There has been a lot of international soccer in the past few months, starting with the Champions League final between Barca and ManU, through the U21 Euro, the CONCACAF Gold Cup to the current FIFA Women`s World Cup.
While the soccer has been entertaining and at times of excellent quality, the "expert commentating" has been lacking, in my opinion. Even downright annoying.
Watching Barca playing the typical Spanish national team style of keep away (possession) soccer has all the commentators in a rage that this is how soccer needs to be played. and they criticize any team that doesn`t. The best example are the Canadian commentators slamming the Canadian women`s team.
There are two main issues to consider when talking about soccer styles of play. First is the skill level of your team and second is the attractiveness of the play.
Very few teams, including ManU, Germany, Holland have the skills to play the Spanish possession game at this very high level. Even if they did, should they?
From a results perspective there is no correlation between time of possession and winning. What seems to matter is whether or not whatever possession time you have is effective, i.e. are you generating chances and converting them or just pushing the ball around. Again, if you coach Barca, it doesn`t matter which style you play, you`d win anyways.
Contrasting the Barca - ManU game with another very entertaining game, the Gold Cup Final between Mexico and the U.S., is a good way of understanding soccer.
Mexico and the U.S. played fast break attack soccer. Play was direct and vertical and lots of scoring chances were generated. 6 goals were scored and there was never a dull moment. Fans were on their feet. Barca and ManU, to be honest, was a very boring match to watch, despite the goals scored.
Yes, Barca players have a high level of ball skills and can play keep away soccer and it works for them. But it doesn`t mean that this should be the standard of soccer. All soccer players need to continue to develop their skills and then apply them in a way that makes the game exciting, fast, and fun to watch.
Imagine if a team like Barca played a fast attacking game - scary....
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