Playing Soccer is very Simple

Playing soccer is very simple, 
but playing simple soccer is the hardest thing there is.

Johan Cruyff

Johan Cruyff is one of my favorite soccer people of all-time.  Today's youth players may well know "the Cruyff" but not many will know anything about him as a player or even as a manager.  And that is a shame for the man was a brilliant soccer player and possesses one of the truly brilliant minds ever in the game.

The quote at the top of this article has long been a favorite of mine. Soccer truly is a simple game complicated by ...  And this is something I have pondered for countless hours over the years.  How do we manage to so complicate such a simple game? Maybe more importantly, why do we insist on complicating such a simple game?

I have spent the last few years defining a vision for playing soccer in its simplest form.  To be honest, I have borrowed and stolen from others as I have formulated these ideas based around certain truths of the game.

For example, we know there are four phases of play:

1) attacking

2) transitioning from attacking to defending

3) defending

4) transitioning from defending to attacking

Each of these four phases of play must be acted upon in as simple a manner as possible.  The actions required to act within each phase of play are the techniques we will employ. The decisions of how to employ these techniques are our tactics. Technique and Tactics can be influenced through physical and psychological aspects of play.  There, we just defined the four pillars of play in soccer: Technical, Tactical, Physical and Psychological.

The game itself has four elements necessary for simple play. These are Penetration, Depth, Width and Mobility.  When any of these are not present or exist in unnecessary duplication clutter and chaos exist. Or we might say we have complicated the game.

Within each of these concepts for the game of soccer are opportunities to complicate the processes involved. And boy do we take full advantage of those opportunities!  

Attacking play is all about establishing rhythm.  

Allow that to sink in for a minute.

Utilization of proper technique helps to establish attacking rhythm.  

Toes up / heel down / strike with the ankle bone is a mantra soccer coaches repeat ad nauseam and one that many likely cry out in their sleep in-season. Why?  Because when improper technique unnecessarily self-inflicts pressure and breaks the teams attacking rhythm possession is commonly lost. 

A defender dives in or stabs instead of adhering to channel first, close down second, use of a bounce step and the cues for when to attempt a tackle unnecessarily complicating the process by self-inflicting pressure.  Why?

The truly good teams have common characteristics beginning with why they have come together to play the game.  The "why" in the case of good teams manifests in a desire and willingness to play for one another.  It is important to the members of such teams not to let teammates down through inattention to details of the process - things like having their toes up / heels down and striking through the ball with their ankle bone or not diving in on defense.  The good teammates hold themselves and their teammates accountable allowing for the collective team to develop, establish and maintain a simplicity to their play that weaker teams cannot begin to ascend to due to self-inflicted pressure.  

What is your vision for the team?

I have a crystal clear HD Technicolor 3D movie with surround sound playing in my head depicting how I want my teams to play.  Often times players, especially players new to our team / system have a black and white static filled vision of how we want to play being received through rabbit ears antenna.  The process of coaching involves upgrading both the individual and collective teams viewing capabilities. I believe this is the accepted concept of how team sports work.

What if these roles are reversed?

There has been and will continue to be much debate about the value of high school soccer compared to club soccer.  For years, I have placed a greater value on high school soccer for the simple reason I had the student / athletes 5-6 days a week for 4 months out of the year.  In club soccer I had the athletes an average of 2-3 times a week for 6 months of the year. High school was the more intensive experience from both a teaching / learning perspective as well as from a playing experience.  Yes, club can afford the player / team more games, especially in the form of tournaments, but the club schedules can also have much less recovery time between matches. Again, especially where tournament play is concerned.

The team we had last spring played U19 and was the culmination of a 5 year building project.  Regular readers of this site will  know I have been torn about how the exceptional success of our club team has had a negative impact on many of our players when they returned to their high school teams.  My frustration stems from the founding principle and mission of our club to prepare area athletes for high school play.  Our team has indeed contributed to returning players with a higher level play to area high school soccer programs, but I never anticipated the problems that would arise because of this.  And ours was not the only club who contributed to what is a growing problem in our area..

"I have to dumb down my play when playing for my high school team"

"I cannot wait until club season" uttered early in the high school season.

