Small Sided Games

Boys Playing Football, Mole National Park © Frans Lanting/Corbis

I would argue that every kid that has played football in Ghana has played some forms of Small Sided Games (SSG). If you have played football on your neighborhood street (street football), you have played a small sided game. If you have played “Four Corners”, you have played a small sided game. If you have played “Monkey in the Middle”, you have played a small sided game. Small sided games take place on an area smaller than the standard football pitches.

If a normal game of football is 90 minutes and you have 22 players on the pitch, each player on average gets 4 minutes 5 seconds with the ball. This means that for 85 minutes 55 seconds, a player is either running, walking or sprinting or jumping. Given the limited amount of time each player has on the ball, it is important that each player makes great use of those minutes. Players cannot make great use of those minutes if they are not very comfortable with the ball.

• Small Sided Games are played in small areas and often with less than 11 players.

• Small sided games deepen the love of the game because it allows players to be in contact with the ball often.

• When players get more contact with the ball, they get more comfortable and skillful with the ball.

• When players play in limited space, it forces them to be creative with the ball. The players would have to decide on their own whether to dribble, pass, head, or lob the ball to a fellow team mate. They begin to see opportunities even if the opportunity is only there for a split second. A player might see the legs of an opponent open and within a split second execute a nutmeg or what we call “Suuliya” in Ghana.

• Small sided forces the players to move the ball quicker and more accurately to team mates. This is because spaces do not last long in small sided games.

• It teaches players to ‘press’ when they lose the ball. It teaches players to close up spaces.

• In all it is fun and intensive.

The world cup winner Zinedine Zidane once said 

“Everything I have achieved in football is due to playing in the streets with my friends.”

Ferenc Puskas (who scored 84 goals in 85 matches for Hungary and 514 goals in 529 matches in club football) said 

“I am grateful to my father for all the coaching he did not give me.”

Puskas also learned his game on the streets. 

Cristiano Ronaldo (who won the FIFA Ballon d’Or for World Best Player in 2013) acknowledged that 

“It’s all down to street football.”

Small sided games are a conscious efforts to recreate the conditions of street football but with some level of structure. The game is the best teacher and we coaches are teaching assistants.

Ghana: Time to Coach Footballers and NOT Athletes

In 2011, I pondered “why are football players trained in Brazil, Netherlands, and Spain so skillful?” “How come Ghana does not have a player as good on the ball as Xavi, Messi, Oscar, Kaka?”  It disturbed me to the point that I had to search for answers.

Take a walk to any neighborhood football park that has players training. Observe the training session. You will notice that there is a lot of jogging, sprinting, running, jumping, push-ups, sit-ups, and stretches. If you’re lucky, you will see footballers training with the ball.

I am not saying jogging, sprinting, running, jumping, push-ups, sit-ups, and stretches are not important. However, if you do them without the ball; you are not training a footballer; you are training an athlete. If you train a player to run without a ball, the player would not be able to run comfortably with the ball at his feet during the game. If a player is good at jumping but he hasn’t practiced with the ball, he might misjudge the flight of the ball and jump at the wrong time.

"A great pianist doesn't run around the piano or do push-ups with the tops of his fingers. To be great, he plays the piano. He plays all his life and being a footballer is not about running, push-ups or physical work generally. The best way to be a great footballer is to play." – Jose Mourinho

The reason why Messi is great with the ball is because he has developed a deep bond with the ball since childhood. He has practiced with the ball for over a decade. When you watch Messi play, you do see him jog, sprint, dribble, and run very comfortably with the ball. He knows when to jump to meet the ball.  If Messi had had his football development in Ghana; he would probably quit the sport because there is no joy in training without the ball. Messi would also not have his great ability because he would not have enough training on the ball.

Traditionally Brazilian players were skillful because they had little spaces to practice football. As a result, they did less physicals and more ball work. Today Brazilians play futsal. A modified game of football; it is played in smaller space so there is little room to operate. Futsal players have better ball control because they have more ball contact and because they have to utilize it more creatively. 

In the Netherlands and in Spain footballers do most of their training with the ball. They play small sided games. Coaches mark out a small portion of the pitch where the small sided games take place. Small sided games are designed to give players more touches of the ball, to handle the ball well under pressure, and to maneuver through tight situations.

Until we start coaching our players to be very comfortable with the ball; we will not produce much world class football talent.

Understanding the Ashesi Red Army 4-2-3-1 used in 2011-2012 [Part 1]

Red Army 4-2-3-1

In the 2011-2012 academic years, Red Army, one of 6 teams in Ashesi University, won all 3 trophies up for grabs; the FA Cup, the Premier League, and the Super Cup. The FA Cup and Premier League were won mainly on the 4-2-3-1 system of play.

Starting positions

In this formation, Red Army started with two center backs, two full backs, two double pivot players, 3 attacking midfielders and 1 striker. 

