As I was watching film from high school matches a rather strange, yet very pertinent, thought crossed my mind. What if the players drove their cars in the same manner as they play soccer?
Think of the player who receives the ball, does a U-turn and runs right into on-coming defenders? It's kind of like doing a U-turn in your car, ignoring the wrong way signs and causing an accident, isn't it?
Or the soccer player who is going at full speed towards goal right into multiple defenders in front of him. A wrong way driver on I-75?
And what about the player with ballwatchingitis? Nothing like parking your car in the middle of a busy thoroughfare so you can watch the chaos of honking cars going on around you, right?
These are the thoughts bouncing around my head as I watch players and their teams "play" at the game of soccer. There are so many different paths to goal but so many only see the most direct route.
When I am driving to the same destination repeatedly I often find alternative routes to take. Just a change of scenery. Soccer should be like that. Sometimes we take the direct expressway route. Other times we take a (possession) scenic route. When the preferred road is closed we detour and meander around the obstruction until we find our path once again - we find the path of least resistance to the goal.
Isn't it better to actually play soccer instead of creating chaos in the game environment by playing at soccer? When you drive your car there are accepted standards that allow you to have an enjoyable experience while making your way to the intended destination. When someone deviates from these standards it can result in chaos on the roadways. Attacking soccer is very much like this - there are proper techniques and tactics - soccer standards - that must be adhered to or chaos ensues on the pitch.
A smart driver will map out his route before starting his journey. He will have a plan but be flexible. If he encounters congestion on the roadways he will alter his route. The driver of a car strikes a balance between speed and arriving safely at his destination. Rules of the road are followed and perhaps sometimes bent, but when broken often come with severe consequences. If the driver does something stupid he will draw the ire of others on the roadway - honks, gestures and or screaming? When the driver arrives safely home he is warmly greeted and if it's been a while there might be quite the celebration.
Yeah, soccer is a lot like that.
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Showing posts with label stupid soccer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stupid soccer. Show all posts
Sunday
Wednesday
Re: Pace of play. Sometimes you need to slow things down
When coaches contact me about doing sessions on Pace of Play they usually want help teaching their team to play faster, but sometimes a team attempts to play too fast. When this happens their speed can actually be counter productive. The key to effectively playing fast is to being able to do so calmly and with poise.
Think of it as if you are driving a car on the interstate. The speed limit is 70 mph. Some older drivers and some young inexperienced drivers may opt to drive at 60 mph. Others may decide to drive at 80+ mph. Each driver finds a pace they are comfortable driving at, a speed that matches their driving skill level. There exists a greater risk of mistakes that could lead to an accident when drivers exceed a speed at which they are comfortable making decisions at.
This is what Johan Cruyff was getting at when he said, "soccer is a game that's played with the brain."
Pace of play is controlled by the rate a player can make quality decisions at. The speedy aggressive player whose pattern of play is "See ball. Win the ball. Whack the ball" will actually slow the pace of play for his team because his rate for making quality decision lags behind the physical pace of play he establishes. He might look great racing all over the field and "winning" 50 / 50 balls, but what does he really have to show for his effort? Winning the ball loses its importance when you lose it right away due to poor touch or a bad pass made because your physical pace of play did not allow for a quality decision to be made.
In fact, what we are describing is not "winning" the ball at all. No, we are describing being first to the ball and there is a huge difference. Does it matter more who is first to the ball or who wins possession of the ball? The smarter play is, of course, to win possession of the ball.
I have heard coaches urge a calm and poised player to "Play faster!" because it doesn't look as if he is exerting a lot of physical energy, but what about that players thought process? We cannot mistake calm and poised for being lazy. If the player is making good decisions it is probably because of the pace of play he is able to establish in his mind. Exuding an air of confidence and poise can be far more beneficial than running about the field chasing the ball in a chaotic fashion. Frantic chaotic play might serve to disrupt opponents play but it also highly probable that it disrupts the rhythm of your own teams play.
Have a plan to play the ball before your first touch on the ball.
This is what pace of play is all about.
Be first to the ball. Win possession of the ball. Make a safe pass to establish possession of the ball with your team. Allow the recipient of the safe pass to determine the rhythm of your teams attack.
If your focus is simply on winning the ball and then trying to figure out what to do with it next... well, all the physical speed, hustle and aggressiveness in the world is not going to make you effective at playing with pace. All you are really accomplishing is wearing yourself out, very likely causing your team to lose its shape and actually slowing your teams pace of play by increasing its workload to gain and retain possession of the ball.
It's not about playing faster or giving more effort.
It's all about thinking faster and playing smarter.
The players that strike a proper balance between physical effort and a high rate of good decision making are the ones who excel at the game. This begs the question of how much decision making training a team does in relation to the physical training a team does. If the game is truly played with the brain - and it is - then shouldn't teams spend at least as much time training proper decision making techniques as they do on physical training?
Johan Cruyff: "... 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."
Think of it as if you are driving a car on the interstate. The speed limit is 70 mph. Some older drivers and some young inexperienced drivers may opt to drive at 60 mph. Others may decide to drive at 80+ mph. Each driver finds a pace they are comfortable driving at, a speed that matches their driving skill level. There exists a greater risk of mistakes that could lead to an accident when drivers exceed a speed at which they are comfortable making decisions at.
This is what Johan Cruyff was getting at when he said, "soccer is a game that's played with the brain."
Pace of play is controlled by the rate a player can make quality decisions at. The speedy aggressive player whose pattern of play is "See ball. Win the ball. Whack the ball" will actually slow the pace of play for his team because his rate for making quality decision lags behind the physical pace of play he establishes. He might look great racing all over the field and "winning" 50 / 50 balls, but what does he really have to show for his effort? Winning the ball loses its importance when you lose it right away due to poor touch or a bad pass made because your physical pace of play did not allow for a quality decision to be made.
In fact, what we are describing is not "winning" the ball at all. No, we are describing being first to the ball and there is a huge difference. Does it matter more who is first to the ball or who wins possession of the ball? The smarter play is, of course, to win possession of the ball.
I have heard coaches urge a calm and poised player to "Play faster!" because it doesn't look as if he is exerting a lot of physical energy, but what about that players thought process? We cannot mistake calm and poised for being lazy. If the player is making good decisions it is probably because of the pace of play he is able to establish in his mind. Exuding an air of confidence and poise can be far more beneficial than running about the field chasing the ball in a chaotic fashion. Frantic chaotic play might serve to disrupt opponents play but it also highly probable that it disrupts the rhythm of your own teams play.
Have a plan to play the ball before your first touch on the ball.
This is what pace of play is all about.
Be first to the ball. Win possession of the ball. Make a safe pass to establish possession of the ball with your team. Allow the recipient of the safe pass to determine the rhythm of your teams attack.
If your focus is simply on winning the ball and then trying to figure out what to do with it next... well, all the physical speed, hustle and aggressiveness in the world is not going to make you effective at playing with pace. All you are really accomplishing is wearing yourself out, very likely causing your team to lose its shape and actually slowing your teams pace of play by increasing its workload to gain and retain possession of the ball.
It's not about playing faster or giving more effort.
It's all about thinking faster and playing smarter.
The players that strike a proper balance between physical effort and a high rate of good decision making are the ones who excel at the game. This begs the question of how much decision making training a team does in relation to the physical training a team does. If the game is truly played with the brain - and it is - then shouldn't teams spend at least as much time training proper decision making techniques as they do on physical training?
Johan Cruyff: "... 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."
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