Not true. I remember my enjoyment of playing football went way down when the opposition players learned to run around me instead of trying to go straight through me. This happened at about age 9. Things got even worse when they learned how to pass.
Having recently coached youth soccer, from my experience the kids are not crowding around the ball trying to kick it, they are waiting for the ball to come to them. The more athletic and aggressive kids go in and kick the ball and the more timid kids wait on the periphery for the ball to come to them to kick it. Most kids do not have the patience to play off the ball. If the ball is not near them for more than 15 seconds they mentally check out of the game, so putting them into positions is a waste. They are not mentally capable of understanding what their teammates are thinking so trying to get them to pass the ball to their teammates is also a waste. Herd instincts is humans is very real but bunch ball is not a symptom of it.