DC : Dandy City 30th June

DC : reflections on Dandy City game 30th June

 

My wife came to the game today (which is not always possible due to other family commitments) and she said - the first game (Q1 and Q2) was really scrappy, but the second game (Q3 and Q4) was really good. Lots of passing. Great movement of the ball across the park. Why was it so different? My answer : The first game was how the boys want to play. The second game was how i want them to play.

 

I assume we are all pulling our hair out watching the boys struggle to adopt a more mature view on how to play the game, a view where less is in fact more.

 

It is really hard to know exactly how to pitch the message. If i go too soft it wont get through, and if i go too hard i might break them......Today, i went in hard.

 

At the break i made this simple statement. Our best players are currently our worst players.

 

This breaks my heart. I run a technical program in which footwork is everything. But if a player's understanding of what they have  (that is good technical ability when the ball is at their feet) leads to a  miss-use then the tight rope they play on means that they can easily be either the best player on the pitch or the worst.

 

Footwork is such an interesting topic for me. You need to learn it when you may not need it, but if you haven't learnt it when you do need - its too late. That why at 12 years old,  a team of average team orientated players will beat a team of 'technically' better players who do not fully understand what footwork is actually for. At high levels when the time and space constraints become immensely tight, efficient and effective footwork and intelligence (awareness) is the only answer, the only way possible to consistently manipulate the space in which there is to play....but if you do not have footwork at this age, it is too late to learn it.

 

The immature view of footwork is that it is for winning 1v1s, and for dribbling past 4 players in a row. An immature players thinks that they have done well when they dribble past 4 players. They may even score a goal on the end of it, and this only reinforces the view that they are a good player, makes them addicted to this process and makes breaking the habit of taking on players hard.

 

However, this is a recipe for a 'poor player in the making' and will often make the most technical players look like the worst players when things don't go well, especially as they get older.

 

The true value of footwork is in dexterity and precision of touch and combined with its ability to manipulate space so that you can hit the pass that benefits the team. It's difficulty is in its simplicity. It is similar to decision making, in that the most difficult decision to make is often to do the simplest thing (99% of the time).  At the highest level, this is 99% of the game. [Maybe the rules change in the final third or at various times in the game but as a general rule this is the game].

 

Q3 and Q4 was simply the boys firstly accepting the game is about space, and then using their technique (footwork) as a tool (rather than a toy) to manipulate their space so they could hit a pass that was for the benefit of the team.

 

Immature players don't want to let the ball go. Mature players understand that the whole point of the game is to let the ball go, to move it on to somewhere better, to somewhere different and then adopt the best position possible just in case it comes back to them.

 

A number of opposition parents and the coach complimented Q3 and Q4.

 

It was the first time this season we have systemically used technique and intelligence as a group to dominate a game. It is the first time we have had proper shape. Our triangles and diamonds were clear and obvious, and our movement to make these fit together was consistent, and as a result it made the movement of the ball through these easy. Everyone was consistently involved. Everyone did enough to ensure the speed of play was high. Only when players ran with the ball or got lost in a 1v1 contest did we lose the flow. Only when players became indecisive on the ball did we lose our flow. The decision process is simple, find the space and hit the pass. Don't get caught up somewhere in the middle - this just slows things down.

 

Do players understand this : Good players let the 1v1s come to them - only poor players go looking for the 1v1 - for the contest - especially when it isn't necessary. Good players also wait to use a 2v1 as a decoy to win the 1v1.

 

Maybe the wingers are the only truly aggressive players on the ball and then again only when the time is right (in the final third maybe and after the 3rd or 4th switch - when the defensive shuffle is getting disorganized and the mental focus starts to drop). The repetitive switch will give a good winger lots of opportunity to play 'cat and mouse' with the full back, and eventually give us the penetration going forward we need.

 

I believe we can play like this all the time. Yes better teams make it harder . They decrease time and space (which makes the ability to manipulate time and space even more important) and may make us defend more (which in turn makes transition into a possession mindset harder) but the process is exactly the same. Players just need a greater clarity of mind to make it work.