Hurst,
You said, “In the US, we can just shuffle anybody in and out at any time to give someone a rest, and play high pressure for 90 minutes because conditioning isn't a factor.” Are you serious? You honestly believe that every team, at every age level, that goes out there on the field, is able to play high-pressure ball for 90 minutes? In all the years I’ve been involved with soccer, I would have to say that more often than not, the overall level of conditioning of a team HAS affected the outcome of the game to SOME degree. Some matches, it has come down to which team was still fighting HARD by the end of the game, but some matches, it was which team was still able to just RUN by the end of the match. RARELY do I see matches where every player on a team is able to play high-pressure the entire match.
There are WAY too many factors at the younger levels of soccer (especially in this state) to force as many limitations as you suggest. I wouldn’t even know where to start with a list of the negatives.
