishing.
    * Coaching staff and players met in the evening at the team hotel.

Day 2 - Morning Training

    * Dynamic warm-up without a ball (coordination and flexibility).

    * Worked on passing technique in groups of two and three.

    * Goalkeepers worked on footwork and ball handling.

    * Defenders worked on individual defending technique.

    * The team then worked on small group to large group defending (3v2 to two goals and then progressed to 6v4 to two goals).

    * Progressed to 5v5 + one with two goalkeepers and two full-sized goals.

    * The emphasis was on crossing and finishing in the attack and how to defend crosses and runs into the box.

    * The restriction placed on the players was two touch in the central part of field and unlimited touch outside of it.

    * The session ended with technical finishing.

Day 2 - Afternoon Training

    * The warm-up focused on technical passing in groups of two and three.

    * 11v11 - Controlled intra-squad scrimmage.

    * The coaching staff worked on team organization and defending and attacking concepts.

Day 3 - Morning Training

    * The warm-up focused on technical passing in groups of three.

    * The coaching staff broke up the team into groups to work on the following:

    * Attacking players - worked on finishing.

    * Midfielders – played combination play of 2v2 + four with a limit of one touch for the players on the outside.

    * 4v4 to two targets

    * 5v5 to four goals

    * Goalkeepers and defenders worked on playing out of the back while under pressure.

    * The session ended with a 6v6 head tennis game that focused on technique.

Day 3 - Afternoon Training

    * The warm-up focused on technical passing in groups of three.

    * Goalkeepers worked on crossing and footwork.

    * The team played 3v1 possession with a restriction of one touch.

    * Played 5v5 + one using two grids that worked on transition possession.

    * The session ended with a 7v8 game to big goals. Two counters goals were added. The group was split up between offense vs. defensive.

Day 4 – Morning Training

    * The team rested in the morning and worked on their class work.

Day 4 – Afternoon Match
Played a match versus a U-18 girl’s club team. It was a 90 minute match, played with limited substitutions.

Day 5 - Off Day

    * The team took the day off to travel into San Francisco.

    * In the evening the team met to discuss and review the performance of the previous day’s game.

Day 6 - Morning Training

    * The warm-up focused on technical passing and running off the ball.

    * The team played 3v1 possession with a restriction of one touch.

    * 10v10 incremental possession game.

    * 10v10 + three with a limit of two touches.

    * Goalkeepers worked on parrying and boxing.

    * Final third exercise 10v7 to goal. Restriction added was that goals could only be scored on a one touch finish.

Day 6 - Afternoon Training

    * Played a match versus a U-18 girl’s club team. It was a 90 minute match, played with no re-entry for the national team.

Day 7 - Morning Training

    * The warm-up focused on combination play in groups of two and three’s.

    * 4v4v4 (combination play with one group of four only allowed to play one touch with the team in possession of the ball).

    * Goalkeepers worked on distribution with hands and feet.

    * The session ended with finishing.

Day 7 - Afternoon Small Group meetings

    * Coaching staff provided feedback to all players on how they performed in the previous two games, things to work on during the upcoming tournament games and when they return home to their club teams.

    * Players were given four questions to answer during the meetings so that coaches and players would have a quality discussion. The questions revolved around technical, tactical, physical and psychological aspects of the game.

Day 8 - Tournament Day

    * Played three 50 minute games at Stanford University.

    * Team attended the MLS game in Oakland (San Jose Earthquakes vs. LA Galaxy).


Day 9 - Departure

    * Departures in the morning for players and staff

CoachesNet Insider: How did you and your coaching staff prepare for this training camp?

Mike Dickey: “The staff and I spoke about all the players that were invited in and the experiences they have had or not had in a U.S. National Team camp. Sixteen of the players had been in at least one national team camp and ten of the sixteen players had been in with the U-17 national team pool in 2009.  We set goals to help the individuals and the team throughout the week keeping in mind that this was a completely new challenge for players competing in their first National team camp.”

CNI: What goals or objectives did you have for the team going into camp?

MD: “We went in with the mindset to prepare the players to play an attacking style of soccer that would involve many of the attacking personalities and abilities of the players in camp. We stressed the importance of technical excellence with repetition of shooting, passing and receiving. We trained in small game situations with goalkeepers and full-sized goals so the players could work on speed-of-play and decision making while under pressure. We challenged the team with new system of plays and terminology and we played against older and more experienced opponents which will ultimately prepare them for the next U-17 World Cup.”
CNI: Did your goals change at all once you were in camp?

MD: “The goals did not change but we found that some of the players were able to play at a higher level when we moved them to different positions.”

CNI: Why did you chose to play U-18 and college teams during this camp.

