With all the free to air quality football on tv are your players watching them?
ie SBS europa
champions league and channel 50

Too many don't mate.

I think that's a really good question. In my experience there is a massive difference in the awareness of players who watch the game and are exposed to it regularly with those who don't. It's an obvious thing, but I've seen my two boys who've grown up with the game on TV at home all their lives become really aware footballers on the pitch and take smart decisions. Not saying they'll be top of the football tree - they won't be, but they really read the game well and make the right decisions on the field. Other kids who are exposed to fregular top-flight football are the same, my two aren't special.

At the same time I see kids with better athleticism make some shocking decisions on the field and really struggle to read the game. I really wish more would get in front of the box and get a greater sense of football.

100%
That has been my observation as well. same with the parents.

True that, I've yet to hear a South American Dad yell at his son to get rid of the ball.

last year a team that was technically poor and the parents kept insisting the players go in harder.
By seasons end half the players had been off injured.
Go figger
Maybe if they watched quality teams they may have insisted that the players become better on the ball.

There's a thought...

But the amount of ignoramus parents out there is staggering, not surprising though given that football is still not watched anywhere near as much as other sports. In Australia we have knowledgeable cricket and tennis crowds, but some football fans are still behind and that's the ones that go. Imagine a rugby watching Dad who takes his 8 year old to the game on Saturday morning - is he likely to tell his kid to control the ball, look up, pass the ball and move into a new space? Or is he going to tell him to go in hard?

If you don't have that "feel" for the game it's difficult to understand what's required. I help out with my 10 y/o's U11s team - the coach is happy to get the extra knowledge and assistance. There's a new boy who's just come from rugby (not sure which one), and I've made him my protege a bit. I've got him out of the habit of running straight lines and being afraid of having the ball at his feet. All this in about 3 training sessions. They played their first game today, and his mixture of being physically intimidating (he is a big solid kid) coupled with being told not to kick it away when he wins the ball but to pass to a teammate has made him improve very quickly. They played their first game today and the boy was excellent. But his parents haven't got a clue. Nice folks though, at least they're not yelling stupidities at him from the sidelines.