16th Mar 2010

Style: Air ball vs ground

  • My team has a tendency to try and play many long balls in the air. Essentially they play like Englishmen, which is also the dominant style of play in the US.
    I rarely ever play balls in the air. I prefer the style of short, controlled passes on the ground. Even when I play a long ball i just try to strike it hard on the ground or just barely in the air so the ball touches back down where my team mate can control it easily. I find this to be so much more effective because it is much easier to control and continue the attack. These passes also maintain possession much better and have a much higher completion ratio. My intended target can almost always get a touch on the ball when I play him a pass.

    Why do other players like the play the long ball so much? Is it just a lack of skill and vision?


  • lets face it, not everyone can cross the ball like becks. Plus, short passes give the team a better chance to keep possession. Let me ask you a question. Do the best teams in the world play the long ball game? no, italian and spanish sides tend to build up their attacks on passes. It's mostly only the english teams that play the long ball game and thats why their sucess in europe is limited except for man u, because they change their style according to their opponent

    The best teams adopt their tactics to the specific situation, changing throughout the game. They all play some long ball and some short passing. Balance and surprise.


  • long balls are good, if u do them right... which im guessing that ur teammates cant... it takes alot of skill to chip a high ball, or get a long hard pass over a defense and to your teammate.. tell them to practice! and i agree with delci: mix up the style of passes u use, variety is best

    Longballs are good if your forwards are fast.


  • Damn, I had a big ol post written up and I thought I posted it, but I must have closed the window :(


  • I don't think you're giving long passes enough credit. I think it can show more skill and vision to fire a 40 yard long pass for a teammate the way Gerrard and Beckham do. You seem to be of the opinion that any long pass in the air is automatically just aimlessly hoofing the ball forward with no objective.

    I tend to play quite a lot of balls in the air because my long passing is one of the best parts of my game. I can pick out players all over the pitch and pick out strikers' runs through the defence.

    Long passes over the top can devastate a defense. However, it takes more skill to make this play. If your teams try's a lot to long passes which never work than maybe your team doesn't have the skill for this tactic and you need to try something else. That's were the coach should step in.


  • I don't think you're giving long passes enough credit. I think it can show more skill and vision to fire a 40 yard long pass for a teammate the way Gerrard and Beckham do. You seem to be of the opinion that any long pass in the air is automatically just aimlessly hoofing the ball forward with no objective.

    I tend to play quite a lot of balls in the air because my long passing is one of the best parts of my game. I can pick out players all over the pitch and pick out strikers' runs through the defence.


  • long ball, cause at least i can play striker in that system. i'm stuck in defense when it's a ground game system. :cool: :(


  • it's not so much that long balls are bad, it's just that certain long balls are BAD. Long balls with no angle are pretty much hopeless because (i.e. right sided Defender plays to right sided striker) the play is concentrated on the right side, hence there is lots of odd man situations that favor the defence.


    however if you can EFFECTIVELY play a long diagonal, your in bigtime business.
    -if ball is played in front of the attacker, he can hold the ball up 1 v 1 with the defender.
    -if the ball is over hit the striker can spin out and pass his defender for a breakaway, or perhaps take the ball down the wing.

    Long-diagonals are extremely effective when played well because it's rarely expected (for the most part), and it isolates strikers in a 1 v 1 situation rather then a 3 v 1 (1 being the striker). Also, if you lose the ball, either the midfield can deal with it, or it goes out for a corner/throw in.

    sorry for the long post


  • the long ball game is the equivalent of the hail mary play in football. There's a 1/100 chance that it will result in a goal. It works good if your forwards are fast but still. It puts the forwards at a big disadvantage. All the defenders have to do is run into it and head it away since they are facing it. Strikers have to look around, look for teammates, and try to head the ball in the path of a teammate which is difficult to do. Therefore, when the ball is played on the ground and the attack is built up with a long series of passes, your team will have more success since the balls are easier for the forwards to handle.


