Soccer (Football) ~ Everything About The Beautiful Game

[darksabre]

If you haven't done cardio say a few years or ever, you are going to be winded fairly quick. If you played regularly (1-2 times a week) in about 2 months your cardio should be much better.

 

Warm up and stretch really good before playing. Don't go pulling a groin or a thigh on us old man, :flirt:

So much stretching. So much. :lol:

Off topic but where do people go in Buffalo to get into some pick up sports? I essentially know nobody still aside from family and could use some exercise since I can't really afford a gym membership at this point. (Not soccer because it's one of the sports I absolutely blow at. Purely a spectator sport for me)

I have no idea. I just figured hockey out. Soccer is going to be next. I think some of the guys I'm playing with Saturday will have a good idea.

[ubkev]

This is good. I need tips. I know it's just a charity tournament but I've played in enough charity softball tournaments to know they're always a challenge even if not especially serious.

Convince your dad to pay you a dollar for every goal you score, and then shoot as much as possible. You'll have enough for an RC Car in no time! :)

 

Liger gave some good advice. Don't be a ball hog, but don't just give it up automatically. Look around and make a play, you have time.

 

And no slide tackles. It's a charity game.

Edited June 18, 2015 by ubkev

[SwampD]

Stay on your feet as much as possible. Make your first touch into open space. If you take more than 4 touches you are probably playing the ball to much.  Challenge for 50/50 balls. Play the way you face and communicate with your teammates. 

What does this mean?

[Huckleberry]

To be honest, artificiel turf changes the way the game is played, personally i never liked playing on it.  Makes it a less physical game.

[SDS]

What does this mean?

 

First touch is exactly what it it implies - the first time you touch the ball when you receive it. The first touch is the most important one because it sets up your second touch, if needed. If your first touch forces the ball straight into the marking defender - you have lost possession. If the ball is touched away from pressure and into open space, then you have time and space to get your head up, find a teammate and deliver a pass with the second touch.

[LGR4GM]

What does this mean?

In soccer you want to always give yourself options.  When receiving a pass, the first contact you make with the ball should direct it away from pressure and into open space.  Next time you watch the women play you will see a lot of times they will play the ball into space so they have time to decide what to do next.

Using your first touch to go into space is fundamental soccer and something that was drilled into my head over the years.

[SwampD]

First touch is exactly what it it implies - the first time you touch the ball when you receive it. The first touch is the most important one because it sets up your second touch, if needed. If your first touch forces the ball straight into the marking defender - you have lost possession. If the ball is touched away from pressure and into open space, then you have time and space to get your head up, find a teammate and deliver a pass with the second touch.

 

 

In soccer you want to always give yourself options.  When receiving a pass, the first contact you make with the ball should direct it away from pressure and into open space.  Next time you watch the women play you will see a lot of times they will play the ball into space so they have time to decide what to do next.

Using your first touch to go into space is fundamental soccer and something that was drilled into my head over the years.

tnx. Interesting. Looking back at that women's game, I did see that a lot of that, just didn't actually know what I was seeing.

[That Aud Smell]

Stay on your feet as much as possible. Make your first touch into open space. If you take more than 4 touches you are probably playing the ball to much.  Challenge for 50/50 balls. Play the way you face and communicate with your teammates. 

 

A chest-tap regarding my own idiocy. In an early morning haze, I read the phrase above as "in open space." Not being familiar with that phrase/idea -- or the principle as actually written -- I offered a humiliatingly dumb (and now deleted) interpretation. Ugh.

 

But I am glad to have seen my mistake. I grew up playing a lot of soccer, but, in retrospect, I don't think I had a single coach who was particularly good at imparting fundamentals. The closest I came was probably a guy from Central America who coached me when I was playing U10 (or, as it was then called, "10 and under"). Even my high school coach -- he made us fit, demanded that we compete hard, and had some basic concepts of strategy and formation -- but nothing really about fundamentals. [Edit: Holy Sh!t. Was Ted Nolan was my high school soccer coach?]

 

So now I'm having like a second birth into the sport, and I'm amazed to see how much there is to know and learn. Sometimes I'm hearing or reading things that help me better understand something that was understood instinctively, and probably incompletely (like playing a first touch into space), but other times I'm hearing something that I never really thought of (like playing the way you face).

 

Good stuff. 

 

The best tip is play the way you face.  If you feel pressure play the way you face. If you have no one on you feel free to turn wherever but once you are pressured play the way you face. 

 

Excellent.

Edited June 18, 2015 by That Aud Smell

[hsif]

A few days ago there was a nine for IX on ESPN that featured the "99ers". It was produced by Julie Foundy, one of the midfielders from the Women's team of 99. It was a wonderful collection of videos and interviews of the women of that championship team. A group of the women is reassembled (in 2013???) at the Rose Bowl to be interviewed and reminisce about that season. They were very candid, and seemed to have matured into beautiful women / moms / leaders... it was a great piece watch it if/when you have time.

 

One of the themes that struck me in the piece was the team mindset that was a huge part of their success that season. How they played for each other, and didn't want to let their teammates down. It seems like such an important aspect of winning teams.

 

http://espn.go.com/espnw/w-in-action/nine-for-ix/article/8948907/nine-ix-film-summary-director-99ers

[That Aud Smell]

Julie Foudy

 

Rowdy!

[hsif]

Foudy!!!

 

Producer bio: Julie Foudy

Foudy, a reporter and analyst for ABC, ESPN and espnW, is best known for her long and successful career as a midfielder on the U.S. women's national soccer team. She is a two-time World Cup champion and three-time Olympic medalist. Throughout her 17 years on the team, she spent 13 serving as a captain, scored 45 goals and earned 59 assists. She was a four-time All-American at Stanford University and named High School Player of the Decade (1980s) by the Los Angeles Times. In 2007, she was inducted into the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame, alongside longtime teammate and friend Mia Hamm.

 

Foudy has served as president and sat on the board of directors for the Women's Sports Foundation, focusing on Title IX, childhood obesity and athletes' rights issues. In 1997, she received the FIFA Fair Play Award for her work against child labor in the stitching of soccer balls.

 

Foudy is active in many charitable organizations, including Athletes for Hope and Global Girl Media, a nonprofit using journalism to empower young women. In 2006, with her husband, Ian Sawyers, she founded the Julie Foudy Sports Leadership Academy, a unique residential camp experience that uses sports as the vehicle to teach leadership skills for life. Foudy is the proud mother of two children, Isabel and Declan.

[dEnnis the Menace]

Foudy!!!

 

Producer bio: Julie Foudy

Foudy, a reporter and analyst for ABC, ESPN and espnW, is best known for her long and successful career as a midfielder on the U.S. women's national soccer team. She is a two-time World Cup champion and three-time Olympic medalist. Throughout her 17 years on the team, she spent 13 serving as a captain, scored 45 goals and earned 59 assists. She was a four-time All-American at Stanford University and named High School Player of the Decade (1980s) by the Los Angeles Times. In 2007, she was inducted into the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame, alongside longtime teammate and friend Mia Hamm.

 

Foudy has served as president and sat on the board of directors for the Women's Sports Foundation, focusing on Title IX, childhood obesity and athletes' rights issues. In 1997, she received the FIFA Fair Play Award for her work against child labor in the stitching of soccer balls.

 

Foudy is active in many charitable organizations, including Athletes for Hope and Global Girl Media, a nonprofit using journalism to empower young women. In 2006, with her husband, Ian Sawyers, she founded the Julie Foudy Sports Leadership Academy, a unique residential camp experience that uses sports as the vehicle to teach leadership skills for life. Foudy is the proud mother of two children, Isabel and Declan.

