Building a foundation at the youngest ages can actually be pretty simple.
The difficult part is doing enough of the simple work.
Get on the ball. Play.
Pass against a wall. Dribble. Receive
Whether that comes from playing for hours, training on your own, working with a coach, or being in a structured environment that gives you a lot of touches, the volume adds up.
I think sometimes we get obsessed with what we think development is supposed to look like and make it more complicated than it needs to be.
A lot can be accomplished with simple work, structure, organization and consistency.
But technique is still only part of becoming a player.
Eventually, what matters is what you do with it.
What decisions do you make?
Can you see what is happening around you?
Do you compete for the ball?
How do you react when things are difficult?
Can you help the players around you?
Technique gives you more tools to play the game.
Then you have to learn how to use them.
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09/03/2026
When I was young, I wanted to become a professional soccer player.
I really did not have much of a plan for how I was going to get there.
I just played a lot. I trained a lot. I spent a lot of time with the ball.
And honestly, that worked pretty well for me. I played Division I soccer and had opportunities to play professionally.
But as I got older, I think I could have been much more organized with my development.
What exactly am I trying to improve?
Why am I working on it?
What does my position require?
Where am I struggling?
What am I actually going to work on this week?
I also would have spent more time studying the game. Watching myself play. Watching players in my position. Trying to understand movement and decision making instead of only thinking about getting better technically.
We did not have the same access to film and information that players have now.
Today there is almost too much information.
That is why I like the idea of players actually writing things down.
What do you want?
Where are you right now?
What do you need to improve?
What are you going to do about it?
It does not mean everything is going to go according to plan. Mine definitely did not.
But I think there is value in knowing what you are working toward and being specific about how you are spending your time.
Sharpening technique with one of the best center midfielders on the West Coast.
When you work with a player like Flo, I am not going to pretend that I am suddenly going to transform his technical ability.
He already has an incredible foundation. He grew up playing in the Portuguese system, spent time in very good academy environments and is extremely disciplined with his training.
My role with a player like this is different.
Keep the sessions sharp. Keep the intensity high. Give him quality repetition. Clean up little details when I see them. Give feedback when it is actually needed.
Another player might need much more teaching and explanation.
That is part of coaching.
You have to understand who you are working with, what level they are at, what they already have, and what they actually need from the session.
Sometimes development means teaching something new.
Sometimes it is simply helping a very good player stay sharp.
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