I think part of the comes from the emphasis on winning in US youth soccer. You can win a ton of games with nine year olds by packing in the defense and sending long passes to a single fast striker, and it’s very hard to build a team with players who try a lot of different things but also make mistakes. Unfortunately,…

You’re describing a big problem of US soccer. The idea that teams and players are so highly stratified for *eight* year olds is nuts.