First Principles of Good Play

 

The first principles of good play are the essential technical elements all players need before they can be a good player and play technical and intelligent football, and this process needs to start from as young an age as possible.

To get an idea of what the first principles look like at the highest level of the game then check out the following videos.

 

Shaqiri

In the first video watch how much Shaqiri moves and adjusts (as the spaces and passing lines change) before he actually gets the ball,

and when he got it watch how aware he was of his surroundings and possible options.

 

 

In the next video, watch how players 'off the ball' adjust their position to maximise

their effectiveness 'on the ball' when they receive it.

 

 

In this video watch how players constantly use footwork to change the picture and improve the position of the ball.

 

Another way to look at First principles of good play is to look at the :

The Individual Technical Cycle of Football

[This is covered in detail in Web-book #1 of the full TFT technical resource].

 

A simple depiction of the technical cycle of football can be found on this page.

 

 

 

Watch this video for more detail on the I.T.C.F

 

If the ITCF was depicted In very simple terms, it would look like this :

 

 

The Individual Technical Cycle of Football

[In words]

 

 

It starts with:-

A player having or getting a good position off the ball (before Receiving the ball)

--->

When a player receives the ball, they start the 'on the ball' phase and almost always have at least 1 touch (to both control the ball and solve a problem). It's important to note however, that a first touch is not necessarily a touch but is in fact, a moment. For this reason, when a player first receives the ball it should be called a 'First Touch' Moment as opposed to just being called a first touch.

--->

When the ball moves in the 'On the Ball' phase, it is called the Ball Moving phase. This phase can be part of the first touch moment and can occur even without a player touching the ball, or it can occur in between the first and second touch, or it can be in addition to the first touch moment entirely. There is a no limit to the amount of touches that can be taken within this phase (however the best players try to maximize their efficiency and effectiveness in this phase).

--->

At some point a player must Release the ball (That is : They must pass, shoot, cross, head etc etc)

--->

Once the ball is released, a player must think about their next Position again.

Players remain in the 'Position phase' until they once again receive the ball and the Cycle repeats and continues

----------

[An important thing to also note is that : Communication and *VAAD process [which stands for VISION - AWARENESS - ANALYSIS - DECISION]  are a constant throughout the cycle].

 

 

Great players find the best spaces

 

   

 

 

The above is all very academic. What players need is practical information, not theory.

Players who are keen to be the best they can be need to do a lot of of practice at home. Team training alone will never be enough.

 

Players need to check out the full TFT online resource for technical development to establish a framework for their development.

Below are some links you can use to help in this process.

Master the Fundamentals

Practice at Home Series 

[This section is still in construction : No videos are currently available].

 

 

Use this link to go back to System of play home page.

System of Play : Home Page