The Perfect Soccer Player Blueprint: Master The 9 Keys To Soccer Success - Become The Best Player On The Field Every Game! Paperback – May 3, 2016

This book so consisely lays out all steps to truly elevating your level of play including giving the reason behind each key with real life examples of current relevant players. I told my son, I don't need to give him any advice aside from having him read this book! I read the whole thing in less than two hours since I was enraptured right from the first page. There's a couple of typographical errors that an editor should've picked up but that's a small payoff for such great information. There's supposed to be online bonus material that I haven't been able to access yet, they may still be working on it.

This book tells you everything about soccer I learned throughout my childhood. I played high-level soccer, and was the only 15 year old to make it onto the Virginia State 16-And Under Team in the fall of 1980. (But just a few weeks later, I contracted cerebral infection with Borrelia burgdorferi--the bacterium that causes Lyme disease--and also Babesia dunani from the same tick -- similar to malaria. In a period of one week, I lost all interest in soccer, quit the varsity team I was playing on in Northern Virginia, and quit the state team and my regular select team. I touched a soccer ball only a few times for the next 35 years, although I routinely dreamed as an adult that I was playing soccer; we had to get a king-sized bed because as I was kicking the ball in my dream, I was kicking my wife in the bed! I have not finished the book yet so I do no know whether it addresses the fact that 95% of professional athletes were born during the first three months of the school year. Those kids have an enormous advantage over other kids who can be almost nine months younger than them. But it is possible to overcome that challenge with near-fanatical devotion to practicing intelligently pretty much every spare moment you can find, and by competing against yourself instead of holding yourself back by comparing yourself to other players. And some kids, like in my case, are very fortunate to have some hidden advantages. My brother, who is four years and two months older than me, was just as passionate about soccer as I was. We practiced a minimum of four hours on weekdays, deciding in advance what skills we would work on. The elementary school near our house had a soccer field and enormous lights for night-time play. As far as I know, my brother and I were the only two people who used those lights. There was no lock on the handle for turning them on and off! So we usually practiced for at least two hours after dinner. We practiced six hours on weekdays when other soccer practice was not scheduled, and four hours on weekdays when we did have soccer practice. When I played in informal games, I played with my brother and his teammates on his varsity high school team when I was 12, 13, and 14. There is nothing that compares with regularly playing with/against people who are four years older than you at these ages. I was also invited to play on a year 1964 team when I was eight (a year or less older than me). I mention all of this because it enabled me to improve far more than I would have with less of a challenge. THE ONLY REASON I DESCRIBED THIS IS BECAUSE IT ILLUSTRATES HOW INTENSE DEVOTION TO BETTERING YOURSELF REALLY CAN PAY OFF. Two years ago, I started kicking the ball against a wall. At first, it was very frustrating. Now it is pure joy. I have regained much of my skill, and look forward intensely to my daily 45 minutes of kicking the ball against the wall! I think that the way I approached soccer was very much as advised in this book. Although I am nearly certain I would have played professionally had chronic illness not struck, am happy to be in decent enough health again to manage regular exercise with wall soccer and taking care of my two boys for a few hours several days per week -- even if I cannot manage more than that. Anyhow, this book should resonate very much for players who love to challenge themselves.

The book itself is pretty good but they reference a website to get downloadable materials. As noted by a comment written a year ago there is NOTHING on this website. Very frustrating

it is a big help when you are playing in a game of soccer

Quincy and Ross have created a new paradigm in player-focused soccer guide books. Their clear and concise advice cuts to the chase with chapters that focus on how individual athletes can recognize their own potential and maximize each element of their game. Though written for soccer players, with slight modifications the wisdom would apply to almost any team sport.Quincy Amarikwa has been among my all-time favorite players since he first joined the San Jose Earthquakes back in 2009, only to be abruptly traded to Colorado in 2010 (to the accompaniment of much fan dismay). He met his co-author and teammate Ross while playing for the Colorado Rapids, and a few trades later, Quincy was back with the Earthquakes, scoring two goals vs our most-hated rivals in his very first game. Even if you're not a soccer aficionado and you've never seen Quincy in action, you'd enjoy watching him. He is an intense, creative, thoroughly engaged player, a guy you'd want on your team no matter what the sport.Of course I was going to buy his book, even if all the pages were blank, so was thrilled to see what an impressive amount of material Quincy and Ross had managed to pack into a very short space. As someone who has coached over 25 youth teams, I was particularly impressed that the authors devoted the first two chapters to the mental game. So often, we tend to focus on our shortcomings rather than our skills; the authors understand that and help players get past that. The rest of the book, chapter by chapter, focuses on practical suggestions for honing each component of the game, from working on individual skills to sharpening your soccer IQ to developing your team game.The book alone would be well worth the price, but the authors complement the text with tons of additional online resources: videos, day-by-day practice plans with illustrations of drills, even sample letters and resumes to send to coaches and recruiters.If you're a coach, if you're a player, if you're a parent of a player, or a fan who wants to learn more about the sport, you will value this book. I managed to completely dog-ear my copy, but will be buying more for our youth league coaches. It's that amazing.

So often 'theory' is just that - theoretical. Quincy is able to speak to a soccer player because he is a young, developing professional in the sport that he presents himself as an expert. The results speak for themselves given that Quincy has on ongoing career in MLS and for a young soccer player looking to grow, this is invaluable. When my son started reading this book the knowledge was that much more valuable given that you could find weekly highlights showing off the author's talents. This is not just a 'maybe this guy knows what he is talking about' kind of book - this is information that is real, timely and high impact for a developing young soccer star.A must read for any young player looking to grow both their soccer and there personal game.