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In every attacking situation that has been using long and high passes is special. Because the
long and high passes are known to be the only skill
that could dribble many
defenders with less effort and at the same time is a pass.
For example if defenders are blocking the way of the ball in this place,
a possession player in this moment is forced to kick the ball
long and high actually he dribbled all of these players.
The cues of long and high pass that a defender should read
we notice that before he
pass the ball high, he would move his body in a comfortable way to help him
to kick the ball in a certain way that he is able to send the ball
to a farther point
Through high passing. the performance of his body movement
is a cue for a defender to be
relocated as soon as possible. it is important for a defender to learn these cues
to be able to know a head
how to defend correctly. let us see the cues of high passes
you should focus with possession player's body movement
let us give a look at this pictures
1- body movement while the possession player receives the ball
2- he pushes the ball ahead of him, at the same time he is scanning visually the field
and look for options, in this moment we see that
3- the player has selected his target at the left side of the field
when he selected his target he pushed the ball ahead of him
around 50 centimeters away from his body. The shape of his body
is unpredictable.we don't know if he wants to give a pass
or dribble. but when we look at the picture
5- in this action the player's left hand
moved up and the right hand moved all the way down
be long but we don't know if it is going to be high.
and his legs are close to each other, so now he is giving multiple cues
so now must defenders react with caution.we don't know if he'll pass forward
or pass it to the right or left but his attention is to pass it
6-the player in this picture is providing cues
the movement of his hands give us a clue
that he will kick the ball long
his left foot stood near the ball, the body shape of a player who wants
to kick the ball
long and high performs like this.
his right foot touched the ball. his hand are not a cue for a long pass
now defenders should prepare themselves to take a position to close up spaces.
but the shape of his hands are only a body balance only. also his eyes
are up and looking forward
to his option.
such sight is made to look for options, his hand now changed
because he is still searching while balancing his body his feet are relaxed
the reason why this player is in such body form
because there is no pressure near by him
so now what should defenders do?
should defender move and prepare themselves or run toward man to man system
now this movement is a cue that he already have selected his target
his head now is down
and his legs are close to each other, this could be the first cue
because this cue is related to cognitive performance and motor skills which mean this movements are automatic.
His legs are close to each other in order to
generate power of kicking the ball with strength
in order for the ball to fly high and far to a point where his option resides. and this is the cue that identify
what he wants to do through the configuration of his body. his hands moved
to the left side, and this action is a sign of kicking the ball hard
one more observation is when a possession player wants to kick the ball farther
the ball is 50 centimeter away
and at the same time both feet are separated in a distance.
to generate power of kicking
look now at his left hand, his shoulders
his head and his right hand are down
these are cues but not necessarily are made for a high pass
are made clearly for a high pass, it could be a sign
of strong pass, his feet are certainly that a long pass
will occure
his left hand raised all the way up as well as his body shape curved to the left side
so these are the perfect cues that the possession player is kicking a long and high pass
if a player curved like this
like this certainly
the ball will travel higher than players body size
and these are the perfect cues for a defender to read
in order to react and beat the timing of long and high passes.
But if a defender reacted in this scenario, I believe he is going to be late
the moment of movement that a defender should take is 4 second before this action.
he should make a decision that has multiple options for him to be able
to beat the time and get into the space earlier than the ball
You can watch now and see the similarity of position players while trying to kick high pass
I want you to focus on the body only (cues)
as I said that every player tried to kick a high pass has the same reaction and body shape.
all have the same cues, so what should defenders do?
when a player tried to kick the ball, his body reaction turned into autopilot
every one tries to kick the ball would give us signals and body shape that he is going to kick high pass
also the short pass has cues
What I want to say that any possession player made his decision to pass high
is providing us with cues through his body shape and movement
Because I am speaking about defending against long and high passes; the question is
what is the meaning of timing of defense in this moment? let us go back to these three pictures
1- Possession player's ball control type
2- Possession player pushes the ball in front of him while searching for options
3- When a position player select his option he use his foot to change the ball spot, for him to be easy to kick the ball to a direction
3- When a position player select his option he use his foot to change the ball spot, for him to be easy to kick the ball to a direction
4- Is a possession player delaying the pass because his option didn't run or he was offside
5- These three cues are saying that possession player is preparing to pass a long and high pass
so let us go back, for a defender to understand and know when exactly he should react and take a correct space 5 seconds before possession player's touch the ball or when his eyes still on the ball
when the eyes of a possession player still on the ball a defender has to prepare him self to escape or run to where the ball would drop.
Example: first defender in here is trying to pressure possession player from this side. possession player notices that his friend at the right side is moving and calling for the ball.
now the long and high pass becomes dangerous when it drops behind defenders.
when a defender noticed that a possession player is trying to kick the ball long and high, and defender gets closer to the attacker, then defenders are creating huge space behind them
So, the best way to prevent such conflict, defenders should pull back few steps away from the attacker and let him run
Now if attacker player gets the pass, it is easy to pressure him and cover behind the pressuring defender.
but if the possession player give a long and high pass behind defenders, usually attackers are faster than defenders.
So pulling back from attackers is to close the space behind while leaving the attacker in front of them in a safe distance.
The same thing should happen in this side, if this attacker is in this place while this defender pressuring the ball from here, the possession player will change the direction to prevent pressure and gain more time. He will be forced to pass a long and high ball toward this space.
So passing the ball to that space has two things: first thing the defender is facing this direction, and the second thing the attacker is facing to this direction, now the speed of the attacker could be at its peek, it will be hard for the defender to spin and pick up the speed of the attacker. this way is not safe
This is why defenders should go back while watching the possession player trying to kick a long and high pass. These two central defenders should read correctly what possession player trying to do with the ball.
because now if the possession player pass the ball to this space, the space between the ball and the defender is short and he could recover quick. but the defender was here, the distance is not safe because it will be easy for the attacker to run to the ball
This is the detail of how to defend against long and high passes: to focus, read the cues perfectly and the most important a defender should move ahead of time before a possession player touches the ball.
Topic: Defending against high passes Objective: Reading the game of Raja vs Bayern Final - 2013 Contact us: contacts@arsenal-rt.com Website: www.arsenal-rt.com