GAME BODY MIND OFF THE PITCH NEWS

Understanding Tactical Soccer Strategy

How well you do you know and study the game?  How well do you understand systems of play?  What do you understand about styles of play, high pressure defense, and playing in specific positions on the the team?  Well, I’ve got news for you - you’ll never know absolutely everything and you’ll always be a student of the game.

What understanding tactical soccer looks like?

If your able to adapt from a 4-3-3 to a 3-5-2 then into other formations with little or no interferance in your performance, then you’re already on the way to understanding key tactical strategies of the game.  However, this only scratches the surface and much is required of you to continually watch, experience through play, read about the game, and learn from others in order to achieve strong tactical awareness.

When you are able to understand your opponents tactical movements and are able to prepare counter actions to defend and attack you will soon have the upperhand.  Obviously a coach will seek to put the best players in the team on the field this includes which usually are the players who have strongest tactical understanding of the game with in the team.  So, how can you strengthen your tactical understanding?  Below are just a few ideas to help you

5 Ideas for Action:

1. Talk with your coach about tactical strategies and ask him or her to tell you what parts of your personal tactical game could be improved.
2. Attend instructional courses, clinics and camps that focus on tactical development to improve your actual knowledge and understanding of the tactical side of football.
3. On TV, watch how the professional players fit into different systems and how they adapt.  Attend games both professional and amateur and takes notes.
4. Try playing different roles in training wherever possible to gain understanding of others roles in the team.
5. Use your resources such as the internet and the local library to research varying opinions and game tactics to strengthen your viewpoints on the game. 

Picking Your Opponents Pocket By Reading The Game

In football you’re either picking pockets or getting your pocket picked. Who are you? Hopefully, you’re a step ahead of your opponent and picking pockets or are the interceptor but, if you’re not you can do something about it. Learning the art of interception is all about timing and reading the game. And, if you watch some of the best footballers in the world, you’ll notice how good they are at this skill.

So, what does intercepting look like?

Intercepting is your ability to consistently be a step ahead of your competitor and being able to dispossess your opponent. To intercept is to stop the ball or arrivarriving at it’s destination. For example, a pass from one player to another player across the field. This can be achieved in many forms, a catch from a goalkeeper, a header from an intended cross cleared by a defender or more commonly the dispossession of an opponent while making or once made a pass.

Alternatively a lack of good ball control can offer a dispossession opportunity. Intercepting differs from tackling as it is considered to be a judgement, an anticipation of an opposing players pass, cross, or shot. Timing is crucial and would be attributed in the past to players who may have lots of experience such as the amazing Bobby Moore, a world cup winner with England in 1966. Also, from Germany the famous Franz Beckenbauer and more recently Lothar Matthaus are two other masters of reading the game and the art of interception. An ideal player to watch today would be Claude Makelele who plays for Paris St. Germain and the French National Team.

Now that you have a basic understanding, the time is now to focus on becoming one of the best interceptors and play makers. You would not believe how many of personal goals are made available now to due to this new system.

5 Ideas for Action:

1. In a small group, a light warm-up without over stretching, would be to form a circle with players in close proximity and have one opposition player in the middle who can only intercept a pass. Thus aiding to the reading of players movements and faints before making a pass.
2. Practice long passes amongst a group of five with emphasis on control and pass (two touch) giving the opposition players (2) an opportunity to put pressure on and eventually win the ball by anticipating the pass.
3. A good way to understand when to intercept is to mark an opposition player and then anticipate his next move therefore arriving before and stealing possession. An excellent practice is 1v1 marking with 4 servers at varying distances and angles. The marker in this case can only win possession by anticipating a pass.
4. Watch different leagues and players . It’s important to see good and bad examples of anticipation and intercepting and evaluate each as so.
5. Develop an intuition in training matches for when is the correct time to intercept and when not to.

Dewayne De Rosario’s Perspective On Being A Pro Footballer

As the first “Footballer Q&A Feature” we’re doing here on the new blog, I thought it would be cool to feature DeWayne given what we personally have in common (fifth metatarsal injury). More importantly DeRo is just a class act and I really enjoyed interviewing him and I really would like to hear your feedback about this interview and who else you would like us to feature and what format you’d like to see. Heck, maybe we should feature you?