"We know the system of play better than our coaches do"

"It's just a constant battle.  The club players are on one page, the coaches another and the rest of the team a complete chapter behind both"

"High school soccer is nowhere near as fun as club soccer is"

The above quotes began arising from our club players as they played for their high school teams. In one case, a captain of an MRL team was relegated to a junior varsity squad because he didn't dumb down his play for high school and therefore didn't fit into the coaches vision.  In other instances, players who played at the highest levels in club were held out of starting lineups or given diminished roles because they were not able or willing to assimilate their play to that of the high school team.

Somewhere in the process our (and other) club team(s) had transitioned to over preparing athletes for high school soccer. This past high school season my son Lance's team really struggled in part because the club athletes knew the system their coach wanted to play far better than the coach himself did.  Truth be told, the athletes had several years of experience in the system while the coach was brand new to the system.  Instead of relying on the players experience, the coach drew his vision from (black and white) books. Meanwhile the club athletes had been playing the system in HD Technicolor with surround sound for years.  The resulting battle of styles reminded me of the old tower antennas we had before the advent of cable or satellite TV -  whomever controlled the antenna controlled what could be watched on every TV in the house. 

The high school season was a complete disaster mainly because a shared vision for how to play was never agreed upon by coach, club players and non-club players.  Instead of high school coaches using their best players to raise the level of play of their teammates, the clubs players would (and did) say they had to "dumb down" their play to the level of non-club players.  This is a most curious thing that saw raw, but physically gifted work horses prized over technically sound players with high soccer IQ's.

I could not help but think of Johan Cruyff;

“All coaches talk too much about running a lot. I say it’s not necessary to run so much. Soccer is a game that’s played with the brain. You need to be in the right place at the right time, not too early, not too late. If it’s only about running, then you create a running game. I don’t think it is a running game. It is a beautiful game. It is about rhythm and dictating the tempo, and so on. Not only about playing forward, but about the journey the ball takes as it is moved toward goal. In order to protect the goal, you should protect the ball. That means you must be comfortable with the ball – first touch, shielding, passing, bending, shooting the ball. Isn't that the key, you don't have to win physical battles if you don't get into them. If the ball's always on the ground who cares if the kid's not good in the air. If you're not creating 50/50 balls you don't need the kids who can win most of them."

Simple words of pure genius.

The coaches on Lance's high school team championed the ability to win 50/50 balls and praised those that did so even as they created more 50/50 balls.  There was little to no consideration given to not creating 50/50 balls in the first place.  I wrote of this strange phenomenon in 50/50 Balls. Why some players are 1st to them and others win them.  A consequence of championing 50/50 balls was turning games into ping pong matches on grass. You needed to have your head on a swivel as the ball was constantly whacked back and forth up and down the field. I am fairly certain this is not the coach's ideal vision for how the game should be played, but it is nonetheless how his team did "play."

Teaching individual players and a collective team your vision for how the game should be played is not for the faint of heart.  Your commitment level to do so must be in the compelled range.  The real difference between the club teams and the high school teams is found in each coach's commitment to sharing and teaching their vision.  It is far easier to ask someone to dumb down their play than it is to teach someone how to elevate their play.  If the coach is not fully committed to teaching, then he will settle for something less than the best his team has to offer.

A big factor in this process is coaches who played in college believing they know more than their current players do.  The two most underachieving teams in our area are coached by former college players.  Why do they underachieve?  In part because the coaches do not listen to their best players.  Whether it is a lack of respect and trust, arrogance on the coach's part or a simple matter of teacher being intimidated by the intelligence and potential of players can be debated. What cannot be debated is the fact this situation should never arise and in fact does not arise in the truly good / great programs.

A head coach's coaching tree is often a good indicator of the confidence level of the head coach himself.  The confident head coach will surround himself with the best and brightest minds he can find knowing full well their time with him will be brief as they will be moving on to their own head coaching gigs.  (Think Ohio State football's Urban Meyer)  But in return, the head coach himself gains a valuable learning experience gleaning concepts and ideas from his assistants.  This type of assistant helps form and fine tune the coach's vision for how he wants his team to play. They help teach the coach's vision to players and bring focus to how the team plays.

