Love the ball.

As I sat on the flight back from Arizona after spending 10 days working with the U-20 United States Men’s National Team last month, I kept thinking about how much these players loved having the ball.

It’s a mindset that develops over time, not because these athletes won the genetic lottery, but because they put in the work. They went to early-morning training sessions in the middle of a hot summer day. They spent a few minutes with a ball in the yard every morning. They nurtured this deep relationship over hours, days, months and years.

Loving the ball isn’t something you’re born with. It’s something you earn.

Nine of my 10 days working with the National Team this particular cycle was spent primarily on individual player actions in the attacking third. I worked with our 7s, 11s, and 9s (right wings, left wings and central strikers) to help them develop ideas on how to win their individual battles. 

Love the ball. Enjoy the ball. Demand the ball. Use the ball.

These players already have that mindset. We’re lucky enough to hand-pick them from clubs and colleges and professional teams all over the world, and we try to pick players who love having the ball. It’s only then that we’re able to implement team tactics. 

How to take advantage of space. How to identify weaknesses in your opponent. How to make smart and precise movements that put you in position to threaten in behind. 

It wasn’t until the 10th day of the training cycle that we pulled our whole team together to go over group tactics and gameplay with 11 players. 

Nine days spent working with the individual. 

I thought about this over and over as I drove back into the Los Gatos United offices last week. 

Love the ball.

I’ve believed in this my whole life, and I realized this is the same approach we use with our athletes at LGU. From the first time they slip on our uniform until the last time, we emphasize the individual relationship with the ball, the importance of developing that relationship early, and how to teach the evolution of that relationship as players become bigger, stronger and more athletic with age.

It’s only after they’ve mastered the ball that our amazing LGU coaches can put it all together to form team tactical plans. 

When players are developed as individuals, they can fit into any collective plan. Players who move on to play in college are often players who can fit in any system. When they play professionally, they might play for dozens of coaches with dozens of tactical ideas.

If our players love the ball and master the art of individual development, if they’re able to get the best out of themselves every day they step foot on the pitch, they can play anywhere, for anyone, in any system.

Working with the national teams as a player and coach for the last 20 years has reinforced this idea and I’ve never been more sure of it.

At the national team level or the youth level. 

Love the ball.

Enjoy the game.

See you on the pitch soon,

Shauny