u/paulinhoOM

I’ve seen a technically gifted 9 year old get told he’s a goalkeeper because he’s tall and has good reflexes. His coach plays him there every single game, every single season. By U15 he’s a decent keeper but has no idea how to receive under pressure, can’t play out from the back with any confidence and his understanding of outfield movement is years behind his peers. That’s not a hypothetical. I’ve seen that exact story play out multiple times coaching across 8 teams from U9-U16. Early position specialisation is one of the most quietly damaging things happening in youth soccer right now and most coaches and parents don’t even realise they’re doing it.

My rule is simple, anything before U14 (recreational/competitive)I am rotating my players across multiple positions and I genuinely believe every coach should be doing the same. A striker who has never played defensive midfielder has no idea what a defensive midfielder is actually trying to do when he presses. A fullback who has never played centre forward doesn’t understand the runs he should be making space for. When you move players around early you’re not confusing them, you’re building a complete football brain. The best players I’ve ever coached and the best players I played alongside across Morocco, France, Senegal, England and the US could all play multiple positions comfortably because somewhere early in their development someone gave them the full picture of the game. Position specialisation has its place but maybe not before U14 in my opinion. Give them the whole game first and let them figure out where they belong within it.

Thoughts ?

Been following this all week and I have to be honest a €500k fine each with no sporting sanctions doesn’t sit right with me. I get that both players apologised and the club considered it closed but this was a pretty serious incident. Valverde ended up hospitalised with a concussion, thought to be from his head striking a table, and needed rest for up to 14 days. That’s not a minor training ground scuffle, that’s a teammate ending up in hospital from getting knocked out. A fine that for Tchouameni amounts to roughly two weeks salary barely registers at that level. A suspension was needed in my opinion, a clear message that this behaviour has consequences beyond financial.

As an Marseille fan I watched the Rabiot and Rowe situation unfold at Marseille and both players ended up forced out of the club. Honestly I thought that was harsh at the time, we lost two good players over it and it hurt us on the pitch and had us going into the season in a weird environment. But at least it sent an unambiguous message about standards and culture within the dressing room. Real Madrid are already on their fourth manager in two years with a dressing room that looks completely fractured, Valverde, Vinicius, Bellingham, not to mention Rudiger slapping the assistant coach at practice, tensions all bubbling, and the club’s response to this was essentially a slap on the wrist. You can’t build a winning culture without accountability.

What do you think, was the fine enough or should both players have been suspended?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Something came up on the training pitch recently that I couldn’t stop thinking about and wanted to bring it to this community. The shin guard debate. If you’ve been around youth soccer lately you already know what I’m talking about, kids showing up with shin guards so small they barely cover a third of the shin. I’ve been around this game a long time, played at semi-pro and pro levels across Morocco, France, Senegal, England and the US and coached across 8 teams from U9-U16, and the shift in what players are wearing for protection has been dramatic. When I play I still wear proper shin guards that actually cover and protect my shin the way they were designed to. Call me old school but I’ve taken some serious kicks over the years and I know what real protection feels like versus a piece of plastic the size of a credit card taped to your leg.

I get the argument on the other side, comfort, mobility, not feeling restricted, and at the highest levels of the game you can see why players prioritise that. But we’re talking about youth players whose bones are still developing, playing competitive soccer where physical contact is real and tackles are not always clean. A serious collision with a poorly protected shin at U14 can mean weeks off the pitch and potentially long term damage. As coaches and parents are we prioritising how a kid feels in training over actually keeping them safe? There’s a middle ground between the old school bulky shin guard and something that offers zero real coverage. Curious where coaches, players and parents stand on this, are modern shin guards actually safe or have we let comfort completely win the argument over protection?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately and wanted to open up to this community because I genuinely believe there’s no single path and everyone’s story looks different. I’ve been coaching elite academy soccer for over 5 years across 8 teams from U9-U16, got my US C License, came into coaching after playing at semi-pro and pro levels across Morocco, France, Senegal, England and the US and have been coaching and the transition from player to coach, part time to more serious involvement now full time has been one of the most rewarding and humbling journeys I’ve been on. The playing background gave me a foundation but as I’ve shared before it wasn’t nearly enough on its own. The licenses, the mentorship from coaching directors, the deliberate work on session planning, communication and player development, all of that has been built gradually over time.

But the full time question is one I think a lot of passionate coaches wrestle with. How do you get there? Is it building your reputation within a club over years? Chasing licenses aggressively all the way to your B and A? Getting into the right academy structure at the right time? Networking with the right people? A combination of all of it? I’d love to hear from coaches at all levels, whether you made the jump to full time, are working toward it or decided it wasn’t for you and why. What did your path actually look like and what was the moment or decision that changed everything for you?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Controversial take maybe but after coaching academy soccer for years across 8 teams from U9-U16 and having played at semi-pro and pro levels across Morocco, France, Senegal, England and the US I will take the hard working coachable player over the supremely talented one almost every single time. I’ve seen it at all the levels I’ve worked with, the kid who looks like a cheat code at U12 because he’s physically ahead of everyone, technically gifted, does things on the ball that make parents gasp. Then stops growing because nobody ever challenged him, he never had to work for anything and the moment coaching got demanding and honest he switched off. Talent without work ethic in my opinion has a ceiling and it usually arrives earlier than people expect.