Each season's coaching process should begin with one simply question;  What is my vision for how our team should play? The process itself is the work done to make your vision the collective vision of the team.  Input from assistant coaches and players alike is a prerequisite to solidifying the collective vision.  There must be a shared ownership of the vision. Only once a collective vision is determined and agreed upon can progress be made towards bringing that vision to fruition.  A program or team lacking an agreed upon collective vision is destined to underachieve. 

Winning versus Development

There is growing sentiment in the United States Soccer hierarchy that we are producing young players who know how to win but do not properly know the game of soccer.  Parents spend thousands of dollars for their children to play club soccer with two major expectations in terms of return on investment, the prospect of a college scholarship and wins. Lots and lots of wins.

In terms of money for college, the money they spend on youth soccer would be far better invested in a growth fund or even a simple savings account. The NCAA allows for the funding of 9.9 scholarships for men’s soccer to be distributed over a roster of 30 players. That is not favorable math.  As parents begin to realize this an even greater emphasis is placed on winning.

In youth soccer, the teams with the most big, strong, fast kids often dominate in terms of wins and losses. They impose their will through aggressive strategies built around physical play.  The myth of this being the proper way to develop players was given some credence by Bruce Arenas 2002 World Cup team that used superior conditioning to somewhat level the playing field and produce the USA’s best tournament results ever. The United States sank back to global soccer reality  when the USA failed to sustain that “success” and failed to qualify for the 2012 Olympics.

One Touch Soccer

I was talking with a young coach before a training session one day this past June. He was extolling the skills of his team and how he hoped one day they would be capable of playing one touch soccer. I asked, "why not today?" This took him by complete surprise and immediately a stream of excuses were issued. We ended up with a friendly wager of an adult beverage should I be able to get his team playing one touch soccer by the end of that training session. He was feeling pretty smug as I had no time to plan for anything and limited knowledge of his team.  I knew this much, the team's technical skills were adequate and the only reason they had not been successful with one touch play to date was that no one had unlocked the secret for them.

Here are the keys to playing one-touch soccer..

1) Ball movement is predicated on player movement.

This is simple common sense. The player receiving the ball must know where he will play it next before his first (and only) touch.  Therefore, his teammates wishing to be played to must move to be in his vision early, before his head goes down to play the ball.

2) Prepare to play.

Whenever possible position yourself to receive the ball across your body. We call it being a back footed player. With your hips open to as much of the field as possible you should have a variety of options for play. Select the best one.

3) Play the way you face.

Follow Johan Cruyff's advice and just keep it simple.  This is difficult to do until we unlock the secrets. Then it is indeed simple... and a beautiful way to play.

4) Technical excellence.

You are only getting one touch on the ball so it must be a great one.  Toes up. Heel down. Strike through the ankle bone.

5) Intelligent support.

Move to once again position yourself in the vision of a teammate you expect will be receiving / playing the ball shortly.  It might or might not be the player receiving the ball next. You might need to read the game and anticipate 2 to 3+ passes ahead.

Once you get a team following these 5 steps one touch play can become a routine and normal part of your game. It often involves reprogramming a players thought process, but can be accomplished to a degree in relative short order.

Oh yeah, I enjoyed a Samuel Adams at my friends expense.  ;)    It wasn't perfect or even great but the progress made in one training session was significant enough to get the point across.

Johan Cruyff on Running in Soccer and 50 / 50 balls

Johan Cruyff has stated: “All coaches talk too much about running a lot. I say it’s not necessary to run so much. Soccer is a game that’s played with the brain. You need to be in the right place at the right time, not too early, not too late. If it’s only about running, then you create a running game. I don’t think it is a running game. It is a beautiful game. It is about rhythm and dictating the tempo, and so on. Not only about playing forward, but about the journey the ball takes as it is moved toward goal. In order to protect the goal, you should protect the ball. That means you must be comfortable with the ball – first touch, shielding, passing, bending, shooting the ball. Isn't that the key, you don't have to win physical battles if you don't get into them. If the ball's always on the ground who cares if the kid's not good in the air. If you're not creating 50/50 balls you don't need the kids who can win most of them."

 

"I play very simply.

That's what it's all about.

Playing simple football is the hardest thing."

Johan Cruyff

 

"I play very simply.

 

That's what it's all about.

 

Playing simple football is the hardest thing."

 

Johan Cruyff

 

"I play very simply.

That's what it's all about.

Playing simple football is the hardest thing."

Johan Cruyff