The Beautiful Game – Positions

 

All right, as promised, I shall go more into soccer for this week’s post.

First thing first, I shall ‘differ a little from the main topic’. I was in my WordPress dashboard, going through the comments when I saw this comment, in which was categorized as a spam. But it’s the content of it that caught my attention. This is exactly what is stated in the comment ‘Found this cool post, check it out (link to source at the bottom) : Me, Myself, I appreciate the game of soccer, and to me, its more then just 22 people chasing after the ball. Well, after all the goalkeeper does not chase after the ball, and it would make it just 20 chasing the ball, …’ I opened the link as followed http://soccer.starsports.info/soccer/soccer-soccer-as-what-the-americans-called-it-and-football-as/ and true enough my post on ‘The Beautiful Game’ was right there. Is it really considered as a spam? I do not know.

Okay, back to the main topic.

4-4-2 Flat. 4-4-2 Diamond, 4-5-1, 5-3-2, 3-5-2, 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1.

Zonal-marking or Man-marking?

Attacking through the middle or down the flanks?

Playing with or through a target man? If yes, play to head, feet or run onto ball?

Playing with a playmaker?

Offside?

 

If you know nothing about soccer other then the basic rules, where you cannot handle the ball with your arms and hands other then the goalkeeper, where its 11 a side game, then I am almost certain that you have no idea what I was mentioning just now, with all the weird number combination and stuff. If you are interested in knowing more and you want to know more, read on and I will try my best to explain. If not, I am not forcing you to read on.

Alright, you maybe wondering all the 4-4-2 and stuff, it all adds up to 10, and a soccer team has 11 players, so why is it 10? Well, that is because the formation only includes the 10 outfields players as every team has a goalkeeper. That is for sure. 4-4-2 would mean that the team is playing with 4 defenders, 4 midfielders and 2 strikers. So likewise for 5-3-2, the team is playing with 5 defenders, 3 midfielders and 2 strikers. The formation can differ from time to time, as it depends on the players that the team has, if the team has injured players and also on the opponent, the team that they are playing.

Since there a lot more to soccer like what I have mentioned on my previous post, I will just talk about the positions in the game of soccer.

Well, isn’t positions, positions? Or is there something more to it? How about the differences in the positions? You might ask.

Let me tell you.

Every different position plays a different role and I will explain and elaborate about them.

Goalkeeper –

The position that hardly no one wants to play in, because the goalkeeper would see very little of the ball, however this position is very essential in the team. The job of the goalkeeper may not be as simple as it looks, and that is keeping the ball out of the net. But there is a lot more to being a goalkeeper. Other then keeping the ball out, a goalkeeper has to communicate and organize his defence throughout the whole match. The goalkeeper also needs to have the vision to restart play when the opponents’ attack fail, and in turn start a counter attack for his team, while the opponents are still reorganizing. This factor is very very important if the team that the goalkeeper plays for plays the game at a fast pace and a counter attacking game.  Many people have the mentality that only tall and big sized people can play as a goalkeeper, but that isn’t the case. Yes, its true that you would have an advantage if you are bigger sized, but it would also mean that you would take longer to get to the ground when needed. Well, to me, as long has you have the handling skills, the ability to communicate, the bravery required and you have the aerial ability, you can play as a goalkeeper.

 

Defenders: Fullbacks –

The defenders that play on the flank for the back four, meaning the back four. The fullbacks main responsibility is to close down the wingers (it will be explained later on) of the opponent’s team, and maybe for some teams, their secondary responsibility is to make overlapping runs down the flanks, but should never forget that your primary job is to defend. Playing as a fullback would mean that you would need to have a good sense of positioning in the field, good concentration, the extra burst of pace to get pass your marker when making overlapping runs, and of course you would have to be able to make tackles properly.

 

Defenders: Centrebacks –

Commonly known as the heart of defence, centrebacks are important in the line of defence. Its main job is to mark and keep the strikers of the opposite team quiet, keeping them out of the game. Most centrebacks who are playing in the game are generally quite tall and big sized, as they have to deal with target-mans, and high balls. But most soccer teams do not play with two centrebacks who are good in the air. Instead, most team plays with a combination, a mix of the centrebacks. A mixture of someone who is good in the air, and someone who  has pace. Through this way, they are able to cover for each other, and also not challenge for the same ball and mark the same player. Yes, there are centrebacks who are blessed with the height and the pace that is needed, but the number is very very small. But besides having height dominance and pace, a lot more is much needed when playing as a centre back. Attributes and technical skills such as the ability to jump high, heading, tackling, concentration, positioning, teamwork and work rate are needed, and it would be good if you possess all of the attributes that were mentioned above.

