Where should the ball be?

2010-03-20T23:31:00.000-07:00

I had a hard time putting this into words for a title but this is what I came up with at 1:30am in the morning. I'm always trying to come up with new ways to convey to young players (9-11 year olds) their purpose and function on a soccer field as so many of them come to me so short sighted in the simple concept of the game. I remember when my dad use to teach me how to play soccer and there were two phrases in Portuguese that he use to tell me all the time and I can remember them to this very day.

The first was stating the obvious of course and that is; "All that matters is ball in the net!". In other words at the end of the game, all that matter was how many times you could put the ball in the goal was the difference maker. So many times players are so focused on style and creativity that they lose their end objective and that is to score goals. As for Americans, style is something that we didn't really care a whole lot. What mattered to us was how fast we can run and how hard we could kick.

When sharing with a friend, who has worked with special ops and police forces, he began sharing a similar views relative to his profession that could easily be translated to the soccer field just the same. In a Police raid, there are times that require breaking down the door with guns loaded with all the fire power at your disposal. But in reality, sometimes that's not always the right answer for every situation. The United States of America have probably the most sophisticated and skillful military force on the planet. Although we have some of the most powerful weapons in our arsenal, we don't always require to use them as we have learned from experience that a well contemplated skillful plan of attack works much more efficiently than all the power in the world. Power and strength are great assists but that doesn't mean that it won't cost you something for the victory. Just throwing more man power out in the battle field, just because you have the resources to do so, doesn't guarantee you the victory. But skill and a well executed and effective game plan will always put you one up on your opponent giving you the upper hand in any battlefield. Position and Timing then become more critical then strength and speed alone.

How does this tie back into soccer. This leads me the 2nd phrase my Dad always use to tell me; "One Small Touch!". Now this is not the same "One Touch" that we refer to in soccer relative to passing but rather the translation of this meant, "All it takes is one small touch to get past your opponent". Well the only way that you could make that small touch was if that ball sat next to your foot the whole entire time you had it within your possession. A simple concept but sometimes easier said then done, but with practice and reminding one's self, it could eventually become a part of your game. In other words, didn't have to look at the ball any more because it was sitting at my foot the whole time as I could feel it. The ball was always closer to me then it was to my opponent meaning I was always going to be quicker to the ball then my opponent. And lastly, I could always change my mind at the last minute in the direction that I needed to go as I saw my first option close in front of me. Having that ability to change direction always placed me in control of my circumstances.

In closing, there is no better place for the ball to be then at your foot. Why Americans feel the need to launch the ball down the field and chase after it as fast as they can is beyond me. I would better understand if we possessed players that could be teleported into the space the ball was landing but I don't believe that technology has been proven fail proof nor would the rules of the game permit such tactics in the game.

Now this is not to say that players like Landon Donavan have nothing to contribute as I would disagree. Landon is only one type of player with specific skills and qualities and running down the field with speed and skill is one of his strengths and has proven to be a big assist to his club teams as well as the US National Team. But this is not true for players such as David Beckham as his skill and ability is very different from Landon where the ball has to be at his feet at all times as his long passes is what makes David so valuable. Similar to Ronaldinho, but even more so, as he loves to dribble and his contribution to the game is in his ability to be versatile in whether to dribble or make that sublime pass in spaces that splits any defense apart.

In closing, Landon is a player of extraordinary speed, while players like Beckham and Ronaldinho are players that are quick with the ball and are not known speedsters. Still, each of them require the ball being at their feet to be affective soccer players.

SoccerSkills101

Where should the ball be?