Given that we are all about helping players here on Footballers FC you’ll see that this interview with DeWayne is really centered around our belief in being a total footballer which requires you train your game, your body and your mind for peak performance. So, below are some of the questions we asked Dewayne and I hope you enjoy his feedback.

Also, please feel free to submit any questions you might have by text below or post a video response on the FFC video player. Now, enjoy DeWayne’s advice:

Q. What things do you do from a nutritional perspective to keep your body at its optimal performance level?

A. Well, I am a vegetarian so I don’t eat meat. However, I eat a lot of fruits and vegatables and I keep my body very hydrated. I drink a lot of water because hydration is extremely important playing at this level. It is especially important at the peak of the MLS season as hot is it is. Plus, playing here in Houston it’s very humid and it was one of the more difficult to adjust too coming here from San Jose. Players especially from Europe have a difficult time playing in the heat we have to perform in so, I really focus on keeping myself hydrated well.

Q. What has been one of the most challenging times in your career?

A. When I fractured my fifth metatarsal in 2003 it was difficult to get back into match shape with the entire rehabilitation process. Once I completed training and was ready to get back into it we had our first exhibition match with San Jose State and Dom came to me and said that he was going get me in for the last 15 minutes to get my legs going and open up my lungs. I told Dom I was excited to hear it and was really looking forward to getting back in. When the time came I got in and remember taking a volley at the top of the box and a defender jumped into my leg and I ended up snapping my LCL – I scored though (and he laughs HUH!) and I played the rest of the game. I thought it was just a good knock on the knee and played through it. It wasn’t until later in the evening that I was really in pain and had to see a doc to confirm that I had torn my LCL.

Hearing that I was going to be out the rest of the season after just coming back from my broken foot was really tough to take but, I did what the docs told me and was patient and followed their advice. The good thing is that we ended up winning the Cup that season and that was great!

Jason Cronkhite – Dewayne, I definitely can sympathize with you. I also broke my fifth metarsil – twice actually.

Dewayne – “So, did you have surgery?”

Jason – Yep, I actually have a 3 inch pin in my foot.

Dewayne – Is’nt funny they call it a pin and it looks like a screw you’d pull out of your tool box. (everyone laughs).

Steve Arters – yeah that sounds smaller huh?

Q. From Steve, DeWayne – with the time you’ve been with the Dynamo can you explain how the MLS has grown talent wise?

A. I think the MLS has grown tremendously but, I don’t think the talent level has been lacking. When you have players like Demarcus Beasley, Carlos Bocanegra, Clint Dempsey, Brian McBride and many others that have come up through MLS you can’t say that the talent has been bad since these guys are playing on a world class level.

Q. What can you tell us about your pregame ritual – how you get prepared to play?

A. Well, the day of the game I am in my own zone, my own world. I close the door to my room so my kids don’t get in and I tune in and focus on the game. I visualize what I have to do. I drink lots of water and pile up on pastas and carbs and really just try to relax and think about what I have to do.

My wife goes crazy on game days! My bodies here but I’m not. I’m no help around the house with the kids – you’re on your own for this one day. ( we all had a few laughs ).

Steve comments: you know it sounds kinda like a boxer the way you prepare, shutting everything out and really mentally focusing on the game.

Dwayne: Yep, it’s a very demanding sport and I always get comments from other athletes saying they don’t know how I play soccer. You have to run for 90 minutes especially in this heat here.

Q: Steve: Your bio says you have a knack for pulling off the unexpected. For the younger players, how would you advise them on how to create such opportunities in games – is it anticipation?

A. You know I think it is a lot of things, anticipation is one of them. Creativity is a big one and coaches of young players need to provide an environment for the players to experiment and do new things. It will help them with the confidence and their creative abilities to not be afraid of doing new things. You know a lot of people ask me when I do something really crazy – how did you do that? And, I often respond – I don’t know I just felt that doing a particular move or something was just the way I could get something done. I try things sometimes just because I want to and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. But, this is what I think makes great players. Some players will do things in training but won’t do these things in games. Trying new things is just me and when it works its great and when it doesn’t well, I think I’ll never do that again. (laughs all around).

