Post by usasoccerboy on Feb 2, 2005 16:13:20 GMT -6
This was posted under another thread. When someone accused another team of playing long ball, I chimed in with this:
First off, long ball is not inferior to short possession. In fact, in many instances it is superior. Why? Well as I learned at the national coaches camp, long balls are prefered over shorter possession because they get downfield faster; thereby, giving the defense less time to retreat on defense. Now, this is of course provided the long ball is accurate and a good pass. I myself excell at the long ball, or I least did (now 35, can't play much these days) and any chance I had, I played a long ball to the open space of an oncoming defender, and many times it broke a tight defense down. Good coaches teach short sided possession as well as long possession and how to interact the two. You may have played a possession game of short-short-short-long where the object is to play 3 short passes followed by a long pass. For instance, play a 40 X 30 yard boundry of 4v4 soccer and implement the ratio of short to long passes. It is a very good warmup or Fundamental phase excercise in a passing themed practice. For Match Related phases you can add neutral players, points for number of successfull circuits of short short long or whatever you wish to make the practice more closer to a soccer game. Then for Match conditions you can score points from long passes as double or whatever you like. The thing is people get hung up on this possession thing. I still see highschoolers still not be able to switch sides under pressure with a good long ball, even when the option is open. Heck, I could deliver a ball on target 50 yards down the field and if it was on my foot, it was always my first option, because I knew that it left the defenders on their heels. The first option of a player when gaining position is to shoot. If he cannot shoot his second option is always to play forward. At this point, a shorter forward pass is inferior to a longer forward pass, again provided the passer can deliver it, because it increases the speed of play of a team and that ulitimately is what seperates possession style teams. You can pass it around all day, but if you do not take chances downfield, you will have less success. The trick is though not to rely exclusively on the long ball, although on occasions, it may be the desired tactic. Many good Irish and English teams have played the long ball effectively. I remember the 94 Irish team as a very good long ball team. And I can remember Bergkamps 98 goal agianst Argentina that was the result of a long ball that won the game in the last minute. The thing is if the option is there, you should play it, because again, a good ball behind defenders that is played to a teammate can destroy defenses. The trick is always in the pass, and if your players are inept at long balls, then they need to work on them exclusively in practice and be shown and conditioned in how and when to play them.
First off, long ball is not inferior to short possession. In fact, in many instances it is superior. Why? Well as I learned at the national coaches camp, long balls are prefered over shorter possession because they get downfield faster; thereby, giving the defense less time to retreat on defense. Now, this is of course provided the long ball is accurate and a good pass. I myself excell at the long ball, or I least did (now 35, can't play much these days) and any chance I had, I played a long ball to the open space of an oncoming defender, and many times it broke a tight defense down. Good coaches teach short sided possession as well as long possession and how to interact the two. You may have played a possession game of short-short-short-long where the object is to play 3 short passes followed by a long pass. For instance, play a 40 X 30 yard boundry of 4v4 soccer and implement the ratio of short to long passes. It is a very good warmup or Fundamental phase excercise in a passing themed practice. For Match Related phases you can add neutral players, points for number of successfull circuits of short short long or whatever you wish to make the practice more closer to a soccer game. Then for Match conditions you can score points from long passes as double or whatever you like. The thing is people get hung up on this possession thing. I still see highschoolers still not be able to switch sides under pressure with a good long ball, even when the option is open. Heck, I could deliver a ball on target 50 yards down the field and if it was on my foot, it was always my first option, because I knew that it left the defenders on their heels. The first option of a player when gaining position is to shoot. If he cannot shoot his second option is always to play forward. At this point, a shorter forward pass is inferior to a longer forward pass, again provided the passer can deliver it, because it increases the speed of play of a team and that ulitimately is what seperates possession style teams. You can pass it around all day, but if you do not take chances downfield, you will have less success. The trick is though not to rely exclusively on the long ball, although on occasions, it may be the desired tactic. Many good Irish and English teams have played the long ball effectively. I remember the 94 Irish team as a very good long ball team. And I can remember Bergkamps 98 goal agianst Argentina that was the result of a long ball that won the game in the last minute. The thing is if the option is there, you should play it, because again, a good ball behind defenders that is played to a teammate can destroy defenses. The trick is always in the pass, and if your players are inept at long balls, then they need to work on them exclusively in practice and be shown and conditioned in how and when to play them.
