【Youth Soccer】Two reasons why players can do it in practice but not in matches

Hello, this is Kazu, your instructor. Things go well in practice, but when it comes to matches, players cannot do it. I think this is something that happens very often on the field.

For example, some of you may feel the following.

• We did it in practice, but in matches they cannot do it at all
• We told them, but when it comes to matches they cannot do it
• In practice the ball circulates, but in matches the build-up does not go well

I myself have felt in the past, in the same way, "we did it in practice but they cannot do it."

In this article, I will explain the causes of the gap between practice and matches from two perspectives: "representativeness" and "mismatch of assumptions," and I will also talk about how to think about incorporating things into practice when they are not going well. I think your perspective will change when you think about practice menus, so please read to the end.

1. The common on-field situation: "we practiced but they cannot do it"

They can do it in practice, but they cannot do it in matches. What kind of scenes do you have on your field?

It may be an individual play, or it may be that the build-up does not go well. We did this kind of practice, but it does not go well. This is, so to speak, a common occurrence on the field, and I was the same in the past.

2. The cause is often in the structure of the training

Even if you put together a very detailed practice menu and do it exactly as planned, there are times when it does not go well. On the other hand, you can also see it as a problem in the structure of the training itself.

In this article, I will deal with the latter. These are the causes that soccer coaches from beginners to intermediate level tend to fall into: it goes well in practice, but in matches they cannot do it. Broadly divided, I think there are two: "representativeness" and "mismatch of assumptions."

1. Representativeness means how close it is to a match

First, what is common is the problem of representativeness. The term representativeness is an expression used in the ecological approach and so on.

Simply put, it means how close to a soccer match itself the state of the practice is. If the image of practice and the image of a match are far apart, then even if they can do it in practice, they cannot do it in matches.

2. A cross with no opponent, and a cross with an opponent

For example, let us think about training for shooting from a cross. I think this is something that is also done with older junior players and junior high school students.

When practicing shooting from a cross with no opponent, and when finishing a cross in a match with an opponent. The view that the players see from their perspective is completely different. Even within the ecological approach, it is said that these two are on completely different dimensions.

With no opponent, shooting from a cross goes in. But in a match, the cross goes up, but they cannot get to the shot. That is because they are practicing in a state where there is no goalkeeper, no defender, and no pressure on the player delivering the cross.

In a match, pressure is applied, and accuracy drops. I think one major cause is that they are training in a state without reality.

If you actually want to score from a cross, then for example, like a shooting game with 5 versus 5 plus free players on both sides, you need training in a state where crosses keep coming in and there are opponents.

3. Practicing without opponents is not necessarily bad

However, doing cross practice without opponents is not a bad thing. This gets a little deep, but there are also cases where you do not necessarily want to bring out in a match exactly what you do in practice.

When I do shooting from a cross without opponents, it is when the team does not have the awareness to deliver crosses in the first place. I do it as technique training, and as awareness building. Much of shadow training is also that kind of image building.

It is not that they will score because of it, but the aim is for them to first have the image.

Drill training also involves repetition without opponents, and there is a part where it presents how to use a technique.

However, whether it is technique-based or shadow-based, training without opponents ends up being only a closed skill. If the use is to deliberately share the image now, and whether they can score is the next stage, then I think there is no problem.

4. In possession with no direction, one-twos are easier to complete

Another one is, for example, when you want to practice a combination to break down the opponent with one-twos or passing work. In a possession format like 5 versus 5 plus 1 free player, there are times when you do training with no direction.

Possession with no direction is a very hard form for the defense to defend. Because there is no direction to defend. Conversely, for the attack, they can attack either way, so one-twos and so on also become easier to complete.

But as soon as direction is set, there is an aspect where defending becomes advantageous. Combinations like one-twos and lay-offs (in Spain I think it is called descarga) are difficult plays precisely because there is direction. Having direction is also one aspect of representativeness, I think.

5. One-on-one with two goals, and dribbling in a match

The same thing happens in 1v1 dribbling. For example, suppose you set up two goals, one diagonally forward to the right and one diagonally forward to the left, and run a 1v1 where the player can dribble toward either one. The aim is not so much beating-your-man dribbling (regates) as developing the 1v1 technique of carrying the ball into whichever space is open.