Dewayne continues, I think that this is where your confidence in yourself comes into play. If you’re not afraid to take risks and fail sometimes it’s hard to grow and develop your game. Of course, there is an entertainment aspect at this level and it is a sport. Although when I do things I am not really thinking that oh… I should do a bicycle kick here because it will be cool and the fans will love it but, if this is an option and could help put the ball in the back of the net then it would not hurt trying.

Q. So, what would be your best advice to young aspiring players that dream of becoming professionals?

A. You have to believe you can make your dream a reality. You have to be determined and work really hard. You have to put yourself in the right place in your community, stay focused keep the right mindset. When I was growing up had the opportunities to go the wrong way but I stayed focused on what I wanted to accomplish along with my brothers help. I became a professional soccer player because I focused all my energy into the game. Making smart choices, not partying and sacrificing the quick thrills to stay focused on the big goal. I stayed away from the parties for five years and thought about what I would be able to do and enjoy later. Now, I am able to travel and play the sport I love because I stayed focused and was very determined.

Q. Can you talk more about some of the specific things that helped you make it through your back to back injuries?

A. Sure. I think one of the things that motivated me was my son. He was 2 years old at the time and I remember seeing him start to run around and thinking man I have to get back – I have to do this. I think the cure for me was my own mental decision to really decide that I’m going to do whatever it takes to make it back and play this season. Just having that will power and determination makes a huge difference. The guys on the team really played a huge part too. I remember their encouragement during training sessions when I was just able to get back out and run they clapped for me and really took an interest to where I was and how I was doing. Having their support made me feel really good and it gave me more confidence to work even harder.

You know the camaraderie amongst the Dynamo is one of our team dynamics that I think make us so great. Our guys really want to work with each other. We work hard to encourage each other and we back each other to achieve and

Q. Can you talk about some of the things you do to pick yourself up when you might not be playing your best?

A. You know I like to watch film footage of when I was performing well and doing the things I know I can do really well. If you get to down on yourself its hard to get out of that mindset and if I am not playing well for some reason then I try to focus on the simple things. I go back to fundamentals and focus on make sure I am passing the ball well, moving into space and supporting my teammates and try to make sure I can just play my role well enough for the team to win.

At this point unfortunately we lost Dwayne on his cell but caught back up with him a few minutes later and really thanked him for his time and sharing everything he did. So, I hope this advice from a class act footballer helps you as a player. And, if there is someone that you’d like us to interview or a topic you’d like us to cover please feel free to use the “SUBMIT A TOPIC” button in the right hand corner.

Do you have any comments or just want to share something with us? Drop us a line in the comment box as we always want to know what’s on other footballers minds.

Strengthen Your Stamina For Soccer

One the most important traits of a professional footballer is their stamina, which is their capability to sustain performance for 90 minutes. Since soccer is one of the most physical and mentally demanding sports there is, a player’s stamina plays a major role in their ability to succeed.

What Stamina Looks Like

In the last 10-15 minutes of a half is when many goals are scored and this is largely due to the fact that players are really being tested physically and mentally. When you don’t have sufficient stamina your opponent will take advantage of it and breakdown your defense. Players with strong stamina perform consistently well by out pacing and out thinking the competition especially when the match is at its most intense moments – when everything is on the line.

So how does one increase their stamina?

Improving Your Stamina

To improve your stamina you should invest time performing activities such as jogging, hill running, cycling, and using exercise equipment such as cross-trainers, stair climbers, treadmills and cross-country ski aerobic machines (if available of course). You should also perform sprint training activities like; shuttle runs, relay runs, and interval running exercises that require you to change speeds quickly i.e. sprint-walk-jog.

