Analysis of Performance

Technical Attributes:

• Corners – To deliver accurate balls to players to improve chances of scoring.
• Crossing - To deliver accurate balls (at pace) to players to improve chances of scoring
• Dribbling – To get past defenders and make space for skills.
• Finishing – Most effective if the individual is accurate under pressure/in situations with very little time.
• First Touch – Creates space and time for performer to act on the ball.
• Free Kicks – Provides good scoring opportunities, or crosses which lead to goals.
• Heading – Beating opponents in the air so teams remain possession/scoring goals.
• Long Shots – If accurate and powerful, provide scoring opportunities.
• Long Throws – Can be dangerous when thrown into opposition’s penalty area/ helpful in relieving pressure in defence.
• Marking – Essential to any defender when stopping opposition for scoring
• Passing – Accurate at short and long range helps team perform well.
• Penalty Taking – Scoring given an ideal opportunity can change the pace/type of the game. 
• Tackling – Needed in order to win possession and stop opposition scoring.
• Technique – The higher the level of football, the higher the technique level required to execute skills/passing/dribbling.

Mental Attributes:

• Aggression – Confident when going in for a challenge, so you are more likely to win the challenge.
• Anticipation – Staying one step ahead of the game gives instant advantage over opponents.
• Bravery – More likely to win a tough tackle
• Composure – Able to perform well with distractions around you.
• Concentration – Always ready to be brought into the game and fast to react.
• Creativity – Can create periods of play that are successful and hard for opponents to defend.
• Decisions – Choosing the right decisions/wrong decisions during games could be the difference to the score line for the whole match.
• Determination – Motivated individuals are more likely to play better in bad conditions and never give up.
• Flair – Experienced/skilled players can change the mood of the game
• Influence – Bringing on skilled/pacy players into a slow game is effective.
• Off The Ball – Creates scoring opportunities and opens up the defence.
• Positioning – Is the difference between scoring and getting it all wrong.
• Teamwork – Everyone working well together is the most powerful tool a team can have.
• Work Rate – Can perform/ make the difference over the period of the game as others tire.

Physical Attributes:

• Acceleration - To make sure you get to the ball before the opponent.
• Agility – Used to beat defenders and create space, or win 50-50 challenges.
• Balance – Simple and essential to competing against others for challenges and when on the ball.
• Jumping – Challenges won in the air could be the difference in being a hero by saving the team or useless and conceding
• Natural Fitness – To maintain the performance of the individual for the whole game.
• Pace – To make sure you get to the ball before the opponent.
• Stamina – Needed to maintain performance for duration of game.
• Strength – To push opponents off ball (fairly), and win 50-50 challenges. As well as creating maximum power in shots/long throws.

To be successful as a team as a whole, the above attributes should be taken into account to decide which player is suitable for which position on the pitch. For example, a player with good strength, balance, concentration and tackling would be best suited to the defending role. Whereas a player with pace, good dribbling and finishing skills is more suited to a striking role. A midfielder would be somewhere in the middle of the two extremes and also a higher proportion of good mental attributes, as they tend to dictate the pace of the game. Allocating regular set piece takers is also usual, to get the best out of every opportunity.

Formations are very important to success of a team. Every team differs slightly in their formation to suit which is best for them. The most common formation is 4-4-2. This provides a stable and tight defence and midfield, with two attackers to pose a threat on the opposition.

Other popular formations involve 3-4-3; this is slightly more attacking mentality, with more threats going forward, however can be risky when defending. This formation is more suited when chasing a close game when a goal is needed to pull the scores level.

A formation such as 5-4-1 is very defensive and is most popular when leading in a very close game, and avoiding conceding which would change the whole aspect of the game. The only problem with this formation is that it offers very little attacking options, so unless the lone striker is strong and quick, he is going to find it very hard to get in the game. ‘Attacking from the front’ is therefore not usually very successful with this formation.

Other tactics involved in game play are mentioned in the table:

It is evident that many different terminology and tactics are used in football in the attempt of success, some pay off, some do not. With experience, players gain a greater understanding of the tactics which lead to success in various situations, and therefore become better individuals and work as a team better as a result.

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF PERFORMANCE

I have played football for nearly 11 years now, playing at least twice, usually three times a week throughout each season. Since starting playing football I believe I have developed a very good understanding of the game, and progressed physically, mentally and technically a great extent also. I used to play as a left back; as the years went by I moved position to a left midfielder and then central midfielder. I have the most experience as a defender, but I have enjoyed playing a more central midfield role for the past three years.

