Soccer, bloody soccer

[Herbert The Love Bug]

soccer is a man's game. Like for real

[CarolinaKid704]

Anything you can teach him to make him know that using both legs to shoot, pass, control the ball. Juggling would be a good game to end on. You lob the ball to his head, chest, thigh and feet. Maybe to start out with he just tries to head it or kick it back to your hands. But as time goes on he should be able to settle the ball to his strong side leg/thigh and get a couple repetitions in before kicking it back to you.

Your probably not gonna like how the game is played at this level but in a couple years get him in a upper division and you'll see how the game is coached and how the players think.

[cookinwithgas]

wow theres a lot of different pieces of advice here!

At that age dribbling is most important I think, being able to kick it just hard enough to get it where you want it to be, to force your opponent to commit too early or not at all on it. Kids that can do that, even just a little, tend to run rings around the other kids. Kids want to kick it really hard to get it further downfield but usually that plays into the hands of the other team. It's strategy combined with skill so its harder to teach, but drilling on kicking a ball to stop at a specfic place on grass is a good thing to try.

Don't expect too much though, at this age soccer is basically 6 kids in a circle all kicking each other hoping to hit the ball instead.

[Munch4455]

Well if you watched the United v Madrid game today, you would have seen how well the game can be played, and how one man can completely ruin it.

[g5jamz]

He's 8.

Make him an endurance player. Start early. Skills will come with age. Like someone said...simple trapping techniques you can do in your garage when it's nasty out. Chest, inner thigh, etc. Get him to get the ball to his feet from those positions fast and return the pass to you....under control.

Understanding passing the ball where you anticipate the person to be...not where they are makes not only your kid better, but the other kids he plays with because they will instinctively begin going to the open spot when he has the ball. Once he's passed it, your son will then need to learn how to move without the ball. Just like basketball, great players do things without the ball to make the team better. Whether it is screening a defender or getting to an open spot.

Nicer weather you can begin working on shot positioning.