Get serious about improving you stamina by reviewing the following articles:

• Stamina Training
• Having Stamina is Important in Soccer
• How to Increase Stamina for Playing Soccer
• Soccer Conditioning Aerobic Drills
• Fitness For Football

5 Ideas for Action
1. Review each of the articles provided above.
2. Get a running partner and start on some of the recommended stamina exercises.
3. Sign-up to run a marathon and train for it.
4. Try running a couple of miles then go to practice.
5. Design a personal jump rope workout and do it at least 1 x a week.

What ideas, input, experiences or resources can you share about stamina training?

As part of FFC’s series on, “24 Key Elements To Being A Great Footballer” we are discussing each key element in 24 successive blog posts every Monday, Wednesday & Friday over an 8 week period inside the respective Game, Body and Mind sections. For more information about the 24 Key Elements get our Players Assessment Kit here.

Command The Match By Mastering Football Control

On the ball who’s in control? When you juggle do you find yourself directing the movement of the ball or are you reacting to the change in its direction. Masters of ball control demonstrate mastery by controlling the pace of games because these players are frequently touching and guiding play or game speed.

What ball control looks like?

Ball Control is your technical ability to hold, secure, distribute and attack with the ball. Players with exquisite ball control make the game beautiful. Sound ball control is almost artistic but can also be very simplistic. Players with good ball management skills are able to control the flow of the game. With control you are able to create opportunities and diffuse pressure.

Two of the most well know ball control masters are Pele and Maradonna. These ball control idols told the ball what to do, the ball listened. As a player you must master the ability to command control of the ball and not the other way around. Think of the way that you write with a pen or pencil, hopefully you have good penmanship? If not, the point is that you drive the direction of your pen/pencil and you produce the end result pretty or not. How much do you practice this skill? Pretty much every day, right?

Becoming Master Of The Ball

Mastering ball control takes a lot of effort and consistent practice at varying levels of speed, change of direction and with many control touch points i.e. feet, head, chest, thigh, etc. How much time do you spend juggling daily? How much time do you spend practicing new moves dribbling? How much do you practice explosive directional changes? How much time to you spend taking people on 1 v 1?

You need to touch the ball every day if you’re serious about mastering control over it. Experiment with new dribbling moves, cuts and taking the ball out of the air from a friend’s service. There are many ways to master ball control and its really up to your imagination as to how you develop the skill but below are a few ideas to consider.

Ideas For Action:

1. Play lots of 1 v 1 with a friend in a confined space.

2. Practice dribbling and cutting with the ball in an open space. Focus on performing a cut and exploding out of it.

3. Have a friend serve you balls from a distance that you take out of the air and put into play on the ground quickly.

4. Organize small sided games like 2 v 2, 3 v 3 and 4 v 4 and play as much as you can.

5. Grab a small size ball and just juggle to your hearts content.

As part of FFC’s series on, “24 Key Elements To Being A Great Footballer” we are discussing each key element in 24 successive blog posts every Monday, Wednesday & Friday over an 8 week period inside the respective Game, Body and Mind sections. For more information about the 24 Key Elements get our Players Assessment Kit here. Be sure to also subscribe to FFC by email or RSS - just visit the subscribe button in the top right corner of the page.

What ideas, input, experiences or resources can you share?

Aggression Can Set You Apart

So you think you’re aggressive huh? How would your peers rate you on aggressiveness? Better yet, how would you rate yourself on your level of aggression? Since, it all starts with you - where do you stand?

What aggression looks like?

Aggression – is your attitude and competitive nature. Aggressiveness is a mindset that the best players in the world just have. Being aggressive means that you are in the mix of play at every chance you get. You desire to receive and distribute the ball. When you don’t have the ball you pressure your opponent like crazy to win back possession.

Mia Hamm is one of those players that optimizes aggression. She did not become one of the most dangerous strikers in the world by being passive. Mia put everything she could into the game and always came ready to play mentally.

To be aggressive requires a certain mindset. Simply put, it is nothing more than deciding that you are going play with high energy, passion and determination. Go – Go – Go is the rate that you play and never stop. When you fall, you get up and you dig in harder.

