Futsal E-Book

Michael Skubala

• Herausgeber: The Crowood Press
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Serie: Technical Drills for Competitive Training
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 260

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

Futsal: Skills, Strategies and Session Plans is a comprehensive guide to one of the fastest growing indoor sports in the world. Credited by football superstars for its invaluable skill development, futsal is both an exciting sport in its own right and a technical tool that has propelled players such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to the top. This practical book offers expert advice and session plans, addressing how these practices not only enhance futsal performance, but also aid the development of football players. Focusing on increased time pressure, less space, multiple decisions and more touches on the ball, the wide variety of activities will provide players from grassroots to the elite level with a fun, fast and competitive challenge. Featuring over fifty session plans inspired by working with the England national team, along with contributions from some of the world's top futsal coaches, this technical guide offers a unique insight into the sport.

Leseprobe

First published in 2022 by

The Crowood Press Ltd

Ramsbury, Marlborough

Wiltshire SN8 2HR

[email protected]

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2022

© Michael Skubala & Seth Burkett 2022

All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 0 7198 4128 6

Cover design by Sergey Tsvetkov

Contributors

With thanks to key contributors: Marc Carmona; Graeme Dell; Andrew Reading; Jose Pazos ‘Pulpis’; Miguel Rodrigo; Mico Martic; Paul McGuinness; Peter Sturgess; Tiago Polido

Illustrations: Juan Tapia Owens

Dedication

For the rock in my life, Samantha, my beautiful girls Gracie Rose, Amelie Betsy and Imogen Elsie, and the rest of my loving family: thank you for all your love and support – particularly over the last few years. – MichaelSkubala

For all those coaches who worked so hard to make me better at what I do. – Seth Burkett

CONTENTS

Foreword by Jorge Braz

Preface

Introduction

1 BUILDING YOUR DNA AND GAME MODEL

2 IN POSSESSION

3 OUT OF POSSESSION

4 TRANSITIONS

5 SPECIAL PLAYS

6 SET-PLAYS

7 GOALKEEPING – ANDREW READING

Conclusion

Glossary

Acknowledgements

Index

FOREWORD

Futsal demands much from coaches. Preparation, method, rigour, discipline, organisation and creativity are essential requirements. Then there’s the knowledge that comes from practice, studies, investigations and publications. Someone who has always possessed the profile to deal with these demands is Michael Skubala.

I met Michael many years ago at the University World Cup. This was a fundamental competition for the growth and affirmation of many young players, an excellent launch pad for many of them, as well as the coaches who were present. This connection to universities informs Michael’s vision of the way forward and the steps needed to be taken towards the highest levels.

In addition to his remarkable knowledge of the game and his leadership on the field, Michael stands out for his human quality and his incessant search for knowledge. His leadership skills and competitive spirit are notorious and, in my view, he meets all the conditions to assume himself as the main face of futsal development in the English FA. He was capped dozens of times by the national team and then led the team in many occasions. This background brought him a ‘know-how’ that makes a difference at the highest level.

Singing the national anthem before an international fixture.

I praise the organisation of the following pages of this book. This work contemplates and brings together moments and experiences of those who know and understand futsal from the inside. Skubala’s ideas, which I know well – and many of which I share – are well structured in a clear way that I’m sure will enlighten lovers and scholars of the sport. In this sense, I consider this book to be a must-read. Anyone who wants to understand the dynamics of the sport has here a valuable record, where the main guidelines of training methodologies are outlined in a simple and objective way. Skubala decodes, in these pages, the magic of futsal, what we are passionate about and constantly challenges us to be better and to discover new ways to innovate and surprise. The charm of the sport is here: finding new strategies to “cheat” the opponent and reap rewards from it.

There is no doubt that this is another very valid contribution that will help toward the growth of knowledge in futsal: a book that perfectly combines the beauty of practice with the richness of theory.

