Games V. Training

Fatigue, Effort And Skill
Why The Game Still Looks Good When The Players Are Tired

Coming off July's highly successful ID camp at Colgate one sequence of events has remained in the forefront of my mind.  In my quest to bring some degree of reason to the results-oriented approach to youth soccer, something stuck out at camp that lends some further weight to that argument.  The selection of the "all-star" groups was heavily lopsided.  Upon reflection, the schedule is a huge factor:  The campers checked in on Monday at midday.  They trained that afternoon, and began playing games after dinner.  All day Tuesday & Wednesday (including 6.30 AM "futures" matches...7 v. 7 all-star games, basically), then a final match Thursday AM wrapped the week up.


What was so interesting was the staff meeting on Tuesday night, after watching the guys in six sessions (and with many of the coaches already aware of at least a handful of players from previous recruiting events elsewhere) the staff selected the final list of 30 all-stars for a game on Wednesday evening.  That list included ten or so forwards, two defenders and the rest were central midfielders.  This is not the post to discuss the lack of attention to 1v1 defending at the youth level, but rather to point out the problematic nature of playing so much soccer in so little time.  Even thinking back to my teams' performances at Nordic Cup with OSSC, where the quality of soccer appeared to hold up reasonably well over three (and four games for the U10s...) matches in two days.  I suspect there is a reason that fatigue goes unnoticed.

But two defenders?  How could professional coaches come to that conclusion?

As the boys became a little more sore and stiff, and the feet tired, the camp games clearly became deficient in defensive effort.  It's the hardest thing to do in a soccer match, defending 1v1 effectively, and it is the first thing to go when fitness suffers.  All the adults ought to think about their men's leagues, or noon hoops game, or what have you; old guys don't play D, admit it!  It's stinking hard work.  Add in the pressure of making an impression on college coaches and every player starts thinking about showing off his "skills."  But there's a reason we don't see 18 year old coaches where we see plenty of 18 year old pro players...

As though intercepting and tackling, covering, containing, pressuring, blocking shots and battling for clearances off corners and set pieces aren't skills.  Even the art of the professional foul is a skill.  They just aren't skills that youth coaches teach, or that fans (a euphemism for "parents") appreciate/understand.  The games became stretched out, and the forwards and backs became increasingly isolated against one another; the midfield game becomes little more than a pass-through.  And the players who looked the best were the players with time and space to do stuff with the ball.  Since no one in the midfield was defending at any sort of a senior level quality, these guys looked the best players, and even the very good bunch of coaches was left without a fair impression of the defensive groups, in particular, due to them being overrun as a result of a lack of defensive work in the midfield.  The players with time and space when all the players are tired are the midfielders.  Every time.

So the poor backs leave virtually no impression.  With little possession attempted, or required in the midfield, the backs aren't needed to push forward to help, nor can they get forward fast enough to join in the attack.  So they're always out of sync and exhausted.  After all, what outside back can show his attacking skills (think Sergio Ramos/Dani Alves/Ashley Cole/Gianluca Zambrotta/Bacary Sagna) when tired and slow-footed?  Those 70 plus yard forays into opposition territory take a toll, and fast!  And once backs stop influencing the game offensively, they become quite negative, only serving to stop play.  No one, not fans, coaches or even other players, want to see defenders who can only defend.

Watching some very talented players go through this over the course of the camp, it struck me that this is why it can be tempting to think that the quality of play doesn't suffer over the course of a tournament.  If the pros who evaluate for a living can be fooled, why shouldn't everyone else?  A future post will investigate the fallacy of the supposed expertise of the experts, but that's for another time!  At any rate, tournaments, and an excess of matches is good for the central midfielders, possibly the strikers, but pretty rough on the rest of the positions on the field.

If my child is playing anywhere other than those spots, I'm deeply concerned about this.  And not just for recruiting purposes (younger player's beware!).  If the game is wide-open in the middle, there is no need to use the flanks, or play possession...and that results in fewer touches for the players at other positions and less involvement.  Equals diminished developmental opportunities.  Fewer matches played with full enthusiasm require more creative use of all the players to get a result, and offer more developmental moments for all players.  In a sense, fewer matches democratizes the game.