Move. Control. Pass. Move.

A couple weeks ago during a discussion analyzing a teams play I made the following statement, "I don't know that they have the technical excellence to play possession soccer."  That comment has haunted me for several days. I awoke this morning with a better understanding of why.

Possession soccer is actually quite simple to play from the standpoint of technical skill.

Technically all a player must have in his arsenal are two basic skills he has been working on since his very first practices.  1) The ability to control the ball and 2) the ability to pass the ball. 

The picture of possession soccer many of us have involves a series of short secure passes that move the ball about the pitch quickly in a variety of directions. This description infers possession soccer is a slow probing style of attacking soccer. That does not have to be the case at all. The pace of play sessions I conduct at camps are all about possessing the ball at pace after all. In fact, we have achieved some very good results in increasing the pace of play with teams whose technical skill level could be described as average at best.

Why?



This is the question that has been at the forefront of my thoughts these last couple weeks. The answers were there. That is, I knew the answers. It was looking at a situation from a different perception that momentarily brought confusion to my thought process.  I was considering possession and pace of play as two different things when in fact they are one and the same. Shame on me! I knew better, of course.

So what threw me off my game and caused me to utter,  "I don't know that they have the technical excellence to play possession soccer"?

Context.

I had considered the team under consideration to be a kick and run team. Their whole strategy seemed to be to play through balls or dump and runs in behind defenses for their forwards to run on to.   I was not convinced the team had enough players who could "possess the ball." The inference being there were too few players with the advanced technical skill set to do so. I was wrong.

It took a while to process and understand the data I was assembling through observations of high school soccer this season, but a much clearer picture is coming into focus for me. My habit is to ask questions about things I do not understand - who, what, where, when, how and why until I come to an understanding of "because."

So, let's take a look at the requirements for possessing the soccer ball and playing at pace.

1)  Collective Soccer Intelligence
2)  Style of play designated by the coach
3)  Technical skill

Soccer Intelligence is a term I use quite often. Today I have a bit different understanding of this term than I did two weeks ago. Previously I had used the term to frame the need for individual players to be game watchers instead of ball watchers. I encouraged players to anticipate the run of play and move accordingly, to be multiple decision players. I believe these things remain true , but I might begin using different terminology to describe what I am attempting to convey.

Soccer intelligence remains rooted in the basic tenets of a players ability to understand space in relation to the ball, the opponents and his teammates within the system or style of play designated by the coach. The collective understanding of this by a team determines its ability to successfully possess the ball and play at pace.

In the past I had used "One heartbeat" to describe how I wanted teams to play together. In the future I will be using "one mind" to  describe what I want to see. There must be a collective recognition of space and how to create and utilize it in order to possess and play at pace. Every player on the team must be in sync for only then can appropriate runs off the ball and related movement of the ball be used to maximize the ability to possess and play with pace.

Possession therefore is a tool teams use to probe a defense until a collective decision can be made as to how best to penetrate and inflict damage to the opponents defense. Dependent on the system or style of play a coach designates, possession might involve anywhere from 1 to 20+ passes before a collective decision to initiate a direct attack is made.  That decision is determined on the ability of a teammate to receive the ball in a position that stresses the defense and allows for a wave of attacking players to move forward in concert with the ball carrier.

As I have continued to ask questions in consideration of the technical skill required to possess and play at pace a new picture began to form in my mind.  In thinking of possession as being a series of short passes used to probe a defense in search of a good point to break through I had assumed a high level of technical skill must be present to execute this style of play.  By extension, kick and run teams required far less technical skill.  I got it completely wrong.

Short passing for possession requires 1) off the ball player movement, 2) the ability to control the ball, 3) the ability to pass the ball and 4) mobility after the pass is made. If the team's level of soccer intelligence within the coaches designated style of play is sufficient, then possessing the ball and playing at pace does not require near the technical skill ability as playing kick and run soccer does.

Consider the short passing style of possession. The element of accuracy is far less a consideration at short distances than it is at longer distances. Therefore, when a team wishes to play long direct balls in behind defenses accuracy and properly weighted paces become much larger considerations as does the ability to receive flighted or bouncing balls in space as opposed to balls played to feet from short distances. It actually takes more technical skill to play kick and run well, than it does to play possession soccer of a shorter nature once all things are considered

Now, there is another key consideration in this equation. Time.  In soccer it is said the space = time and time = space in relation to the room and time a player needs to play the ball. The consensus is that shorter passes under more pressure are the result of having less time and space to play in, but this is where soccer intelligence comes in.  Soccer intelligence can increase the amount of space / time you have... or decrease the amount of space / time you require to play in.

The coaches designated style or system of play can also serve to reduce the amount of space / time required to securely play the ball by establishing certain patterns of play thereby shortening the decision making process for players through the pre-determined knowledge of where a teammate will be making his run.

So, In simple terms possession soccer boils down to Move, Control, Pass, Move with soccer intelligence within a coaches designated style or system of play being the determining factor in a teams ability to successfully do so.

Of course, an opponents defense style or system of play and their ability to influence the opponents ability to Move, Control, Pass, Move also factors in, but that will have to wait for another day, another article.