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Thursday, November 29, 2012

Hot Links from the Futsal Griddle


Vincente de Luise (ANSA)

The 2012 Futsal World Cup is compared with previous tournaments in this interview with Vincente de Luise, former Argentina National Futsal Team coach and now in that position with Chile. The conclusions are that offenses have improved, teams alternate systems during the course of a game and high pressure by defenses is created more goals than simple turnovers.

Whether you view futsal as a means to an end – development tool for outdoor players – or an end in itself – its own sport – many of the world’s most talented players grew up with futsal. This article was published by www.fifa.com on the eve of the Futsal World Cup.

Tim Sheldon, editor of www.futsalonline.com
Tim Sheldon, the editor of www.futsalonline.com, recently published “MISL could revolutionize indoor soccer in the U.S. by adopting futsal rules,” a response to U.S. National Futsal Coach Keith Tozer’s comment “The way we play is basically Futsal with an extra player and walls.” Tozer is also the longtime head coach of the MISL’s Milwaukee Wave. His comment appeared in a November Futsal World interview in which he discussed his affiliation with U.S. Youth Futsal and formation of a youth futsal league in Wisconsin. Feel free to write us at davidknopf48@gmail.com with your thoughts on Sheldon’s views, as well as Tozer’s.  

Anthony Talo (FIFA.com)
16-year-old Anthony Talo of the Solomon Islands became the youngest goalkeeper to score at the Futsal World Cup when his punted shot from his penalty area was the deciding goal in a 4-3 win over Guatemala. Read the story and watch the video highlights of the game as provided at www.FIFA.com.
 

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

A bonanza of video picks: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.



It was a run like this that allowed Neto to score the game-winner.

As is the case in the 11v11 game, set pieces account for a high percentage of futsal goals – especially in tight, highly competitive games. In Brazil’s 3-2 Futsal World Cup championship win over Spain, three of the five goals are well-executed set pieces, one of which includes a textbook illustration of the coach’s mantra: follow our shots. Falcão scores with a left-footed bomb to tie the game, but it’s a bit of skill and trickery, and a long run, that sets up Neto’s game-winner at the death.

Third-place matches are often the ho-hum stuff of the footie world, but Italy’s 3-0 win over Colombia in Thailand is no yawner. Italy’s first goal from distance is a volley … hard enough with a soccer ball, much tougher with a low-bounce, smaller futsal ball. Try it some time. Second eye-catcher is the red card to Colombia’s keeper, who makes a nice hand save, but unfortunately is two city blocks outside the penalty area. Finally, the combination play on Italy’s third goal’s a thing of beauty, enough to make a grown coach cry.

Some good goalkeeping at the end of the game enabled Spain to advance with a tough 3-2 quarterfinal result against Russia. Watch the beginning closely or you’ll miss Russia’s lightning-quick corner kick play and goal. We were distracted by the Spanish fans of the female persuasion, which required that we restart the highlight three times.

The World Cup's Brazil-Argentina game didn't lack fireworks.
Any game between Brazil and Argentina has the potential to become an instant classic. This one’s no exception. The Argentines jump out to a 2-0 lead, including a second goal with footwork, fakes and a left-footed shot that reminds one of smallish, tricky outdoor player … think the name's Messi. Brazil comes back thanks to that elder statesman Falcão, who scores twice. Argentina outpossesses Brazil by a wide margin, but clutch goalkeeping and the woodwork allow Brazil to win a tough one.

Are teams from the CONCACAF region this bad or were they in Thailand for the Pad Thai? Guatemala’s the best in this region, but you wouldn’t know it from the 9-0 whipping they endured from Russia. On the plus side, there are lots of goals to watch and our personal highlight was the puffy blond wigs some Russia fans were wearing. It doesn't happen here, so we’re still waiting to see a referee fumble the ball as he snatches it from the pregame pedestal.