But once it's a game, the child moves toward the goal, so they can't dribble that way. I myself used to feel that the image in games and the image in practice weren't linked. You head toward the goal, there are opponents, there's a direction.

This is soccer's typical appearance, and when that is missing, you get a situation where a player can do it in practice but can't do it in a game.

① In possession with a numerical advantage, of course the ball circulates

The second issue is the problem of mismatched assumptions. I think this often happens in build-up play.

For example, a progression-oriented possession drill of 4v4 plus 3 free players.

It's a training exercise where you carry the ball vertically from server to server and then turn back, and when the ball is won, attack and defense switch and you do the same thing. The free player in the middle enters between the lines and receives, creating a numerical advantage, so in practice you can progress the ball.

But that's only natural. Because there's a numerical advantage, the ball is circulating.

② In a game, the opponent comes with a high press

This is something I often fell into in the past. I thought the ball would circulate because it did in practice, but once it was a game, the opponent pressed high with everyone and it became almost man-to-man. There was no moment where a numerical advantage could even be created in the first place.

Especially in 8-a-side, there's no space left at all.

The goalkeeper will be free, so the center backs will be free, so we can build up. If that's what you're thinking and then pressing comes all the way to the goalkeeper, you're in trouble. This is the problem of premises and assumptions being mismatched.

③ The structure of the training is encouraging success

You can't say that because you do a 4v2 rondo, the ball will circulate in a game too. That's because in this kind of training, the structure itself encourages success.

When the structure of the training is set up in a way that draws out good play and solutions, a gap between game and practice easily arises. So what should you do? Even in possession, I think it's very important to ask whether you can ultimately do it with equal numbers.

① Start from a state where you can't create a numerical advantage

From here on, this is talk I think will be a hint for those coaching juniors. I believe it's better to practice what to do when things aren't going well.

When you want to build up, when you want to create a numerical advantage and progress the ball, the question is whether a numerical advantage can really be created. In junior 8-a-side, I think the opponent comes with a high press in most cases. At least, my region is that kind of region.

That's exactly why I think you should start from practicing how to build up in a state where the opponent presses high and you can't create a numerical advantage, where there is no passing lane and it's also narrow.

② Team building should start from finishing, not from build-up

What coaches of build-up-style teams and position-based teams often do is start training from build-up.

They start team building from the part where you connect passes well, and then once it's a game, the high press comes from the start and they get stuck. The children fall into a state where they don't even want to build up anymore.

That's exactly why I think the iron rule is to start from finishing. Starting from what doesn't go well is, I think, very important in building a team.

③ How to handle it when a mistake happens

To go one level deeper, the same applies at the level of technique. When you want to work on the first touch, what do you do when the first touch doesn't go well? With switches of play and control-oriented, too, what do you do when they don't go well?

If the control is cleanly settled, the play after that goes smoothly. But if the control bounces up, it's not, okay, we're done. It's about how you handle it when a mistake, an error, or noise occurs.

If you break things down into too many elements, like drills or shadow play, or if the structure is premised on things going well, you drift further away from the game. I think that by practicing including the times when you can't do it well, it becomes training that is closer to the game.

④ Practice that doesn't need results right now is the domain of planning

However, training doesn't go that smoothly. It's also necessary to not yet expect things to go well in games, but to build the image as a stage before that.

Doing now, toward three months from now, things that don't need immediate results. This enters the domain of planning. I think it's important to think about both the practice in front of you and the plan looking ahead.

Summary

• The reasons a player can do it in practice but not in a game are broadly two: "representativeness" and "mismatched assumptions"
• Representativeness = how close to a game the practice state is (there are opponents, there is a direction, you head toward the goal)
• Unopposed drills and shadow play are not bad. However, they become closed skills, so use them for building imagery
• Possession with a numerical advantage: the structure encourages success. In matches, the numerical advantage may not be there against the press
• If you practice from a state where things are not going well (pressing, equal numbers, when mistakes happen), it gets closer to the match
• Practice that does not need to produce results now should be considered in planning toward three months later

When you think about your practice menu, reviewing once, "How close is this to the match?" and "Are we able to anticipate what happens in the match?" will, I think, reveal the gap between practice and the match. Please try it at your own coaching sites too!