The inspiration for this post comes from a Be Like Ronaldinho subscriber, who emailed me the other day to ask me the following:

Hey Sonny I had a question for you, why doesnt ronaldinho play defensively? I saw videos of him defending but Zidane embarassed him =( Lately I haven’t seen him trying to strip other players with the ball

I was pretty curious to see this video that he was talking about so I replied to this question like this:

Could you send me the url of that video? He’s an attacking midfielder / striker, so he hasn’t played any professional game so far in a defensive role. You see the coaches over the years see that his potential and skill only benefit the team when he plays forward setting up goals. As a result his defending could lack, but I honestly think he has potential to be a pretty good defender too, not as good as Canavaro for instance, but he can do well for his team. I’ll get back to you once I’ve seen the video.

And so I waited a couple of days to see that he came through with the url for the video and just for your convenience I’ve put it just beneath. As it turns out, it’s a classic Zidane vs Ronaldinho video, but a different one, not the popular one on YouTube. Towards the end of the video you will see the incident the fellow reader is talking about. Under the video you can see my response and just a bit more.

You’ve got the book with you, that move is called The Switch. Ronaldinho comes in at speed from behind and Zidane does the smart thing by switching his direction, therefore rendering Ron useless as he is now no where near the ball. Have a look at it again.

Whether you’re Ronaldinho or Cannavaro there was little chance of taking the ball off the French magician in that case. We could argue that Ronaldinho doesn’t go after the ball here because there is another team member who is now closer to take on Zidane. In either case it has to be said that whether you are a striker or a midfielder, defending the ball and stealing the ball from the opposition is a vital skill to have and can save your team.

Often not spoken about as much because many coaches believe that ball possession should be better used passing the ball around the box and then tucked away into the corner. I am here to tell you that when you get in close proximity of the 18 yard box, given you don’t have any other available options, have a shot at goal. Many will argue that it’s not always the best way to go if your side needs a goal. So here are some questions to consider when you want to have a shot at goal:

• Do you have enough balance?
• Do you have enough control over the ball?
• Are the opponents close to you?
• How far out from the goal are you?
• Have you practiced this enough?
• Do you believe in yourself?

Those last two are things that you need to be mature enough to accept. If you haven’t practiced this kind of shot before, while the ball is rolling, then it’s not time for you to be a hero and have shots. The last one is something you need to search within yourself. Do you see yourself honestly pulling off something spectacular? Most of the time you can when you don’t think about the shot. Things like goal keeper position does not matter here when you have addressed all these questions because no keeper can stop a really good shot at goal.

What’s The Lesson To Be Had Here?

As easy as it seems for professional players to have these amazing shots at goal, those questions go through their head in around half a second before they decide to have a shot at goal and try their luck, or their skill. So the next time you decide to have a shot at goal, think about these questions and it might end up saving you some shame and helping out the team with a more easier option to score a goal, or you can have a kick and become the hero, but if you miss then you will quickly become the villian. Not so much to your team mates, but rather to your fans. In the Ronaldinho Video that I posted a couple of weeks ago, goal number 1 is an example of having a shot at goal and is a very good example I must add.

Fairly uneventful this time around when Barcelona took on Mallorca on Sunday. The biggest reason why is because our man Ronaldinho wasn’t playing Well I must say that there were a few opportunities that Barcelona had in the first half that should have been equalised. First, let’s talk pre-match stats. As stated earlier, Ronaldinho was unavailable for this game against Mallorca, so coach Frank Rijkaard had to strategise in order to make up for the loss of Ronaldinho. Other notable events include the return of Cameroonian striker Samuel Eto’o to the squad after a minor injury from the week before. Barcelona went into this match knowing full and well that they needed this win so they can have a good chance of clinching the Spanish Primera Liga.

Let’s Get Into The Match

As stated earlier, there were a few opportunities that Barca had in the first half. Some notable chances for both teams. Barca had a chance to go one goal up after a cross entered into the area was optimistically met with a overhead kick by striker Eto’o, only to see his effort go far above of the post, with tight defending from Mallorca. However, the biggest break came for the visiting team, when a one on one situation with Barca keeper, Valdes, ended in a spot kick after Valdes penalised the oncoming attacker. With the hearts of all Barca fans in their mouth, Mallorca took the spot kick to be denied by the quick reflexes of Valdes instantly dropping a great weight off his shoulders.

Lucky Break, Now To Capitalise

But nothing was getting past the Mallorca defence, so coach Rijkaard decided to change his attacking plan by substituting Thuram and Guily for Xavi and Saviola. Further on Barca had a golden opportunity to have a shot on goal, but was gallantly knocked away by the Mallorca keeper, Moya. At this point in time, it seemed futile to clinch a win for the home side. All this until the 88th minute, when the combination of both substitutes paid off for Rijkaard. With a cross whipped in from Xavi, met a couple of heads from Barca and Mallorca players and finally came down for Saviola, whose shot rebounded off the post, hit a Mallorca defender and glided past the goal line. Unlucky for the visiting team, but pure ecstasy for the home side.

The next scheduled match for Barcelona sees them again at home against Getafe on the 18th of this month, which will be even more critical for Barcelona’s hopes to take out the league. We will cover that match with much anticipation.