Improper Positioning Of Soccer Players

My son has been playing on an Academy team for 3 years now. He is a play-up and has consistently played on the "second" team for all of his Academy teams. My question has to do with positioning a player like my son so that he plays the position he is "natural" at. He is a natural attacking midfielder.

Consistently he has been placed in the defender position. While I fully accept that all positions are equally important, he just isn't that good there. He is no good at forward, but he can read the field like boys 3-4 years his senior (we are consistently told this by trainers in and out of the club), and can feed (pass) the ball to any position on the pitch setting up high percentage shots on goal with great consistence.

Originally in recreational ball he was put in the "defender" position and told to play it more like a "sweeper". He would do just that and feed the ball to the forwards. This made for a VERY strong team. I cannot figure out why he is consistently placed in center defender position in club play. It affects his aggressiveness when playing mid and he starts to fall back when he shouldn't because he is being played in defender.

There is the possibility that the coaches don't want to put him in those positions because he is a play up. I'm about to bust at the seams. I have to contact the club ASAP, and this is not in my nature. I prefer to let the "experts" do their job, but something is not right.

We are either being lied to about his abilities (which I doubt because we have already been approached for local Professional Academy Play, Olympics, and had various other Professional players state that he should go as far as he wants with his ability- at 12yo), or someone sent down an order not to play him where he should be.

So, my question is:
Is there an alterior reasoning for taking a high caliber player and consistently playing him out of position in order for them to gain "something"? If so, what can it possibly be? Obviously all of the basics, and yes I will be having this conversation with the trainers. Although I have never been the "overbearing" parent, it may be time to start.

THE ANSWER

First of all, there can be several reasons for why your son is playing on that particular position. Coaches are humans as well and they also make mistakes. However, I know by experience that the worst thing you can do is to start arguing with the coaches and tell them how to do their job.

Trust me that will not lead anywhere and you will just get angrier. However, you could test to approach them with a friendly voice and just let them know your opinion. But don’t forget to tell them that you are not saying how to coach, instead, just tell them your thoughts.
You have to remember that your son is still young and if you ask me, I would let him play on several positions as a part of his development.

At the age 14-15 I would start to adapt him to a specific position and focus on improving the skills required for that position. Another thing that you are not mentioning is whether his team is actually playing with an attacking midfielder? Also, is he competing with other players that are currently playing on his position?

As you’ve had several experts stating that he is really good then maybe you should transfer him to some other team that is actually playing with an attacking midfielder formation and where he will also be guaranteed to play on that specific position. I have been playing with players that were pretty average but once they moved to another club and found their positions they were completely outstanding.

Obviously your question is not the easiest one to give an honest answer on. However, I would recommend you to try my tips and if they do not help make sure to contact me again and I will see how we can move further.

/Mirsad