The Christmas Tree

The World cup has been the tournament of 4-2-3-1 which Spain adopted against Germany and stopped trying to squeeze Fernando Torres and David Villa into the same side, fiddled with the line of three, pulling Xavi back and pushing Andres Iniesta and Pedro forward so it almost becomes 4-2-1-3, which seems to be the route club football is taking.
Argentina did have a creative, deep-lying midfielder in their squad, but Maradona seduced by the firepower on show in his all new Tevez-Messi-Higuain attack, elected to leave Veron on the bench for the quarterfinal massacre at the hands of Germany. By selecting Tevez instead of Veron, Maradona left Mascherrano completely isolated against 3 germans in the center of midfield.
It is very difficult to establish control of the game without a composed player operating in central areas who is capable of picking a pass and either slowing or raising the tempo when necessary.
Deploying 2 destroyers leaves a team bereft of that control in the middle of the pitch and unhealthily dependent on their forwards for inspiration. Deploying just one nominally defensive midfielder against a well equiped 4-2-3-1 as both England and Argentina can testify, often can be a sure fire shortcut to humiliation.

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FIFA Ranking

World Cup champion Spain stayed at the top of FIFA's world rankings on Wednesday, and Germany and England have risen after back-to-back wins in European Championship qualifiers.

The new rankings have France, which lost a home Euro 2012 qualifier to Belarus, dropping six places to No. 27 - its worst position since the rankings were introduced in 1993.

Spain's 4-1 loss to Argentina in a friendly last week meant its lead narrowed over the second-place Netherlands. Germany is No. 3, and Brazil dropped to No. 4.

Argentina stayed at No. 5, with England now sixth ahead of Uruguay. Portugal, African champion Egypt and Chile.

FIFA updated the standings, which weigh results over a four-year cycle, using 159 international matches played over five weeks. Euro 2012 and 2012 African Cup of Nations qualifiers carried the most points.

Norway and Slovakia each used a pair of wins to jump to No. 14 and No. 16, respectively - the Slovaks' best ever - and Turkey rose seven places to No. 21.

The United States remains at No. 18 and World Cup quarterfinalist Ghana climbed three to No. 20.

Switzerland, Australia and Russia dropped out of the top 20. The Australians remain the top Asian confederation nation at No. 24.

Rank Team Points Confederation
1 Spain
2 Netherlands
3 Germany
4 Brazil
5 Argentina
6 England
7 Uruguay
8 Portugal
9 Egypt
10 Chile

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Wow! Great Weekend

Legacy Park, Lee's Summit - September 3-6 2010
Finalists Boys U13 DII
Maybe one day, we will play our age group and win a tournament. I chose Fall Brawl because I thought that would be a good tournament for us. Of course, the club asked us to play up because they told me that it would be too easy for us to play U12. It was too late for me to find another tournament so we ended up to play U13 boys and 11 vs 11.
That was the first time, we played on a big field. We didn't have any expectations because we have only 11 players. We had 2 guest players from KC Legends.
So nothing is easy in life! We started with a tie, a win and a lost but we endep up in the final! Of course, we ran off juice. Having only 2 subs, playing up, we craked down at the last 5mm of the game but I am very proud of my little boys! They played "Beautiful"

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Are Formations a top priority?

Soccer, just like anything else goes through phases, evolving and changing over time. One clear aspect is the debate over formations and systems of play used in modern day soccer. Have you found yourself asking the question, "should I play a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3? I know I have but at the end of day that is not the top priority.

There are a tons of books, videos and coaching courses geared toward understanding the details, nuances of various systems and formations. It is important to know the difference, their strengths and weaknesses at the highest level. Should it be a top priority for young soccer development?

Regardless of being on defense or offense, soccer players need to adjust constantly ot the situation around them. Where is the ball? Where are my teammates? Where are the opponents? How can I help? All are constant questions and anwers that need addressing every second of every game. This requires constant focus, awareness, endurance, communication and effort.

It is not as easy as it sounds.

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Teaching the love of the Game

Coaches occupy multiple roles in children's lives as sport participants. Coaches must be excellent instructors so that youths learn and improve skills, increase knowledge of strategies and tactics and achieve their goals. Coaches also can inspire children to maintain motivation for participating in sports.