The player I enjoy coaching the most are the ones who stay after practice, who asks the right questions, who takes a coaching point and applies it immediately without ego getting in the way. Technique can be taught and refined. I’ve seen players transform their weaker foot, their first touch, their decision making through deliberate focused work and getting to those 1 million touches outside of practice. But it is extremely tough from my experience to coach attitude into someone who doesn’t want it (not impossible but difficult).

Coachability to me is an underrated quality in a young player because it’s the thing that determines how far every other attribute takes them. The talented lazy player will always eventually be overtaken by the average player with an obsession to improve. Attitude and work ethic will always trump raw talent over time, do you agree or have you seen it go the other way?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

I’ve been coaching elite academy soccer and one part of player development that rarely gets talked about is building leaders on the field. Not just picking a captain and handing them the armband, actually developing players who can organise, communicate, problem solve and drive standards from within the group during a game. The way I approach it connects directly to everything I do in training. When you build sessions around guided questions instead of just giving players the answers, when you create problems for them to solve rather than instructions to follow, you’re not just building football IQ, you’re building players who can think independently under pressure. That’s the foundation of on field leadership. A player who has been coached to find solutions themselves in training will naturally start directing teammates, reading situations and communicating in games because that habit of thinking has been built into them week after week.

Having played at semi-pro and pro levels across Morocco, France, Senegal, England and the US the most dangerous teams I was ever part of weren’t the ones with the best individual talent, they were the ones with multiple leaders across the pitch who didn’t need the coach to solve every problem for them. A goalkeeper organising the defence, a midfielder dictating tempo, a striker pressing with intent and pulling others with them. That comes from culture and it starts in training at youth level. I always tell my players, when that whistle blows on Saturday I can’t come on the pitch with you. The leaders in that dressing room and on that field are the ones who decide what happens next. Are you building leaders in your sessions or just players who wait to be told what to do?

Had a debate with a fellow coach recently that I keep thinking about. We got into the concept of reaching 1 million touches on the ball as a benchmark for playing at a high level and honestly the more I think about it the more I believe every serious youth player and their parents need to hear this conversation. The players who make it, really make it, aren’t just the ones showing up to three practices a week and switching off from football the rest of the time. They’re the ones who can’t put the ball down. Juggling in the backyard, passing against a wall, working on their weaker foot in the driveway, small sided games in the street. Sound familiar? I grew up doing exactly that in Morocco and France, rocks for goalposts, every kid in the neighbourhood, every single day after school. Nobody told us to do it. We just loved the ball and couldn’t stay away from it.

Here’s the reality, three practices a week at two hours each gives you roughly six hours of football. Even at our recommended 65-70% ball rolling time that’s around four hours of actual touches per week. At that rate reaching a million touches takes years longer than a player who puts in work outside of sessions consistently. The players I’ve coached across 8 teams from U9-U16 who’ve developed the fastest are almost always the ones doing something with a ball outside of practice without being asked. That hunger and that obsession with the ball is what separates good players from great ones. Talent gets you noticed but touches creates the player.

What do you think, is the 1 million touch benchmark something coaches and parents should be actively pushing with their players?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Honestly, I used to think my playing background would give me a massive head start in coaching. I’ve played at semi-pro and pro levels across Morocco, France, Senegal, England and the US. I understand the game, I’ve been coached by good coaches/people (have experienced the terrible coaches of course), but I knew what good football looked like as a player. So when I started coaching I genuinely thought I’d hit the ground running. I didn’t. Understanding the game as a player and being able to transfer that into a structured, purposeful training environment for youth players are two completely different skills and I learned that pretty quickly.

The biggest jump I’ve made in 4 years of coaching came after passing my US C License. The way I structure my sessions changed completely, layering activities that build on each other from the first exercise all the way to the scrimmage, deepening the focus throughout rather than jumping between my many disconnected ideas. My communication got sharper, my coaching points became more concise, and I started using guided questions properly to get my players thinking rather than just following instructions. Good mentorship from coaching directors and colleagues alongside the license has been just as important, having experienced coaches look at your session plan, challenge your activity design, and push you to keep player development and problem solving at the centre of everything you do.

Do you need a license to be a decent coach? Maybe not. But if you’re serious about genuinely developing the players in front of you, get the license, find good mentors and never stop learning. The game will humble you fast if you think playing it is enough.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Excited to begin my B License shortly and see the changes and effects it’ll have on my sessions!