I will use the attributes from the terminology and tactics section for a basis of my evaluation, and mark myself on each attribute out of 10, (1 being the worst, 10 being the best):

The stats in red highlight my weaknesses whilst the green highlight my strengths. Evidently my strengths seem to be mainly my physical attributes, but also factors such as determination and work rate are high. The reason these factors are higher than the others is mainly because of the amount of exercise I do, so I am able to perform at a high level whilst others may fade.

My noticeable weaknesses are mostly technical attributes. This may be due to the position I play in games, or that the training isn’t as focused as it could be in those particular areas. In my team I am not a set piece taker so my free kicks and corners don’t have a chance to improve as much as they could. The power in my shots and throws could also be improved; this could be done by introducing a little more strength training and adjusting to slightly less cardiovascular training.

I am sure if I got stronger I would also have more aggression and bravery as I would be more confident going into 50-50 challenges.

TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR FOOTBALLERS

Group Size: 20

Time for session: 1 hour

Warm Up

Gross motor activity: Two laps of a professional football pitch, increasing in intensity to increase blood flow to working muscles and increase muscle elasticity.

Followed by some static and dynamic stretching to increase elasticity of the muscles further and reduce the risk of injury (injury prevention)

Introductory Activity

An area is set up of 10m squared. Each individual then gets a football and start to dribble around in the area avoiding others by turning, stopping and changing direction. This exercise helps improve touch, ball control, and awareness, and gets everyone used to the feel of the ball.

Main Activity

Mini matches are then set up, with two games playing at once, four teams with 5 players in each (as there are 20 participants). Two pitches are set up, with no goals, at either end, just a line at each end. The object of the game is for your team to maintain possession of the ball and essentially get the ball on the opposition’s line, by stopping it exactly on the line to score. If it rolls past the line, or it is stopped before or after the line, the goal does not stand. After 5-10 minutes of playing, one team from each pitch swaps pitch to play other teams, and eventually all teams play each other.

If for any reason this exercise doesn’t seem to work, they could play possession football, where 10 passes in succession by a team accounts for a goal. When you get to 10 passes you pass it to the opposition and start again.

Development/SSG

The players can take the idea of playing a min game into a larger full size match of 10-a-side. The one less person means there is more space on the pitch which isn’t a bad thing as the extra space gives an extra cardiovascular workout. The game should last about 30 minutes, with two halves, and a half time of around 5 minutes.

Cool Down/Conclusion

Slow jog around pitch twice, decreasing in intensity to maintain elevated circulation whilst removing waste products such as lactic acid from the muscles. Some light stretches reduce wastes further and reduces the chance of stiffness the next day. There should be a brief talk from the coach about what they have worked on, why they have done so, and ask for the players’ feedback on their performance, and how they can improve for next time.

THE PERFECT MODEL

Knowledge of a perfect model to the sport of football is an invaluable tool to any performer, especially novices who are learning from the best. The perfect model is the technical mastery obtained in the performance of a skill defined by a recognising coaching scheme, awards programme, governing body publication or a coaching manual. If you have a detailed understanding of the reasons of the success of a perfect model, you will be able to enhance not only your own performance, but that of others as well.

A perfect model in the football field is David Beckham. He is known all over the world for his footballing talent on the pitch, a swell as his lifestyle off of it.

In particular David Beckham specialises in set pieces, such as corners and particularly free kicks. His technique used is essential to his success. The typical stages are as follows:

• A foul/hand ball occurs.
• Instantly David puts the ball in the correct position and analyses the distance and angle to goal, so the decision can be made of how much power to put on the ball, and whether to focus more on accuracy, as well as thinking of other factors such as the putting swerve on the ball to get past the wall and the goalie.
• Once the ball is down, he puts all distractions out of his head, selecting the relevant inputs into order due to ‘channel capacity’ (the amount of information which can be held in the brain in the short term, usually about 7-10 pieces), i.e. the position of the wall, and the speed and direction of wind, whilst discarding irrelevant inputs such as the opposition fans trying to distract him.
• He then steps back 3 or 4 paces, so he can stride into the shot with speed, but not too much speed as this would lose control of the shot. Whilst doing this his mind is focused totally the free kick, and is mentally picturing how he is going to hit the ball, this is known as mental rehearsal. 
• He then begins his run up whilst keeping his eye on the ball, as he steps in to kick it; he places his left foot beside the ball pointing in the direction towards the goal, as he extends his right foot from behind and follows through with his foot to obtain maximum power.
• Usually this procedure pays off by scoring a goal.
• A famous example is when he scored against Greece in the World Cup Qualifiers in 2002. In the last minute of the game, he scored a magnificent free kick to make England draw 2-2, so they got through to the world cup.
• If he hadn’t have scored we wouldn’t have got to the finals. This added pressure to the moment, and showed his true class, as performing well under pressure is an important part of succeeding to be a perfect model.