We need to get all involved:
Coaches, parents, peers (teammates, close friends) => perceived competence => Enjoyment & Motivation.

I want to thanks the Owen for the party on Saturday. I will continue to motivate athletes by teaching them self-regulated learning strategies, which allow children to depend on themselves, not only adult.

The major reasons children play sports is to develop and demonstrate physical competence, experience positive social interactions with adults and peers and have fun and enjoyable times. We all need to embrace the love of the game.

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Soccer in America

Jurgen Klinsmann, who lives in the US, had his comments on the state of US Soccer both present and future and didn't mince words.

"Looking at the game yesterday you had three really quality players that did not live up to their expectations, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard. They were not there. It was not their game last night and if they do not step up to the world stage then you cant expect Michael Bradley and the other ones to pull it all off. I think its really important that they lay out a philosophy for US Soccer and say where do we want to go. I mean hopefully the US will get the 2022 World Cup… and so you need to know how to develop the players.

It is very difficult within the American culture to talk about that topic because you are the only country in the world that has the pyramid upside down. That means you pay for having your kid play soccer, because your goal is not that your kid becomes professional soccer player because your goal is that your kid gets a scholarship in high school or college. Which is completely opposite from the rest of the world…and it is a tough one because soccer is very similar to basketball you need it out of the lower class environment.


Soccer worldwide is a lower environment sport. We all got up from moderate families and fought our way through. You need to keep this hunger throughout your life and I compare it to basketball because all these guys are coming form the inner cities so you need to find ways, whatever they may be to connect with the Hispanics, connect with everyone and get the kids that are really hungry. To get the kids on a technical level that are able to perform and what I mean by technical level is first touch. The first touch yesterday was not there and you cannot afford those in the WC."

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Tryouts

Force Soccer Academy
June 19 - Stoll Park Field E
1-3pm
Need players for:
U10 girls - New team
U13 girls - few left
U14 girls - few left
U15 girls - few left
www.kcforcesoccer.com

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KC Fans

Laurent Denis has no such qualms.
A native of Bordeaux (like the wine), he married a woman from Kansas City and moved here in 1995. Just three years later, he was at Le Fou Frog watching the French national team win the World Cup title by crushing Brazil 3-0 in Paris.

“We had a bunch of friends screaming and waving flags,” Denis said, “and I painted my face.”
To be fair, he only put the French flag on each cheek.
Denis, who coaches the Force Soccer Academy, believes the World Cup is a great time for young players to learn from the best.

“I’ve been coaching youth soccer for the last 10 years,” Denis said. “I tell the parents if they want their kids to get better in this sport, then they need to watch it. And the World Cup is the right time to watch it, because these are the best players in the world.”


Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/05/08/1933468/kansas-city-fans-who-support-soccer.html#ixzz0oSv6I6c4

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Kansas City fans who support soccer teams from other lands are excited for World Cup to begin - KansasCity.com

Kansas City fans who support soccer teams from other lands are excited for World Cup to begin - KansasCity.com

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WAKA WAKA - This Time for Africa - by Shakira - South Africa 2010 World ...

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World Cup

Here’s the full ESPN World Cup 2010 TV schedule, image captured and pasted from this ESPN press release:

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Elevate Game awareness

Do your kid watch enough soccer to elevate us to the next level as a soccer playing nation?
Most of our kids started to play as early as age 5. Most typically play recreational with friends and dad's coach. The better players move on and play for clubs, high schools and colleges.
However, our kids spend a little, if any, time watching top-level soccer. This developmental path leads to certain generic strenghs and weaknesses in our player development.
In general, the strengths of our players are that they are athletic and technically good and they have a terrific work ethic and team mentality.
On the flip side, players are lacking of creativity and tactical or game awareness. At our age group, the lack of understanding of the subtleties of the game and the tactical is penalizing us.
Making the family watching soccer will help your kids but also the parents love for the game... And maybe they will chose soccer first instead of other sports :)

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Soccer in America

How do we measure player development?
Too often in America, a professional sport model is used in measuring youth sports success. Youth soccer is not immune to this misapplied standard. For soccer the situation is made worse by a desire of many adults to use measuring tools from other sports. In fact, it is maddening to many adults that soccer is not as black and white as with some sports in judging successful play. Many team sports played in our nation are statistically driven and coach centered.

