I want to know what people think about small sided games.
Not, particularly, from a coaching perspective, but more when we're getting players of certain ages to play, for example, 7 vs 7 at U10 or 9 vs 9 at U12 in their competitive games against other teams.
Personally, I think they are detrimental.
Over here in the USA where I'm coaching at the moment, the AYSO only gets up to 11 vs 11 at a U14 level. This means 12 year olds, the vast majority of their prime developmental years behind them, are given their first taste of the game in its intended format at this stage.
Lets use the U10s as an example, where they play 7 vs 7. These 7 vs 7 games are probably played on fields larger than an adult 7 a side league would be contested. I would say that no matter what formation you arrange your 6 outfield players in, there is not a position on that field that is representative of what would be expected of the player in an 11 a side game. What I have seen happen is that the majority of the players who stick with the game up to a U14 level, regardless of their technical ability, have literally no idea where to stand, or how to behave in their position when they get to that age.
(The coaches come up with some pretty daft formations, mind you, but that's another discussion for another time).
Now I understand the importance of small sided games when it comes to player development, giving the player as many touches on the ball as possible and thus giving their level of technique the best chance possible to improve. But there is more to a footballer than how smoothly they can pass or how good their control is.
An attacker playing in a U10 team, playing against 2 or 3 defenders on a field that is vastly too big for the number or age of the players involved is no preparation at all for the experience of playing that position in the full game. It reminds me of those few kids at the end of the lunch break who were happy to play on in a kickabout that had long died a death.
From attending coaching courses in England you can tell that they're trying to lean towards emulating the successes that the Spanish National Team have enjoyed (I would argue that that owes more to a once in a lifetime group of players, but again a discussion from another time). Did England not produce any decent players before they decided that small sided games were the way to go? Did Gazza never play any 11 a side games before he was 15? Gerrard? Beardsley? Scholes?
You can huff and puff at creating the next Xavi and Iniesta all you want, but developing players need to be given some exposure to tactical and positional awareness while they are still developing, rather than a massive focus on the technical. To assume it can be left until the players are older is naive at best.
I'd leave the small sides to coaching sessions personally.
