I suspect the 'passer' had no idea whose feet the ball was going to arrive at!! Take a look at it again - perhaps you are right - perhaps what I saw as a lucky touch was indeed a skilful nutmeg - if it is I will apologise! However I just think the 'passer' just put the ball into a dangerous area for ...

But is that not all irrelevant now?? We have just seen the two best teams is Europe - certainly the results in the semis would seem to suggest this. But what was the emphasis -the basic principles of defence -continued pressure on the ball - cover for the pressuring players - only giving attackers ...

No not questioning that at all. You can teach just about anything to anybody if you structure the right learning situations. Just wondering if an emphasis on possession with youngsters will lead to a generation of players able to make safe 10/15 metres passes but without the vision needed to see ...

What I am arguing is that your approach at junior level should reflect your understanding of the game - because it is the same game at every level. Same rules, same pitch, same goals - except for the littlies of course but even on smaller pitches, smaller teams etc the principles of play remain the ...

Jamie Carragher, who played over seven hundred games for Liverpool FC and thirty eight for England, captures the essence of this dilemma when he stresses that English soccer can revive itself only by identifying and enforcing what it is good at rather than being a third rate copy of someone else ...

"I still don't think some people understand the 'ball retention' reasoning/philosophy at junior level.....it's not to win games but rather to develop better technical players who can then adapt to whatever system their club/country wants to play at senior level...." Just consider the possibility ...

I decided to move this from the original site to see if there might be a little more interest in a topic that Kings jesta has raised. In my view it is the most critical question in the game at the present time. It is one that all coaches must resolve if they are to both develop skilled players and ...

Kings jesta has raised the most critical question in the game at the present time. It is a one that all coaches must resolve if they are to both develop skilled players and have a better chance of winning football games. Much of the debate seems to be based on an ideological position that ball ...