On this episode of the 3four3 podcast, Joey and I discuss some of the misconceptions of possession-soccer.

It's pretty common to see members of the media, or people on twitter, attempting to discredit possession-based soccer.

One example of this is how Pep Guardiola and Manchester City are talked about in the media when they do anything other than completely dominate their opponent.

As Joey points out in this episode, most people fail to realize that the level of Premier League has been raised in recent years, which could be a direct result of Pep and his possession-based soccer.

We also discuss how players at virtually every level, including young kids and even the USMNT, can play this way, but the coach is responsible for making this happen.

Yes, the coach is critical.

The Player Development Masterclass is going to be offering Training and Mentorship for Smarter Individual Player Development. Through this exclusive online course, you'll have greater access to the mind of one of our country's top developers of talent, Brian Kleiban, and receive focused, proven individual training methods and education.

The course is on the cusp of launching, and you can get yourself on the priority enrollment list right now by visiting 343masterclass.com.

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The post Episode 243: What Are the Biggest Misconceptions of Playing Possession-Based Soccer? appeared first on 3four3.

In this episode, Joey Cascio joins me to discuss the details of how to execute short goal kicks.

Building out of the back is a critical element when playing possession-style soccer and goal kicks are a big, big part of that.

It is important to understand that at the highest levels of the game, building out of the back from goal kicks is not a series of random passes and movements. It is not players just knocking the ball around”.

No.

It is all planned and rehearsed.

In an interview with Jed Davies, Brian Kleiban was asked, What are the key things you learned while studying at FC Barcelona?

Brian said, The little details. The little details that make a difference. Not so much the individual stuff, but the tactical foundation that they lay in players at such a young age.

We’re going to start dissecting those little details in this episode and discuss some topics that are often ignored in the media, on Twitter, and even ignored in coaching courses.

So, when you watch one of Brian's teams take a goal kick, or when you watch Barcelona on TV, or Bayern Munich, or Manchester City, you’ll know that what you’re seeing is not random. You’ll know the goal kicks are well thought out, choreographed, and you might even be able to see a number of different scenarios the teams have at their disposal.

This episode is educational, not entertainment.

The Player Development Masterclass is 3four3's solution to the individual training problem. Through this exclusive new online course, members will have greater access to the authority in American soccer talent development, Brian Kleiban, and receive focused, proven individual training methods and education.

We’ll be releasing more details in the near future, but for now, you can learn more by visiting 343masterclass.com.

Here is a video of goal kicks that you can study and dissect yourself.

Photo of Barcelona goal kick vs. Espanyol

Photo of Espanyol goal kick vs. Barcelona

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The post Episode 242: How to Execute Short Goal Kicks appeared first on 3four3.

It’s the start of a brand new year.

Which means there is no better time than now to talk about work ethic.

Because that is what separates the best players from the average.

In this episode, John reads one of 3four3’s evergreen articles written by Gary Kleiban. The article, Work Ethic – An Elusive Player Trait, is a directed at coaches and scouts, but is also important for players, parents, and fans to hear as well.

Following the reading of the article is an interview with Uly Llanez, Alex Mendez, Leo Sepulveda, and Charlie Anguiano when they first moved over to the LA Galaxy Academy.

Why is this interview included?

Well, a couple of reasons.

First, because all four of these guys have an incredible work ethic.

Second, because Uly just received his first full USMNT camp invitation and he would have never reached this level without putting in massive amounts of extra work. Hearing him talk about his journey is important for those that take player development seriously.

This topic will be discussed again on this podcast. But for now, enjoy this episode. If you have questions or comments, please leave them below.

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The post Episode 241: What Separates the Best from the Average? appeared first on 3four3.

What's so special about a rondo?

Johan Cruyff said, Everything that goes on in a match, except shooting, you can do in a rondo. The competitive aspect, fighting to make space, what to do when in possession and what to do when you haven't got the ball, how to play one-touch' soccer, how to counteract the tight marking and how to win the ball back.

So basically a rondo is one of the most powerful exercises if not the most powerful known to soccer.

What is a rondo, though?

Well, there are different variations of rondos. There are also different levels of rondos.

A rondo, in the most basic form, resembles a keep-away game, with a player or two (or more) in the middle and others on the outside trying to retain possession. This is what most people think of when they hear the word.

Lost in the keep away idea are the subtleties of proper communication, movement, timing, the weight of the pass, decision making, defensive pressure, and identity building. Not to mention the technical demands of working in small spaces under extreme pressure and the numerous repetitions and opportunities to improve. Rondos offer even more than this, though. The list could go on and on.

