I mainly play as a right midfielder/ right-winger. It's my most comfortable position. The problem is, my head coach hates "flair". I don't want to sound arrogant but I know I can beat defenders one on one. I've become over-reliant on scissors and step-overs. I'm just not confident enough to do them in-game, maybe because my coach loathes yet his assistant coach knows it's my area of strength. Are there any other dribbling techniques to get past defenders/ get out of trouble?
This is difficult to advise on without seeing you play. So I have to make assumptions. Please excuse me if I guess wrong. Technique is a tool. Tools are what you use to solve problems. Generally you want to use the simplest solution to a problem. So I am guessing is what your head coach actually wants is for the team to play simple when simple will work. A winger is not supposed to be looking to "get out of trouble." He is supposed to be creating trouble where ever he goes. What makes a winger hard to mark (compared to a striker) is that the winger is usually running full speed at the fullback (while the striker is usually standing with his back at least partially to the goal and centerback). Speed is your ally in getting into a dangerous position. You cannot sprint and perform a stepover or scissor. You can sprint and do an inside cut or outside cut. Add to that the cut moves propel the ball along, while the ball is not touched during a stepover or scissor. So which are the more valuable techniques to a winger? Now once you are in a dangerous position, other techniques can help you create space to pass or shoot. Typically you will see the most fakes from a winger when he has run out of room on the flank and needs to create space to make the cross past the fullback. No one beats a player with a stepover or a scissor. They beat the player with the cut that comes after the fake. The classic winger move is the Cruyff turn where you fake a cross by stepping past the ball and then turn inside taking the ball with you. I can't see your coach getting upset about a well executed Cruyff turn. So imo its not a matter of good moves versus bad moves, but rather selecting the right move to solve a problem. Did you know most players are effective with as little as 3 moves?
That's right three moves to beat players is enough. Plus change directions on the back. Have a pull back and a move to reverse your field with out a team mates help like the Cruyff. Face side ways on the flank. From that position you can go forward, you can go back and you can go inside the field.
agreeing with ranova. what your coach hates is fancy stuff that does no good. the main idea is to score goals. it doesn't matter what move you throw. if the move doesn't lead to a good goal scoring opportunity, it's pointless.
I agree with your coach. Unless you are so confident in your dribbling and your crossing that you can beat the full back with ease and your cross reaches a teammate most of the time, instead of conceding possession, then in my opinion, simple pass and move style football is always best, as long as you and your teammates are creative with your movement.
Go spend some time on the left (side and foot). Even if it's just in training! Your age and level aren't mentioned, but the best wingers at the highest levels play to the wrong side. There's really nothing I love more than watching wingers cut in and make chances. Think Arjen Robben or Cristiano! Spend a little time crossing with your left. Learning it is do-able, and will really bring your stock up. You'll have to spend large amounts of time to really bring it up to your right, but make it serviceable. Even from the right- having an inside cut to a usable left foot will create interesting angles and keep defenders honest.
Until you can learn to cross with the weak foot show the defender some of the ball then move away from him away from goal and let him follow you away from the goall. Do a 360 then you can use your good foot on your weak side from their you can pass, you can shoot and you can cross the ball. Some times if your having a hard time beating your back on one side of the field you move across the field and try beating a weaker back on the other side of the field. You can also play with two wingers on one side of the field and work with the other wing so between the two of you one can make that nice calm cross, and put the ball right on a team mates head to score a beautiful goal.
I agree with the other posts here. Scissors and stepovers aren't particularly useful on the flanks anyway if you're trying to go north south. The "threat" of the scissors is that you're going to go left or right, but if the touch line is close enough then the threat isn't that great. On the flanks, I think changes of direction (like Cruyffs, inside cut, outside cut ) and stop-start moves (high wave, locomotion, hip-swivel, 180s, etc) much more effective. Also the moves are great but 1v1 for penetration is about "shutting the door" (stepping in front of the defender once you're past him) and accelerating away as well.
Best winger I have ever seen play against me played us last year and he destroyed our defence. A number of things stood out. Himself and the his left back were in perfect syn. I remember thinking these guys are good from the first kick. He was fast, had great technique but didnt perform many skills on the day. What he had, which is something that is fading away but should be taught more and more. Old fashion wing play, slow the defender down and then boom, of like a rocket leaving the defender for dust. If he played in the left back, he would collect the ball out wide and take of inside, our defender would stand him up and then a quick slip pass down the outside to his over lapping left back. Our right back was so busy watching his feet, he never even seen the left back out wide and he didnt get any cover from anyone else. Now he only played in the left back 2 or 3 times. Other times he would use him as a dummy run and other times the left back never made it up. But it left our defence second guessing for 90 mins and it only takes it to come of a few times in a game to cause some damage. He never ball watched, they constantly switched the play. If they attacked down the right and didnt see an obvious pass, they didnt force the play, within a couple of passes they switched the play to the other wing. Both right and left sides knew this and kept their positions hugging the touchlines when in possession. Because they were always aware of their position, when recieving the ball they were always one step ahead giving them room to out think our defence.
The most important attributes for a winger is speed, control and passing with a strong emphasis on crossing. With speed, defenders will more often than not be in pursuit. Great control on the ball will keep defenders off balanced to the point where you can cross into the box for scoring chances. I totally agree with the previous posters that keeping it simple with inside/outside cuts and Cruyff turns would be most effective, if you must, the C. Ronald chop or (i think its called)the reverse step-over, which is a personal favorite and very deadly move when executed properly.
based on my experience, winger and wing back need speed and no others i think we should just ignore techniques, because in amateur football, skills are usually nearly non-existence. i believe we should just be very quick, just quick, and use this advantage in many off the ball strategies, chase the ball
This is the best advice. One of the best wingers in history, Stanley Matthews, was virtually unstoppable even though every defender who faced him knew he had exactly one move. Although I usually play as a target forward now, I used to be a winger when I was younger. I've never been especially fast, but change of speed often matters a lot more than pure speed. Case in point: Stanley Matthews was still an effective winger at the highest levels into his 50s, long after he had lost his speed. The vast majority of 1v1 dribbling I did involved exactly two moves: the Matthews in-out cut and the Cruyff turn. Otherwise, it was mostly simple cuts. Occasionally, if the situation called for it, I'd cut inside and pull a Ronaldinho 360 toward the outside. That's literally the only "circus trick" that I've ever found even remotely useful in game situations, and it worked mainly because I used it for the purpose of putting my body between the defender and the ball. To recap: think change of speed and direction rather than dribbling moves, use your body to shield the ball as you pull away.