Jorge Braz, Portugal 2022Two-time UEFA European Championship winner, World Cup winner and voted ‘Best coach in the world’ four times in a row by Futsal Planet

PREFACE

I’ve been involved in futsal since 2003, following my release from the football academy system. After a playing career where I gained over sixty caps for England and thirty caps for Great Britain Universities, I focused solely on coaching. Soon, an opportunity came to coach the England side, and then manage them. Together, we achieved England’s highest world ranking to date. I have now been involved in over 200 international games across football and futsal, which has not only been a great honour and learning experience, but also given me a unique insight into coach education and development.

More recently, I’ve been working with the England youth football teams. As a futsal coach now focused in a football environment, I bring the concepts and principles that I’ve learned from a futsal culture and apply them to the 11v11 game. Having the ability to look at the football game in a tactical way, as well as being able to coach ‘the games within the game’, is a powerful weapon to have when developing talent and performance tactical levels. This is where futsal coaches can bring real performance value to the football ecosystem.

I believe that with all the modern mediums and tactical analysis, coaches are rushing to 11v11 and missing crucial detail around smaller numbers. Football is obsessed with 1v1 individual technical actions that then jump straight up to 11v11. Actually, the biggest benefits to teams could come from smaller numbers, such as 4v4. This is where my twin tracking journey is unique for an English-born coach.

To give you a question as we go through this book: is it easier to create overloads in 11v11 or in futsal?

Now consider that question alongside another: how hard would it be to score in a football game that was 37v37 where the goals were smaller?

Throughout my coaching journey I’ve been fortunate enough to learn from the world’s best futsal and football coaches. Finland national team manager Mico Martic, Benfica manager Jose Pazos (‘Pulpis’), FC Barcelona coach Marc Carmona, FA National Youth Developer and former Manchester United youth coach under Sir Alex Ferguson, Paul McGuinness, and former England managers Graeme Dell and Pete Sturgess have all contributed session plans for this book and shared their knowledge along the way.

In addition to reading this book, I recommend for any coach to watch as much futsal as possible, including that of the highest level – even if you only plan to use futsal for the development of football players. The FA Coaching badges are another essential resource to build your knowledge of a game.

To start, think of futsal as a totally different sport to football while realising that the two are closely aligned. Be comfortable in the knowledge that there is plenty to learn – much of which will cross over to football. Futsal is not just another recreational format of football like five-a-side. It is so much more than that. Futsal for me is the best small-sided game for football development there is. And we’re about to find out why…

INTRODUCTION

Futsal is often credited as one of the fastest-growing indoor sports in the world. There’s a reason for that. The game is fast, furious and fun, capable of enhancing the skills of footballers and providing a pathway for players to represent their futsal club in the UEFA Champions League and their country in the FIFA World Cup. Players can expect to have hundreds of touches in a match, numerous involvements in attacking and defensive actions, more decisions and far less time and space than in football. With the reduced space available, futsal is the equivalent of a 37v37 game of football.

Futsal: fast, furious, fun, and full of emotion.

For coaches, the involvement on matchday is incomparable. With anything from forty to eighty substitutions a game, strategic timeouts and a wealth of well-worked set-pieces, the coach has far greater influence on a game of futsal than on football.

THE LAWS

For those new to the sport, futsal is a game played between two teams on a 40×20m (for senior age) indoor or hard court. Although there are up to fourteen players in a matchday squad, teams are allowed five players to be on court at any one time. Typically, this means four outfielders and one goalkeeper, although a unique ‘fly goalkeeper’ ruling allows a team to essentially play with five outfielders in a powerplay – though with the risk that they leave the goal empty. As in football, each team defends their goal and attempts to score in the opposition’s. The game is played to touchlines, with restarts coming from a goalkeeper throw, kick-in or corner. Teams have just four seconds to restart play once the ball is in position, maintaining the speed of the game and reducing time-wasting. If the ball is not back in play after four seconds, possession is turned over by the referee.

Going for goal.

Substitutions are continuous, performed in a roll-on, roll-off manner and done through an ‘entry gate’ that is next to a team’s bench. Substitutes must enter and exit through this gate, clearly marked on the court lines.

