Attacking Play

Attacking Play: The Individual's Perspective

 



I often say to players I coach that I wish for them to leave our training sessions mentally exhausted. Soccer, at its core, is all about the quality of decisions made. Of course, it helps if we know ahead of time some of the most common decisions a player will be faced with so we can prepare in advance to be ready when they arise. 

As background for these articles we will need to keep in mind the three basic elements in the game of soccer; Penetration, Width and Depth.

The First Attacker aka The Ball Carrier

Before a player gains possesion of the ball or recieves the ball from a teammate he needs to have already answered the question of how best to penetrate the defense.

1) Does he have a good shot on goal?  We play soccer to win games. We must score in order to win. Therefore the first question to be asked and answered is "Can I score from here?"  If the answer is yes, then the shot must be taken.

2) Is there a teammate in better position to score than I am? If the answer to this question is "yes," then passing the ball is the solution.  It is important to remember that the ball can travel faster via pass than it can be advanced by a ball carrier.

2a) A variation of this question, Is there a teammate in a better or more advanced penetrating position than I am?  This question would be asked of yourself in the defending or middle third of the field and not predicated on having an available shot on goal, but on creating an opportunity to advance the ball to a position where a shot can be taken.

3) Does the first attacker have space to advance by running with the ball? Note that running with the ball is the third option listed. It is not the last option available, but if the objective is to score a goal we do want to exploit the path of least resistance. Running with the ball can be the best option when neither of the first two options present themselves.

3a) Can the first attacker dribble to engage a defender thereby creating option 1 or 2? If engaging a defender can create a shooting opportunity or create a numbers up situation to play a teammate or one's self into better situation, then the first attacker should purposefuly engage the defender.

4) If no shot is available, no teammate in a more advanced position is open and a defender has seized advantage and engaged you, pass to relieve pressure.  It is okay to drop he ball backwards in order to relieve pressure. Sometimes the defense will organize more quickly than the attacking team can do so. Remember that we seek the path of least resistance to the goal.

The options outlined above take into consideration the basic elements of Pentetration ( 1,2,3 )  Width ( 2, 2a, 3a) and Depth ( 4 ) of soccer. In this case "Width" is not necessarily direct lateral width but width present in passing angles. 

These questions must be asked and answered before a player receives or gains possession of the ball if we are to play the game with proper pace or speed of play.