OT: World Cup help needed

[Kitaman]

I'm trying but I never played nor my children. So what do I watch for or focus on? I know the ball but with all those players spread out is there something else going on?

What's a good defensive play? With so low scores what's a good/exciting offensive play to look for or appreciate? I can tell they are trying to run some plays, right?

I want to get into it but I don't know the rules (including penalties) or what the players roles are.

For the sake of the Tournament can you tell me simply what to watch for to start liking soccer. Everywhere I go people are talking about it. Any Soccer 101 assistance would help because apparently this sport has international appeal. When I was in Africa it was played more than basketball here in the parks.

It can't be too late for me.

 

[SubbaBub]

The Grantland page on ESPN has a primer. It think others have as well.

http://grantland.com/features/how-to-watch-the-world-cup-like-a-true-soccer-nerd/

 

[Gurleyman]

Other than set pieces (corner kicks, free kicks), there aren't really set plays in soccer. It's a free flowing, read-and-react sport. There are certain principles at play for the attacking team (when the ball is here, make your run here), but it isn't like you get the ball to a point guard at the top of the key and run designed cuts.

There are various ways to attack - there's the dull "route one" soccer, which is just boom it up the middle and try to chase it down, which is for teams that struggle to maintain possession through the midfield. You'll see many teams possess through the midfield and then try to get the ball out wide, turn the corner, and get numbers into the box for crosses (ie getting their midfielders forward into the attack). Your most skilled teams (Spain, Brazil) will go wide sometimes but will also try to dissect their way through the heart of the defense with quick, precision passing in tight spaces. You can get individual brilliance with a Diego Maradona type dribbling through a lot of people, but more often than not, it's passing and making runs into space that create goals.

Defensively, there is very little man to man marking at this level. Just about everyone plays four in the back with zone coverage, although a defensive midfielder will often be assigned to an attacking midfielder and stay with him all over the field (you may see that against a Lionel Messi, for example). There are defensive minded teams that will stay organized, not commit many numbers forward and try to score goals with counters. You can often tell a team's philosophy by how difficult it is for their opponents to get the ball out of their defensive end. A defensive minded team (or a team that is less skilled and fears counters) will get numbers back and allow the other team to possess the ball to their heart's content in their defensive half. An attacking team that wants possession will pressure all over the field and try to win the ball back. It's similar to hoops in that way - a team sitting back in a zone vs. one full court pressing.

Spain and Holland were a good example of contrasting styles, with Holland playing for counters and Spain trying to pressure and win possession with all their individual skill. In the World Cup final in 2010, Holland was very conservative (and a bit dirty) and the game sucked. This time, they aggressively tried to counter and had some brilliant goals and made Spain pay for their pressure.

 

[Danpisco12]

Watch tonight's game. Argentina is very fun to watch and Bosnia could be a potential dark horse. They looked good in qualifying and Dzeko is no joke.

 

[UConnSwag11]

I'm trying but I never played nor my children. So what do I watch for or focus on? I know the ball but with all those players spread out is there something else going on?

What's a good defensive play? With so low scores what's a good/exciting offensive play to look for or appreciate? I can tell they are trying to run some plays, right?

I want to get into it but I don't know the rules (including penalties) or what the players roles are.

For the sake of the Tournament can you tell me simply what to watch for to start liking soccer. Everywhere I go people are talking about it. Any Soccer 101 assistance would help because apparently this sport has international appeal. When I was in Africa it was played more than basketball here in the parks.

It can't be too late for me.

