Something that has taken me a long time to realise is that you don’t need tricks and fancy skills to be the best, it sure helps, but if you still play the simple game of football the right way, you can be just as effective as those who rely on their tricks to get past defenders. I’ll take passing the ball to a team mate correctly instead trying to get past a defender and stuffing up, any day of the week.

Ronaldinho Does What?

If you noticed yesterday’s post, which is below this one, the video shows the defence splitting pass that Ronaldinho gives off to Iniesta and he goes off to score a goal. This example is rather important as it highlights the fact that as a great footballer you need to be aware of the other footballers around you who are in a better position. For scenario purposes, Ronaldinho could have gone off towards goal by himself and could have taken on those four defenders by himself, but the chances were that he could have lost the ball, even the best will have a hard time getting past four La Liga defenders. If he did take this confident course of action he would have given up the ball foolishly and would have lost the opportunity he had in Iniesta, who was in a much better position of putting Barcelona up a goal. The selflessness of Ronaldinho is a sign of a truly great player.

Hold Onto That Ball

The biggest questions you need to ask yourself is who would you rather:

• Have the ball
• Have control of what happens in the game
• Be able to pass the ball around
• Have shots at goal

You or your opponent? Then keep possession of that ball because that is the key to winning the game. With possession comes control over the events that take place during a game. So the next time you come up with the ball have a look around and have some vision. See what team mates are open. If there aren’t, run at the defenders, show some confidence and by the time you do, hopefully one of your team mates would have opened up to a pass. But never give up the ball foolishly by trying to do something heroic because you will regret it if the opposition takes the ball off you and that loss of possession leads to a goal against you. Believe me, it’s not a great feeling