Improving Your Aggression

No matter how aggressive you think you are, there is always room to improve. Playing with aggression for 90 minutes requires a lot of stamina both physically and mentally. However, you have to make up your mind to be aggressive. If you are the aggressor with in your own 1 on 1 positional battle, chances are that you will wear down your opponent but, he who has the greater mental muscle most often wins.

To improve your aggression you need to first evaluate where you think you are on the aggression scale. Go ahead, assign yourself a rating 1-10 and take action to turn up your aggression knob up.

Ideas for Action:

1. Determine who you think is the most aggressive player in the world then try to match that players level of aggression.
2. Before playing listen to aggressive music to help get you into an aggressive mental state (that’s what I did).
3. Visualize your self as a Cheetah chasing down its prey. Can you feel the energy?
4. Do 50 push-ups before a match as fast as you can to get your blood pumping (worked for me).
5. Watch a movie like Braveheart before play to get pumped up. Better yet, watch film of yourself playing at your peak performance then beat that performance.

As part of FFC’s series on, “24 Key Elements To Being A Great Footballer” we are discussing each key element in 24 successive blog posts every Monday, Wednesday & Friday over an 8 week period inside the respective Game, Body and Mind sections. For more information about the 24 Key Elements get our Players Assessment Kit here. Be sure to also subscribe to FFC by email or RSS - just visit the subscribe button in the top right corner of the page.

What ideas, input, experiences or resources can you share?

Amazing Tackles Can Win Major Matches

Is your tackling ability on a world class level? What would it take for you to elevate your skill to the world class level? Do you have what it takes to be a tackling specialist? You very well could and it all starts with you and simple fundamentals.

Tackling Defined

Tackling – is your ability to take the ball directly from your opponent. (pretty simple huh?)

What tackling looks like?

Players with strong tackling skills are excited about stripping the ball from their opponent. They look forward to and are as excited about taking the ball from their opponent as they are about scoring goals. Similar to they way a cat claws at ball of yarn, the tackling specialist knows just when to pounce on the ball.

Tackling should never be timid in nature. If you are going to tackle the ball go for it and get it. Don’t tackle your opponent with any doubt in your mind or you will have lost the battle before you begin it. Furthermore, you stand to risk injury to yourself if you are timid in your ability to tackle strongly.

Fabio Cannavaro, 2006 FIFA Footballer Of The Year, embodies the genius of tackling. With cat like reflexes Cannavaro’s tackling ability and defensive organization was on of the key reasons Italy won the World Cup in 2006.

The Right Action At The Right Time

Smart tackling requires a strong ability to read the game and more importantly the player from whom you must take the ball from. You have study their body posture, movement and the cues they give you. Look to see if they are timid on the ball an test them with your own jab (false step toward the ball) as it may just shake their control.

Picking the right time to tackle may be one of the more important aspects of the skill. Many times players are beaten by their opponent because they were not patient enough to see the right moment or are over aggressively by diving in and find their opponent blowing by them.

Allow your opponent to really show you the ball. For instance, when a striker is barreling down on goal and he exposes the ball out in front of himself more so than he appears comfortable with. This is the time, pounce on that ball like a tiger does on its prey and don’t look back.

Ideas for action:

1. Watch game film and take note of how various defenders tackle in various situations.
2. Record you own play and watch/review your tackling behavior carefully.
3. Challenge a few friends to 1 v 1, 2 v 2, and 3 v 3 games where the number of successful tackles that cause a change of possession earn a point.
4. Run ladder footwork drills to improve foot movement speed for tackling.
5. Count the number of successful tackles you make in your next game. Then work to beat your tackling record every game.

As part of FFC’s series on, “24 Key Elements To Being A Great Footballer” we are discussing each key element in 24 successive blog posts every Monday, Wednesday & Friday over an 8 week period inside the respective Game, Body and Mind sections. For more information about the 24 Key Elements get our Players Assessment Kit here. Be sure to also subscribe to FFC by email or RSS - just visit the subscribe button in the top right corner of the page.

What ideas, input, experiences or resources can you share?

Why Communication Is Key?