The typical markings of a futsal court.

Players will typically sub on and off multiple times during a game. Due to the sport’s high intensity, players can rarely play for longer than four minutes without requiring rest. A deep squad is therefore highly important for any coach.

To prevent persistent fouling, each team is only allowed to commit five fouls. Every foul after the fifth is punished by a 10m penalty. At half-time, the foul count for both teams resets to zero. The best teams will use their fouls as currency. Fouling an opponent if they are in a dangerous area is an effective tactic so long as it is not the sixth, and certain fouls help teams to maintain intensity against opponents.

There are sometimes misconceptions from social media clips and word of mouth that futsal is for skilful players only. While one-on-one skill is certainly useful, it is ultimately best to have intelligent players who are comfortable anywhere on the court and able to carry out set movements from specific strategies, combining in twos and threes throughout the pitch. To be successful you need to be physical, willing to use your body in intelligent ways.

Because there are fewer players in a smaller space, futsal gives players more fluidity than they’d get from football. This means that players must ultimately do everything in a game. They must defend and attack, while the enhanced fluidity also leads to a greater number of decisions.

THE COACHING FRAMEWORK

Upon first viewing, some may conclude that futsal is a complex game. Others may feel it looks completely random and without tactics. The reality is that futsal is structured in the same way as other sports but with a great ownership on players making their own decisions. These decisions must be made in the moment due to the speed of the game. Futsal is a high-level technical game, but what sets it apart at the elite standard is the high level of tactics. The real power of futsal is that it is a highly demanding decision-making game.

Players must be willing to defend and attack in futsal.

Teams can have multiple set-piece movements for keeper restarts, kick-ins, corners and free-kicks – all enhanced by the ability to block or screen opponents. They have numerous set rotations, offensive strategies, defensive strategies and formations. The coach’s job, then, is to make everything as simple as possible for the player. The coach sets the framework, then allows flexibility through player ownership. This is essential due to the fast nature of the game.

The Golden Rule

Futsal can be complex but that does not mean it needs to be complicated.

Like any invasion game, there are three stages for a futsal player during a game:

•Perception

•Decision

•Action

Perception – Decision – Action influences every movement in futsal.

Perception – What does a player see? What decisions should they make depending on the cues and triggers in any moment of the game?

Decision – What decisions do they make or intend to make depending on what they see?

Action – What do they do?

The coach must support a player in their evolution, providing them with the tools to bring about the correct decision. That decision must ultimately be down to the player; it’s impossible to tell a futsal player what to do on court due to the speed of the game. By the time you’ve opened your mouth, the moment has gone. And once that moment has gone, it’s straight onto the next action.

In futsal, the next action is always the most important so there is no time to moan at the referee or teammates, or linger on what has just happened; whether that’s a mistake or success. Players must constantly be on the move with high levels of game attention. This not only creates the accountability actions but also behaviours. If you switch off in transition you could be scored against within seconds!

Use the Tools

A player’s education is about expanding their toolbox to deal with the game’s demands, then sharpening those tools so they can progress to the highest level possible.

In that regard, one golden asset that futsal gives players is instant feedback. If you don’t press correctly as a pivot, for example, it could cost your team a goal. This is unlike the eleven-a-side game, where a number 9 in football who doesn’t press will not be as severely punished. Accountability for players in futsal in all moments of the game is huge due to the smaller numbers of players on court.

Within the whole perception-decision-action cycle, players must make decisions before they get on the ball, when they are on the ball and after they have played the ball. We must therefore not only coach players on the ball but also off it, both in possession and out of possession. Developing anticipation, decision-making and actions will enable players to react accordingly, almost instantly. This quick, effective reaction of less than one second is the difference between good players and great players. The coach has the ability to influence this hugely.

Before – During – After

Assess and coach players before they get on the ball, when they are on the ball and after they have released the ball.