The holland Spain game as well as the Italy England game were good games to watch. There aren't really defensive plays unless you look for a goal saving clearance or a last ditch slide tackle to stop a break away. It's more of a defensive team strategy as some teams will sit back with a majority of its players closer to their own goal. There are different styles to play but mainly it's about possession, the other team can't score if you have the ball. It's a build up as most teams will play through the midfield(like a pg) they set the tempo and get everyone involved. Pirlo yesterday was a great example. The best team to watch doing this club wise is Barcelona(ignore this year). Spain usually is one of the best to watch with the way they possess and get everyone involved. If you want to watch the stars you have to watch Messi, he is the best player in the world. He plays forward but comes back to get involved with the play. Others are Ronaldo, Neymar, Xavi and Iniesta from Spain to name a few. It's 11 v 11. Offsides is when the offensive player is behind the last defender without/before the ball. Field players cannot use their hands except for throw ins. Keepers can only use their hands in the box. If a player on the same team plays it back to them with their feet the keeper cannot use his hands. If the player on the same team heads it back the keeper can use his hands. Red cards are for very hard tackles/fouls, two yellow cards, or a tackle coming from the last defender(like a breakaway if he gets beat and the guy tackles him). They can it the beautiful game because of the flow and style of the game. Every team has their own. Some like to counter ASAP, some like to possess and have a build up, others like to go wide and cross it in hoping for a header or a deflection. The game is great bc everyone and every team brings their own flair. Individual 1v1 are the highlights as well as the amazing team plays as well as free kicks( after a foul the team with the ball is allowed to start with the ball from the foul, sometimes it is on the edge of the box and this is where players abuse physics by bending or knuckling the ball over the wall that is 10 yards away trying to score). I hope this helped, this is my favorite sport followed by uconn Bball. But start tonight at 6 watching messi

 

[CTBasketball]

I never understood why they don't do man to man face guarding on defense.

 

[SubbaBub]

I never understood why they don't do man to man face guarding on defense.

Too much field to cover and impeding or blocking an attacking player is a foul.

 

[Gurleyman]

I never understood why they don't do man to man face guarding on defense.

Usually, if there's a sub, a team will put in fresh legs at forward, where there are only 2 players (or sometimes only 1) covering a lot of space and having to work hard making long runs to get open. The back four is playing all 90 minutes, barring injury or a need for a tactical adjustment, since nobody wants to put someone in cold on the back line where a mistake can result in a goal. Man to man face guarding would mean your backs could get worn down chasing an offensive player all over the field, who then comes out for someone with fresh legs who could burn the defender who is tired.

By playing zone, if a forward goes on a long diagonal run, two or three different players can pick him up and pass him along to the other and no individual is spending as much energy. You don't want your backs making tired mistakes late in games - they need to be sharp, not have jelly legs, etc.

Soccer of old used to have more man to man marking with a "sweeper" behind them acting like a safety in football covering the whole field. But over time, that alignment was phased out as inefficient.

 

[SubbaBub]

More basics from the NY Post.

http://nypost.com/2014/06/10/a-simple-guide-to-soccer-for-world-cup-beginners/

 

[Gurleyman]

Plus, as a defense you never really want to be on an island guarding anybody 1v1. Any 1v1 or 2v2, 3v3 situation favors the offense. A great offensive player with space should be able to take advantage of a 1v1 and get something dangerous out of it.

To add a little bit more complexity, you'll hear soccer tacticians use terms like shape, cover and levels. Every team has a formation that they would like to be in ideally (4-4-2 with left back on the left, etc.) in which any defender guarding an offensive player has cover from one of his teammates if he gets beat. If you keep your shape, you are in position to deal with just about anything. The offense of course is trying to break you down and make you lose your shape. For example, in a perfect world, your outside backs will deal with anyone making a run down the sidelines, and a center back will be behind him to provide cover (with defensive midfielders marking people making runs into the box). From there, it acts very much like basketball - if the initial defender gets beat and help defense has to come, then someone has to help the help and everyone has to slide over. If the weak side back isn't aware of what's going on and doesn't pinch in to help, there will be someone wide open at the far post - so communication is very important. If the help defender providing help also gets beat, then you're in a world of hurt.

If both of your center backs get stuck man marking (due to defensive midfielders getting caught too far up field for example), you lose cover. An outside back who reads that properly then knows he has to follow his man wherever he goes and vacate his space. Now the defense is totally out of shape and likely unprepared for the second level of the attack, which can follow in behind and find all sorts of open space against a disjointed defense (sort of like the secondary break resulting in an open three).

When England scored against us in 2010 four minutes into the game, we lost our shape pretty easily. We had our defensive line across the top of the 18 and one of our center backs pinched forward to chase the ball. Gerrard then made a run into that vacant space (his man was trailing, but didn't have cover with our back line disjointed), got a simple through pass and got a clean look straight on. Fortunately, that was the only breakdown like that we had and England's goalie had a "howler" (to borrow their terminology) to let us get out there with a point.