In more complex forms, these rondo exercises can become positional and/or situational, meaning the movements and actions directly translate to the specific game-like scenarios with players operating in roles and with responsibilities much like they would in a real game.

So, yes, there are levels.

Unlocking these levels at the appropriate time is important for *proper player and coach development.

And THIS is what so many get wrong.

Like Gary and Brian have said, their current group of 2000/2001/2002's (which they started coaching at U10) continue to open every single training session with a 4v1 rondo. That's years and years worth of using one of the most basic rondos to sharpen the technical and tactical skills of players that are considered top in the country.

As Gary said to close out in a lesson from the original free 7-week course, This isn't a crazy notion, Barcelona players do fundamental rondos every single training session from when they are U8 up to, and including, the first team you watch on TV.

And yes, that's true. Take a look at FC Barcelona's official YouTube channel.

If you want your team to play possession-based soccer, rondos can be some of the most powerful tools at your disposal.

They're easy enough to teach 10-year-olds who are just learning the game, and they're hard enough to still sharpen the skills of pros like Messi and Iniesta.

That's why we call rondo's the bread and butter.

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The post Episode 240: A Quick Discussion About Rondo’s with Brian Kleiban appeared first on 3four3.

On this episode, Joey Cascio joins me to discuss the recent Clasico.

We did not break this down as we would normally do for a USMNT game. Instead, we decided to discuss some fundamentals, and also some special moments, and we used examples from the match to highlight those specific actions/concepts.

To name a few…

Why did we decide to do this?

Because we feel like it’s important that people start watching and discussing the game differently. And these are actions that are easy to highlight and can tell us a lot about a specific player, or a specific play.

And so many more questions could be asked…

The game can be more exciting when you (understand and) zoom in on the details instead of just watching as a fan from 30,000 feet above.

Of course, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the spectacle that is El Clasico. It’s also easy to say this was a bad game because it ended 0-0. It’s easy to say this didn’t provide the same level of drama as years past. But when you zoom in and inspect the individual actions and the quality of the twenty-players on the field – you start to see something very, very different.

Here are some examples from the match that we discussed during the episode:

Excellent example of losing your man from Suarez before receiving the ball from Ter Stegen.

The awareness of both players here is unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/sGUogOsNLi

John Pranjić (@ThatCroatianGuy) December 19, 2019

-Bale does a good job of denying path to Alba here

John Pranjić (@ThatCroatianGuy) December 19, 2019

You can head over to our Twitter feeds to see more tactical analysis, videos, and photo examples.

The plan is to continue with these types of episodes. We hope you enjoy them. Please feel free to send us your feedback.

Joey is @cascio_fg

As always, you can also tell us how you feel in the comment section below.

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This is brought to you by the 3four3 coaching education program.

Learn more and join over 400 coaches using our proven possession-based methodology.

The post Episode 239: Do You Notice These Fundamental Actions When You Watch a Game? appeared first on 3four3.

This episode of the podcast is an article written by Gary Kleiban that was originally published on the 3four3 blog in August 2009.

You can access the original article here: What's an Elite Player?

Normally, the date doesn’t matter when these posts are revived. But in this case, I believe it’s important to point out that this was written over 10 years ago. 3four3’s now-famous U11 possession soccer video was still three years in the future. All the guys in that video were just 8 and 9 years old at the time this article was released.

But these are some of the standards the players were already being held to.

These are some of the standards that helped develop them into the players that they are now.

These are some of the standards we still believe coaches, scouts, parents, media, and fans can use to evaluate players more effectively.

Listen here. And feel free to provide your feedback below.

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The post Episode 238: Elite Soccer Player Characteristics appeared first on 3four3.

On this episode, I’m joined by Luis Martinez, Toni Navarro, and Joe Campos.

Luis is the Academy Director for Valencia CF, one of the most productive and successful youth academies in the world. According to him, Valencia’s youth academy was recently ranked top 5 when it comes to how many players are currently playing professionally around the world. Toni manages Valencia’s international programs, like the program they run in Seattle with Joe’s club, Eagleclaw FC.

Joe has been on this podcast before. You might remember the episode titled “Here’s What Happens When You Build Your Own Club and Disrupt Your Soccer Market.” Well, that was Joe. He was fed up with the way American soccer works and wanted to offer something different, something better. And the people he partnered with to do the disrupting are from Valencia. Hence the conversation you’re about to hear.

One of the more interesting points I zeroed on was that these coaches from Valencia are using these programs to teach players their methodology and also scout players and their ability to perform. You’ll hear me say I find it fascinating that foreign scouts are looking at American players way earlier than American scouts.

