It is exciting to have the ball
A uniquely inspiring and humorous guide to better adult soccer in New York City, the U.S., North America and worldwide. By Frank Hauser (c) 2012 Soccer Beyond, LLC | New York City
Believe in
MAGIC And Yourself.
Contents
_____________________ IF YOU THINK YOU CAN, YOU CAN! 1) Soccer is 80% what you do without the ball …13 2) To improve, you must shrink your comfort zone …16 3) Soccer is what happens in your head, on the field, with the ball, and within your team …19 JUMP RIGHT IN! 4) Be ready! Stay alert! …22 5) Create options. Don't hide. Show yourself. No matter what! …26 6) Everyone is volatile! Why bother? …32 AND YOUR LIFE IN SOCCER WILL TRANSFORM! 7) Ready position: Make yourself small. …37 8) Make more and smaller steps. …42 9) Fewer touches is more. …49
10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16)
It's always the same technique. …54 Free yourself! …57 Alternate your rhythm. …60 Don't be an easy target. …68 Communicate. Right. …70 Use both feet! …73 Approach your opponent with speed and one executable idea in mind. …77 Care! It's not over yet. …80
17) OH RIGHT, IT'S A TEAM SPORT! 18) Responsibility: There's no Even-‐Steven! 19) Think of it as Co-‐Creation 20) Remember the Gladiator Maxim 21) Avoid compatibility gaps 22) Attitudes are contagious IT'S NOT HOW GOOD YOU ARE, IT'S HOW GOOD YOU WANT TO BE 23) Just One Thing 24) In Soccer as well as in Life PRE GAME QUICK TIPS 5 minutes before kickoff? Get your head in gear with these maxims!
…89 …93 …98 …106 …114
…121 …129
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11) Free yourself! Whenever you get the ball, something has to happen. Depending on how you feel that day and how the game develops, you may be in possession of the ball more or less frequently. But it doesn't matter if you get the ball one time or two hundred during the game, each time there must be a noticeable shift in your body language and spirit.
It is exciting to have the ball. This is your opportunity. The moment you have been working towards. You have to be on fire, you explode, you develop new optimism and you will experience a creative rush! There is something you want to achieve: score a goal, take a shot, complete a pass. There are two choices. You can trigger just enough energy to make an adequate effort that won't get jeers from your teammates. Or you can pull yourself together and pinpoint
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1v1 DRIBBLING Find more details in the end section of this book.
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OH RIGHT, IT'S A
TEAM SPORT! >>>
Oh lord! 88
18) RESPONSIBILITY: There's No ‘Even-‐Steven’ If you play soccer with an ‘Even-‐Steven’ attitude, forget about it. By this I mean playing with an attitude of only putting as much effort as you see everyone else on the field putting in. You can't do everything in a game, but mostly you can do more; more than you think you are able to and capable of.
If you expect others to do more, lead them by example no matter if you already scored three goals and ran 3 miles more than anyone else on the field. You don't make compromises to "get a better deal" than your teammate. You throw everything in and sacrifice with a strong belief, that this is
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hold it together and agree on the common reality or it all falls apart. The smarter and more compatible your responses to game situations, the easier it is for your teammates to make something out of it. Who takes on the role as "producer," "refiner," "deliverer," "assist maker" and "finisher" is constantly shifting among you and your teammates. Sometimes you initiate the idea, sometimes you just do the dummy run to distract the defense,
…sometimes you score. But there are always more players involved in the creation of the play than just you. Take your teammates into consideration when making decisions and planning your next action. You know your teammates, you know their strength and weaknesses and you know how you can bring out 96
their best. If the player is strongest on the right, don't set up the shot for their left. If the player is not the fastest, don't send them down the field to compete for the ball in a 30 yard sprint. Or if your teammate is only 5 feet tall, you probably wouldn't send him to the battlefield for a header after the corner kick.
You adjust, weigh the options and make it work as a team. It's work. It's co-‐creation. It's fun! __________
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Does everyone know what a wall pass is? Does the player know what to do when you yell at him or her "one-‐two"? (See end section of this book for explanation.) Maybe, but maybe not. So what do you do? Keep yelling at them, thinking "They will get it some day"? I don't think so. Don't be a jerk, be a leader.
To make soccer work you have to manage the people around you. Seizing opportunities in soccer means finding a solution together. Everyone is part of the equation: you, the teammates, the referees, opponents, spectators, etc. Let's keep it simple and consider only you and your teammate and a wall pass (also called one-‐two or give and take). Depending on either player's skill level and constellation on the field, this seemingly simple thing can become quite a tough one: weight and direction of the ball, pressure and a closing time 108
Of course this will add to your responsibility, but, hey, you can handle that! That doesn't mean to lower your expectation or diminish your effort kicking it down the stairs. The opposite is the case! You have to work harder: run more, move smarter, think ahead for more than just yourself, play your part better than usual with a much higher accuracy and smoothness. You take over responsibility not just for your actions, but moreover also a big portion off your teammate. Your role totally changes. And this change most of all requires mental strength and flexibility. Away from eye rolling and head shaking. No more turning away and looking up to the sky for help. No more dismissive hand wiping through the air. You have to realize that the mistake he or she made was most likely erroneously set up by you. But whatever, true or not true. Theirs or your fault
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Go for
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More
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PRE-‐GAME
QUICK TIPS You're warming up right before game. Keep just one of these phrases in your soccer brain and watch yourself improve!
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1.
At bare minimum, keep possession of the ball as a team. Then you can start creating scoring options.
2.
As long as your team has the ball the other team can’t score.
3.
Don't be afraid to make mistakes. A no-‐ show is worse than making a mistake. Come out, show yourself and try your best!
4.
The player without the ball initiates the next move!
5.
Communicate proactively: Communicate before getting a ball, using eye contact, yelling, and acceleration. Move into a new position after you receive and pass the ball. Don't impose or dictate, offer!
6.
Don’t wait for the ball! Attack it!
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The Right Defender Basic behavior
[1]
If the ball is on the left side of the field, move more to the center
[2]
If the ball is passed forward, move forward (orange zone)
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YELLOW | Time to score (maybe on a lucky day) On very rare occasions, defenders may have a chance to score, and this would be the reason why you push into this zone. E. g. for a corner or free kicks (while someone else is covering for you), to take a shot from a distance or cut off balls not cleared well by the opposition. ORANGE | Zone to support offense When your team is in possession of the ball you move up to stay connected with the rest of the team. During small-‐sided games (no offside rule) make sure to not have a striker on your back. The defender is always positioned goal side (closer to the goal, between goal and opponent). RED | Your battle zone. Your main responsibility. When the opposition is in possession of the ball, this is like someone wants to break into your home and take away what you value the most. Be aggressive, expand fairness to the limits. Don’t let them fool you. Play absolutely risk-‐free!
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DRAGGING
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X
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