It's back to the drawing board for Panama's futsal team.
Not to belabor the point, but CONCACAF’s Panama – which we recall beating the U.S. in qualifying with through balls and over-the-top passes to speed up front – got no such break in its match with Brazil. Aside from conceding 16 goals and not scoring any, the Panamanians lost their cool, twice intentionally sending Falcão to the floor. The first might’ve been justified a bit since the Brazilian ace showboats with some nifty juggling before being sent to ground. It’s still fun to watch, right? The second cardable offense is crude, and not the kind they'd let slip through the Panama Canal.

Rita Martins
Portuguese player Rita Martins shows why futsal flair isn’t the sole property of men … and proves that yes, there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Guess you'll have to watch to know what we're talking about.




Falcao attempts things his imagination produces.
Finally, while you've probably seen this before, but with our tendency to refer to Falcão as “the elder statesman of futsal” and other flip remarks, it’s important to remember that no player in futsal or soccer has consistently had the chutzpah to try the amazing things he has, while still playing within the team. Even when Falcão misses, it's hard to complain.


Tuesday, November 27, 2012

What does Spain and Barcelona's four6zero formation have in common with futsal? More than you know, futsal international Doug Reed says



Editor's note: We found an article that Doug Reed, an English futsal international, published in the blog "four6zero," which draws its name from the outdoor formation Spain and Barcelona have popularized. Reed's idea is that the formation draws its philosophy from futsal, which is embedded in the Spanish culture. As analysis and clear writing go, it's one of the best articles we've read on what's the heart of futsal.

We contacted Doug and Robert Ursell, the founder of the blog, and were given the go-ahead to use the post for the benefit of our American and Canadian futsal readers and enthusiasts.

We also asked Doug to tell us a bit about his career, and he sent the following:


David,
You are more than welcome to use the article. If you could put my twitter account @DougReedFutsal so that people can contact me that would be great. I am still playing and I currently have over 25 games for the England team since my first game in 2008. I have added a picture of me playing for England. My career has been as follows.

Doug Reed earning one of his 25-plus caps playing futsal  for England.
2007-09 Manchester Futsal Club (1st Division, England)
2009-10 Lanzarote Tias Yaiza (2nd Division, Spain)
2010-11 AEL Limassol (1st Division, Cyprus)
2011 Manchester F.C. (1st Division, England)
2011 Perth Saltires (UEFA Cup, Scotland)
2011-12 MNK Uspinjaca (1st Division, Croatia)

I read the article with (futsal goalkeeping coach) Andy Reading. He is a great coach.I wish you the best of luck with promoting futsal in the U.S. It is a fantastic sport and more people should enjoy.

Doug


Here's Doug's tactical analysis of the four6zero and its relationship to futsal, complete with blogger Robert Ursell's introduction and bio. We maintain the variations in spelling commonly used in England.

Doug Reed is a current England futsal international who has played in Croatia, Cyprus and Spain, and a keen student of the small-sided game. Follow him on twitter here https://twitter.com/DougReedFutsal

In my first post on four6zero, I would like to talk about a tactical formation with the following characteristics:
  • Prioritizes possession to control the game
  • Pass and move style including lots of movement off the ball
  • Played without an attacker constantly remaining in depth
  • Requires versatile players who are comfortable in all parts of the pitch
  • Suited to intelligent players who can read the game and have exceptional passing abilities
  • Is often associated with high pressing to regain possession
  • Used by the Spanish national team to win a major championship
If you guessed the formation is the striker-less 4-6-0 this site is named after, I’m afraid your assumption would be incorrect. In fact, you wouldn’t even have the correct sport. These are the characteristics of the 4-0 formation used in futsal, the indoor 5-a-side game created in South America. 

Both systems are, however, based on the same principles and I aim to explain how they work.

In the 1980s a Brazilian known as Zego was coaching a middling team in the Spanish futsal league. He knew that to increase his chances of winning against the stronger teams his team had to dominate possession.

He decided to adapt the most popular attacking system of 3-1, which included a pivot (striker in football), to the 4-0. By abandoning the use of a pivot, his team would gain a numerical advantage in deeper areas, which would allow him to achieve his objective.

In 4-0 the players are positioned in a line across the field in an arch formation with the wingers slightly higher than the two central players.

