Luongo - The Soccer Handbook for Players, Coaches and Parents

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication data are available

Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

ISBN-13: 978-0-7864-0159-8

1996 Albert M. Luongo. All rights reserved

On the cover: soccer player (Zoonar/Thinkstock)

No part of this book, specifically including the table of contents and index, may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

3-1 The inside-of-the-foot trap.

3-2 Heading.

3-3 Shielding immediately upon receiving the ball.

3-4 Moving with a shielded ball.

3-5 Turning with the ball.

3-6 Shielding while turning.

3-7 Shielding against the touch line.

3-8 Correct defensive posture.

3-9 The body trap.

3-10 The instep kick.

3-11 The in-swinger vs. the out-swinger kick.

3-12 The inside-of-the-foot pass.

3-13 Chest trapping.

3-14 Throw-ins.

4-1 The W-M formation.

4-2 The 4-3-3 formation.

4-3 An ideal attack.

4-4 Direct shots taken from small angles.

4-5 The wall pass against one defender.

4-6 Setting up walls.

4-7 Setting up the penalty kick.

5-1 The goalkeepers correct caught ball protection.

5-2 The goalkeepers stance.

5-3 The goalkeeper remaining stationary during a breakaway by an opposing player.

5-4 Defensive setup against a corner kick.

5-5 Punching the ball out safely.

5-6 Tipping the ball over the net.

5-7 Catching low balls.

5-8 Diving practice.

5-9 The initial positions for the punt and the final punt.

6-1 The sensitivity of touch drill.

6-2 The contact points on the feet for the jump and ball-bounce drill.

6-3 The rolling ball drill.

6-4 The specifications for the ball rebound board.

6-5 The basic trapping drill.

6-6 The line-up for the feint drill.

6-7 Once-on shots on goal drill.

6-8 The heading once-on drill lineup.

6-9 The blind cross air ball lineup.

6-10 The nonblind cross drill lineup.

6-11 The wall pass drill lineup.

6-12 The monkey-in-the-middle drill lineup.

6-13 The throw-in drill lineup.

7-1 The outside-of-the-foot kick.

7-2 The under-the-body-instep kick.

7-3 The front-volley and half-volley kicks.

7-4 The side-volley kick.

7-5 The wrong and correct cross.

7-6 The blind-cross kick.

7-7 The toe poke.

7-8 The contact point of the foot with the dropping ball trap.

7-9 Trapping high balls that are passing the player to either right or left side.

7-10 The under-the-foot trap.

7-11 The head trap.

7-12 The side-of-the-thigh trap.

7-13 The top-of-the-thigh trap.

7-14 The calf trap.

7-15 The outside-of-the-foot trap.

7-16 The dropping-ball trap.

7-17 The standing-block tackle.

7-18 The sliding tackle.

7-19 The sliding-block tackle.

7-20 The shoulder-charge tackle.

1 Dribbling the ball near the feet.

2 Shielding in action.

3 The final stages of the full-body-coordinated punt.

4 The goal kick.

5 The outside-of-the-foot kick.

Youth soccer, a major sport throughout most of the world, is now growing at a phenomenal rate in North America. This book came about from personal experiences and observations and is aimed at presenting the total scene of youth soccer. Since 1975, I have been intensely involved in soccer as a manager, player, coach and referee and in other capacities.

My coaching experience has revolved around boys and girls from seven years old to adults. From this diversified experience, I have learned that winning games and championships comes about by building teams around players who develop self-discipline, ball control skills, and a strong defense. It is vital that a good offense be centered around a solid defense.

During my coaching years, one of my main objectives was to learn as much as possible about this fascinating sport in order to increase my own knowledge of it and to pass it on to my three sons. I believe that I was successful here. All three were among the top soccer players in their high school leagues and also in Rhode Island. One became a first-team, all-state goalkeeper with a full college scholarship.

It is unfortunate that many potentially talented young players play on teams with coaches who only want immediate wins; these players never get the technical training needed for their later years when the competition gets tough. Some coaches only think about winning the next game instead of developing the players to their full potential. Ball control is the name of todays soccer game and this is how this game should be promoted.

As can be seen by watching the better teams in first class soccer, these players employ ball control. It is important that young players understand that if they wish to have a future in this sport, they too must develop ball control and self-control. Today the best teams are playing short-ball soccer. In short-ball soccer, the ball is kept on the ground most of the time. To accomplish this, short passes are made to close players who trap the ball at their feet and protect it by shielding it with their body from opponents. Long-ball soccer is becoming a game of the past. This type of soccer uses long passes to front-line attacking players. Unfortunately, these forward players seldom get sufficient control of the ball to make effective shots on goal. It is usually the opposition defense people who end up with the ball, but then they too send the ball up to their forwards, where it is again intercepted. This type of soccer often resembles a tennis match in which the spectators all look up field in one direction and then down in the other direction every few seconds. This style of soccer play is not enjoyable to watch.

This book is intended to present an overview of highly skillful modern soccer and to elaborate on most of the skills and tactics necessary to reach this end. In order for North American teams to be capable of competing anywhere, their leagues must produce players who come up to par with countries that have been continuously supplying most of todays competitive skillful players.

The interested parent should have an overview of soccer because they either chose this sport for their child or they allowed the child to choose it. The choice is an excellent one because it requires the development of stamina and the mastery of many body skills, and it can include a good gender mixture and can develop some useful leadership skills. To be excellent in soccer, self-control, much self-practice, and the desire to attain an array of skills is required. To develop leadership qualities, self-confidence is a requirement. It is incumbent on the parent to oversee the child in this activity. And if your child gets on a team whose coach is unfair, is interested only in winning, and has no true comprehension of the modern version of this sport, you should consider some alternatives discussed in Chapter 1. It is in your childs best interest to have good coaches if he is to develop into a skillful player. If this eventually does occur, it is important that the child remain objective and become a strong team player because this is a team sport that wins games through the team. This child should also be instructed to develop humility because without this quality, others will strongly resist his leadership. A good leader can demonstrate excellent technical skills, can communicate well with others, and remain humble (not meek).