Is learning positions important and at what age should positions/responsibility to a degree be gone over with the kids?

By the time kids are 11, should not have SOME coach explained, at least somewhat, to the kids about soccer positions, i.e., a full-back is this, he does this, he covers this part of the field, a left mid-fielder plays here and this is what he is supposed to do. How can a team play as a team if they don't understand their responsibility to some degree in a position?

The trouble with our team is that the boys have mostly focused on foot skills and they are very good at that, but only a couple of them understand what their position does and stay in position. We have defenders playing across center field and pushing up as far as almost the other goal and playing like forwards, rather than "defending".

Another example, one player if he plays left midfield, ends up playing all the way across the field where the right midfielder is and we have "bunching" problems where all but maybe 2 players are in the same small area/side of the field and fighting each other over the ball, not covering the center or other side of the field.

We've brought this up to the coach and here is his response (in part). We'd like some feedback. If the coach doesn't explain or teach positions, etc., how can "their shape and understanding of the game follow"?

(Also, to get a lot of soccer games on TV here you have to have expanded cable/sports channel, and a lot of people do not have that.) Why let bad habits form rather than teaching the correct way to play a certain position?

"Game awareness/positioning on a full-size field is important, but if they (all players on the field) cannot control the ball, positioning is useless. At this age, the best training for them with regard to their positioning is watching soccer on TV.

That's the reality and benefit young players in foreign countries have - the exposure and a culture which surround/includes the game of soccer in virtually everything - so very little is done/taught with regard to positioning at a young age.

Foreign youth soccer academies do not stress the importance of positioning until players are 13, 14 and 15-years-old because they are exposed to seeing professional games regularly at a young age and because it is requires a large amount of focus and commitment to not just being focused, but staying focused.

I know we do not have these same qualities on the same level here and it's my responsibility to implement/stress the importance to the boys to keep their shape, but the tactical (positioning) part of the game is not my priority.

This is a process and things will still be frustrating to a degree, but I know as the boys get more confident with the ball and are able to make the ball do what they want and when, then their shape and understanding of the game will follow - and watching it will only help that much more."

THE ANSWER

The coach is completely right but I would still put some emphasize on teaching the kids their duties on the soccer field. He could line up the team in an optional formation and then allow them to move around the field without the ball just to visualize what they are expected to do on the field. In my soccer positions book, I am explaining how to perform well on any soccer position and the secrets behind it. I think that the players of your team would benefit a lot from reading this book. I wrote it with an easy to understand English and I recommend you to check it out.

All the best /Mirsad