Soccer by 3four3

MLS, and many other soccer influencers, have painted parity as the holy grail for American soccer. They have said time and time again that parity is something good, but that’s just not true. From a sporting sense, parity is a path to mediocrity and it is detrimental to the overall team, player, and coaching development […]

With everything that is going on, and parents having to make judgment calls on what team to play on, what club to join, and what league is best to be in, there is a very simple solution if you are questioning the competitive level and the developmental benefits for your player. If your player is […]

There are a number of different influences players will encounter throughout their youth career. The household/parent/family influence. The playing on your own influence. The pickup game influence. The structured club training influence. The personal training influence. There are a number of different components embedded within each of those influences. All of which can, and should, […]

Here are links that are relevant to the episode: MLS Academies Need More, and Better, Competition  The 1 Soccer Policy that Cripples the National Team all the way to 9 Year Olds Not Allowed in American Soccer – Leicester City FC On Enabling Change in the US Soccer Pyramid — Bottom-Up and Top-Down Okay, let’s […]

This is not speculation. It has already happened. Now, it’s all about how we disseminate the information that is about to start flowing. This is going to be an amazing opportunity to see precisely how decisions that are made in the boardroom directly impact our living rooms. Our families, our players, our coaches, our livelihoods […]

On thiss episode, Joey Cascio joins me to discuss what we can learn about our players when they’re forced to work on their own. Do the players do the work? Or not? Do the players have what it takes to push through tough times? Or not? Do the players have the special traits required to […]

On this episode of the podcast, John answers your questions that you submitted on Twitter. All of the questions are presented below with his answers, additional thoughts, and links to things that were mentioned during the episode. This episode is also available in video format. You can watch that here. Twitter Questions and Answers 1) […]

What do Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey have in common? More than you think. In this 14-minute episode, we put the obvious things aside and rewind the tape all the way to the beginning of their development process. The success both players had is largely attributable to their older brothers introducing them to the game […]

There are more American players making waves in European club soccer than ever before. More and more teenagers are signing professional contracts, domestically and abroad. It is safe to say there hasn’t been this much excitement about an entire generation of American players in many, many years. But that brings up some interesting questions. How […]

This episode is about Player Development. It’s not the first time we’ve talked about it on this podcast. It’s a broad topic. Which means it certainly be discussed again. Because we’re getting close to launching our first online course geared towards individual player development, I feel like it’s an important time to dive in on […]

(The original article and all of its comments can be found here.) A line must be drawn between two camps: Those who ultimately view soccer as recreation. Those who are about creating professional footballers of the highest quality. Both have vastly different requirements. 1) Recreation This does not mean the ‘rec soccer community’ – as […]

After having some time to sit and think about what we saw, Joey Cascio and I recorded our thoughts about the USMNT’s performance vs. Costa Rica. Following the annual month-long USMNT camp, seven players made their first appearance with the senior team. One of those players is someone we know very well, Uly Llanez. Congratulations […]

Kobe Bryant’s addiction to basketball, and obsession with becoming the best version of himself, was a net-positive for the World. Through basketball, he was able to inspire an entire generation of fans, athletes, coaches, and many others. And as an outsider looking in, it appeared to me that he was able to (almost perfectly) balance […]

In this episode, Joey Cascio joins me to discuss Gregg Berhalter’s interview with the American Outlaws and our takeaways for the upcoming year of U.S. Men’s Soccer. This interview with the national team coach was one part of a three-part of a series recorded and produced by US Soccer in coordination with the biggest supporters […]

Throw-ins are one of the most ignored aspects when it comes to training soccer players and teams about how to gain an advantage over their opponents. All too often throw-ins are just rushed and thrown down the line. Which is sad, because there is so much more that can be done from throw-ins. And there […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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… […]

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 […]

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 […]

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. […]

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. […]

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 […]