In football’s 4-6-0, you can draw parallel with Barcelona when Messi drops into the midfield, where Dani Alves, Jordi Alba, and Gerard Pique have already helped to create a substantial numerical mismatch for the opposing side.

Crucial to this setup are rotation of positions and rapid circulation of the ball with short passes. Players without the ball have the almost constant aim of opening a passing line for the player in possession, making sure he doesn’t only have one option.

These two systems have the following advantages:
  • They will create space either behind the defence or between the lines. By overloading the middle of the pitch the opposition are left with a decision. Do the defenders playing against no attackers move forward to help their outnumbered midfield? This will leave less cover and create space in behind the defence that can be taken advantage of with through balls met by deep penetrating runs by quick players. In football Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas and Messi provide these passes for Pedro, Alexis, Villa and… Messi! Alternatively, the last line of defence can remain deeper but this allows space in between the lines behind the midfield for players to receive and turn.
  • Secondly, the continuous movement of ball and players complicates the task of defending. The defence is forced to constantly shift and track the attackers’ movements, whether physically or visually. This makes it difficult to assign marking responsibilities, position themselves to provide cover or create defensive two-against-ones as well as requiring a huge physical effort.
As with any system it has its weaknesses.

With all the players in a narrow band there is no defensive cover which means if the ball is lost they are vulnerable to a quick transition. This is why these systems are often associated with pressing. To prevent the counter attack, it is important that the nearest player to the ball presses immediately to stop the opponent getting their head up to assess vulnerable areas.

In futsal this type of system is not used against defences that defend zonally near the goal. Barca and Spain have been criticised for not having a ‘Plan B’ against these types of compact "park the bus" defences. Without the spaces to exploit, the system can be monotonous as there is possession without penetration.

These systems will not work with any random group of players. Their attributes must include the ability to think quickly, be comfortable in tight spaces and have precise passing to retain possession and play through balls. It requires quick players who can make deep penetrating runs behind the defence to meet these passes. It needs complete players as they can find themselves in any position.

Finally it needs harmony and co-ordination between the players. Other teams have found it difficult to imitate Barcelona and Spain, as they have a wealth of these intelligent technical players, many of whom grew up together using a similar style of play in La Masia.

Marc Taylor's photo of Doug Reed in action in the English futsal league.
(Reed, who published his article before the Futsal World Cup, goes on to suggest that readers watch the games on television.) You will see that many aspects of futsal are becoming increasingly popular with modern football.

These include; possession football, playing between the lines, rotations of positions, high pressing, similar techniques with the ball (sole of the foot control, toe punt shots, scoops when in on goal) and using the goalkeeper as a sweeper in attack and defence. Not surprisingly many of the world’s best players grew up playing futsal.

Robert Ursell
Robert Ursell is the founder of four6zero and the lead writer and editor. Having grown up as a small technical player in England, he has strong views on the game  "'I believe strongly in my opinions, but I welcome others explaining why I may be wrong. "You can follow Robert on twitter or add him to your google+ circles. Don't forget to like four6zero on facebook and follow us on twitter.

