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.

Play Simple Football. Part 3 : Dribbling & Shooting

 Most of the time in a football game, it is better for you to pass the ball rather than dribbling, because it is more effective and easier. However, there are times when you have no teammates around you, and you need to dribble past defenders by yourself. This happens frequently in front of the goal. In this case, dribbling is a good choice unless you have a really bad dribbling technique. This is why you need to have a good dribbling technique other than good control and passing. Try to use simple body feints rather than fancy skills. Body feints are the most effective and simplest way to humiliate the defender. (Read this article) However, you do need to remember that dribbling all the way up to the goal is not a good choice. You have to be able to pass or shoot at the right time.

 Control, passing, and dribbling are all important elements of football, but they cannot let you score goals. In order to score goals, you have to shoot the ball. If you have a great shooting technique like Cristiano Ronaldo (read this article about long shots), try shooting from distance. Get rid of the idea that you need to get closer to the goal in order to score goals. Never be afraid to shoot from distance, even players like Cristiano Ronaldo do not score goals every single time. Use your teammates or dribble past defenders by yourself to create space, and once you have that space to shoot the ball, do not hesitate and take that long shot. 

 Remember, always play simple football.

                                                                                           - Play Simple Football. The End.

Play Simple Football. Part 2 : Passing

 Football is not an individual sport, it is a team sport. Therefore, once you have mastered control, now you need to know how to play with your teammates. In order to use your teammates, you need to know how to pass, but first understand that not every pass needs to be a killer pass. This is the part that I made a huge mistake on. Whenever I played football, I constantly told my teammates to make runs so that I can give the killer pass to them. This might work in a 5 aside game, but in a proper 11 aside match, it does not work all the time. You need to build up the play to get closer to the goal, and it is almost impossible to completely destroy the defence with one pass unless your Xavi Hernandez. Even Xavi Hernandez does not give killer passes to his teammates every time. He tries to build up the play first, and then when he sees the opportunity, he unleashes the killer pass.

 What I mean by 'build up' play is that you do not need to go forward every time. Sometimes you need to retreat backwards and then organize your play. Make sure your teammates are in the right position, and the team is on good shape to attack again. If you understand how to pass the ball like this, your team will be able to score goals easily against teams that never retreat. Therefore, you do not always need to look for the perfect pass, just pass the easy ball to your teammate, and slowly build up the play with possession. If you get used to this play, the pressure on you to make that 'good' pass will go away from you, and you will be able to play football with more confidence and intelligence.

Play Simple Football. Part 1 : Control

 Just an year ago, playing football made me very stressful. I thought I was a decent player, but when I started to play in the league, I did not know when to dribble, pass, and shoot. It felt like as if I was betrayed by my best friend. My favourite sport and hobby turned out to be very stressful for me. So after a few months, I stopped playing in the league, and just played with my friends, trying to get rid of the pressure. While I was away from football, I asked for some advice from my friend, who was playing in the top league in Singapore. His advice was simple. "Control the ball and then pass it to your teammate." When I heard this advice, I was very confused. I did not know what he meant, so I tried to watch how professional footballers play. I focused especially on Andres Iniesta, because he is not the strongest or the fastest player, but he is considered as the best midfielder in the world. Watching him play was so fun and astonishing at the same time. His play was very intelligent, but also very simple. Just like the advice from my friend. From there, I started to understand how to play football 'properly', and realised that I was playing like a complete beginner who only knows how to dribble past defenders. After the enlightenment in my mind, I felt pretty confident to play football. 

 However, simple does not equal easy. It is never easy to control the ball and pass it at the right time. To master control, I practiced juggling everyday, which also helped me find my sweet spot to shoot the ball with power and accuracy. (read this article about juggling) After a lot of practicing, I am now able to juggle over 300 times, and I feel totally confident with the ball. Now that I almost mastered control, it makes me easier to look up and give the right pass at the right timing. Most of my friends do not know the importance of control, and never practice juggling. Therefore, they find it hard to control high balls or balls with speed. This is the reason why simple does not mean easy.

 Playing simple football is important, and the first step is to master control.