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. |
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
Stephen 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.
Robert
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
Doug
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.
Miguel
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).
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.
Pete 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…
- Doug
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!!
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