 

My sister met her and Mia Hamm the same day.  I thought my sister was about to die from excitement.  Two great women.  My sister also met Wambach at the RIT homecoming game.  She made an extra 10 seconds on her way out the door just to give my sister an autograph and a picture after my sister waited in line for so long for naught.  

[That Aud Smell]

My sister met her [Foudy] and Mia Hamm the same day.  

 

Sprinkle in Chastain, and my holy trinity of soccer crushes is complete.

 

 

And that ain't even a remotely flattering picture of Hamm.

 

That era of womens soccer, man - that was something.

[MattPie]

If you haven't done cardio say a few years or ever, you are going to be winded fairly quick.  If you played regularly (1-2 times a week) in about 2 months your cardio should be much better.

 

Warm up and stretch really good before playing.  Don't go pulling a groin or a thigh on us old man,  :flirt:

 

How about a glossary of terms? Every sport teams communicate with each other but by necessity it's very terse. hockey has "hard" (I think) to denote to a D that a Forward is right on him when he's going back for the puck. In volleyball your team will call out the opposing teams blocks (1, 2, 1 big, etc) (I gather as a hitter I'm supposed to process that info and change my strategy mid-air; I'm just trying to hit the ball the right direction most of the time).

 

So how about it, are there fairly standard things your teammates will be yelling at you in soccer?

[LGR4GM]

How about a glossary of terms? Every sport teams communicate with each other but by necessity it's very terse. hockey has "hard" (I think) to denote to a D that a Forward is right on him when he's going back for the puck. In volleyball your team will call out the opposing teams blocks (1, 2, 1 big, etc) (I gather as a hitter I'm supposed to process that info and change my strategy mid-air; I'm just trying to hit the ball the right direction most of the time).

 

So how about it, are there fairly standard things your teammates will be yelling at you in soccer?

man on - someone is closing in on you

cross or switch - kick it to the other side of the field

thru ball - pass between 2 defenders on the ground so your forward can run onto it

check to - come towards the ball carrier so you can receive a pass or a throw in

50/50 ball - you and your opponent have a 50% chance to win the ball

pull - Defense will yell pull when they are trying to push up field and catch forwards offsides

There are probably others but those were what came to mind.

[That Aud Smell]

man on - someone is closing in on you

 

or, as my girls' teams tend to say: ON YOU!

 

do people still say "square" and "support"?

 

we always used "square" to mean i am here on an even line with you, on your right or left. a square ball often was a prelude to a give and go pass -- whether that would be called a wall pass or through ball.

 

support is pretty self-evident. i was generally taught to be on a line with the player ahead of me if i were calling as support.

support

[SDS]

or, as my girls' teams tend to say: ON YOU!

 

do people still say "square" and "support"?

 

we always used "square" to mean i am here on an even line with you, on your right or left. a square ball often was a prelude to a give and go pass -- whether that would be called a wall pass or through ball.

 

support is pretty self-evident. i was generally taught to be on a line with the player ahead of me if i were calling as support.

support

 

we haven't used "square". We call "1 - 2" for a give and go.

 

If you think it is complicated - here are some 9 and 10 year old girls playing. Watch the Blue team play. In the first few minutes they will string 10/9/9 passes together. Notice how they rarely go forward unless they can keep possession and they "play the way they face". The Red team does it all wrong.

 

[That Aud Smell]

Not unlike watching the U.S. play Nigeria. Interesting to see how the girls in Blue don't finish as often as you might expect. I see the same thing in my girls who play U11 and U13. Mind you, I don't think my kids are (yet) playing at the level of that blue program -- that's fairly exceptional.

[SDS]

Not unlike watching the U.S. play Nigeria. Interesting to see how the girls in Blue don't finish as often as you might expect. I see the same thing in my girls who play U11 and U13. Mind you, I don't think my kids are (yet) playing at the level of that blue program -- that's fairly exceptional.

 

We didn't start really teaching any finishing until this spring. That means 18 months (all of U9 and fall of U10) of technical training and possession games. Sure we had trouble scoring during that time, but we don't care. That game ended 5-0 with something like 80% possession. Now that we possess, we move forward with purpose and we will start scoring more and more now that we are focusing on it.

