That's Soccer Talk

Asst. Director of Coaching, Tom Bialek.

Photo: Mike Racine

Sometimes you'll hear players and coaches using terminology that you may not exactly understand. Personally, about half the time I have no earthly clue what they’re talking about.  Thankfully, though, I think my daughter understands this ‘soccer talk.’

Here are a few definitions for terms you may have heard on the field or from your player, courtesy of EFC's Asst. Director of Coaching, Tom Bialek.

"Man On".  A warning that players on a team yell to each other to let a teammate know that pressure (an opposing defender) is closing in on the ball.

"Turn".  Lets a teammate know that they have time to turn with the ball and face their opponents’ goal.

"Advantage". Advantage is a decision a referee can make to NOT stop play even though a foul has been committed. The ref may allow play to continue, despite the foul, because the team with the ball has a better opportunity to advance the ball for a shot or a cross than if they are awarded a free kick.

"Ball Side". When you're on defense, if you position yourself closer to the ball than the offensive opponent in the lateral (cross) dimension of the field, you are 'ball side'.  You mark 'ball side' to defend against easy passes.

"Goal Side". When you're on defense, being 'goal side' means being closer to your own goal than the opponent you are marking.  You mark 'goal side' to defend against shots on goal.

“Ball side” and “goal side” positioning go hand in hand on defense. Generally speaking, a defender wants to be both 'goal side' and 'ball side' when playing defense. Imagine a 90 degree angle. If you are correctly positioned "goal side" and "ball side," you can see both your opponent and the ball without moving your head and your goal is behind you.

Here's where Tommy dives into real soccer talk....

Proper positioning allows the defending player to be first to any ball played in the space behind them.

Proper positioning allows for intercepting of poor horizontal passes which can lead to good opportunities in transition to offense.  Even in the case of good horizontal passes by the opponent that arrive at the marked player proper positioning still allows the defender to stop the forward progress of that player.

Proper positioning allows the defending player to help "cover" for a teammate who may have been beaten by their opponent with the ball in a 1-on-1 situation.   Furthermore, good team defense, predicated on all defending players transitioning to goal side and ball side quickly, requires the other team to execute good passes several times before they can generate a goal scoring opportunity.

"Transition".  Quick transition to offense from defense, particularly in the opponents' end of the field, leads to a majority of goal scoring opportunities in the run of play.  Quick transition to defense from offense is vital to preventing goal scoring opportunities - particularly in the defensive third of the field

"Tactics".  A fancy way of saying decision making.  Decisions about how much risk to take or how conservatively to play are always governed by which third of the field players are in.

"Defensive Third".  The third of the field closest to your own goal.  High risk with little reward for ball possession.  Mistakes when you have the ball in this area can lead to quick scoring opportunities for your opponent.  Therefore, in the defensive third of the field, close to your own goal, you play more conservatively and clear the ball out.

"Middle Third".  The midfield is where the game is generally contested. The ball should be moving with a minimum of touches to try to find gaps in the opposing team's defense to advance the ball towards the goal, or to the flanks for crosses.  Moderate risk can be taken in the midfield, because there is reward for success, and there is time to transition to defense before the opposing team can generate a goal scoring opportunity.

"Final Third".  The third of the field closest to the opponents' goal. This is where players attack and 1-on-1 ability comes into play.  More risk can be taken in this part of the field because success means a shot on goal or a cross while failure does not usually lead to a goal scoring opportunity for the other team.

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