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Sample
Chapter
From
Carrington, Russ, Thoughtful Soccer: the Think-First Approach
to Playing and Coaching (Spring City, Pa.: Reedswain Publishing,
2002). All rights reserved.
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5
SECRETS
OF POSSESSION
The
knights and servants peered through the forest at the castle
where their queen was imprisoned. Only a magic acorn could
free her, and the knights were down to their last three. Meanwhile,
evil gremlins patrolled the forest, watching the knights’
every move.
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Suddenly,
a heroic knight grabbed an acorn and rode straight for the
castle. The gremlins easily captured the knight, and stole
his acorn. The other knights then rode forward, one holding
an acorn as the others protected him. All the knights were
soon in custody. The servants held the last acorn.
What
could be done with it? The servants tossed the acorn back
and forth among themselves, as if disinterested in reaching
the castle! Whenever the gremlins got close to the acorn,
it was tossed to the side, or back to its starting point.
The gremlins grew tired and frustrated. As they quarreled,
the acorn reached the castle and the queen was saved.
*************
Eager to reach the castle, the knights went forward and lost
their acorns. That’s how new players play soccer. Eager
to score, they move the ball forward and lose it.
The
servants would have made great soccer players. They kept possession
of their acorn by moving it quickly in different directions.
This more thoughtful approach allowed them to reach their
goal.
Possession
is the most important part of soccer. It makes good things
possible, like scoring goals. And it prevents bad things from
happening, like being scored on. Here are six secrets to keeping
possession. In the next chapter, you’ll learn how to
practice them.
Use All Four Directions
Understand this secret well. Without it, soccer is a chaotic
scramble with no room for thought.
If
your team always moves the ball north, toward the other team’s
goal, possession is impossible. North is usually the most
heavily guarded direction (Scene 5-1). Within fifteen seconds,
either a goal will be scored or the ball will be lost—usually
the latter. And your players to the south, east, and west
can only watch.
"If
your team always moves the ball north, toward the other team’s
goal, possession is impossible."
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Scene
5-1 
To
keep possession, your players must be aware of all four directions
and choose the one that’s best. If north is crowded,
the ball can move south, east, and west—in other words,
back and to the side. When your players use all four directions,
opponents don’t know which direction to guard.
Use
Different Numbers of Touches
As you watch a match, notice how many touches each player
uses. Did a player dribble, using many touches? Was the ball
passed quickly, after only a few touches? Or was the ball
sent on its way with only one touch?
New
players use either too few or too many touches. The too
few players use only one touch every time, a long boot
forward. The too many players use three or four touches
before looking up. In either case, the ball is usually lost.
"New
players use either too few or too many touches."
To keep possession, players must look things over as the ball
is arriving, and decide quickly how many touches to use. If
a teammate is open, the first touch should usually be a pass.
By the second touch, the teammate might be covered.
If
a one-touch pass isn’t possible, an open teammate can
usually be found after two or three touches. But if no teammates
are open, or the path forward is clear, more than three touches
might be called for. In other words, the player may dribble.
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Find
the Open Space
This secret is closely related to the previous one. When new
players have the ball in open space, they tend to dawdle.
Since no opponents are near, why not get in a few extra touches?
But the open space quickly vanishes, and teammates are soon
covered as well.
"When
new players have the ball in open space, they tend to dawdle."
Possession
requires a preventive approach. The ball moves to open space
before opponents come near. In Scene 5-2, the player
with the ball has a little open space. Rather than dawdling,
he passes quickly to a player with more space, who then does
the same. By the time opponents arrive, the ball has moved
on. (Note that the Keeper is also well supplied with space.
More on this in Chapter 15.)
Scene 5-2
Pass Long As Well
As Short
Short passes on the ground are wonderful for keeping possession.
They tend to be accurate and easy to receive. But possession
suffers if players can only pass short.
In
Scene 5-3, the player with the ball is being pressured. Teammates
close to the ball are covered, and the ball is about to be
lost. A long chip to the distant teammate saves the day.
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Scene
5-3 
Pass
to Space, Not Just Teammates
New players usually pass directly to teammates. If those teammates
are closely covered, the passes are stolen. Possession is
easier when players can also pass to space.
In
Scene 5-4, a pass directly to the teammate would be stolen.
A pass to either space, as the teammate runs there, would
have a great chance. Suddenly, the defender has three targets
to worry about instead of one.
"Suddenly,
the defender has three targets to worry about instead of one."
Scene
5-4 
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If
the Attack Stalls, Retreat
Once they reach the goal area, new players refuse to retreat.
Moving the ball that far was difficult, by golly, and they’re
going to shoot. The backward direction no longer exists. These
forced scoring attempts almost always lose the ball.
For
possession, your players must know when to retreat. If the
attack stalls, and the ball is about to be lost, pass back
to a Fullback. Pass back to the other half of the field. Pass
back to the Keeper if necessary, but don’t lose the
ball (Scene 5-5)!
Scene
5-5 
Such
maneuvers, called resets, allow very long possessions. The
entire field becomes available. Opponents tire. And a better
scoring chance arises later.
Six
Games in One
New players begin with only one game in mind—move the
ball forward and score. Opponents know where the ball is going,
and easily win it back.
The
possession secrets let your players choose between six games:
a direction game, a touches game, a move-the-ball game, a
short/long game, a pass-to-space game, and an attack/retreat
game. At every moment of a match, at least one of those games
will usually work. No wonder the evil gremlins get frustrated!
Want
your players to get better and better with all six secrets?
The next chapter shows you how.
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