Pillar of Development – Technical/Tactical
Technical – this is the application of a soccer action, the performance of an action which follows a mechanical breakdown of a sequence of movements. An example of a technical action is the kick. A technical action becomes skill acquisition once a situation is created where a decision needs to be made, therefore the kick now becomes the pass.
Technical development is the foundation of an athletes ability to play soccer. Technical development is crucial in early player development, where the ages of 7 to 12 years old optimize their soccer actions. Chronological age brackets and recommendations are general, as each individual has a separate biological age. With that in mind, and the need for a solid technical foundation in reference to the player elements to perform within a clubs game model, the priority of the player should be technical and skill acquisition learning up until the age of 15.
Tactical – tactics are a set of predetermined concepts and objectives within a game model to perform as a team, working towards a common goal. Game insight and decision making are the key components of a tactically good player, where the application of the game model through understanding of time and space on the field determine the efficiency of the tactics. Players should not be focused on tactics until later ages, where performance is the final learning stage of a player.
When we purely focus on the tactics, and reflect the adults game on to the youth player, we take from them the necessary age appropriate steps to long term player development in favor of a short term focus on game results. When this happens the short term looks good, there are trophies and wins, but the detrimental affect this has on a player is not seen until they are a lot older where the players physiological advantage is no longer prevalent, and the technical actions and skills needed to perform within a performance game model are not developed.