When compared to the US, Japan has a very unique environment for children playing soccer, and also a very different approach to coaching. These differences in environments and coaching method make the playing style of Japan unique and distinct from that of the US.
Clubs with the highest fees tend to look more like government WELFARE-TO-WORK programs, as you have a dozen coaches waiting at the club house to “clock-in” at 6pm and begin the first of their 3 practices for the evening.
Developed by Dutch powerhouse club Ajax, from 1969 to 1973, Total Football (Dutch: totaalvoetbal) is a system of play (like Barcelona) that focuses on tight possession of the ball within the midfield and explosive offensive endeavors. It’s not uncommon to see teams that have mastered this tactic dominate a match by possessing the ball as much as 80% of the game. Tiki-taka is an evolution of the Total Football system into the quick passing, highly possessive style of soccer that Barcelona plays today.
Everyone is conceived – not born, but conceived: when the sperm meets the egg – with the potential for greatness. Few people ever actually achieve their full potential though, so what you end up with in any field or profession is not the “best of the best”, but instead, the “best of what is left”.
Professional coaches will tell you that the average athlete needs to train about twenty hours a week to become professional and to remain competitive. When you break it down, that means that to get all of the training you need to become “professional”, it’ll take 8,ooo to 10,000 hours. And there lies OUR problem.