Supporting and Positioning

by Coach Seymour ‘Rollit’ Walrond 29.Jan.10

As a house needs columns in strategic positions for support, so do soccer players, and possession is not about entertainment (freezing). Statistics show teams with the most possessions go on to win.{{more}}

Having ball possession allows your team to prepare and decide when and what tactical situation is necessary to benefit your team. Possession accompanied by proper support and positioning within a given distance are necessary for success.

Most often, our forwards or strikers can be found in the company of opponents, with their nearest supporter being twenty-five or thirty yards away. Yet most expect that forward to be effective and give positive results when the ball is passed to him. Even if he is allowed to control the ball, close support is necessary for any skillful forward to be effective. His creativity and mesmerizing body movements, coupled with using supporting players as decoys, help to deceive his opponents, making them off-balanced, causing them to change their thinking and direction. A skillful player must understand how to position to the best advantage of his teammates.

Not having close supporters causes some opponents to run into the forward, hurting him or her in the process of “tackling”. So if you want your forward to last for the entire game and to be effective, have the required supporting players close, running and creating spaces. This can be done with the front-stopper and wing-backs joining the midfielders in the team’s quest for possession, especially in attack.

Fitness and team practice are necessary to accomplish possession for width and depth in attack to be successful. After a practice session, the team should sit and discuss and evaluate what went on.

Scoring goals will always be difficult, especially when the team lacks tactical preparation and practice.

Many teams still rely on individual forwards and strikers to score their goals. If the team does not practice together regularly, the members will always find themselves out of position and will have to use their initiative or improvise to bring some level of co-operation to the team.

When the players are not in the right position, opportunities for scoring goals may be missed. It is, therefore, important that players attend practice regularly.

Being a good player does not give that player the right to turn up for practice when he or she feels like. Teammates need to practice together to understand each other’s moods, habits, attitudes and tactical plans, for only at practices these objectives are achieved.

Whenever you get the opportunity, look at teams like Barcelona, Avenues United and A. C. Milan. You will get a glimpse of possession and its effects. Other teams place emphasis on speed, strength and aggressiveness. If all our teams were to try to combine these aspects regularly, maybe the national tournament will attract more spectators and our national teams will perform reasonably.

Having a coach and attending practice regularly will help you and your team develop faster than you think.

Let’s add some tactical knowledge to our preparation in 2010. Tell your friends and those interested in the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Football Federation development programme when and where it is taking place in SVG.