Soccer is neither of those!

In many sports the coach makes crucial decisions during the competition. In soccer players make the primary decisions during the match; the coach's decisions are of secondary importance. Ego-centric personalities will find coaching soccer troublesome. The other significant group of adults at a youth soccer match is parents. They too often have their view of the match colored by the professional model and by a view of "coaching" that is portrayed in the media. Although it is changing, the majority of parents watching their kids play soccer have never played the game. In fact the statistics show that most of today's parents never played any team sport. So their only exposure on how to measure sporting success is gleaned from the sports media. The sports media predominately report on adult teams at the college and professional levels. These adult measurements of team performance should not and cannot be applied to youth sports.

The analogy can be made to a youngster's academic development in preparation for work in the adult business world. While the child is in primary and secondary school, the corporate world measurements of success are not applied. Those business assessments are not yet appropriate because the school-aged student does not yet have the tools to compete in the adult business environment. The knowledge and skills to be a competitor in business are still being taught and learned. This holds true in soccer as well!

This analogy is driven me nuts! Yes, we are teaching discipline, hard work but we are here to teach something fun! How parents have turned youth sports into a high-pressure, big-money enterprise at the expense of their children. In America, it is even worse than other countries because traditionally with have baseball, basketball and football that are being played in College and shown on TV!

Me, I have one question! How do you want your kid to excel in sports? Playing all the sports when they are young at a very competitive level, that is nuts!

Adults don't have 3 jobs in the same time! They won't be good at none of them! Why do they do that with our kids in sports?

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What makes a great coach?

So everyone knows that I am great! Wow, that is a good start! I watched last night Lyon vs Real Madrid. The Real is the most expensive roster in the world and guess what? They lost against Lyon!

After all, it made me think about team and coaches. You can have the best players in the world and be incapable of making them play together. The great coaches understand that coaching in not only Xs and Os (technical skill) but much more. They have durability, determination, resilience, energy, intuition and passion.

A coach has also to have a vision.
Strategy: Is there a long-term plan or vision for the team or club?
Tactics: The elite coaches can wrong foot opponents, change match, win a match...
Team building: This is my believe. Real Madrid learned that 11 "galacticos" won't make the best team. Players who are workers are just as important as the superstars.

Good fundations in skills, motivations, compatibilty players and little of intuition make the perfect coach!

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Passion

Is there anyone reading my blog? Is there anyone who can tell me why are we pushing our kids in sports so much? Knowing that 70% of America’s children are abandoning organized sports by age 13.

And in addition, soccer is not the first sport! Now, if I am talking about my own kids, there is one who runs all the time and he is having fun. He is a very good athlete and performs all the time. Why? Because he is having fun… The oldest one, she is physically strong, could be a great soccer player but efforts equal pain. I went for a jugging with her and we practiced 1v1. I asked her to be more aggressive when she practices and plays. She did last practice but she got into the car and said that she was tired…. Man! Ok you are going to tell me, boys and girls are different! Yeah! You don’t have to be Einstein for figure out! But there is a major difference, one runs because he likes it, the other because she has to.

My friend called me today and said “I know why Americans are less good in soccer than other countries” “because of Nintendo” Well, it is a fact that rich people don’t play sport anymore and stop at 13. If you look at the kids who play sport, I won’t be sure at 100% but I will say the ethnic is different. Brazil, Argentinean have the best soccer players in the world because they are coming from poor family. In Europe, there are less and less white players…

So it is difficult when you are a coach of soccer that doesn’t get pay, who does it with passion to figure out what is going to happen in long term. Basketball, Baseball are priorities in this environment. Like me, don’t ask me to watch football. I don’t get it and feel it is too slow for me. I grew with speed track in motorcycle and soccer. My friend is teaching me the game of football but it is not my cup of tea. So I know that for all parents, it is the same when they watch a soccer game…

My goal is to teach a wonderful game and have fun with the kids. I would like for them to be passionate about it and have fun with it. When they need to run, they do it because they love it, not because they have to…

At the end, it is just about passion!

