The coaching industry has an obsession.
Scroll through coaching content online and you’ll find endless analysis of elite teams - their formations, pressing triggers, build-up patterns. Top coaches explaining their tactical philosophies. Breakdowns of how Barcelona, City, or Liverpool approach different phases of play.
This content is fascinating. I consume it like everyone else. We can learn enormous amounts from studying the best.
But here’s what concerns me: for most coaches working with youth players, this content addresses the wrong problem.
The World Elite Coaches Inhabit
The world’s top coaches are fortunate. They receive players at full maturity (or very close to it) and apply tactics to enhance qualities those players already possess.
The most lauded coaches are even more fortunate - they mould tactics around players acquired for millions in transfer fees. They’re working with finished products, optimising how those products combine.
The world those coaches exist in and the world most of us face are fundamentally different.
The Youth Coach’s Actual Responsibility
Youth coaches have a different duty entirely.
We need to understand how people develop. How to improve learning. How to build technique. How to develop confidence and self-awareness.
Can tactics be developed at the same time as these fundamentals? Yes - and this is the skill of coaching.
But the balance matters. When tactical organisation takes priority over individual development, we’re building houses on sand.
Why This Matters
I believe youth equals gold.
The future of our game is determined by how we teach it to our youngest players. That’s an enormous responsibility for coaches working with players in primary and secondary school age groups.
The questions we should be asking aren’t primarily tactical:
- How do we guide children to be confident?
- How do we develop excellent self-awareness?
- How do we help them believe in themselves as people first, then as football players?
These questions fascinate me because they determine everything that follows. A tactically educated player who lacks confidence will underperform. A confident player with self-awareness will learn tactics quickly when needed.
The Practical Implication
This doesn’t mean ignoring game understanding or team structure. Players need context for their development.
But it does mean being honest about priorities.
When you plan your next session, ask yourself:
- Am I developing individual players or just organising a team shape?
- Are my players learning skills they’ll use for careers, or just executing instructions for Saturday?
- Am I building people who can adapt and grow, or robots who need constant direction?
The coaching industry pushes us toward tactical content because it’s engaging and shareable. But the real work of youth development happens in the less glamorous details - the technical repetition, the individual conversations, the patient building of confidence.
What Top-Level Experience Teaches
Having worked across youth development and first-team coaching, I’ve gained clarity on what actually matters at each level.
At first team level, players need tactical clarity and team organisation. They have the technical foundation to execute complex ideas.
But that foundation was built somewhere. Usually by youth coaches who prioritised development over short-term results. Who understood that their role wasn’t to create winning teams, but to create players capable of winning later.
Your Role in the Bigger Picture
If you’re coaching youth players, you’re not preparing for next Saturday. You’re preparing players for the next decade.
The tactical knowledge from elite content has its place - it provides context for development and helps you understand where players are heading. But it shouldn’t dominate your thinking or your sessions.
Focus on development. Build techniques. Develop confidence. Create self-aware players who understand their strengths.
The tactics can come later, applied to players who have the foundation to execute them.
That’s the real work of youth coaching. And it matters more than any formation or pressing trigger you’ll ever learn from analysing elite teams.
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