Another Post That Became a Reality: “Giovinco”

A couple months ago I posted my MLS wish list (below). First on the list was Sebastian Giovinco who I was confident would do very well in the MLS. Although he’s only 5′ 5” the Atomic Ant, as he is called has done extremely well in Serie A and while wearing #10 for Italy. He had limited time at Juventus but he scored 15 Serie A goals while at Parma.

Originally when I brought his name up people thought I was crazy, either because they thought he wouldn’t come or because they didn’t know much about him. Well Toronto FC thinks he is worth a good amount of money and maybe they took a look at the blog because as of a few days ago Giovinco is on his way. I will take it a step further and say he scores at least 11 MLS goals and by his second season more. TFC isn’t the strongest side in the league but he will for sure help.

See article of Sebastian Giovinco signing for TFC here: http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/69/transfer-zone/2015/01/19/8115562/official-toronto-fc-completes-giovinco-signing?ICID=HP_TS_4

 

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The D’Agostino Philosophy Post: 12/10/2014

HERE IS MY MLS WISH LIST

Before you say anything hear me out. I know that some of these names may seem washed-up and there were a few such as Totti and Klose that I left off because I know that the argument would be “the MLS is not a retirement league.” However, look what Marco Di Vaio and Beckham did. I think these names would improve the league significantly.

My MLS wish list:

Giovinco
Ross McCormack
Giuseppe Rossi
Xavi
Iniesta
Di Natale
Frank Lampard
Pirlo
Floccari
Pazzini
Jonathan Spector

I think it would make more sense if we looked in Holland, Germany, Italy, Serbia, Croatia, Belgium, Argentina and Brazil’s bottom of the table first division and/or second division teams to find younger talent before they are offered big time contracts.

It goes without saying that we should constantly be looking to have a strong infusion of young US talent coming in and being pulled up from USL and NASL.

Think about how much our young players could learn from some of these player’s experiences.

How about you pay me to do it? Winning vs Development

As a coach who came from a technical upbringing I have made it my goal to push technical development with my youth teams. When I’m with my women’s pro team or my D I college team I just see too many players who are just not there technically. One of the advantages of working 15 hour days is I have been blessed with the ability to see (in a single day) soccer at the youth level, the college level and the pro level. The transition from youth to college and to pro is not as you would expect where kids start less technical and as time goes on the technical level rises up until where at the pros the technical level is at its highest. From what I can see it is actually almost the opposite where kids are more technical than the college and pros. I believe that this is because kids who are smaller and more technical are not properly rewarded and become discouraged to try new creative things while the fastest most physical kids are passed on to the next level.

Don’t get me wrong I always look at how quick a player is. I like a player who can run well and beat someone into space, but if they cannot do it with the ball and create something for other players around them, is it really worth it in the long run? In addition to how I look at a players physical stature, I also look at if he can make the ball roll when he passes it. Does it pop and bobble up or is it tight to the ground? Are his passes to help a teammate or to simply get rid of the ball? When he dribbles, is it towards goal with a definitive touch to cut out the defender or does he get pushed to the corner flag?

I feel that we all have an unwritten responsibility to US Soccer where we must reward technical ability. The kid that can juggle 100 times with both feet and all surfaces should be the one getting picked up over the 14 year old with hair under his arms who can run by a few kids. As of now this is simply not the case. Recently with my u-14 team played a very direct team and we lost 2-1. We played much better than the other team and connected many more passes. Our possession rate was about a bit over 60% from what I could see on film. The other team played long off the goalkeeper and any free kick in our half of the field while we tried to play short off of goal kicks and when our keeper had it in his hands (which cost us a goal). Most of our free kicks where taken quickly and shortly, I always demand we have 2 over the ball to play short and start to swing and move the ball again. However if the parents are happy and the team wins and the coach of the team doesn’t know any better or puts more weight into winning is he wrong? Not by most American standards.

As youth coaches are we not responsible for developing the next generation? If our team has more possession percentage won’t our players have more time on the ball which will allow them more touches in the game which in the end gives them more development time? Shouldn’t our training sessions that include fitness be fitness with the ball as appose to just blind running?

I honestly believe that the only way club soccer is going to develop an advanced generation of players to that one previous is if clubs provide a proper training environment. This means lights, at least half a field of space, weekly coaching meetings to discuss monthly goals and give exercises for practice with video sessions and a proper coaching salary. Can we expect the best youth coaches if the payment does not equal the work load? No! The best coaches will move on to College and schools that pay. Lets pay the youth coaches more and keep the best coaches in youth soccer. That is, in my opinion, the only way to really develop US youth soccer players. If not we will just continue to be develop part time players by part time coaches who in turn do a part time job.