Lionel Messi's One-Two Passing

 Lionel Messi is the best dribbler in the world with no doubt. The ball is stuck on his foot, and he can dribble past defenders very easily. However, when there are lots of defenders, even Messi cannot dribble past them. Therefore, Messi uses simple one-two passes to get past defenders. He basically uses a moving wall to pass the ball and get it back immediately. This is really effective, but it requires extremely accurate short passes. In fact, this is a clip that shows how effective one-two passing is.



 If you watch the video you can see that Messi does not dribble at all inside the penalty box. He just uses two players to play the one-two pass and shoots when he sees the gap between the defenders. As you can see, the defenders have no chance at all. It is almost impossible to keep an eye at the player who is moving, when the ball is somewhere else. If Messi decided to dribble past everyone by himself, he would have never scored. The quality of the pass is also amazing. Since the return passes to Messi is so accurate, the defenders cannot do anything about it. If the passes were a little off target, the defenders would kick the ball away.

 If the video above was an example of Messi using his teammates who are standing still, this is a video of Messi and Iniesta actually playing the one-two passes while moving.



 Again, the passes are so accurate, and the defenders cannot do anything about it. It is just amazing how Messi and Iniesta can play the ball like that in such a tight space. Also, the way how Iniesta flicks the ball up to make a perfect scoring chance is just wonderful. As I mentioned in my last article "Xavi Hernandez's First Touch", first touch is very important to get rid of pressure. In this video, Iniesta shows not only accurate passes, but also a great first touch to give him space to shoot.

 Sometimes good dribbling skills can help you past one or two defenders, but one-two passes are the most effective way to get past 'lots' of defenders and actually break down the defence.

Xavi Hernandez's First Touch

 Modern football is all about pressure. Whenever you receive the ball, there are always defenders charging you to snatch the ball away. Therefore, first touch is extremely important in football. A bad first touch will slow down the attack or even lose possession of the ball. A good first touch will keep the momentum of the attack while keeping possession of the ball.

 First touch is one of the hardest skills to master in football. It is not just about controlling the ball, but it is also about awareness. A good first touch means that you are aware of the situation going around you and be able to move the ball a few seconds earlier than the defenders. Since football nowadays is mostly about pressure, it is important to get rid of the pressure and move to space quickly as possible. This is why the importance of first touch is getting bigger than before.

 Xavi Hernandez is the master of first touch. He can control the ball very well even in a tight situation. Xavi is not the best dribbler nor the fastest player, because he does not need to be those kind of players. Just one or two touch, and he has the free space to look for a pass (his passes are extremely accurate as well). His awareness is amazing, and it is because he always looks around before receiving the pass. Therefore, he knows what to do before receiving the ball. This is extremely important as well, because most players(amateurs) panic after receiving the ball, and just lose the ball. If you know what you are going to do, than there is no reason to panic. Therefore, practicing your first touch and awareness can also increase your confidence in a match.

 Lastly, this is a video of some great touches and skills of Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez.