Player Development

[Roboklopp]

I'd like to introduce him to Mr Fullstop and Mr Capital Letter, cos that might help a little.

Aye, and their good friends, Mr. Paragraph & Mr. Deep Breath.

[Exiled_red]

i think the problem here is that every 14 or 15 year old signed by a club like liverpool is automatically billed as a future superstar, the next big thing etc....

in reality, if you look at every top club, the days of loads and loads of players coming through the system all the way to the first team are going and going fast. The only exception at the moment is Barca - they are an unreal club at developing players from an early age - we go on about gerrard and carragher being lfc bred players but barca have produced Valdes, Reina, Puyol, Pique, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Pedro, Messi, Bojan, Fabregas, Merida and hopefully Pacheco can develop into an awesome player as well - that is just unreal - it is probably around £300m worth of talent..... but this is a totally isolated case in my view.

If we can get one or two good players through every 2 or 3 years, then this would be a good turnover in my view....... i just wish we would give more a chance and keep our own bred players as oppsed to signing squad players.... put it this way, i'd prefer to see someone like Stephen Warnock in our squad / team as opposed to someone like Insua....

Insua wasn't signed as a squad player he was signed as a young player to be brought through which is what we've done, we signed him at 17 and he's 21 now.

He hasn't been ****, he has been settling in and been a bit hit and miss, he needs time still.

[Kenneth]

I don't think he has been ****, over played probably but on the whole I think he's done alright. We're not struggling for 4th due to Insua. You have to be prepared to carry the odd weak link whilst they develop fully. He'll be better for having this season under his belt.

Better than ****. That's good.

[lfc]

Aye, and their good friends, Mr. Paragraph & Mr. Deep Breath.

lol

[lfc]

I'd like to introduce him to Mr Fullstop and Mr Capital Letter, cos that might help a little.

[EwarWoo]

I'd like to introduce him to Mr Fullstop and Mr Capital Letter, cos that might help a little.

'cos. It's an abbreviation. If you're gunna be a pedant don't be half arsed about it

[Scratch]

'cos. It's an abbreviation. If you're gunna be a pedant don't be half arsed about it

Nope, it's not an official abbreviation, it is purely slang. Therefore cos is acceptable without the apostrophe.

[Shaggy]

[zimbo]

Gary Barlow and David "Dave" Cameron take their burgeoning relationship to the next level.

[Shaggy]

[Fernandinho]

i have always wondered were people even come up with these pictures

[the rev leeroy brown]

I wanted to see how he would do in the first team. He's been **** so I don't want him in the first team. I think i am being pretty reasonable.

[el matador]

before i got into coaching kids i too used to think that having a successful team meant having a team full of players that were destined for greater things but it isnt the case.

developing players for the first team isnt about winning its about developing players to have good all round technical ability, mentality and intelligence. winning is about winning matches at all costs including player development.

the best example i can give is that if any of you go watch kids football on sunday just take a closer look at the following things

- does the goalie boot the ball to the half way line or does the team pretty much always play the ball out?
- how many times do the coaches shout 'get rid of it' instead of keep it when the defenders or midfielders have the ball at their feet?
- when attackers try a trick and lose it are they bollocked for too much fancy stuff ?

this is a big thing in coaching and my philosophy is to give the kids the tools to play in training and then let them make their own decisions on the pitch.

im not that bothered about winning but last season to prove a point i entered our team into 3 cup competitions and i set the team up to win. we won 2 and reached the final of the other but the players were had to be very disciplined about positional play and defensive organisation. its wasnt fast free flowing stuff because the players were playing to tactics and not how they wanted to. it was all solid defence and lightening counters.

at youth level winning matches / leagues or cup competitions is often at the expense of player development.

[CJ]

having played a different sport i used to dispear when parents came to watch matches

shouting clueless crap at their kids as opposed to what you had said they should do.

is it important for them to learn tactics as well as skill? or is skill the total overiding facet?

[el matador]

having played a different sport i used to dispear when parents came to watch matches

shouting clueless crap at their kids as opposed to what you had said they should do.

is it important for them to learn tactics as well as skill? or is skill the total overiding facet?

winning football is about tactical development and organisation. we dont do any of that at this age as you just want kids to be playing football and developing their skills and technique. at barcelonas la masia academy they dont do any tactical work until the age of 16.

as for the parents - in my team the parents arent allowed to say a word during the match. they can encourage the team and their kids but nothing even remotely instructional.

kids need encouragement and freedom to express themselves. they dont need moronic coaches and pushy parents ruining things.