>>[2004striker] [from the article] What is the club's approach to team vs. player development? Some say if a team would be totally affected by one player moving up to another age level, then it's time to move that player. If you find that hard to accept, you may want to consider your own approach to the youth game, is it about developing players or about winning matches now.<<
Thanks tremendously for the link. I pulled out my favorite piece from the article; the "team versus player" dynamic is really tough to quantify and yet I think it's incredibly important. The concept of putting a player ahead of a team, rather than trying to tactically strengthen each team regardless of player needs, is a tough one -- but it seems to me to be incredibly critical. Every player wants to play on a winning team, and every coach wants teams to win, but when it comes down to it a major component of the quality of a club is whether it as an organized entity will put in place policies that will sacrifice short-term wins for longer-term player development [that in time should lead to a longer-term winning percentage given proper attention a club's developmental pipeline].
Thanks again for the link...
