Juego de Posicion - EN

The Spanish "Juego de Posición"

"THIS GAME CONSISTS OF GENERATING SUPERIORITIES BEHIND THE LINE THAT PRESSES YOU. EVERYTHING IS EASIER IF THE BALL OUTSIDE IS CLEAN" (JUANMA LILLO, PEP GUARDIOLA'S ASSISTANT AT MANCHESTER CITY)

Juego de Posición - Introduction

Introducion to myself, my story, the Spanish Juego de Posición, and below you will see my plan to use everything I have learned while coaching in Spain to help advance USA soccer.

What is the "Juego de Posición"?

Presentation of what is Juego de Posición

Definition: It comes from positional play, which consists of generating advantages behind the pressing lines with the intention of obtaining numerical superiority from the position of the players and in possession of the ball. A development always in relation to space and the rival.

Video: UD Torre Del Mar (3º RFEF)

See the following video showing successful breaks of pressure from the 3rd division professional team in Malaga to get a visually idea of the concept I will develop in this page.

My style of football is based on a Spanish philosophy that consists of attacking and seeking move closer to the rival´s goal through the toque, possession, association between teammates, skill, and individuality, taking into account the profiles of the players to get the most out of the team.

I want my teams to dominate the opponent with the ball, always seeking to advance the ball and the team as close to the opponent's goal so that we can close them in their half of the field. How will we do it? We will do this by breaking lines of pressure through circulations, changes in orientation, possession in superiority, and creating moments of superiorities that consist of advantages of space and time. The player who finds himself with that space and time will need to advance or drive vertically as quickly as possible, to close the distance to the rival goal. My goal as a coach is to help them take the ball and the team to the rival's goal and close them in their own field, and there they could demonstrate their skills and creativity to score goals. When we reach that area of the field, I am sure that we will generate many opportunities to score goals and it will make it easier for us to recover the ball after losing it.

The importance of Space and Time

Everything I do with my team is involved with creating a superiority of Time and Space. I am obsessed with creating Time and Space because with Time and Space, players can advance the ball closer to the rival´s goal. With Time and Space is a player has more time to pick out the correct pass, it will improve decision making, it will improve the quality of the tecnical - tactical individual actions the player with the ball will make, and most importantly IT WILL PULL RIVAL PLAYERS OUT OF THEIR BLOCK CREATING CONFUSION WITHIN THEMSELVES, SPACES, AND ADVANTAGES TO BREAK THE FINAL LINE OF DEFENSE.

How do we create Space and Time? Step 1: Create Numerical and Positional Superiorities

Allthough soccer is a game of 11x11 players, there are numerous ways to create time and space on the field but the way I will do it is by circulating the ball until we find the open man in the field. We will do this by breaking lines of pressure through circulations, changes in orientation, possession in superiority, and creating moments of superiorities that consist of advantages of space and time. I believe to create Time and Space under the bases of using the possesion as a tool is important because it allows the team to dominate with the ball which also gives our team the ability to touch the ball in any part of the field and in any moment of the field.

There 4 Steps to creating Space and Time are:

Creating Numerical and Positional Superiorities
The Break Point
Taking Advantage of the Superiority of Space
Reaching the Rival´s Goal

Creating Numberical and Positional Superiorities:

Accumulate more players in the same line as the rival with the intention of keeping circulating the ball and finding the opening man with Space and Time.

How do we create Space and Time? Step 2: The Break point

Break Point: exploitation point where a player creates positional and numerical superiodad by advancing and breaking the first line of pressure the into next line by a dribble or pass: causing a superiority in the next line of pressure.

IT WILL PULL RIVAL PLAYERS OUT OF THEIR BLOCK CREATING CONFUSION WITHIN THEMSELVES, SPACES, AND ADVANTAGES TO BREAK THE NEXT LINE OF DEFENSE.

Once we successfully have created the breakage of the first line of pressure and this superiority of space and time is creating, the player who finds himself with that space and time will need to advance or drive vertically as quickly as possible, to close the distance to the rival goal.

How do we create Space and Time? Step 3: Take advantage of the Superiority

Take Advantage of the Superiority: Decisiveness in collectve execution of temporary advantageous moment of play in which penertation into the final third must be accomplished at a high speed and with serious intentionality to score.

How do we create Space and Time? Step 4: Reaching the rival´s goal

Reaching the rival´s Goal As stated above: My goal as a coach is to help them take the ball and the team to the rival's goal and close them in their own field, and there they could demonstrate their skills and creativity to score goals. When we reach that area of the field, I am sure that we will generate many opportunities to score goals and it will make it easier for us to recover the ball after losing it.

This is the goal of everything: to create as many quality scoring opportunities as possible, to arrive at the opponent´s goal with ball and in deadly potential goal scoring zones inside or around the 18 yard box. To make exciting plays for the players playing the game, to excite the fans, and most importantly to win the game.

How do we teach this? (My secret, My Plan, My Juego de Posición)

This is the most important question of all and I have a great answer for it. I can teach this and would like to work this into the US National Teams to advance the Women´s program and then the overall soccer landscape in the U.S.

I am not claiming the ideas of Jugego de Posision as mine, they are ideas developed by many people, I only explain how I implement them based on countless hours as part of the coaching staff of a 3rd RFEF team in Malaga, Spain, my experiences as a coach in Spain and the USA, hours researching and reading books, taking UEFA courses and countless hours watching others train in Spain. My organization, process and methodology are my own and are a means where I believe I can surely change the future of women's soccer and advance the methodology of soccer in general in the US.

Why my Juego de Posición style is so important for the future of US Soccer

The most important thing about this possession style of play that needs to be understood across each level of coaching is, THE GOAL IS NOT HAVE POSSESSION OF THE BALL LONGER THAN THE RIVAL, WE ARE USING THE POSESSION AS A TOOL WITH THE OBJECTIVE TO CREATE SUPERIORITIES OF TIME AND SPACE IN ORDER TO GET TO THE RIVAL GOAL WITH HIGHER PROBABLILITY OF CHANCES WITH THE HIGHEST PROBALITY OF ENDING WITH A GOAL SCORING OPPORTUNITY.

ITS ABOUT HAVING TRUE INTENTION WHEN PLAYING WHICH INTERESTS SO MUCH AS A TACTITION, COACH, AND SOMEONE WHO TRULY BELIEVES THIS CAN HELP ADVANCE THE SOCCER PHILOSOPHY IN THE U.S.

MY EQUATION FOR SUCCESS = # TIMES WE BREAK THE FIRST LINE OF PRESSURE and END UP IN THE FINAL THIRD OR IT ENDS WITH A GOAL SCORING OPPORTUNITY. The higher times we break and end up with something worth noting the better.

There are two secrets to the Juego de Posicion

1. Posession based Player Characteristics

2. Game Day exection of Strategy using Juego de Posicion

Both are essential because one is the basis that allows the posession to take place in any moment of the game and the other is the actual execution which will lead to our goal of generating opportunities.

What I want to bring to US Soccer

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