MD: “We played against older teams in order to gain more information on our players and where they currently are at in following areas: physical strength/speed/agility/balance, psychological determination, technical accuracy/variety; and tactical ideas and implementation. Against the two U-18 teams we were able to play all 24 players in two 90 minute games. They played quite well in all areas except for team decision making around their own goal. This is to be expected in a camp where many of the players are playing new positions and playing together for the first time. They were very good at the end of the week when they played against two Division 1 college teams and one semi-pro women’s team. Our players came together defensively and possessed the ball while moving over the entire field. Numerous chances and goals were created and the goalkeepers played very well against older and more confident players.”

CNI: Was there anything in particular you worked on over and over during camp?

MD: “We worked on passing and receiving in every training session. This was an area that we felt was not good enough and they improved as the week went along. We also worked on scoring and goalkeeping at every practice. They really enjoyed this a great deal.  Other areas we touched on were team and individual defending, turning with the ball, combination play and playing out of the back starting with the goalkeeper. Ultimately it is our hope that this camp in coordination with the work they do at ODP camps and with their club teams will help them with their goal of qualifying for the World Cup, making the World Cup Team and eventually winning a World Championship for the US. ”

[Lightning]

Football is about competition. The goal for any team at any level should be to win. At youth level if a winning mentality is not added to the skills and tactical development, you potentially end up with circus acts.  Players who could juggle and show off with a ball but who lack a purpose for all this "talent".

For youth club teams the measure of success should be the number of players passing on to that club's senior team or sold to other clubs for profit

For Youth national teams it should be about developing future national senior teamers know how to win by having had success at various youth levels and who can meet minimum performance criteria: e.g., passing/ball striking accuracy over 20, 30, 40 yds while under match pressure,receiving passes cleanly with various body surfaces while under match pressure, solid 1v1 and team defending, tactical awareness, high speed of play, win majority of 50-50s, mentally strong,  etc.

If you not learning how to win as a youth player, you probably won't have success as a senior player.

[elan]

If, as everyone seems to agree that youth football is primarily about development, how developed are our coaches to be able to impart the knowledge necessary to enable our youths to be competitive on the international stage?  Do they have the resources at their disposal to be able to do the job properly?

One thing I notice with teams like a Barcelona or a Man Utd and it harks back to the days of watching my favourite ever club team, AC Milan of Baresi, Gullit, Rijjkaard, Donadoni, Van Basten etc...is that as great offensive teams as they were/are, their work OFF THE BALL always fascinated me.  These offensive stars would work extremely hard to put pressure on the opposition to win back the ball when they didn't have possession.  

Look at Barca and check out Iniesta and Xavi in particular.  Their work rate is incredible.  And it's not wildness going all over the place peltin tackle.  Is puttin pressure on their man, oftentimes nicking the ball away and it invariably falls to a teammate.  So how come it falls to a teammate?  I've come to the conclusion that the same way they ensure that the man on the ball has 2 or 3 options when they have possession, similarly the same options present themselves when they DON'T have the ball, so that when the ball is nicked away, the chances of it falling to a teammate is high.

I look at T&T and that's a skill, a mindset that's conspicuously absent from our game in general.  Carlos Edwards does it to some extent.  So too Birchall.  Whitley did it in 2005 as did Yorke.  But that's about it.

So I asked someone what do these big clubs do to get their young players to buy into the concept of playing off the ball and working hard to get it back.  The person said a couple of revealing things:

1 - Clubs train their minds at a young age what they need to do when they lose the ball.  In essence, they condition their central nervous system to react a particular way.
2 - Competiton.  You have X amount of time to prove that you really want it.  If you don't, you're out.  Competiton for places is the biggest motivator.

I totally understood the competiton thing, but the conditioning the mind thing surprised me, but it makes a lot of sense.

It's all about organization. With senior teams most often the tactics would be to force play to a certain part of the field or to a certain player on the opposing team. For example, If I had to coach against our National team, I would gear our players to drop and make play predicatable enough that Ince would feed the defenders the ball, according to which defender he play we will then organize ourselves so that Akile Edwards would get the ball, then we would advance and put pressure to get Akile to cough up the ball in a position that is dangerous to T&T.

I know this is a little off, but this type of thinking start at the youth level. You have to start conditioning players to know when to just leave the other team with the ball, something that we struggle with. This is why most of us could not understand Chelsea across the 2 legs of the CL semis. Just like attacking, in defending you have to know where, when and why.

We still play in a way that as soon as we lose the ball we hustling to win it back without getting any shape or even if we win it there is no help around the ball. In the States they call it game sophistication. We have a lot of that individually, we need to develop the team aspect of this.