For the sake of soccer

For the sake of soccer, watch the World Cup on TV

by Mike Mierau

In spite of what you might be thinking after reading the headline, this commentary will not be about TV ratings. Although certainly, a large viewing audience in North America would help our sport gain the sort of sponsor and media support it needs. And no, I don't have stock in Disney, the parent company of the ABC, ESPN and espn2 networks preparing to air every single match of France '98. My plea has to do with the quality of soccer played on the fields all across the USA.

I know from personal experience, how important it is to watch the beautiful game played at the highest possible levels. A couple of years ago, I managed to talk my wife into buying a satellite dish, primarily so that I could do just that -- watch soccer. With espn2, the Spanish language Univision, and more recently Fox Sports World beaming futbol down to earth, I was able to watch or video tape more than 200 matches of first division, European and Mexican soccer in less than a year's time.

In that year of watching televised matches, I gained more knowledge of the tactics of attacking and defending soccer than I had picked up from 10 years of watching or coaching soccer in the suburbs. In fact, I would go so far as to say, watching youth, or even high school soccer can be detrimental to one's tactical understanding of the game. That is to say, what you see played on the youth and high school fields is not very good soccer.

It is not my intent to trash the sport as played in the USA. My intent is to compell the players, parents and coaches who might be reading this, to watch as much of the World Cup as they can. Watch the best in the world play the game. Here are a few things to look for when you do:

Note how few times the ball is aimlessly knocked forward by the defense. There's no doubt that in front of the goal mouth, you will see defenders do just that in an effort to clear the area where the risk of giving up a goal is highest. But in midfield, away from the panic created by a bouncing ball in the goal box, you will not see defenders smack the ball forward with no real expectation that it reach a teammate.
Check out the number of times a team will pass the ball back, towards their own goal to relieve defensive pressure and allow time for attackers to adjust to their opponent's positions. Also note what the passer does after dropping the ball back -- he'll normally race to open space or fall back further in support of ball possession, depending on defensive pressure.
Watch player movement off the ball. A team with possession in midfield will almost always have two or three players 10 to 20 yards from the man with the ball, providing passing options in support of the attack. Players further forward will make runs, either in a diagonal or horizontally across the face of goal. You won't see forwards stuck in a rut on one side of the pitch or the other. They will often switch places, and will normally be in constant motion.

A target player always running into open space helps the attack in two ways. The first is obvious. If the target player can receive the ball when unmarked by a defender, a scoring opportunity will surely follow. If a defender makes the run in pursuit of the target player, it will open new space in the area vacated by the defense and provide new attacking options. So, even if the target player doesn't get a pass, his movement off the ball helps the attack.
Keep an eye on how passes are made to those players on the move. Most successful passes which penetrate a defensive line, will be dropped into space well out in ront of the target player. Many times that pass will go to the goal side of the defense and might look like a miss-hit ball until you see the attacking striker break out of the crowd at full speed and run on to the pass.
Last, but not least, look for new ways to beat opponents 1-on-1. Watch how the world's most skillful players try to embarrass their counterparts with moves too incredible to describe and impossible (for me anyway) to demonstrate. After the game, get out in the backyard and practice those moves against the neighbor's cat.

What's coming over the next month is a rare opportunity to see the game played by the masters of the craft. Skip the summer reruns and check out the greatest assembly of "Dream Teams" on the planet. But, don't do it for me, do it for the sake of the team you play on or coach.

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