It’s Just a Matter of Style for Some Coaches

Before the British came, the Latin American style of soccer ruled Orange County. And Manny Penaflor’s teams at Santa Ana have thrived playing that brand of soccer.

“We have so many short, quick players with excellent ballhandling skills, it wouldn’t make sense to play any other way,” Penaflor said.

But he would if he had to. Penaflor said he was introduced to soccer 28 years ago by several European coaches in the Garden Grove region of the American Youth Soccer Organization.

“The long ball, physical English style was all I knew back then,” Penaflor said. “I could play that way again. As a coach, you have to adjust to the weapons that you have. I always hate to say one style is better than the other. It’s what works for your team.”

It also has worked pretty well for Saddleback Coach Mel Silva, whose team is a perennial power and is currently ranked third in the county.

“Mel and I are among the few coaches playing the Latin American style,” Penaflor said. “Our kids play a lot in the Mexican leagues on the weekend and that is the style they’re used to playing and it’s a style they believe in.”

But Penaflor said style and talent are not enough anymore.

“We used to dominate, but like I told my kids, ‘Those days are gone,’ ” Penaflor said. “Kids are eating better. They have personal trainers and you’re getting a better type of athlete on the soccer field.”

The Saints are ranked second in the county with a 9-3-4 record, but they haven’t won a Southern Section title since 1991 and they are losing to teams they used to trounce.

The Southland’s changing soccer landscape hasn’t forced Penaflor to scrap ‘ball control’ or ‘touch’ style of play, but it has forced him to reevaluate his pregame routine.

“It used to be we could just send them out there to play,” said Penaflor, in his fifth year as the Saints’ head coach. “Now they have to be emotionally ready. We put them in a quiet room and talk to them to try to get that feeling of togetherness.”

Without that feeling of togetherness, the control style of play is difficult to execute. It requires a lot of short passes and quick movements and all players must be in sync.

“Sometimes I get a little frustrated by our style because we’re passing the ball back too much and it doesn’t seem like we’re going anywhere,” Penaflor said. “But I’ve learned that you have to have patience. An old coach once asked me, ‘What do you think a soccer ball is, a hot potato? Give it to the halfback and let him be your playmaker.’ ”