6 Responses to Four6Zero Formation Rooted In Futsal
  1. http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/0ce2c6ab0dfa54033740201f78035121?s=32&d=identicon&r=GStephen Finn says:
Nice post Doug and fair play to you Rob for building the site. The crucial aspect is for all organisations to look at who first introduces our kids to playing football or futsal. It is harder to stick with building from the back if you can’t accept that sometimes a keeper or defender will pass the ball straight to a striker who will score and you may lose the game.
I’ve coached my son’s football team for the past five years and they are all very comfortable building up from the back, playing possession football but I’ve always accepted their errors and now they are 13 years of age the mistakes are so much less frequent and they can play excellent football. In the five years we’ve played only five other teams ever took a short goal-kick against us! We take short goal-kicks 90 per cent of the time!
The parents or teachers who take over teams first and have no idea how to improve players do more damage to the development of players than anybody else. It’s not just the elite win at all costs merchants but even more so the people who don’t understand that kids can pass the ball to each other quite easily with the right encouragement.
Keep up the good work and hopefully the growth of futsal in this part of the world will eventually allow people understand that there is a better way to playing the game than lumping it.
  1. http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/e17b7b5bd5d0c0204ee644c82e473e28?s=32&d=identicon&r=GRobert Ursell says:
thanks Stephen. dont know if you watched Liverpool vs Anzhi last Thursday but the complete disgust at Downing playing a risky pass across his own goal even though it eventually got to its target was amazing.
Maybe it wasnt the best decision but the level of criticism it drew was ridiculous.
No one mentioned Gunter for Reading last night against Arsenal at 4-3 up. TWICE he hoofed the ball straight to Arsenal after 94mins under no pressure at all. A much worse sin in my eyes.
gonna take a long time to change the mentality in britain if it even ever happens at all
  1. http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/311ae893cd03e8146750ab3c085d16b7?s=32&d=identicon&r=GDoug Reed says:
Thanks for the comments Stephen.
Agree with Rob about it will take a long time. I have wrote before about how St George’s Park won’t change anything significantly because the problem with English football is cultural and that will take at least a generation to change. I think there was a similar article on this blog as well.
I think a large part of it is the weather in Britain which means our game involves a lot of running and less thinking. They play similarly in Scandinavia where the weather is cold. Holland is an exception where they have used small sided games to coach football. Futsal can help negate the weather factor as there isn’t the cold and windy weather and terrible pitches that make it difficult to play a more controlled passing game.
  1. http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/eee1fd575649f92b89d3e7062424c0ab?s=32&d=identicon&r=GMiguel Tablado says:
Good article Doug! I have enjoyed reading you (and comments).
I agree with you that both sports have more in common that people use to know, but I would discard the idea that futsal is the start of football as they should be different sports.
Anyway, Stephen is in the correct guideline of trainning children, he had been showing how to walk first to run.
In Spanish futsal we have a rule that goalkeepers can’t throw the ball to the other half when they start the game after a ¿goal out? so that teams are forced to build from the back.
About how long will take English people to reach those concepts, I can’t comment, but I can tell you than in Spain we have many people against them because they were cooked at La Masia (FCB), so typicall latin envy make RMadrid supporters to refuse them (except when the national team plays).
How do you say “goal out”. I refer to the action when the keeper starts the game when the opposite kicks out.
Miguel.
  1. http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/101c00ab5ca67e6e2230f720ce8f03b4?s=32&d=identicon&r=GPete says:
the concept of going backwards or sideways to go forward is lost on a lot of english football fans, i get paid for taking kids to watch boro occasionally and the fans boo possession football however are quite happy for the team team to try and hit ‘the juke’ and play percentage football. I love the drama and theatre of the english game and even parts of the the octane pace ‘up and down’ style but two teams playing effectively football tennis on a saturday afternoon which is basically what you get from league 1 downwards is a waste of time i’d rather watch paint dry…
  1. http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/311ae893cd03e8146750ab3c085d16b7?s=32&d=identicon&r=GDoug Reed says:
Thanks for your comment Miguel.
I totally agree that football and futsal should be different sports. I hope young children play futsal to develop their futsal skills and become futsal players rather than to develop football players. However as futsal is still a developing sport it is very atractive to try to latch on to some of the attention and money that is involved in the world’s most popular sport. This has its advantages and disadvantages. Women’s football realised this as well and tries to advertise itself as something different to men’s football. My opinion is that if futsal is at least as good a game as football but it doesn’t have the tradition. The term you are looking for is “goal kick”.
Hi Pete. As Rob said a player gets killed if he loses the ball for trying to play but not for giving it away by just hoofing it. The problem is with English culture and its beliefs. If you believe it is wrong to try and play then you will remember that time when a player gives a pass away and it leads to conceding a goal. However by trying to play what didn’t happen was the 20 times when you kept the ball instead of giving it back to the opposition which with these 20 possessions they might have scored 2 or 3 goals. You look for evidence to confirm your beliefs. If you think a striker is rubbish when he misses you will moan it is his poor ability at fault but when he scores you will say how lucky it was and the opposite for a striker you think is great. Middlesbrough has a futsal team and I am sure you and you’re kids would enjoying watching one of their games. Try it once!!