A quality soccer team must have a quality training program, however, the ultimate
success of a team hinges on the character of the players. Ray Miles and Coach Joe selected the original
players for the Xplosion. The coaches were not necessarily looking for the best soccer player, rather athletes
who were willing to work as a team and work hard individually to achieve excellence in their sport. Dedicated and
supportive parents are essential to youth soccer because of the commitment involved.
Coach Joe, early on, noted that the Xplosion team belongs to the players. Goals are to
be set by those on the field, not the coaches or those of us who cheer from the sidelines. All we can do, and all that we
want to do, is to provide the tools and training necessary that the team may achieve whatever goals they set for themselves.
Having every player share common goals, and a common level of commitment, helps ensure team unity, and makes everyone's experience
more enjoyable and more rewarding. At U-12, the team set goals, which included committing to excellence, but also
included trying to preserve the social component of the sport.
Our Program
The goal of the coaches is to offer the serious player the very best training program
available, providing players an environment where they can learn the skills necessary to play soccer at any level they desire. The key to player growth is high level training in a positive, supportive environment. Coaches
must never dampen the love for the game.
Individual ball skills must develop before a team can effectively exploit space and develop
an effective tactical philosophy. To this end, individual skills training was emphasized early by skilled
trainers. In addition, more than half the team has spent multiple seasons in private training with some of the areas
top trainers. As the players progressed to high school, the emphasis switched to blending the individual skills into
a larger tactical philosophy.
The stated intent was and is to teach the team "possession soccer",
and not the "direct" (at its worst, less affectionately called "kick-and-run" or "boom-ball") style of play so prevalent at
the younger age groups. The reason for this is that while "boom-ball" can be a very effective style now, in the long run,
it does little to prepare players to play at the next level of soccer. Possession soccer teaches, and requires, the skills
to compete at higher levels of play -"boom-ball" does not.
The team does not have one structured style of play. Rather the
style may vary depending on injuries and opponent. To the extent the team has an individual style, the Xplosion
style has evolved primary from the influence of Tung Nguyen, but with positive influence from Frank Schoon,
Bobby Garza, and Bill Creswick.
Coach Joe asks players look to use every tool to beat the defense: dribbling, combining, passing,
and varying the pace of the game. Players read the defense-- spacing, pressure, and numbers to determine what types
of passes are effective and when to explode for a quick attack on goal. A creative offense requires a flexible
defense, thus, the team switched from man-to-man to zonal defending. Tung Nguyen added structure back into the offense
by developing quick attack strategies and placing less emphasis on possession in the attacking third and more emphasis on
risk taking and agressive runs.
Sterling Pride coach, former Pro Mark Brotherton, worked
with the team to play a 4-3-3 style patterned after the Brazilian National team (arguably the best soccer team in the
world today) which the team uses on some occasions. The idea is to use three center-mids and no outside mids to allow the
team to better control the middle and give flexibility to players to make support runs. This style of play can be summarized
as a pattern based on maintaining possession of the ball, with a series of short passes among supporting players, playing
the ball on the ground, switching the ball away from pressure, and "building from the back", that is, to bring balls forward
from the defensive third in a controlled way, using a short passing game to avoid losing possession of the ball. Players constantly
circulate to provide options to the ball-carrier, and to create space. In the final third of the field, the attack is meant
to be free-flowing and unpredictable, with rapid ball movement to change the point of attack The Brazilian philosophy is to
blend individual artistry with supporting team tactics. Its emphasis on control, creativity, and unpredictability makes the
Brazilian style quite entertaining to watch, and lives up to the expression, "the beautiful game."
