This post might come as a shock to you but I guarantee by the time you get done reading this you might be amazed. If you're a coach I fully expect you to implement this into some sort of practice drills and if you're a player I fully expect you to be far more mentally tough when you step on the soccer pitch.
This was a concept that was taught to me ever since high school but I was really reminded of this because of the tournament game I played in this past Sunday in Florida. I occasionally get asked to play with my buddies in a league that's a few hours away from my house so naturally I can't make ever game but I try and make as many as possible.
So my friends had asked me to drive up for this specific tournament semifinals game because they particularly needed me since we were going to be short-handed, or down players. It wasn't til I showed up til I realized how down we actually were.
I thought we were going to be out a few subs on the sideline. Instead we were playing with 9 people!
Did we panic? No. We did the opposite. When faced with adversity you can either run away or you can rise to the challenge and unite as a team which is exactly what we did.
I've learned that something really special can happen when a team all digs down deep together and decides that despite adversity, like being down a few men, or maybe it's playing against a team who is just far superior.
We started the game down 2 people when the whistle was blown. Our game plan was to play a more defense minded game but we knew at times our best chance to score was off a counter attack. This is where being a mentally smart player comes in. You need to know when to do this and when to hold. We'll teach you this when you become a member in the Epic Soccer Training model.
You will begin understanding how and when to attack. We finally set up some counter attacks that came up short.
But finally our right defender stole the ball and played a smart play by finding out center midfielder as an outlet. He turned and played a ball to our attacking center mid that was supporting him.
Here's where it gets good.
I was actually playing left defense for maybe the first time in 10 years. But when I saw the ball go from the right side to the the middle and I looked up the left side of the field it was wide open, so I made a break for it. In full sprint I went zipping down the line calling for the ball. It came to our left midfielder who I was trying to overlap.
Finally when he got the ball in the attacking third he had 2 guys on him. When I made a bunch of noise calling for the ball something great happened. The two defenders saw me and how wide open I was that both left the player with the ball and he just kept dribbling forward with wide open space.
Great two defenders made a mistake. Our player took a 30 yard rocket into the left side of the net and we went up 1-0 in the first half. Now here's where it gets good and where teams can make or break themselves.
Most teams sit on that lead and just pack it in. While it's important to do this it's also important to keep the other team honest and what I mean by that is you have to attack every now and again to keep them defensive minded. It doesn't mean do overlapping runs from the back but you have to attack. Sitting on your lead is one of the worst things you can do.
Why?
Because the mindset is all wrong. Keep thinking, "I'm playing to win." You don't want to think, "I'm playing not to lose." That is poor thinking and will be played out in your performance. It's a winners mentality at this point but it's a fine line between being safer with your play and just packing in the defense in hopes that the next 30 shots by the offense are missed.
The worse thing you can do as a team is go up 1-0, pack it in, then the other team eventually scores. You and your teammates will be deflated. So now when you get that advantage play smart. Possess the ball like we did. How do you expect a team to score when they don't have the ball? They won't!
So we eventually went on to play that game to perfection and pull out the 1-0 victory without feeling pressure or anxious that the other team was about to score because we played smart soccer and possession soccer.
But I want to talk about something even further. Something happens to a team psychologically when they are up a man. All the sudden you let down. You think to yourself that we're up a man so it's not going to be as hard as a challenge. And do you know who thinks like this?
EVERYBODY!
Well do you know what happens to the other team? The exact opposite. Knowing that they are playing down a man you tend to dig deeper, play harder, play smarter, understand where to be, when to go after a ball and when to just play spacing and cut off paces.
It really is amazing. So even though one team is up a man but playing relaxed like it's no big deal we "automatically" have this win, the other team is mustering up some of the greatest intensity and emotional desire to win that almost all the time this happens the underdog wins.
So the next time you're up a man, make sure you're playing as if you're down a man and vice versa. I lived by this quote and you should to: "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."
Until next time. Cheers.
-Matt Smith
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