Red Army Normal Movements

Red Army Player Roles

Center Backs

The center backs were important to Red Army’s success. The center backs made sure Red Army played with a high block most of the time. They handled the offside trap and the fullbacks pushed forward to enable the center backs achieve this. When Red Army was attacking, one center back would push forward to act as a sweeper/holding midfielder. One center back was quick so if an opposing attacking player managed to pass through the defense line, he could recover the ball before the striker got to the penalty box or would drag the opposing attacker wide of goal, allowing the rest of the defense to quickly re-organize. Against some of the better teams in the league Red Army played with two fast center backs.

Fullbacks

I always wanted Red Army fullbacks to act like wingers to support attacking play, and to counter press or fall back when needed. This did not happen as the fullbacks did not have the stamina to implement it. In the end, the fullbacks were required to be closer infield so that they could cover the space a center back would leave behind should the center back decide to press an opponent with the ball. The fullbacks were supposed to drag attackers who passed through their zone wide or if possible reclaim the ball. If the fullback reclaimed the ball, it was the fullback’s job to launch the counter attack. A center back would cover for the full back when the full back moved to launch the counter. 

Double Pivot

The players in the double pivot protected the defense and started most of Red Army’s attacks. One of the double pivot players was a complete midfielder. The complete midfielder in the double pivot understood when to attack and when to defend. The complete midfielder protected not only the center backs but the full backs. The other double pivot player mainly protected the other center back and covered for the center back that would help a full back under pressure. Both double pivot players were very good in attacking. One preferred passing and the other preferred running with the ball at feet. This was good for us because each holding player presented a unique problem to our opponent going forward.

Attacking Midfielders & Advanced Playmaker

Red Army played two attacking midfielders and an advanced playmaker. The attacking midfielders and the advanced playmaker were encouraged not to be rigid; they were allowed to move to make triangular passing movements possible. They were allowed to switch positions but they had to inform each other before they did.

Defensively, the attacking trio was supposed to make it difficult for the opposing team’s defense to pass to their midfield. They were supposed to press the opponent in midfield. If they could not get the ball from the opponent, they were supposed to get the second ball.  They were allowed to hard tackle opponents as long as they stood on their feet. When the opponent pushed our defensive line back, the attacking midfield trio were supposed to fall back to support the pivot players and defense players.

Advanced playmaker

With Ball

The advanced playmaker (number 10) operated in the center space behind the striker. The advanced playmaker primary role is to create goal scoring chances for the attacking midfielders and the striker. The advanced playmaker is allowed to switch positions with any of the attacking midfielders.

Without Ball

Red Army’s advanced playmaker was expected to press the opposing team when Red Army did not have the ball.

With or Without Ball

When Red Army was winning a game, to stifle the opposing team, he was supposed to drop into the center of the pitch to limit space for them. Red Army kept better possession when the advanced playmaker dropped into midfield.

Attacking Midfielders

With Ball

The attacking midfielders played in the left and right spaces behind the striker. When an attacking midfielder had the ball, he was supposed to do one of the following things:

·         Pass the ball to the advanced playmaker or striker and then move forward into space for the return pass. With the return pass, the attacking midfield was expected to score in a 1v1 situation with the opposing goalkeeper.

·         Move into the penalty box; instantaneously decide whether shoot for goal or to release the ball for the striker or other attacking midfielder to score.

·         Spread the play to stretch the opponent defense.

Without Ball

When an attacking midfielder loses the ball to an opposing full back or winger loses the ball, the attacking midfielder is to immediately recover the ball. A defensive midfielder normally would move to stop the attacker, when this happens, the attacking midfielder is expected to occupy the space left by the defensive midfielder.  When the attacking midfielder loses the ball in the penalty box, the attacking midfielder was expected to break up possible counter attacks by occupying spaces the opponent would most likely pass the ball through.

With or Without the Ball

When Red Army was winning a game, the attacking midfielders were expected to drop into center midfield to reduce the space for opposing teams; when the attacking midfielders dropped into center midfield, the team kept possession better.

Striker

The striker was supposed to not only score goals but create chances for the attacking midfield trio to score goals. The striker was told to operate between the left full back and left center backs, or the right full back and the right center back.  This is because, in this league, the center backs were typically the best defenders on each team. If a striker operated between them, he could easily be marked out of the game.  The opposing fullbacks in Ashesi always stood very far (almost hugging the touchline even) from their center backs. So, when our striker operated in between a full back and center half, he would be harder to mark; mainly because he was usually left in a lot of space and both defenders did not know whose responsibility it was to track him. The center half thinks that if he moves from his position to go closer to the striker, he leaves space for the attacking midfield trio to exploit. Meanwhile, the fullback would believe his main duty was to protect against attacks from the touchline and leave the striker to the center back.

The striker was not allowed to be stationary, he was constantly supposed to either be walking or jogging. This is because it was easier for a defender to stop a striker who begins moving from a stationary position but harder when the striker is already in motion.  The striker was not supposed to stay in one zone. He was supposed to rotate between taking the space of the opposing team’s left back and left center back, and the space between the opposing team’s right center back and right back. The striker was supposed to press the opponent’s keeper to make poor goal kicks; he was supposed to press defenders into making poor passes or mistakes that Red Army could benefit from.