For my coursework I will be looking at all the different skills and fitness components needed to perform, and to play at the peak of a sport. As well as this, I will also be looking at strengths and weaknesses in a sport and practises needed in order to improve your performance. I will be analysing myself playing football in the “centre midfield” position. There are many different skills needed in football. The mains ones I will be looking at are: passing, heading, set pieces (corner, free kicks, and penalties), dribbling, first touch, shooting, tackling and crossing.
Passing is one of the most essential skills needed in football, especially when playing in centre midfield. Not only is it needed to keep possession, you also need to pass in order to advance and attack the opposition. It is useful to pass when a team mate is in a better position than you and has a better chance of scoring, or when you need to keep possession and get yourself out of tricky (tight) situations.
It is extremely important that you use different types of passes in specific situations. For example, when you want to get the ball up to strikers quickly or want to switch the play from one side to the other, a long pass it often used. If the pass is played accurately, then strikers will have an opportunity to shoot and try to score while if switched correctly, it will allow you to clear the ball from congested areas to the others side of the pitch were there may be more space.
Short passes on the other hand are used I tight situations to keep possession but can also be effective if used in attack, as the opposition will struggle to keep up with the ball. It is important that you chose the correct type of pass depending on your intentions and if my passing was weak I wouldn’t be able to pick out teammates, so I will loose possession more often and I will also be unable to create chances for my team. This will overall lead to our team losing the match.
Heading is another skill needed in football and if done properly, it can be effective with both attacking and defending. This is used when the ball is in the air and you want to get to it first by using your head. It is useful when your team has a corner or a team mate is going to cross the ball to you. In both of these situations, if you head the ball and direct it accurately towards goal, chances are you will score a goal.
However, when attacking, if your headers weren’t too good, you would miss your chance as they would be inaccurate and you wouldn’t get them on target. This could put more pressure on your team, as the wasted opportunity might be the difference between winning the match and loosing. When your keeper takes a goal kick, it is also important that you win your header to win possession for your team. On the other hand heading also comes in handy when defending. If a corner or a cross comes in from the opposition, it is important that you defend by being the first to the ball and heading it clear, otherwise the other team will get a chance on goal. If my heading wasn’t good I wouldn’t be able to do this therefore the opposition will get to the ball first and score.
Set pieces are chances in a match where you are given time to try and score a goal. Examples of these are corners, free kicks and penalties. When these chances appear it is important that you use them wisely as it is a chance to score a goal therefore helping your team hugely. Accuracy in an important feature in all of these as if they are accurate, it maximises your chance of scoring. Free kicks and penalties can be scored directly and free kicks from further out can be crossed in to create a chance for a teammate, while if the delivery is good from a corner, it can set up a goal for someone. If my set pieces weren’t good then I would be able to create fewer chances for my team as well as being a smaller threat to my team. I will also be unable to score from them meaning my goal tally will decrease.
Dribbling is used when trying to beat a player in a one on one situation by running at them with the ball by your feet and using “tricks” when needed. It is important in football as it is an effective way to create chances for your team as well as getting you in to a good position where maybe you can score yourself. Balance in crucial while dribbling as you will need to keep control of the ball while travelling at high speeds.
If I wasn’t good at dribbling then I would lose control of the ball all the time and lose possession. This would lead the opposition taking control of the ball and maybe creating an opportunity for them. This will mean I will be gifting the ball to the other team and this would encourage them to isolate me as they would know they could tackle me easily. This is worsened by playing in centre midfield, as this is the position where you get most of the ball.
First touch is important in my position in centre midfield as it will help me keep the ball under control and therefore maintain possession. It can also be an advantage to you when trying to turn direction to beat a player or to avoid being tackled. When receiving the ball on the ground it is important to get the ball under control whilst under pressure from the opposition. The first touch needs to be in the right direction if trying to beat a player by changing direction and if trying to keep control, you have to make sure your first touch keeps the ball close to you.
This can also be used when the ball is coming down to you from the air. If my first touch wasn’t good, I will give away the ball more as I would always turn into trouble. By turning into trouble, this would lead me to get tackled and the opposition may benefit from it by scoring themselves. It would also mean I would be unable to turn defenders with my first touch meaning I will have fewer chances at goal.