Ultimately, futsal is a game of space and time and how well you exploit them. By finding and utilizing individual and group space, players will have more time on the ball which will result in better decisions and therefore better actions. The more they understand futsal, and the greater the ownership the coach gives them, the more likely success becomes.

Over the following pages, we want to show you how your players can best utilize space to their benefit and how you as a coach can increase your game understanding. In Chapter 1 we’ll help you to build your coaching DNA and game model, allowing you to understand what you’re asking of your players and why. Chapter 2 focuses on the principles of in possession play, while Chapter 3 flips the focus to out of possession. Chapter 4 focuses on transitions, which are key moments in futsal matches. From there, Chapter 5 covers special plays unique to futsal, while Chapter 6 discusses set-pieces. Finally, attention turns to one of the most important – if not the most important – positions on the court: the goalkeeper.

Kick-off imminent.

1BUILDING YOUR DNA AND GAME MODEL

Before any coach analyses their players, they must first analyse themselves. Why did you first get into coaching, and what do you want to achieve within futsal? Perhaps you’re a football coach hoping to use futsal to enhance your footballers’ game, or maybe you’re a national league futsal coach seeking to take your team to the next level. Whatever your background, there are two broad aims that drive the vast majority of coaches: development (improving players) and performance (winning games).

Of course, many coaches will want to develop their players and win games of futsal. However, knowing which of these aims you prioritize will help you to set up your side, manage your team’s identity and approach the game with specific tactics (not to say that development does not happen in performance – it just has to be balanced with other priorities). Against a superior side which presses high effectively, for example, do you choose to develop your players by encouraging them to play out from their defensive zone – even if they lose possession and concede goals – in the knowledge that it’ll improve their ability to play under pressure despite increasing the team’s chances of losing? Or, do you choose to concede possession high up the court, sit in a deep zonal defence and seek to counter-attack when possible, knowing that such tactics will reduce your players’ time on the ball and development time in general? The coach will always be balancing these aspects, and the best ones will balance them enough to challenge the players at their disposal.

What do you want from your players?

Self-analysis does not end there. Understanding your strengths and weaknesses will help you to understand the best way to work with your players, along with the ideal assistants and staff who can complement your coaching style. Even the world’s best coaches have weaknesses! Being aware of how to work with them, how to improve them, and how to make sure those weaknesses do not impact your players, is important. Once that awareness is there, action plans can be put in place to turn those weaknesses into strengths. What experiences do you need to have, for example? What tools are available to help you improve? What and where can you learn? When do you want to have improved by and how will you do so? Self-analysis is a constant, with coaching developing with experience and as new ideas come into practice.

In that regard, futsal is an excellent tool for coach development. The coach is central to everything that happens on a futsal court. While a football coach may give guidance from the sidelines during a game and is limited to pre-match and half-time for tactical input with the whole team, the futsal coach can sub players on and off whenever they like during a match to give tactical input and is also allowed to call one strategic timeout each half. Substitutions are unlimited, and coaches often choose to sub their entire team at once (known in the game as a ‘Russian four’ or ‘quartet’) to disrupt their opponents tactically, but also to give important tactical guidance to a set group of players. Each ‘four’ can have a set strategy, changing the flow of the game with each substitution. As coaches can select up to fourteen players in a matchday squad, there is scope to have a varied squad with diverse talents.

Talking tactics.

Futsal success relies on the capabilities and togetherness of the entire squad.

With just five players on court at any one time, every tactical tweak has a far greater impact than in a typical football match. Assessing these tweaks will help you to improve as a coach, enabling you to better service your players. The game gives constant and rapid feedback for players and coaches alike.

Looking at the game in minute detail and learning through trial and error allows for effective development. How should your players take advantage of 1v1s or 2v2s, for example, rather than always focusing on overloads?

Once self-analysis is engrained as coach, it’s time to also understand what you have to work with.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR PLAYERS

All futsal players are not created equal. Each player has a different journey. Each has their own personal armoury of skill, their strengths and their weaknesses. It is down to you as the coach to make the most of what you have to work with, choosing how you develop the players at your disposal and ensuring they work well together. Make their strengths the team’s strengths.

