The Soccer Blogger
As with trying to improve your game whatever the position you play, a great way to do it, which you’ll probably be pleased to hear does not involve any physical exercise, is watching the professionals play and trying to work out how they do certain things. Watch and tape as many games as you can and try to analyse each aspect of play that interests you.
If you are a defender, concentrate on what great players like Jamie Carragher, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Paolo Maldini etc do. Have a notebook and a pen handy. Write down some questions before on some specific areas you wish to study like how do they try to move the attacker onto their weaker side, how do they position themselves at corners, free kicks, how do they marshall their defensive unit etc. Study how each of the pros executes these moves, write notes and when it comes to training, try to put into practice what you observed.
A word of warning though. Just try to concentrate on how these guys play the game, not how they act or more importantly, sometimes react! Unfortunately there are many players these days that seem to have a very high level of disrespect, not only for the officials but also their opponents and sometimes even their own teammates.
Please don’t copy the "personality" or the "attitude" of players like this. You know what I mean. Players who are always in the face of the referee, arguing, complaining about a decision that went against them, reigning injury, trying to get opponents sent off etc. Yes, the stakes are high and you want to win but please, just play the game. When studying the pros simply concentrate on what you can learn from their skills. Their skill is without question, their temperament unfortunately sometimes is not.
A caveat: I am not tarring all pros with the same brush here. There are many pros whose temperament you should try to emulate. Examples of great professionals off the top of my head would probably be players like Beckham, Carragher, Paul Scholes. There are many more, but these three are great examples of guys who perform impeccably on and off the pitch. But I’m sure you know what I mean and can name a few players that fall into both categories. Point made and I have digressed a little from the main subject of this article, let’s get back on track.
The best defenders over the years have always had good poise and balance. They seem to have more time than other players, perhaps even look slow but they are anything but. They read the game brilliantly and like all great players their mind is two steps ahead of the game. If you can, try to watch some old games of players like Bobby Moore, Alan Hansen, Franco Baresi, Franz Beckenbauer. These are the kind of defenders that simply oozed class.
These are examples of players who dominated both on the ground and in the air. To be a top defender you have to be good at both. You could learn a great deal by watching old tapes of these guys playing
Of course watching and analysing tapes of defenders, whether they be past masters or current stars is only a small part of your overall learning. You can’t simply watch professional games and go straight out onto the pitch and reproduce these skills in training or in games. You have of course to supplement this tactic with proper training material.
One of the best training courses on the market is the Play Great Soccer System by Coerver Coaching. I have written a review on the system and you can read it by simply clicking on the link.
Enjoy your training!
Rik
The Soccer Blogger