 

Midfielders: Defensive Midfielders –

Defensive midfielders. They normally play in the middle of the park, meaning the middle of the pitch. Well, there are two types on defensive midfielders that are in the game today and both are equally important. They are commonly known the anchorman or ‘the one who sits in front of the back four’. One disrupts the play of the opponent, closing them down when they are near the penalty area that they are defending, and they are the ones who protect the back four. This means that the defensive midfielder is always the first to try and gain back possession from the opponents once they are in the other half of the field. However, there are different types of defensive midfielders who gain possession back in different ways. There are those type that closes the opposition down, following wherever the ball goes, hounding them until they lose the composure and give the ball away, and there is another type that relies more of positioning, by cutting out the passes the that the opponent will be making.

 

Midfielders: Playmakers/Attacking Midfielders –

In my point of view, the heartbeat and brain of the team when the match is going on. Why so? Well these are the players that keep the ball moving around the field, that dictate the tempo of the match. The reason that I placed playmakers and attacking midfielders in the same category is that because they move the ball forward, and nowhere else. Ironically, some playmakers are defensive midfielders, as they prefer to stay back and yet they have the vision to pick out a teammate and the ability to pass the ball to the teammate, be it short, long or direct passes. But the is one thing that is similar between a playmaker and an attacking midfielder, and that is they make through passes. A pass that splits the opponent’s defence and the intended teammate receives the ball. But one difference is that the attacking midfielder makes more forward runs as compared to a playmaker. But two important attributes that player who play in these two positions is the ability to pass and also have a high level of creativity.

 

Midfielders: Wingers –

Virtually called the wide players of the team. As you could have guessed, this players stay in the wide areas of the pitch, more generally just by the touchline, waiting to push up the flanks once they gain possession on the ball. What’s their main responsibility? To get pass their markers and delivery crosses for the players who are in the penalty area, attacking the goal, in which is the attacking midfielders and strikers. And some times the winger from the opposite flank would be in the penalty area to attack the far post. And where would the deliver the crosses from? You may ask. Well, they have the option the put in a cross from deep, into the penalty area or they can choose to ‘drive down’ to the byline and put in a low cross into the penalty area, or more commonly the 6-yard box. It really totally depends on the situation, depending if there are attacking players in the penalty area or not. One fact about wingers is that some of the wingers that are in the game right now, actually started out playing as a fullback or some as a wing-back (plays more like a fullback, just that the player has more attacking responsibilities then the fullback, and has to balance between attacking and defending, which is very important. Wingbacks are usual deployed on the flanks when the team is playing a 5-3-2 or a 3-5-2. These are the more common formations). Interested in playing as a winger? You need to have good pace, that slight burst of acceleration would be useful. The ability to get pass your marker, and to have good crossing technique. A fair bit of flair, creativity and good positioning would do you good.

 

Supporting striker/ striker/ target man –

Hitman. That is one of the few words that are used to describe these players, because it is their responsibility to score goals for the team. But are all three terms the same? Well, in a certain way, no even though they have a common responsibility. So likewise, a supporting striker, striker, and a target man has different responsibilities, and also different styles of playing.

I shall start with target man, as it’s a little simpler. As simple as it is, target would usually mean that you have to hit the target, so it also applies in soccer. Through balls, long, short passes will be played to   the target man, as a target man’s job is to bring other players into the play, via flick-ons (meaning a header that carries the ball slightly further, or change of direction with the slightest of touches with the head), if the target man is tall, or by holding on to the ball, if the target man has the build to hold off opponents and a good first touch, before releasing the ball to a team mate, where most of the time would either be attacking midfielders or wingers.

 Supporting striker. A player, in short, who supports the main striker. Playing in the space between the striker and the midfielders, also known as ‘the hole’. Its role is to link up play from the midfield area to the striker who is playing up ahead of him, somewhat playing like playmaker and a target man. But players like these, who really excel in playing in the hole are quite hard to identify, as these players need to have exceptionally good vision, creativity, technique and some how, they have to be in the right place at the right time. The latter, I guess would just have to be a natural instinct.

 

Striker. My guess would be everyone would know about strikers and the names and all, because they score the goals that provide the win for their team. But how about the characteristics of different type of strikers? Some strikers rely on their pace, some on their size, while others depend on instincts, just like some of the centrebacks. Different strikers have different styles though. Some play with their backs facing the goal, some prefer to run onto ball, some like the ball to be played into their feet, while some like to run into channels. No matter how different the styles are, all strikers need to have good ratings for finishing, good composure, when closing in on goal or having a shot at goal, to ensure that they will not miss any chances, or at least get it or target.

 

Guess that’s about it for positions, in the game of soccer.

Next week, either managers or referees and how they influence the game of soccer.

 

 

Huang Yixi Vicson

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