GAME PROBLEMS AND SOME SOLUTIONS By Graham Ramsay In many youth, high school and college games, certain skills and tactics are often lacking or players are not aware of the tactical potential. Here are problems observed and some solutions. Problem: Hot and cold passing - In too many cases the message of a pass had no meaning. Inconsistent passing is the fastest way into playing poorly and losing games. Either passes were too hot to handle and so difficult to control or too cold and slow, so easy to intercept or for the opposition to catch up and kill the move. Solution: Passing and possession games like 4 v. 2 and plenty of technique practice. In fact it should be part of every warmup. Players should not be satisfied until their passing success rate is over 80 percent. We have too many "double agents" and they seem to be breeding fast; they pass more to their opponents than to their own teammates. Problem: Worst touch control - Players' first touch is often the worst touch, feeding into their next touch - a tackle. Poor control fosters chaos and turnovers. Solution: Plenty of technique practices and games like 5 v. 2. Never let the "spots stop." The ball must always be moving. Problem: "Help I'm drowning" - This is how many players, when on the ball, must have felt because there was no help or support nearby. They were surrounded, isolated and sinking in a sea of opposing shirts. Again a turnover was on the way. Solution: Good support play demands good fitness levels with the nearest teammates making angles. This gives the ball holder options and the opposition problems. "Give a pass, make an angle" should be a pulse beat on every possession. Watch the top teams; they believe in "power packs." Wherever the ball goes, goes a pack of support teammates. Problem: NASA shooting - One of soccer's heinous crimes is to create a chance to score and then shoot wildly, totally missing the goal. Rumor has it that NASA in Houston gets millions of bleeps on its radar screens. After much research, it was discovered that it wasn't alien invasion after all but a multitude of shots launched from thousands of soccer fields in the U.S.A. Solution: Plenty of shooting practice. It must be a daily event at high school or college practices. But it must be with a purpose where there is some urgency and shooting from different angles. Remember Romario's rules: Shoot early, shoot low and consistently hit the target. At the very least make the keeper work, that is force a save. Problem: Blame the pitch - Due to poor pitches it is almost impossible to play a cultured passing ground game. Yet teams prevail only to find new, challenging opponents - divots, bumps, drains, uncut grass, huge crowned fields, etc. Come November and the same fields may be covered with mud. What's wrong in playing in the air? Solution: Cultured soccer can be played in the air. It requires good heading and volleying techniques. Games like soccer tennis and soccer volleyball are fun to play and encourage touch play in the air. As Winston Churchill pointed out in a famous away game, "we will play them in the streets, we will play them on the beaches, we will play them in the air." In other words good teams and players adapt to the prevailing conditions. Problem: AARP counterattacks - The lack of awareness and understanding to recognize the counterattacking moment. In a college game a so-called attacking break collected defenders in the move. It was that slow! The object is to lose defenders and end up with more attackers than opponents in their penalty area. Solution: Some teams like Juventus play with this in mind: On winning the ball, the players have 10 seconds to finish off an attacking move. This form of play demands fitness and a positive team attitude. Problem: Making their sweeper MVP - Most teams play with a sweeper and yet there is little understanding of how to defeat this type of defense. Most sweepers could play with a soda in one hand as the balls are cleared straight to them, making them look brilliant. The chief culprits are the wide backs who live in a channel, a channel 20 yards wide by 50 yards down the touchline. It's almost as though they are in a tunnel, oblivious to anything outside this "tunnel." At the other end is their sweeper waiting to receive these gifts of overhit, straight clearances. Tunnel play often leads to tunnel thinking, a deadly mindset as it requires no awareness. Solution: Think space, angles and numbers. Think of the diagonal space beyond and farside of their sweeper to attack. Think of creating new angles of play to give more attacking options. Learn to count to four. If there are four or more defenders in front, then switch the play. Problem: "Looking to lose" - Too many players set themselves up to lose the next play by their body shape. By gluing their eyes on the ball, their body shape gets locked into looking toward their own goal or to the sidelines. Name a top class quarterback who takes a snap that way. Solution: Open up to see the ball and the opposing goal in the same view as many times as possible. The object is to be constantly thinking of scoring and going forward, always looking to expose a defensive weakness. Problem: "Help them win" play - All too often throw-ins are another word for turnovers. At lower levels of play, throw-ins and double agents abound. Over 70 percent of them go to the opposition. Solution: A throw-in is another name for a pass. Therefore, it should possess all the qualities of a pass - accuracy, weight or pace, etc. If possible, take it quickly, throw it to an unmarked player and look to get the thrower back into the play. I hope these ideas make you aware of the problem areas in your team. Identifying them is the beginning of the learning curve. Now the work begins. Editor's note: Graham Ramsay is director of coaching for the Maryland Youth Soccer Association and has coached soccer in the U.S. and abroad. He is a frequent contributor to Soccer Journal.