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The following is a pretty lively chat I had with Nick on joystick parents. You heard that right, I didn’t mean to say “joystick coaches”. That one we already covered in episode #293. Which, by the way, if you haven’t listened to that one, I strongly encourage you to do so, because it’s not what […] The post Ep 300: What Should Be Done About Joystick Parents? appeared first on 3four3.

The following is a free flowing discussion I had with Terry on virtuous and vicious cycles. Now if you haven’t heard of these terms before, let me provide a quick rundown of the concept. Generally, these cycles referred to a chain of events that reinforce themselves through a feedback loop. So for example, suppose we […] The post Ep 299: A First Chat on Virtuous and Vicious Cycles in Football appeared first on 3four3.

The following contains a 10 minute side chat between my co-host Terry and myself, discussing at what age player development starts diverging between the US and the standard bearers across the world. This has been the subject of much debate here in the States for a long time. But luckily, we have direct experience to […] The post Ep 298: When Does US Player Development Start Falling Behind the Other Nations? appeared first on 3four3.

The following was a chat I had with my cohost, Nick Rogers, on whether criticizing pro players is a good or bad, right or wrong, or perhaps less black and white than that, how to go about levying criticism. While certainly we all have our own opinions on this, it’s quite interesting that in American […] The post Ep 297: On Criticizing [Pro] Players appeared first on 3four3.

The following is a discussion stimulated by some commentary between former men’s national team player, Herculez Gomez, and a pundit that I actually have some respect for, Sebastian Salazar. What’s the topic? Well, the topic is why the “rivalry”, between MLS franchises, New York city FC and New York Red Bulls is failing. And more […] The post Ep 296: On MLS Contrived Rivalries appeared first on 3four3.

The following episode is on the topic of burnout. Nick and I touch on whether burnout is a real thing, or yet another artifact of a particular culture where everything needs to be soft, where competition is a bad thing, and everyone deserves a trophy. “Burnout is bullshit” is a phrase I’ve probably said a […] The post Ep 295: Burnout is Bullshit appeared first on 3four3.

Is promotion and relegation coming to the United States, is it ever coming to the United States? Ah, the eternal question, isn’t it? A question really, though, that should be framed more like: Is opportunity and inclusion in the soccer ecosystem ever coming to the United States? Or, will it remain exclusive and discrimination based? […] The post Ep 294: On USL’s Proposal to Implement Promotion and Relegation appeared first on 3four3.

The following is a discussion on so-called joystick coaching. Kaboom! Already right there, for everyone in the soccer community here, the neurons fired and in a microsecond that equation “joystick coaching = bad”. Yeah, that one, that one became top of mind. And why wouldn’t that be the case? For years, article after article, narrative […] The post Ep 293: On Joystick Coaching appeared first on 3four3.

The following is a free flow discussion Terry Ransbury and I had on monopolies. The context is first set through the lens that Peter Thiel offers in his book, Zero to One. If you haven’t read it, it’s a good one, and I strongly recommend. After setting the stage a bit, we move into how […] The post Ep 292: A First Chat on the Monopolies that Are American Pro Team Sports appeared first on 3four3.

The following is a micro episode on mentality. It’s just a five minute rant I went on with Nick during one of our recordings, a tangent really. I thought I would clip it and publish it since a few days ago the big story was about Weston McKennie. Weston reportedly broke rules and, consequently, Gregg […] The post Ep 291: A Brief Clip on Mentality appeared first on 3four3.

The following is an episode on players “playing up” in age. While it might seem this isn’t a new notion, and it’s simply a matter of whether the player is good enough, there is quite a bit to consider. Nick and I try to touch on some of those from personal experience. And by the […] The post Ep 290: On Players “Playing Up” appeared first on 3four3.

The following is a discussion on scouting. Now obviously, this is a huge topic that entire courses and careers are built around. So it’s not like we’re going to cover this in 30 minutes. Rather, Terry and I are just flowing and having a conversation sampling from our own experience, and also injecting promotion and […] The post Ep 289: On Scouting and Promotion/Relegation appeared first on 3four3.

Portland vs Seattle, NY Red Bulls vs New York City FC, LAFC vs Galaxy, please … those aren’t rivalries, those are scrimmages, those are friendly play dates among buddies who are all on the same boat rowing in the same direction. Mexico vs the United States? That’s a fucking rivalry. That’s authentic. That’s real. And […] The post Ep 288: What Can be Gleaned from the USMNT vs Mexico in the Nations League Final appeared first on 3four3.

The following is on the topic of players with dual nationalities. Specifically, dual-nationals as it relates to the US Mens National Team. Even more specific, dual-nationals as it relates to Mexican-Americans first, and Latino-Americans generally. It's become a hot topic in American soccer the past handful of years, and even if you're not that interested […] The post Ep 287: Dual Nationals in the US – How it’s Been Handled, How it’s Being Handled appeared first on 3four3.

The following is a conversation on the notion of "the cream rises to the top". I first publicly touched on this subject, albeit from a different angle, in 2009. It would seem many – if not most – believed this is how the world works, particularly here in the United States. Head down, work hard, […] The post Ep 286: The Myth of the “Cream Rises to the Top” appeared first on 3four3.

Today we touch on: Diving and simulation, is this good or bad? VAR Hard versus Soft, Physical vs Non-physical, play – is this all nonsense? The “Dark Arts” A little bit about this notion of “the cream rises to the top”. And promotion relegation makes an appearance in the context of the US Mens National […] The post Ep 285: On The Dark Arts, VAR, and Even Some Pro/Rel appeared first on 3four3.

After too long a hiatus, we’re committing to an episode per week. Here, we start with touching on the EURO’s. Specifically, France, the possession stat and how it must be contextualized. Then, we name the 3 Best Players in the World, and how that is deduced. No, Ronaldo is most definitely not one of them. […] The post Ep 284: Housekeeping, the EUROs, and the 3 Best Players in the World appeared first on 3four3.

Pointing to the: * Coach * Player(s) * Schedule * Player availability * US Soccer or stating that the Olympics isn’t that big a deal anyways … you name it, it all misses the mark, it’s all superficial, and it all conveniently serves to distract the fans, the customer base, from looking at the underlying […] The post Ep 283: USMNT Olympic Qualifying Failure – What’s the Excuse Now? appeared first on 3four3.

The key to achieving a significant degree of competency is repetition. Furthermore: The key to making up that technical debt we described in the previous episodes, is repetition. The key to creating a moat, a competitive advantage, over your competition, is repetition. The key to achieving your goals is repetition. But not just any repetition. […] The post Ep 282: The Training Formula That Can Help You Create a Competitive Advantage Over Your Opponents. appeared first on 3four3.

Technical debt is a concept in software development that reflects the implied cost of additional rework caused by choosing an easy (limited) solution now, instead of using a better approach that would take longer. If you choose, you can read the full Wikipedia entry. But in short, the longer you postpone doing things *correctly, the […] The post Ep 281: How Can We Catch up to the Best Players and Nations in the World? appeared first on 3four3.