[That Aud Smell]

We didn't start really teaching any finishing until this spring. That means 18 months (all of U9 and fall of U10) of technical training and possession games. Sure we had trouble scoring during that time, but we don't care. That game ended 5-0 with something like 80% possession. Now that we possess, we move forward with purpose and we will start scoring more and more now that we are focusing on it.

 

Fascinating. Sounds like precisely how you're supposed to develop players per best practices. It interests me how distinct the possession game is from the finishing game. Almost like different sports.

 

My older girl's team (U13) has made great strides in the possession department (although the blue team could probably run them around ragged!), and are now often winning possession by 2-1 margins. The scores of those games vary, though -- draws, some wins, some losses (especially to larger, more athletic teams that get behind the team).

[SDS]

Fascinating. Sounds like precisely how you're supposed to develop players per best practices. It interests me how distinct the possession game is from the finishing game. Almost like different sports.

 

My older girl's team (U13) has made great strides in the possession department (although the blue team could probably run them around ragged!), and are now often winning possession by 2-1 margins. The scores of those games vary, though -- draws, some wins, some losses (especially to larger, more athletic teams that get behind the team).

 

Think of it as an NFL analogy. Your base offense and how you move the ball down the field is not the same as your red zone offense. There is more congestion in the attacking third and finishing becomes objective - vastly different than playing in the middle of the field.

 

If you look at the Coerver developmental pyramid - you will see ball mastery and receiving/passing as the base. Finishing is at the very top. There is no good reason to teach finishing techniques if your players are not proficient in receiving the ball with the proper foot or making crisp change of direction moves.

 

Tactically, the girls were taught team tactics during the games - never at practice. Girls were spoken to on the sideline with disc cones as visual aides throughout the games. Never wasted valuable practice time at this young age having a dozen girls stand around and listen to a coach stammer on about tactics. They could be honing technique, not daydreaming.

[That Aud Smell]

Tactically, the girls were taught team tactics during the games - never at practice. Girls were spoken to on the sideline with disc cones as visual aides throughout the games. Never wasted valuable practice time at his young age to have a dozen girls stand around and listen to a coach stammer on about tactics. They could be honing technique, not daydreaming.

 

Also of great interest. So you're showing them positional? tactical? stuff when they're on the sideline, using the cones as a diagram technique?

[SDS]

Also of great interest. So you're showing them positional? tactical? stuff when they're on the sideline, using the cones as a diagram technique?

 

yes. At U9 - this is how they were taught to play tactically. I had never seen it before in my life and it was pure genius. The head coach literally laid out a 7v7 formation - assigned girls their positions and told them to get out on the field. Once he had a coaching point to make, he pulled them off, showed them what he wanted to see on the sideline with the cones and sent them back out. Much of the game was spent with back to the field. My job was to keep the trains running on the field and reinforce what he was saying on the sideline.

[That Aud Smell]

yes. At U9 - this is how they were taught to play tactically. I had never seen it before in my life and it was pure genius. The head coach literally laid out a 7v7 formation - assigned girls their positions and told them to get out on the field. Once he had a coaching point to make, he pulled them off, showed them what he wanted to see on the sideline with the cones and sent them back out. Much of the game was spent with back to the field. My job was to keep the trains running on the field and reinforce what he was saying on the sideline.

 

feckin' brilliant.

 

also, i think i now understand why he has the game videotaped -- guy watches film, doesn't he?!

 

i want to go train with your kid's coach.

[SDS]

feckin' brilliant.

 

also, i think i now understand why he has the game videotaped -- guy watches film, doesn't he?!

 

i want to go train with your kid's coach.

 

Parents do the filming on their own. Sometimes we will SoccerMeter a game to get statistical feel of how it went.

 

However, he is all in on soccer. His goal is to be a full-time professional coach training kids, so soccer is all he thinks about.