Dribbling

[Frozen Horse]

Traore wasn't particularly fancy when in full flight; he didn't need to be. What he did have was a good range of tricks for getting up an running. That was his style; slow his man down, then trick his way past him, and use his acceleration.

you always have some little scamp who will dribble past his man, then turn and beat him again ... because he can.

if the kid's just playing for fun, there's no harm in that. I think the assumption is often that dribbling is hard, and that "skill" is therefore equated to dribbling. But for some, as you suggest, it's just their natural way of playing. I've played with kids (and men) who do that too, but weren't actually that good at passing, crossing or anything else. They were good at dribbling; they weren't definitively more skillful. I suspect some dribble to hide their lack of other skills.

 

[Pembroke]

Not by a long chalk, there's only really Pep who bans dribbling, most other teams have at least one decent dribbler to get you off your seat.

Grealish. Guardiola uses positional play where players will and do dribble. Man City make as a norm seven dribbles a game, Liverpool marginally less, Arsenal eight ..

Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't. Does it actually result in more of less goals when teams attempt more dribbles? That's what really matters.

I think we all automatically associate dribbling with attacking at speed; I certainly do. But when you actually think about it, even the fastest dribbler is slow compared to a well timed through ball. The ball is always faster is about the first thing I remember being taught about football.

In top level football its a less. There will be outliers but norms identify clear themes.

Dribbling generally does slow the game down. There are scenarios that do the opposite but multiple touches, and dribbling will not move the ball as swiftly as simple quick early, switching or penetrative passing.

 

[changingman]

If I were a coach I think I'd limit dribbling to inside the opponents penalty area. Play a passing game to get into the box then dribble/beat your man.

Nine times out of 10 you'll either get a pen or create a yard in the most dangerous part of the pitch, which others can then exploit.

Was one of my favourite aspects of Wilder's play actually - getting the wideman to the goal line, inside channel - if they get into the box from there, the scoring likelihood improves significantly.

 

[Soutra]

Dribbling generally does slow the game down. There are scenarios that do the opposite but multiple touches, and dribbling will not move the ball as swiftly as simple quick early, switching or penetrative passing.

That's true. The thing is though that a cross from the goal line is really hard to defend against, and easier to score from.

Watching Prem League football today it seems to me that most crosses are swung in across the corner of the penalty area towards the far post. To score needs a deft header, glanced to either side of the goalie. Defending crosses like that is easier - it's not so hard to get good height and distance away.

But that's the way they play these days.

 

[Corcaigh_the_Cat]

Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't. Does it actually result in more of less goals when teams attempt more dribbles? That's what really matters.

I think we all automatically associate dribbling with attacking at speed; I certainly do. But when you actually think about it, even the fastest dribbler is slow compared to a well timed through ball. The ball is always faster is about the first thing I remember being taught about football.

Dribbling and beating a man creates additional space for the through ball to happen.

 

[Pembroke]

I'd agree dribbling is fading out from the game, but I can't agree that skill=dribbling. It is one skill. Passing and crossing are skills too; heck, even tackling is a skill. Are they harder skills than dribbling? Probably not for me to say: all players can do them all to some extent, but doing them well is what we call skilful. Certainly we see a lot of poor passing and crossing, and maybe players are better off investing in these skills than dribbling.

I'm going to a sound like a forum know it all ****, but the coaching definition of skill is something you can do on demand. That is it, so a pass is a skill. Passing footballers like a Scholes, a Pirlo, Modric are highly skilled in the extreme because they have very high % completion rates across differing types of passing, using different surfaces of the foot, and feet.

Passing a ball forty metres with differing parts of the foot to feet, while taking into consideration what occurs in the game in a millisecond is a complex skill. Dribbling at a defender and doing a step over, cut, dropping a shoulder is not as complex or as hard to master.

Dribbling and crossing combines statistically two complex variables, which do not have high degrees of efficiency. Hence modern football generally sees less of these skills.

