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The Details of the Beautiful Game

"Football is a simple game for smart people" -Dimitar Berbatov

By: Yi Sheng Tay

2023-10-24


What I look at when I'm evaluating footballers based on the eye test:

  1. Optimal body shape when receiving the ball/taking a first touch

    • receiving with the front foot/back foot, depending on where their opponent is
    • opening up their body to the rest of the field (e.g. taking a touch to prevent their passing options being confined to one side of the field),
    • receiving on the half-turn
    • taking their touch away from a defender and into space
  2. Unpredictability

    • disguised passing/shots with body shape
    • minimising backlift to reduce time for opponents to react (e.g. the toe poke in futsal)
  3. Positioning and awareness

    • making runs; overlapping/underlapping runs
    • dropping into space to receive the ball
    • moving into the half-spaces from the wings or staying wide to maintain width
    • dribbling without looking at the ball (with their head up)
    • knowing when to dribble/drive forward (when there's space) and when to pass
  4. Using their body to shield the ball from opponents

    • the best dribblers know how to place their body in between the ball and the defender, which is incredibly effective at compensating for disadvantages in size/height
  5. Biomechanics

    • do they move efficiently? Aesthetically-pleasing dribblers glide across the field (e.g. Messi plays very lightly on the ball of his feet)

A project by Yi Sheng Tay