Below is af Blog entry by Coach John Ellinger. If you are serious about developing as an individual this is, "what it takes."
Wha
t it takes to be Successful - John Ellinger
One of the questions that we are asked frequently at US Youth Soccer
is "what does it take to be a successful US Youth Soccer Olympic
Development Program (US Youth Soccer ODP) player"?
The generic reply from most US Youth Soccer ODP staff coaches when
they identify a player they like is to say, "that player can flat out
play." There is nothing wrong with this assessment; in fact, the coach
is paying the player a tremendous complement. What does the staff
coach see in a player to merit such an accolade? Well, let's start with
the technical areas that are necessary for a player to become a
successful US Youth Soccer ODP player:
(1) Quality of the first touch—does
the statement "the first touch is everything" mean anything to you? A
player needs to have the technical ability to receive any type of
service (pass) from their teammates and even the opposition for that
matter, and to be able to handle it cleanly. The first touch can
either take you out of a pressure situation or it puts you back into
pressure from an opponent or space. One type of two-touch soccer that
is not conducive to what people call "the beautiful game" is when the
receiving player's second touch is the tackle to win the ball back
after a poor first touch. Two Men's National Team players who have a
flawless first touch are Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley (both
former US Youth Soccer ODP players). Both always look and feel
comfortable with the ball at their feet.
(2) The ability to strike a ball cleanly—it
does not matter what surface of the foot we are talking about-instep or
inside of the foot, the player needs to be able to put the proper pace
on the pass. Can they drive a ball over various distances to the
intended target (both diagonal and down the line passes), can they bend
the ball into the open space in front of a teammate or around defenders
to the feet of their teammate, can they execute a proper chip pass or
lofted pass and can they play the ball with both feet? A good example
of this technical ability is when you see a defender play a long ball
forward in order to get his team out of a pressure situation—if that
defender just played a 40 or 50 yd rope to his teammates' feet and he
accomplishes this on a consistent basis, then this player has some
talent and it is not an attempt to play "kick ball", "long ball" or
"direct soccer". I have not worked with any defenders yet, who
honestly do not feel that they can make that pass. The player who can
hit this type of ball from the back or from one flank to another flank
does have the ability to strike a ball cleanly.
(3) The ability to dribble to penetrate and to maintain possession---the
player should be comfortable dribbling with all four surfaces of the
foot, the sole, inside of the foot, instep, and the outside of the
foot. The player has to be comfortable in their ability to move at
speed with the ball and to avoid challenges from opponents while still
maintaining control/possession of the ball. Players at this level have
some tactical understanding of when to hold the ball up/shield and wait
for supporting players to combine with. They also have some tactical
understanding of when to take a player(s) on in an attempt to beat the
opposition. A player can understand tactically when and where during a
match to execute this skill, but without the technical abilities of
knowing how to make these tactical decisions actually work creates many
frustrating moments on the soccer field for the player. As the
competitive level of matches increases for players, they need to
understand that turnovers because of a poor or a needless dribbling run
puts their team at a defensive disadvantage from which many goals are
scored.
(4) The ability to head the ball in attack and defense---Can
the player effectively clear an incoming high ball with their head when
defending, can the player effectively pass and shoot with their head
when on attack. There are many things that can go wrong to
affect the quality of a good header (1) mistimed jump, (2) poor
assessment of the flight of the incoming ball, (3) closing of the eyes,
and (4) mistimed thrusting of the head towards the ball. All of these
situations will affect how the player strikes the ball with their head
and how successful the header will become. Heading is a skill that
often receives less than its normal share of appropriate training time
during practice sessions. But think about the number of goals that are
scored off of restart situations from headers or the number of assists
that come from passes from headers, especially from flick headers. By
possessing the skill to handle any type of heading situation while
playing on both sides of the ball (attack or defense) allows players to
increase their chances of moving up the elite player development ladder.
(5) The ability to finish with their first touch—this
may be the most difficult skill to master of all five of the technical
qualities mentioned. I am not talking about composure on the ball,
which also plays a big part of quality finishing; I am talking about
the player's technical ability to strike on goal with their first
touch. The player has to possess the ability to solve problems
technically under intense pressure when receiving the ball close to
their opponent's goal. There are many variables a player encounters in
this situation, such as the position of the goalkeeper, the flight and
pace of the pass they are about to receive, the position of defending
players, etc., which forces the player to choose a technique to use to
strike the ball at almost "warp speed". The biggest problem for young
players is that many believe scoring goals is all about striking the
ball with power. I am going to show my age here by quoting a line from
the old FA Instructional films that were made after England won the
World Cup in 1966, whenever a player missed a goal scoring opportunity
by going for power instead of accuracy, the announcer would say "he
went for power when clinical accuracy would have done him
better". Landon Donovan is by far the best pure clinical finisher I
have ever had the pleasure to work with at any playing level. When you
watch him closely, his decision making as to what surface to strike the
ball with, what pace to put on his finishing attempt and the placement
of his this attempt are exceptional. Maybe this is why he holds the
records for scoring goals with the US Men's National Teams at both the
youth and senior levels. Another interesting fact is that something
like 70% of all goals scored are scored from the player's first
touch—more reason for the player to become comfortable with dealing
with goal scoring opportunities with their first touch.
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