 

[wilkos_perm]

Theres this fella called Messi who’s not bad at it.
I say not bad, I mean probably the greatest dribbler of all time.

He combines it with final product though, that's the key to his success. He doesn't throw in any unnecessary touches, step overs etc.

 

[Pembroke]

That's true. The thing is though that a cross from the goal line is really hard to defend against, and easier to score from.

Watching Prem League football today it seems to me that most crosses are swung in across the corner of the penalty area towards the far post. To score needs a deft header, glanced to either side of the goalie. Defending crosses like that is easier - it's not so hard to get good height and distance away.

But that's the way they play these days.

You have identified (?) the most efficient cross, its cutting the ball back. A reason many teams prefer to work towards that opportunity via possession football and positional play versus crossing from deeper.

 

[Anton_Berg]

It's a throwback to when tackling from behind was legal and, on poor pitches, there was a narrow strip of grass on the touchline to be exploited by wingers.
Everything comes back into fashion though.

 

[festa5]

Certainly a skill valued more by fans than by coaches.

I don't think coaches have a problem with dribbling itself, but with head down, self indulgent types who are more likely to be dribblers.

The dribbler with end product, (TLF) is a rare creature.

From the number of dodgy crosses we see, I'd argue dribbling is an easier skill, but not as valuable, as the more prosaic skill off crossing.

This.

You won't get far in the pro game if you can't play with your head up. Players like TLF and Messi dribbled for a reason. They knew what they were going to do next or where they wanted to get to with the dribble to enable them to execute a pass or a shot.

Ultimately it's all about footballing intelligence. A lot of good dribblers seem to have relatively low footballing IQs, which is what's frustrating.

No denying it's a great skill to watch, but there needs to a point to it.

 

[Nano]

This.

You won't get far in the pro game if you can't play with your head up. Players like TLF and Messi dribbled for a reason. They knew what they were going to do next or where they wanted to get to with the dribble to enable them to execute a pass or a shot.

Ultimately it's all about footballing intelligence. A lot of good dribblers seem to have relatively low footballing IQs, which is what's frustrating.

No denying it's a great skill to watch, but there needs to a point to it.

I'd say that is because a lot of good dribblers (stats wise) are not good footballers, they are just fast. They aren't particularly technical and good with the ball at passing, crossing etc but they can kick a ball past a player and sprint faster than them. Those players can do quite well as a career but they rarely make it to one of the top teams. A player with high completion dribbling stats in the middle of the pitch is probably a better player than the one that does it out wide where there is no real danger of losing the ball.

Juninho was an excellent dribbler and did it in the middle of the pitch where there is less space. Similarly Messi and players like Neymar, Ronaldinho are excellent dribblers and they do it all over the pitch. The ones that are just speedy wingers with little end product might complete a lot of dribbles but they don't amount to much. Dribbling and then not being able to pass/cross is almost pointless but there are still some benefits because players that dribble a lot end up being closed down and doubled up on which leaves space elsewhere for others.

 

[Pembroke]

Traore wasn't particularly fancy when in full flight; he didn't need to be. What he did have was a good range of tricks for getting up an running. That was his style; slow his man down, then trick his way past him, and use his acceleration.



if the kid's just playing for fun, there's no harm in that. I think the assumption is often that dribbling is hard, and that "skill" is therefore equated to dribbling. But for some, as you suggest, it's just their natural way of playing. I've played with kids (and men) who do that too, but weren't actually that good at passing, crossing or anything else. They were good at dribbling; they weren't definitively more skillful. I suspect some dribble to hide their lack of other skills.

Children will naturally run with anything, they are playing. There is a point there about comprehension. Young children will dribble all the time because they do not have the comprehension skills to know differently, and make more complex decsions. Kids will think they can dribble the entire length of the pitch past six, seven players and believe it. They also think are Buzz Lightyear, Superman etc. This is natural because the parts of the brain (amygdala/pre frontal cortex) that facilitate the cognitive processes of decision making develop later.