One of the greatest underutilized tools in American Youth Soccer is the ability of a youth player to read the game and make runs off the ball or without the ball. The primary reason for this is that most parent coaches do not understand the concept of this or how it works and therefore can not teach it. US soccer at the grassroots level must be able to understand the concept of possession with a purpose and how players running without the ball are just as important as the players with the ball. The runs off the ball can create space, confuse the defense and allow possessing players more time to make a decision. SOCCERSKILLZ prides itself in teaching these concepts in its small sided game formats during soccer training in Ocean County in New Jersey. While players learn in a small sided game format it can be expanded to the big game of 11v11. Let's not forget that the big game is full of small sided 1v1 2v2 4v2 3v2 or any other combination battle. When players are taught to not just kick the ball and run, but try to work their way out of trouble via way of dribbling, passing and moving off the ball, making runs to give player with the ball options they will become more confident in their ability to maintain possession. Lastly coaches must stop yelling directions from the sidelines and let the players think for themselves. We have developed a robot nation who need constant direction in order to play. Remember it's a "player's game".
Following is an analysis on how to move without the ball, make runs off the ball and its benefits. Watch entire video as it gives many examples. The analysis portion starts around 6 minutes into the video.