As such a tactical game, the level of experience of your players will naturally dictate the approach you take. While beginners need most work around basic technical concepts such as control, passing, moving, feinting and shooting, developing skills such as the toe-poke and the scoop pass, advanced players need to work more on high-level concepts such as pressing, blocking and 4-0 rotations. Elite players, meanwhile, must master their decision-making, mentality, game effectiveness and reaction times.

For players to develop and perform at the top level they must be competent at individual actions and tactical capabilities, paired actions and capabilities and working in threes. All these concepts and capabilities fit into any team system, which then underpin team strategy decisions. This is why futsal has been developing footballers for many decades. Rather than seeing futsal as a different sport, in countries like Brazil futsal is simply the small-sided game of choice that all players need to pass through to become competent footballers or futsal players. Indeed, it could be argued that the informal pick-up games seen in the streets of countries like Brazil more closely resemble futsal than football due to the reduced time and space, along with the use of toe-pokes, sole controls, use of the body and creation of overloads, amongst others.

This is illustrated by the futsal development pyramid, which incorporates futsal’s threshold concepts.

In the concepts, the higher the level and stage of player, the more focused training becomes on game strategies as a team, rather than an individual. Every player must come through the pyramid from the bottom up. Without the foundation levels of the pyramid, it is challenging to work on the team tactics and game strategies needed for success. However, even older players need to get better at working in pairs, threes or fours (the ‘games within the game’). Some concepts cross over between football and futsal, such as inverted full backs and three in a line – both of which are championed by innovative coaches such as Pep Guardiola.

Inverting the Pyramid

The futsal development pyramid shows why domestic structures are so important to international success.

Good players will operate well in these concepts and be adaptable to a team system or strategy.

The futsal development pyramid is key for player development in futsal and football and is a great reference point for where players are. For example, Paul McGuinness talks about the 1v1 capabilities of players using his own quadrant tool as a model for coaches to see and improve individual game qualities within the perception phase, decision phase and execution phase. This is in relation to individual capabilities such as timing, disguise, positioning, movement, technique and scanning.

The futsal development pyramid.

Paul McGuinness’s quadrant tool can be used to showcase individual capabilities that create space and opportunities for players.

Of course, understanding your players does not just relate to their on-court performance. Understanding them from social, technical, physical and psychological aspects is equally as important.

Dominating Dualities

Timing, disguise, positioning, movement, technique and scanning are not just individual capabilities. They should be done with and without the ball, and should be connected to other players – either in dualities, threes or fours. Any player can improve this part of their game – either in recognition or perception of the situation. These ‘games within the game’ should be a staple part of any futsal player’s diet. The more they practise with teammates, the stronger the chemistry between the two will become.

These movements – often paired – between them and others can be vertical or horizontal. Many of the combinations can be found in all systems of play in the futsal development pyramid. The better that players are at individual, paired and threes connections, the more adaptable they will be to different systems and the higher they are likely to rise up the futsal development pyramid. They will begin to understand little details about their teammates – where and how they like to receive the ball, what options to offer them, what movements do they tend to make – that enhance individual and collective performance.

Once you begin to build up an idea of the players you have to work with – in addition to your own self-analysis – it is time to build your tactical game model.

BUILDING YOUR GAME MODEL

A game model helps players and coaching staff alike understand why you as a team do what you do, who you are as a team (your identity) and how you play. These are the foundations upon which all great teams are built. If players don’t understand why they’re being asked to carry out a certain action, your game model will fundamentally break down.

There are many ways to build a game model and it can be done with or without taking the players into account. For example, you might have a game model that you take into every coaching role that you have, or you may have a model that you build depending on the players you have available. Both approaches are valid.

In the game model, similar to the one used by the England national futsal team, there are three core objectives set in possession and three core objectives set out of possession.

