It’s been more than a decade since we made the switch from the 11 a side game to the small sided games in the U5-U12 age groups. Despite the many benefits of playing small sided games, we have yet to produce players with similar technical skills as our international counterparts.

The small sided game allows youth players to have more contact with the ball, to have more touches and therefore is it assumed, develop a more technical player. But why is this not occurring? Why is that by the U11 age group, when premier teams begin to be formed, there is a lack of talent to fill these teams? It is simply because when the small sided games were introduced, the goalkeeper was removed as a means to allow children to score more goals. The benefit was really detrimental as the following paragraphs explain.

Removing the goalkeeper from the game eliminates a powerful tool for the development of fundamental skills. Most coaches are parents that have never played the game and when placed in such a position are incline to win at all costs. Soon their egos take over and fall on the false pretense that winning games is the yardstick to measure their success as coaches, rather than how well their pupils learn to play the game. These “coaches” quickly figure out that the lack of a goalkeeper allows them to use the "big foot" strategy to score many goals and win games.

Coaches will place their bigger and faster players on top (forwards), to push their way through and score as many goals as possible. The beginning of kick and run emerges at this early ages, instead of the skillful dribbler. Eventually, the bigger kids (biologically more mature) are seen as the best players and dribbling is discourage in favor of kicking the ball into the net. Another drawback of removing the goalkeeper is the realization that someone must stay in the back and somehow stop the opponent's attack. Usually these are the slower players who begin a process of static and non reactionary style of play. After a few years of playing "defense", these youngsters have lost their love for the game and become lethargic.

With the presence of a goalkeeper, the "big foot" will no longer be a viable option to score goals. In order to score, players must connect with one another, bringing the ball to the other side and close to the goal to take a shot. This places an emphasis on dribbling, ball control, running with the ball and more important, finesse on finishing.

During practices of older teams (U12 - U18), ranging from the competitive to the super elite, I have witness a lack of finesse and style in finishing from the American player. The ball is always struck with as much force; the chip, the fake and placement of the ball into the net are lacking. This tendency to power shot the ball every time is due to the training received during the early stages, where the aforementioned "big foot" was taught and reinforced.

At the early stages of soccer (U6 - U12), the objectives is not to score lots of goals, but to develop dribbling, running with the ball, passing (should begin around U8), ball control (with any part of the body) and finishing. These are basic fundamental that every player should master by age 11. Scoring more goals is the objective of the game in order to win, but this should not translate that scoring many goals (without a goalkeeper), leads to better learning of the fundamentals. The presence of the goalkeeper forces players and coaches alike towards developing these fundamentals.

In New York City, I was fortunate to be part of a soccer league (The Big Apple Youth Soccer League) in Flushing Meadow Parks, where the small sided game was the format of play with the inclusion of the goalkeeper. The league ran a tournament of 6v6 (including the goalkeeper) using Futsal goals ( 3 meters wide by 2 meters tall), which forced coaches to teach correct mechanisms of ball progression. Due to this format all the players in the league acquired solid technical skills and most competed at the premier level. The difference between our premier and competitive players was the speed of play, not the lack of ball control as it is in most American clubs.

Playing small sided games without the goalkeeper at the early ages begins a cycle of poor technical skills that continues at later stages. Using a goalkeeper in small sided games will eliminate the big foot mentality from future generations and we can begin to see flair, fantasy and lots of "jogo bonito" in the American player.