Possession is the Foundation

To create Deficits we need to have control of the ball so at its essence, the foundation of Soccer is Possession. That is, a successful player is mindful of how his next move, every next move, will impact his team's ability to maintain possession of the ball, deny it to or acquire it from his opponent. With Possession you are Creating, Attacking, Directing, Controlling, dictating to your opponent what happens next, no matter what direction the ball is actually moving. Possessing the ball and systematically moving around the field while maintaining possession will allow you to create deficits through which you can capitalize on opportunities to put the ball into your opponents net, our ultimate aim. The concept of Possession cannot be emphasized enough. No player lacking an understanding and ability to obtain and maintain possession will move forward into the upper echelons of the sport. His short-lived soccer career will be spent kicking the ball random places, and his team will only ever be responding, reacting, reaching, sliding and stabbing futilely as more advanced players work in concert around this concept.

An elite player evaluates every move to determine in advance whether it contributes to creating deficits, has no impact, or leaves his team in a worse position than he found it prior to his movement. It's important to learn and internalize the idea that there's a conceptual difference between simply having the ball and Possessing the ball. The former involves responding to the ball's proximity by randomly booting it around the field with little rhyme or reason and then responding to where it lands next. Doing so provides no continuity of possession, and virtually eliminates the possibility that anything of value will develop from one play to the next, much less keeping control of the ball. There is no plan, nothing that our teammates can anticipate, no short term goal to work toward, and as such no ability to create a worthwhile deficit. Opportunity squandered.

Alternatively Possessing the ball demonstrates our intent to work together to somewhat spontaneously conceptualize (invent), plan, communicate and execute a series of ball movements in real time while looking for deficits. Players make wise decisions to execute reasonably safe, though sometimes opportunistic (read: relatively risky), choices which maintain Possession. The longer we possess the ball, the more time is available for deficits to develop as the defense loses shape, focus or misses a tackle providing a moment that ultimately ends in an opportunity to place the ball on target.

Most of our training is based around the idea of working hard to acquire, managing and then recognizing and creating ball movements that maintain Possession, preferably with passes sent from one foot to another. Good passing provides attack and escape routes for Possession. Wisely-timed dribbling provides avenues of Attack and Escape which allows us to maintain it. Solid tackling, quick feet and solid physical conditioning all assist it. Even the goalkeeper's purpose is to obtain Possession, catching it first, and in the absence of an opportunity to acquire Possession, to thwart the value of a deficit-based opportunity by any other necessary means.