Taught by a former Japan futsal national team player! How to master dribbling that lets you break through both down the line and through the middle

This time's theme is "Smart ways to hold the ball on the flank to create the time and space to make your own move."

Following on from the first part, Coach Toshi Nagashima, former Japan futsal national team player and representative of AMBER FA, had the players practice everything from first-touch technique to training for beating opponents on the dribble both down the line and inside.

In the first part, we covered techniques for creating separation from opponents with the dribble, and training for breaking through 1v1 situations.

In this second part, we introduce first-touch technique for "settling" the ball in tight spaces, and training that links dribble moves to the finish while chaining plays together in a form closer to real match situations. (Text by Tomoyuki Suzuki)

Settle the ball with the far foot and create a state where you can choose

The theme is "how to receive the ball so the opponent can't dive in." First, we focus on the first touch, raising precision through pass and control work.

The flow starts with repetition of a simple movement: run toward the cone diagonally in front, receive a pass beside the cone, control the ball and dribble.

What Coach Nagashima asked of the players was the action of stopping the ball with the far foot and touching the ball with the near foot to dribble.

"Even when you receive the ball in a tight space, the key is to settle the ball and create a state where you can choose in an instant, so that you can make your move right away," he explained, describing the aim of the training.

In addition, Coach Nagashima demonstrated a way to receive the ball in tight areas. "Settle the ball into your body, then choose whether to go down the line or inside. This is extremely important," he advised.

Bend your knees and absorb the ball

In raising the quality of ball control, what Coach Nagashima repeatedly emphasized was softness in the knees.

"If your knees are straight, you can't make a proper cushion. If you keep your knees soft, you can also get lateral width, and you can absorb the ball with your whole body," he conveyed, mixing in demonstrations.

Also, if you place the ball outside your body, you can no longer choose your next play. "By settling the ball firmly into your body, you can produce speed, and even if the opponent comes in hard, you can evade them. If you can create a situation where the opponent can't stick a leg out, then even if they charge in, you can touch the ball first and evade them," he argued, explaining that settling the ball firmly expands your options for the next action.

In the advanced version of the training, the players also worked on controlling with the far foot and then evading with the outside of the foot. Here too, Coach Nagashima emphasized the importance of body orientation.

"If you keep your body facing the goal, you can properly choose whether to go inside or down the line." If you merely take the ball out with the outside of the foot, the opponent can easily deal with it, and it won't be usable in matches, so be careful.

Always have at least two or more options

The last thing they did was training that lets players experience the sequence of receiving, settling and making a move within continuous play close to a real match.

They carried out "2v2 plus 2 vertical servers," in which the attacking direction is determined starting from the server, and the team strings passes together to keep possession.

"By playing continuously from the action of receiving the ball, to making a move, to the finish, you develop the technique and awareness to reliably beat your man even with little space and time," Coach Nagashima explained, describing the aim of the training.

What Coach Nagashima repeatedly conveyed here was the awareness to make a move and the number of options.

"I want you to always be able to choose left, right, inside or outside while facing forward. Down the line, inside, the opposite side, and if it's still not on, back. Of these four, always have at least two or more options," he argued, explaining the importance of having multiple options precisely because you are playing in a tight space.

Coach Nagashima's careful verbal explanations and brilliant demonstrations are worth seeing for yourself.

And I hope you will incorporate this into your team's practice and use it as a hint to add to your players' arsenal.

[Instructor] Toshi Nagashima / He experienced the highest level of development culture on both sides: strong clubs such as Yokogawa Musashino FC, and the strict environment of the prestigious Kagoshima Jitsugyo High School. Using the high technique and competitive strength he cultivated there as his weapons, he was active on the F.League and Japan national team stages as a professional futsal player. While fighting on as an active player, he moved toward the path of a coach, and as a school SV in the Yokohama and Kawasaki area he built his own method. In just three years he grew it to a scale of 150 members, and produced many players for J.League academies and strong clubs. "A player who is overwhelming in their own right, and at the same time draws out the power of the player next to them and can make the team win, is the one with true value, and true individual strength." To pursue this ideal of development, he founded "AMBER FA." With deep competitive theory and essential coaching that he can convey precisely because he knows different development systems, styles and cultures, including youth and high school soccer, national team activity and overseas playing experience, he leads the next generation of players to become true protagonists.