Mar, 2009

Deception is a Requirement. The ability, the mentality, and the awareness to be deceptive is a core requirement for all players. Players must learn, from an early age, the use of deception in dribbling, passing, shooting and combination play. Technical ability and physical ability are crucial for success in soccer. Tactical knowledge and the right mentality, are just as crucial. And deception is integral to both the successful use of knowledge and the forming of a winning mentality. Success in soccer requires the use of deception.

Dominant Soccer. Effective players understand how to manipulate their opponents. Grasshopper Football Club promotes the philosophy of dominant soccer, in which player and team make themselves powerful by controlling the opposition both when they have the ball, and when the opposing team has the ball. In the January 2008 GFC Newsletter article Powerful Soccer: Philosophy into Action (view article), some examples were given that are core to the philosophy, such as 1v1 attacking mentality, attacking in numbers, and defending to control the opposition. Dominant soccer involves a mentality of dictating play on the individual, group and team levels. Deceptive play operates on all of these levels as well. However, all things in soccer begin with individual player development, so a youth program needs to focus on teaching deception first at the individual and 2-3 player levels.

1v1 Attacking. Individual attacking abilities are the base upon which a player's development rests. Feints, fakes, changes of speed, and movements of all types with the ball are the foundation of a good player. Every defender has a space to her right and to her left. Every attacker needs to understand how to get thru one of these spaces and into the space behind the defender. A big part of this understanding is how to get the defender to commit to one space so another space can be attacked with a killer touch. The use of deception in 1v1 attacking movements is essential to successfully manipulate the defender. Deception here can be as elaborate as a multiple scissors step-over move ala Cristiano Ronaldo, or as simple as dipping the right shoulder and cutting to the left.

2v1 Attacking. With the introduction of a passing option, a whole new world of deceptive possibilities is available to the attackers. The 1st attacker (the player with the ball) now has a dribbling option and a passing option, and within range of the goal, a scoring option as well. This makes life much more difficult for the defender because the defender cannot take action to prevent all options at the same time. So in this common basic scenario that occurs over and over in soccer, players must be comfortable is committing the defender to one option in order to execute another option. The core options are fake-to-dribble and pass, fake-to-pass and dribble, fake-to-shoot and dribble, fake-to-shoot and pass, fake-to-pass and shoot, and fake-to-dribble and shoot.

1v1 Attacking Mentality. As mentioned above, in previous articles we have espoused the benefits of taking a 1v1 attacking posture. An important coaching point for players, is that the mentality of looking to take players on 1v1 is of enormous benefit to be successful in deceptive play. From a 1v1 attacking posture (a dribbling body stance with ball on outside of foot, knees bent, hip closed) a player is ready to beat a defender on the dribble, pass the ball to a teammate, or shoot on goal. So depending on which option a defender commits to defender, the 1st attacker is ready to exercise successfully another option. From a passing posture (more erect, head up, hip open, ball on inside of foot), instantly exercising a dribbling or shooting option is more difficult. It's helpful to look at this concept from the reaction of the defenders to the different postures of the 1st attacker in a 2v2 situation. When the 1st attacker shows body language of looking to pass the 2nd defender simply marks the supporting attacker. This makes it difficult to connect on the pass. At the same time, it's difficult to take on the 1st defender or shoot from a passing posture. As soon as the 1st attacking shows a 1v1 attacking posture, she can exercise a dribbling or shooting option if the 1st defender is left without coverage. And if the 2nd defender moves into a covering position, then the supporting attacker is unmarked and an easy passing option.

Action and Reaction. All defenders, even novice players, are constantly reading the game in front of them, and reacting to what they see. The entire opposing team, including the 1st defender, 2nd defenders, 3rd defenders, and even the goalkeeper are constantly reacting to the game in front of them. They are adjusting their positions, stepping right, stepping left, moving forward and back. They are making decisions to defend the dribble, position to intercept a pass, mark a player who is demanding the ball, etc. Attacking players need to know that every action they make is effecting every action their opponents make. And likewise, developing defenders need to learn to refrain from over-committing to the options of the attackers to avoid being manipulated.

With awareness of what defenders are doing comes incredible power for the team in possession of the ball if the players can develop the mentality of deception. For example, in the 2v1 situation in the section above, the defender will react to something as simple as the 1st attacker simply opening one of her hips to the 2nd attacker. The defender will read this as the 1st attacker shaping up to pass to the 2nd attacker. The reaction will be to step into the path of the pass. The defender is now defending the pass, or committing to the pass. At this moment the dribbling or shooting option for the 1st attacker has improved. Good players will use this type of deception continuously to beat opponents.

The "Not Options." For every option a player can exercise (e.g., take a killer touch to the right of the defender, pass the ball to an overlapping teammate, take a shot on goal, etc.), the option to NOT take that action is as powerful as the action itself. Decisions to NOT go forward with an action can come from either intentional deception or from simply reading the game and deciding that option no longer looks as good as it did before. In training the core 2-player combinations (wall-pass, overlap, take-over, double-pass), for example, the "Not Options" need to be given equal emphasis. An overlap combination involves the 1st attacker taking on a defender while a 2nd attacker runs from behind the 1st attacker into a penetrating space looking for pass into that space to beat the defender. If the defender repositions to defend the pass, NOT making the pass to the 2nd attacker is the correct option. Similarly, in a wall-pass combination, the return pass from the wall player should NOT be made if the defender tracks the penetrating run. Good players must be flexible in their decision-making and always willing to change their mind as to which option to pursue.

Support Required. Successful deceptive use of the passing option requires supporting players. It is essential that supporting players do their part to effect the decision-making of the defenders. Defenders react not only to the actions of the 1st attacking, but also to the actions of the 2nd and 3rd attackers. Effective support not only gives an option, but makes the defenders believe that the option is viable. A 2nd attacker who is stationary and quiet effects the behavior of the opponents. A 2nd attacker who sprints toward the space behind the 1st defender loudly demanding the ball will get a strong reaction from the 1st defender and other defenders. Any reaction poses an opportunity for the player on the ball. This is a classic example of the importance of all players on the field being actively involved at all times.

Training Deception. Young players need training opportunities to attempt deceptive play over and over, starting from a very young age. They need to Please see this month's GFC Training Session for some activities that will help to develop players with the ability to use deception in the various aspects of their play: dribbling, passing, combination play, etc. view training session

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