Crazy, right? And so true.

Around the world, clubs are incentivized to scour the earth for talent. But here in America, this sort of behavior is frowned upon. The only type of activity we see is usually an effort for a club to expand, monopolize, and crush clubs in that market. We see that here in the US with mega-clubs. We also see it from MLS franchises.

We’ll save those talking points for another day… there is plenty more to digest in this episode.

The guys touch on a number of different topics:

I’ve provided a lot more show notes than usual. You can find those below.

Here several related episodes:

Luis Martinez – Valencia CF Academy Director

What types of services is Valencia offering and implementing and where?

Talking about their programs in China…

**Like Tom Byer has stated on the #343podcast before – China requires that these programs go through their department of education and are therefore part of the actual school curriculum.**

Talking about their programs in general…

Discussing China again

What is the most interesting part of the relationship between Eagleclaw and Valencia?

What are their thoughts on the typical American players at this moment?

Where are American players still lacking?

What is the overall goal of these programs they run around the world?

Joe asks the guys – Is there only one way to playing pro in Europe for Americans?

***John mentions that he thinks it's interesting to have international clubs scouting and developing players at a younger age than typical American programs. International clubs are scouting and monitoring American players much earlier than any American scout is.***

John asks what is one message they want to get out to American listeners…

In regards to Eagleclaw…

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The post Episode 237: Find Out Why Spanish Coaches Are Interested in Developing American Players. appeared first on 3four3.

Mathias Schober is a former professional goalkeeper in Germany. He is currently the Academy Director at Schalke 04. He oversees their entire youth soccer operation from U8-U19.

Erik Stover, a former guest on this podcast, introduced me to Mathias. Erik works for Match IQ and is helping Schalke increase their footprint here on American soil. When I spoke to Mathias, he was preparing to leave his hotel room to head over to the Soccerex conference in Miami. Even though this conversation was quick, it is jam-packed with useful information for American parents, coaches, and fans.

During our conversation, we discuss:

Alright, please enjoy this conversation with Mathias Schober.

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The post Episode 236: Mathias Schober, Schalke 04 Youth Academy Director, Discusses Scouting, Recruiting, and Developing Players appeared first on 3four3.

Joey Casico joins me again to break down the recent Atletico Madrid vs. FC Barcelona match.

Both teams provided excellent examples of what it takes to play top-level football. Nearly every player on the field demonstrated perfect execution of the fundamental skills and details required to play their respective styles. This game was a masterclass.

If you watch the game closely, you would see beautiful (and plenty of) examples of things like:

(You know, all of the things that we were promised here in America from our national team coach.)

So, why did we break down this game?

Well, it’s important to us that we help fans, players, parents, and coaches see the game differently. It’s important to us that we help everyone talk about the game differently. It’s important to us that we, as a soccer nation, start holding our best American players and coaches to these global standards.

We’re going to be sprinkling in episodes like this more often. So, we hope you enjoy them. You can head over to our Twitter feeds to see more tactical analysis, videos, and photo examples.

Joey is @cascio_fg

As always, you can also tell us how you feel in the comment section below.

Never miss new episodes:

This is brought to you by the 3four3 coaching education program.

Learn more and join over 400 coaches using our proven possession-based methodology.

The post Episode 235: It’s Time to Hold American Soccer to These Standards appeared first on 3four3.

Alright, that’s a wrap for the USMNT in 2019.

We finished the year with a 4-0 victory against Cuba in the CONCACAF Nation’s League. The scoreline does not tell the entire story, though.

Eleven months into “the process” of developing an identity and style of play with the national team came and went without any real progress.

To top things off, we appeared to abandon all of the principles that were being engrained in the players starting in January.

So, Joey and I busted out the magnifying glasses and broke the Cuba game down in a way that others don’t.

We continue to hold Berhalter accountable for the way he promised that the team would play. We talk about specific moments, like Jordan Morris’ first goal, and try to determine if that was even supposed to happen. And then we start looking forward to 2020 and discuss what we want from the team next year.

You can head over to our Twitter feeds to see some of the tactical analysis, video and photo examples, and reactions from other fans.

Joey is @cascio_fg

As always, you can also tell us how you feel in the comment section below.

Never miss new episodes:

This is brought to you by the 3four3 coaching education program.

Learn more and join over 400 coaches using our proven possession-based methodology.

The post Episode 234: “The Mirage of CONCACAF” and Our Thoughts on the USMNT vs. Cuba. appeared first on 3four3.