re: Advice for my son's soccer development. [wall-o-text]

quote:

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Strikers can mentally take themselves out of the game, perhaps moreso than other positions.

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He did this all through state last year and during the finals of his first travel tournament two weekends ago. They only played a defender on him when they pressed off-sides and it fricked with his head. They'd let him get the ball then bracket him with defense and he'd go to shite, every time. All he had to do was touch pass it and open everything up...but instead of his head being up looking at the field and his options he'd look down at the ball and try to beat the defense to the corner. Credit to the other coaches because they'd play the inside guy up on him and make him take it wide, then they just poke it out of bounds when he'd distance himself from it for the run.

My worries are that in U10 rec league he'll never see well coached defenses like that and his poor habits will be reinforced.

He does take himself out of the game, ends up trying to avoid that press by collapsing into the middle and that takes away even more space from the center. After he realizes his ineffectiveness his posture changes and 'he's done'. He ends up with fewer and fewer touches and those are even moreso all or nothing footraces.