Soccer Edition 67

Welcome to the Soccer Newsletter. Today's subject will deal with the use of width.

First, if you haven't participated in the survey dealing with how long a coach should stay with a team, please do so at http://finesoccer.com/survey.htm. This is the last week of that survey and as you will see next week, the results so far are somewhat interesting.

Also, I would like to remind you to subscribe to the FineSoccer Kids Newsletter. This will be starting in December but the number of people that sign up for it will determine how often it gets sent out (if there is an obvious demand, it will go out weekly, if the demand isn't quite as apparent, then it might be every two-three weeks). To subscribe, send a blank email to kids@finesoccer.com

Anytime I watch a youth game, the one thing I expect to see is the outside players not using the width of the field properly. How often do you hear a coach yelling "get wide" to the midfielders and the response by the midfielders is to take a step wider but still not getting anywhere near the touchline? It might be one of the biggest problems in youth soccer and I truly believe that the cause of this problem is simply a lack of information.

It's important for players to understand the reasons to get wide. First of all, by getting wide, a player is able to receive the ball without as much pressure on them (understand that in soccer, pressure is defined by the absence of time and space, so by getting wide, a player has more time to receive the ball since the defense is usually instructed to stay compact, with this additional time and space, the player is able to remove the pressure while receiving the ball). If players understood that they could get the ball more often and will less pressure on them by getting wide, they are more likely to get wide. Also, if they are willing to get wide, and continuously receive the ball out wide without pressure, they will eventually draw the defense out wide toward them. This opens up space in the middle for them to run into and now they are receiving the ball without as much pressure in the middle of the field. In other words, the reason that many outside midfielders play toward the middle of the field is to receive the ball nearest the goal. However, by starting in that position, they are decreasing their chances of receiving the ball. If they start out wide, they receive the ball more often (and let's be honest here, it's more fun to play soccer with the ball then without it), plus put themselves in the position to eventually receive the ball more often in the position they originally wanted to receive the ball but now, with less pressure.

When people talk about how different soccer is in the USA then in other countries, one of the things mentioned is how small our fields are compared to what they are seeing on television from games in England and Italy etc. However, until our players learn to use the width of the field more effectively, the size of the field won't matter at all. If a team is on a field that is 60 yards wide but the outside players always start 10 yards in from the touchline, what good would an extra 10 yards do in the field? Instead of starting 10 yards in, the players will simply start 15 yards in and that won't do a bit of good. In order to get better as individuals and as teams, we need to understand the importance of using the width of the field.

There are a number of ways to work on proper use of width. Some can be seen in the progression of drills starting at http://finesoccer.com/finesoccer_drill_2.htm. Check them out when you have a chance.

Until we can solve the problems of the inability or unwillingness to use the width of the field, we are doomed to bad soccer.

Any comments, questions or suggestions should be sent to comments@finesoccer.com or posted at http://finesoccer.com/forum.htm

Remember that all previous newsletters are archived at http://finesoccer.com

Have a great day!

Lawrence