Ep 334: Be Smart with this Incomplete Notion of “Just Let the Kids Play”

3four3 FM

Before the start of our weekly business meeting, John Kokkoris and I had some soccer small talk regarding this misguided notion of “let the kids play”.

It was stimulated by the following comments made by the Argentine National Team manager, Lionel Scaloni.

“There’s an excess of analysis, too much. Nowadays, everyone knows how the opponent plays; there’s so much information that, in the end, the most important thing, which is the player, is almost remote-controlled. In our case, I don’t know about other teams, but there’s a risk of losing the essence, taking away from the player what is precisely their best quality. If you’re constantly telling them what to do, you run that risk. We convey just enough, what we believe we need to transmit, the truly important things, so as not to overwhelm them with information. We are losing the essence of football, not only at a professional level but also with kids. My children play in Spain and are overwhelmed with information. They receive the ball, and they’re already being told what to do.

“There are fewer dribblers because if they barely get the ball and you say, ‘Pass it!’… Imagine if Messi, when he was eight years old, had been constantly told by his coaches to “Pass it!” We wouldn’t have him today. It’s impressive. Because football has become such a huge thing, everyone reads, studies, and thinks that with that, they can already manage. If you tell a 7 or 8-year-old to make a diagonal run, cover defensively… He’s seven years old! Let him play with the ball, make mistakes, and when he’s 14 or 15, then we can start correcting. It’s a message for the future. This is a sport, and the beauty of football should not be lost.”

@marca

Sources:
* https://www.marca.com/futbol/futbol-internacional/2024/01/26/65b18c7d46163f33478b4580.html“

* https://x.com/AlbicelesteTalk/status/1750987023744217089?s=20

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQAu0V66Hq0&t=5s

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