How much do you communicate to your teammates on the pitch?  Do you provide direction when pressure is on coming?  For example, “Watch your back Bill, man coming from your left.  Look at James up top - he’s got Seth to support him - play to his feet”.  This type of communication helps teammates immensely and should be a significant part of your game.

What does communication look like?

Communication – is how well you listen to, instruct, guide and help teammates verbally.

ON THE PITCH

Communication is used to carry out instructions and tactical changes. This has become common practice in modern-day football. Forms of communication used during the match are: vocal anchors, gestures and signals.

Each type can be assigned to an individual, a unit and/or the whole team. Preordained commands/signs or gestures have been used to play offside and press opponents as a team. Often the spine of the team (center forward, center midfield, center back and goalkeeper) would use these forms of communication to keep the balance of the team formation.

OFF THE PITCH

Managers and coaching staff are able to influence the squads’ communication skills by interacting with the players. Often used at the Half-time interval and before/after a training session/match. This can be with an individual, small group or the entire squad. Resulting in an improvement to the working environment and overall harmony that aids the day-to-day running of any large football club.

5 Ideas for action:

1. Look at Captains of National teams and big clubs, how the use the technics of communication available on the pitch
2. Listen to interview and make a note when you feel the player or coach has a good media profile of the pitch
3. Ask advice from players/coaches who you respect
4. Attend courses provided by local or national sporting bodies on this subject
5. On the pitch, this tool is as important as any other skill, never neglect it and always look for new ways or new languages to enhance this tecnique

As part of FFC’s series on, “24 Key Elements To Being A Great Footballer” we are discussing each key element in 24 successive blog posts every Monday, Wednesday & Friday over an 8 week period inside the respective Game, Body and Mind sections. For more information about the 24 Key Elements get our Players Assessment Kit here. Be sure to also subscribe to FFC by email or RSS - just visit the subscribe button in the top right corner of the page.

What ideas, input, experiences or resources can you share?

Resources:

Football Communication

Communication Coaching

Explosive Speed Is What You Need

Are you able to blow past your opponent like a screaming fast Forumla One car does an orange road cone? Can you imagine skinning someone like that? When was the last time you did it?

What speed looks like?

Very simply put, speed is your explosive ability to consistently outpace your competitor.  Explosive speed is an essential element in football. Players with speed both on and off the ball wreck havoc on their competitors. It is both a physical and mental skill that can be enhanced with practice.

Players like Cristano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi exude speed. Off the ball they are lightening fast - they cut and they explode. On the ball they pierce defenses like daggers and only defenders with speed to match are able to shut them down. Players with excellent speed create lots of problems for defenses and lots of opportunities to score. In fact, defending such talent takes even greater speed and focus.

Increasing Your Speed

Developing your speed means having great body posture and a sharp muscular physique. Players that possess great speed have very strong quadriceps, hamstrings, calves and abdominal muscles (for balance, posture and strength). More importantly than muscle physique, players with speed have excellent movement mechanics.

Similar to developing your technical ball control skills, developing strong running movement mechanics takes consistent practice as well.

Ideas for Action:

1. Video tape yourself running, watch and understand the mechanics of your posture. Compare your running technique to that of a world class runner.

2. Read a book on running mechanics and watch specialized videos on the mechanics of running.

3. Practice speed visualization – imagine yourself running extremely fast and take mental notes on what you see in order to accomplish it in real life.

4. Stretch and do flexibility exercises regularly like performing Yoga.

5. Strengthen your abdominal region with a series of consistent abdominal workouts. This will help improve your posture.

As part of FFC’s series on, “24 Key Elements To Being A Great Footballer” we are discussing each key element in 24 successive blog posts every Monday, Wednesday & Friday over an 8 week period inside the respective Game, Body and Mind sections. For more information about the 24 Key Elements get our Players Assessment Kit here.

What ideas, input, experiences or resources can you share about speed?

24 Key Elements To Being A Great Footballer

Have you ever wondered what makes a footballer great? Do you dream of being a great footballer one day? Well, what is it that makes one a great footballer? I’m sure there are many opinions and suggestions to these questions Read more

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