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Talent vs Teamwork

The one of the teachings more marked of this CAN 2010, this is the chronic inability of the French-speaking countries of Black Africa (Ivory Coast, Cameroon), to play as a team. One there finds nevertheless the better individualities of the Continent but that forms only an addition of players gifted. Not a collective one. And as often by the past, that was not enough against teams with less provided in pure talent but animated with a state of mind and of a superior collective force.

To be honest, I didn't enjoy winning our D1! It scared me more than anything else because I thought right away about Spring! Scared because we have to reproduce the same quality of game. Is it possible?

Athletic performance is mainly determined by technical and physical abilities are stable elements that will not change or fluctuate within a short period of time. The psychological aspect is one of the most important. Athletes need to build self-confidence.

One aspect we are missing right now, I know it is winter and I am starting to worry too much! It is the trust and teamwork. We have some talents but we don't have a team right now.

I am going to need some helps!

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1v1 situation

It is no secret that one of the most important situation during a soccer game is the 1 v. 1 matchup. During the course of a game, attackers have to decide whether to beat an opponent by dribbling past him or her, or passing the ball, while defenders try to prevent opponent to get near the goal and score.

To be effective in the 1v1 situation each player must have a good overall technical and tactical understanding. In many cases the outcome of a game is a direct result of the various 1v1 opportunities the team is able to win.

Coaching youth soccer should emphasis the 1v1, the basic skills of control and passing. As kids get older, progress to team play and organization should be including.

Creating a winning team takes time, effort, patience and skill.

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Cooking vs Coaching

What is the major difference between a chef and a cook? Some people will say, experience, knowledge and talent. I will say feelings! A chef has to look at his ingredients and try to make the best of it. Each ingredients are different. Each seasons, ingredients have different flavors.

You take a lemon in December or June, they will be a different but it is still a lemon! Coaching is like cooking, you have some ingredients and you have to try to make the best Mayonnaise possible! Some days, your ingredients won’t play correctly and you have to try to adjust your recipe. When I am cooking, I can’t following a recipe. I know what I want and I improvise with my ingredients. Of course, there is basic that you can’t avoid.

Yesterday I was watching Inter Milan, where Mourinho is an incredible chef. During the game, I thought Muntari was not playing very well and Inter Milan was down 2-0. At 64mm, Mourinho subbed Muntari with another player. 3mm latter, 2-2! That is cooking! Mourinho said something about Italy versus England or other coaches like Wenger, Peterson where coaches have a vision and the clubs give them the time to create their recipe. Mourinho was complaining that in Italy, he doesn’t have the time to create his recipe and the club wants to have results quickly.

My friend said that he thought we should try to win with a different recipe. First when he told me this, I listen and finally realized that is the real point. It is not about winning but developing.

I think it is pretty sad when you are watching young soccer. This is not soccer. You can have five cooks in a box and none of them was a chef! Most of my experience in coaching or watching other teams playing soccer struggle to win. There is no development of players. Coaches are following one recipe and try to stick with it. It is so frustrating sometimes. They don’t pay attention of their ingredients. This is the age-old approach of trying to fit players into the games played and defined by adults. They are missing some fundamental building recipes - understanding how young players learn and applying those concepts to the free-flowing, problem-solving nature of the game. Of course, we are not talking about professionals soccer players. So we have to develop our players. Win or lose, that is not the point. We should focus on training, fitness and having fun.

My goal is to be able to have players that are skillful, experiment and strong. After it requires “elite” players. Like Tony says “not all horses can jump” which is true but only because we are at the highest level.

I would like parents and my best friend to realize that it has not been ever about wining but developing. If somehow, I will have time to convince everyone that it is a fun game and my kids are improving. I would rather watching a game where the players are playing well than just win because the coach is better than the other one. I would rather to hear “wow, these kids are improving” than “my kid is getting fit” or “great game” because we won. What is going to happen if I lose?

We need to focus on using our resources to train or hire better coaches to work with more coaches and players, even across club lines, rather than continue to have clubs compete for the same coaches or players.

Coaching is a craft, not a science!

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