At the core of the game model lies Allen Wade’s original football principles of play, which can be split into five main objectives for in possession and five for out of possession. Also included in the game model are the moments of the game, phases of the game, court (or pitch) references, principles of play and sub principles of play, which will be discussed in the upcoming chapters.

There is no one correct game model and this is just one example. Some coaches and teams may prioritize other parts of the game. Remember, a game model is always based on your coaching DNA, sometimes on your players and your team and occasionally even the organisation you work for.

At the heart of any game model, however, are the principles that are the exact same principles of any invasion game. This is why a futsal game model can relate so closely to a football game model. If you are seeking to use futsal to develop football players, then it is worth placing your game models side-by-side and assessing how they can walk and talk in combination with each other.

Whatever the reason for your game model, you should always refer back to it when improving your players. The reason I designed a game model in such a way is that I believe the game not only has cycles within it, but also layers in which we need the players to understand and apply themselves. So building a game model in such a way allowed me to review the learning of the sub principles right the way back to the core of the model and invasion game principles of play. This then helped me with tactical periodization, planning and reviewing sessions and approaching games with a real laser focus and total attention-to-detail.

Michael Skubala’s game model.

MOMENTS OF THE GAME

Games are built around moments, and what players do in those moments is key. In futsal, these moments can be split into four distinct categories: in possession, out of possession, positive transition and negative transition. Set-plays and special plays represent sub-categories within the possession phases.

The game of futsal is constantly in flux, with situations quickly changing. Due to the high turnover and unique rules, teams can move between the categories rapidly. It is important to be aware of these moments so that you can plan training and matches around each one. Is there a moment in which your team is particularly strong, for example? What can you do to capitalize on each of these?

There is no special formula for which moment will occur at any time. Against a team that likes to dominate possession, you are likely to be in positive transition and out of possession for much of the game. Against a team with a keeper comfortable with the ball at their feet, special plays are likely to be more common.

The moments of the game covered in the following pages.

Each one of these moments is critical for either scoring or preventing a goal.

DEFINE THE COURT

Splitting the court into smaller sections enhances coaching points and allows players to understand high-level concepts more easily. There are a number of different ways that this can be done.

When teaching ‘how we play’, it is logical to split the court into thirds: the defending third (also known as the pressure zone), middle third (the progression zone) and the attacking third (the penetration zone). These invisible lines help players to understand concepts such as when to set up, when to press, how to move and why to execute certain strategies.

Similarly, splitting the court into four lanes can be a handy visual aid (some coaches split the court into three lanes, made up of two outer lanes and one 10m central lane, while football coaches tend to split the pitch into five lanes).

Splitting the court into three zones helps players understand what you want from them within sessions and matches.

Using four lanes within a futsal court helps your players to understand complex principles.

The futsal court’s central axis alongside core principles to ensure superiority.

Controlling the centre of the court or the axis is of incredible importance in futsal. Generally, the team that controls the centre of the court is the team that wins the game – as it is in all invasion games. To aid this understanding in players, the centre of the court can be split into two lanes: 2 and 3. This is to offset the balance of the opponents by playing slightly off centre when in possession. This forces the opponents to move their defensive structure to one side. If three of their four players are in lanes 1 and 2, it can give space to a spare attacker to go one-on-one in lane 4, for example.

These lanes also help players understand where to set up in an attack and why. It is particularly helpful when teaching players rotations – both in play and from restarts such as goalkeeper throws – and patterns of movement, allowing them to understand how to occupy and use space.

If players are in the same lane vertically, they should also refer to the lines that split the court into zones horizontally. As players improve their level of futsal, these visuals can help to empower them. Rather than telling the players what to do, coaches can ask them why they are in certain areas, how they are affecting the opposition and what their next movement should be. This detail sits behind a coach’s game model and should become second nature to the players. To achieve this effect, the coach must make the game as simple as possible to understand for their players. Making the complex simple is an incredibly powerful tool in the coaching locker and should not be underestimated. The best coaches understand this well.