Goal Kicks

There are many ways to plan for goal kicks. To me, there are two principle philosophies when a team has a goal kick. The first and most prevalent is to get the ball as far up the field as possible and away from our goal. This is how most American teams think. We saw this when we went to the TCU vs. Oklahoma State game, two nationally ranked teams playing lots of kick ball. Almost all players from both teams gather a little short of or a little further than the half line (depending on how far their keeper can kick it) and try to win the ball in the air. The offensive team tries to flick the ball on past to their forwards (vaulting the opposing team’s forward and midfield line) and the defensive team tries to head the ball in the direction of where it came from. 

The thought is, “I want to get the ball out of our goal area and hopefully flick it on for one of my forwards.” You’ll see this thought even through the highest levels of the game: Premier League, World Cup, Champions League, etc. It’s a very strong thought form and has roots in when the game first developed. 

The second philosophy is building out of the back, meaning the team maintains possession while moving the ball up the field. They don’t skip the opponent’s lines (unless the opponents are terribly disorganized and a grounded through ball beats two of them). It’s scary and can take time to learn. The experience of being a center back and having the entire opposing team and 90 yards to get through can be daunting. So why not try to skip the opposing forward and midfield with a big booming kick from the keeper? The ball is farther away from our goal and should be safer.

At our club, it’s all about dominating possession. We choose the latter principle. We don’t mind the danger. We don’t even mind if we mess up and get scored on. We are learning perception of what’s around us, composure under pressure, and how to make good choices on the field. All of these principles translate to off the field qualities. To us, this is what youth sports is all about, to develop positive qualities that make us better human beings. 

If we want to dominate possession and pull teams out of their defensive shape, we wouldn’t kick the ball into the center of the field and hope one of our taller players can flick the ball forward to our attackers. That’s around a 50% chance of winning the ball, another 50% chance (or lower) that our player will receive his teammates flick, and around another 50% chance that our player controls the ball and moves it into space through a pass or dribble. The odds are not in our favor at 12.5% or lower. 

I’d rather have us be 100% with the first pass and start to stretch the defense out of position. From there, it’s the three developing qualities of the player from above plus tactical training that divides the field up into rondo squares, triangles, and rhombus’s. Building out of the back can be rehearsed. We can develop cues, responses, and rewards from these. In a game, there are many possibilities we can’t simulate. But again, what we can develop in a player is his ability to recognize a cue (defense tightly pressures the left center back when he receives the ball from his keeper), respond to it (left winger loses his man and becomes an open option), and be rewarded with it (the left center back completes the pass to our player and we’ve bypassed the opponent’s attacking line). Here’s a simulation of what could happen.

It’s vital all of us are concentrated on what’s going on in the game, on and off the ball. The system breaks down when the winger doesn’t pick up on the cue (keeper passes the ball to a center back and he’s under pressure). The winger doesn't lose his man, the pivota is covered, and the center back needs to get rid of it so he boots it up field or loses the ball in our box. These are things we can control. Soccer players are in great physical shape. Elite players are in a great mental state. They recognize patterns, see weaknesses, constantly communicate, and pick up on many cues, responding to them accordingly. A good soccer player can do a lot on the field on his own. The great ones take the whole team as their own, expanding their vision to the entire field. They know what each of their teammates should be doing, should be thinking at any time. 

There’s an important rule I have to mention here. For 9v9, we want there to be 15 yards of space between each player after we pass or dribble out of the box. This means the wingers stay high with the attacking mids and strikers. The defensive unit must have time and space to work with. If we violate this spacing rule, the opposition can impose a high press, which leaves us helpless as they outnumber us 2v1 in the back. Staying high means we create channels between our opponent’s lines. When we’re confident on the ball, we exploit these lines through dribbling into space and passing to our teammate in space. 

Often, our first pass to our winger or pivota out of the back will be pressured. They may hear footsteps coming from behind them but can’t always rely on that. And often, if they do, it’s too late. They must check over their shoulder to see what’s behind them. This happens before they receive the ball. These players will not have much time to complete the second pass. When under pressure, one or two touches is all that’s needed, no more. But when our man with the ball releases it to his teammate, the 3rd man, this player should have plenty of time to attack as we’ve just passed one line of defense (For more on the 3rd man principle, see an earlier article here). There’s usually a hesitation here from the defense as they must reorganize and decide who to commit to the ball. If they don’t, and an opposing player comes flying at our man with the ball, we can easily pass or dribble around him. 

To see how a professional team builds out of the back, watch Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Ajax, Leeds, or Fulham. There are many others that do this as well such as Liverpool. To take short goal kicks and execute the buildup well, it takes a lot of experience and concentration in training. I look forward to seeing how our boys grow through the process and build their confidence. 

Skills to Practice at Home - 15 minutes

Rollover, Touch (Moving Forward) - 5 minutes

Stop and Go - 5 minutes

Pullback, Cruyff, Stepover, or L-Turn - 5 minutes

See you tonight,

Michael