Technically Speaking: Into the Offseason

Photo credit: Kari Heistad/capturedimages.biz

Now that the season is over for the Revs, I want to return to the question of Rev midfield play that I have been harping on in this column throughout the season. Their lack of possession in their final playoff game was little short of embarrassing. Essentially, they need a savvy, possession-minded, key man, who establishes a sense of control on the field, captains the offense, and knows when to slow the play down and when to speed it up. Although the Revs have several strong players at midfield positions and have shown themselves able to string together some elegant attacking combinations, they are missing this ultimate play-maker.

Recently I read a New York Times article by Sam Borden (Friday, November 8, 2013) about a 13-year old American boy being chosen to participate in the Barcelona youth academy. Why was he chosen? Mr. Borden writes:

“….but what has impressed most observers—including those from Barcelona—is his field vision and his seemingly advanced ability to see passing lanes and openings during the run of play. More than goals, that sort of instinctive game savvy is what scouts crave.”

Well, at least in Spain. It’s time we begin to prioritize and demand this sort of play in America too. But that in turn raises the joint questions of how to develop this sort of player and how to foster this sort of team play.

In the sandlot heyday of soccer around the world—before adults muscled their way into almost every hour of soccer play—kids used to play pickup games for hours at a time, blissfully free of adult control and instruction. In terms of player development, this systemless ‘system’ was extremely effective. Players not only had ample opportunity to develop creative moves and put together effective offensive one-twos, but they also—because they played for long periods of time—had to vary the pace at which they played. That meant they needed to know how to slow the game down, prioritizing holding onto the ball, but always keeping their eye out for the moment that a strategic spurt of intensity might get them through to the goal. Defensively, they had to resist the lulling effect of the sometimes casual game pace, always on the alert for a return burst of intensity from the other team. Games of this sort were a seedbed for creative play—the kind of creativity that nowadays is inhibited by a lack of playing time, by adult over-coaching, and by a wrong-headed unvarying insistence by coaches on intensity of play.

In America we were forced into an adult-centered model of soccer player development by the fact that our kids were giving their sandlot time mainly to football and basketball. The lack of this sandlot seedbed has been the major obstacle we’ve faced over the decades in developing home-grown players. But even in other countries, the professionalization of youth soccer can inhibit creativity. I think back to Pele’s famous crack in the 1980’s – that the German national team was made up of Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and ten robots.

The problem is there for coaches at every level, youth to professional. How do I nurture both individual and team creativity? The basic answer for youth coaches is to put your efforts into developing every player as if you’re grooming him or her to be a center midfielder—the key player, the one most relied on, the one who can change the pace of a game; players, as they develop, will sort themselves out into positions appropriate to their special aptitudes and inclinations. The answer is essentially the same at the professional level—though clearly particular activities and the time the high-level coach will allot to them will be different because of the urgency of team preparation.

In the Rev organization—both team and academies—a priority should be to find and/or develop this creative key man in midfield with the talents described above by Sam Borden. I don’t see one now at the top level of the organization. At the beginning of the season, I had hopes for Toja, but that clearly didn’t pan out for some reason. Scott Caldwell is a good passer and may be a possibility. He has not, in my view, been fully effective as a defensive midfielder, because he seems to lack some grit on defensive coverage and positioning (his instinct is to play too far up-field, leaving too big a gap between himself and the center backs). But perhaps moving him into a more offensive position would capitalize on and develop his strengths. Rowe and Nguyen to date have seemed a little too impatient, a little too goal-focused to slow the game pace and take on a quarterback role.

Field vision can be nurtured in the Revs’ academies by using three steps: (1) Put a premium on dribbling for possession rather than to advance the ball. The player needs to know what’s going on all around him—all 360 degrees; (2) put primary emphasis on the short pass, 15 yards at the longest, with proper dorsiflexed foot position (toe-up), to a teammate who is wide open; (3) phase in secondary emphasis on the long pass, between 25 to 40 yards, using instep or chipping technique, once the short game is firmly established. A player must look up before a short pass, even more carefully before a long pass, so passing a stopped ball should always be his first choice.

Most importantly, a significant portion of practice time should be set aside for low-intensity play, replicating sandlot conditions where players set their own pace. The coach may, of course, set scrimmaging rules or limitations that work toward a particular coaching goal. One ‘rule’ I have found very effective is to tell players that they must control the ball—even stop it dead—every time they receive it, then look up and around (emphasizing field vision) to consider their options before deciding whether to dribble, pass, or clear the ball; the one allowable exception is for a well-directed first-time pass to an open teammate.

The Revs ended this past season immensely better than they started it. Now, if they can just find or develop that key man in midfield (again I’ll mention Ya Ya Touré, Andrea Pirlo, Paul Scholes), they’ll be able to start again in the spring well-positioned for a strong play-off run.

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