  • long balls are good, if u do them right... which im guessing that ur teammates cant... it takes alot of skill to chip a high ball, or get a long hard pass over a defense and to your teammate.. tell them to practice! and i agree with delci: mix up the style of passes u use, variety is best


  • I respectfully disagree with oyu

    -Beckham is a great example of long ball at it's greatest and surely he doesn't only produce a goal 1 in every 100 ball he plays
    -Long ball can't be played by teams without quality who don't have the technical ability to hit a good 50 yard diagonal long ball
    -it's not like teams that play the long ball don't have thier forwards practice how to deal with long balls, and practice how to deliever a quality long ball.
    -like i said before best ways to hit a long ball are
    1. long - have striker run past the defender
    2. short - striker get strong to hold it up
    3. head height - flcik on

    The quality long ball will ALWAYS be faster then a series of short 10 yard passes. Not to mention you will be able to capitalize on numerical advantages (or at least better chances) for the attacker. Instead of playing 8 v 6 and have the defense shift to your every ball, you can play 1 v 1 on the opposite side of the pitch etc.

    people say long ball is what teams with no skill play, although it's true anybody can play it, not everybody can play it effectively.
    lets face it, not everyone can cross the ball like becks. Plus, short passes give the team a better chance to keep possession. Let me ask you a question. Do the best teams in the world play the long ball game? no, italian and spanish sides tend to build up their attacks on passes. It's mostly only the english teams that play the long ball game and thats why their sucess in europe is limited except for man u, because they change their style according to their opponent


  • Long balls are good if theyre used well, my particular speciality is playing it long from right back to the top left corner, quite low and teasing if your player expects this and is already on his bike, the height of the ball teases the centre backs into trying to get a head on it and if played right they miss. Therefore you have the advantage of already being in motion and about 5-10 yards infront.

    I agree though long balls are over used because players see Beckham and Gerrard using these and try to imitate at every opportunity, using them rarely and having a lot of variety is far more effective.


  • the long ball game is the equivalent of the hail mary play in football. There's a 1/100 chance that it will result in a goal. It works good if your forwards are fast but still. It puts the forwards at a big disadvantage. All the defenders have to do is run into it and head it away since they are facing it. Strikers have to look around, look for teammates, and try to head the ball in the path of a teammate which is difficult to do. Therefore, when the ball is played on the ground and the attack is built up with a long series of passes, your team will have more success since the balls are easier for the forwards to handle.
    I respectfully disagree with oyu

    -Beckham is a great example of long ball at it's greatest and surely he doesn't only produce a goal 1 in every 100 ball he plays
    -Long ball can't be played by teams without quality who don't have the technical ability to hit a good 50 yard diagonal long ball
    -it's not like teams that play the long ball don't have thier forwards practice how to deal with long balls, and practice how to deliever a quality long ball.
    -like i said before best ways to hit a long ball are
    1. long - have striker run past the defender
    2. short - striker get strong to hold it up
    3. head height - flcik on

    The quality long ball will ALWAYS be faster then a series of short 10 yard passes. Not to mention you will be able to capitalize on numerical advantages (or at least better chances) for the attacker. Instead of playing 8 v 6 and have the defense shift to your every ball, you can play 1 v 1 on the opposite side of the pitch etc.

    people say long ball is what teams with no skill play, although it's true anybody can play it, not everybody can play it effectively.


  • Arsenal don't play long ball and they suck in Europe.


  • I understand that a long ball and other balls played in the air can be effective, but I think they are overused. Part of the problem I suspect is that my team does not have enough speed to get onto a ball over the top and run with it.

    When the other team is in position and my team plays a long balls out of the back it seems like a it is anxiousness or inconfidence. A counterattack on the other hand is a very good time to use a long ball, but my team won't really distinguish.

    Another example is that my team almost always just plays a cross in the air from the corner. Sometimes it is better to bring it back and lay it off for a shot or work the ball around the box on the ground and try to make an opportunity that way. My team is poor at getting the ball into the box on the ground. Almost all our goals come off mishandled long shots or crosses.


  • Another example is that my team almost always just plays a cross in the air from the corner. Sometimes it is better to bring it back and lay it off for a shot or work the ball around the box on the ground and try to make an opportunity that way. My team is poor at getting the ball into the box on the ground. Almost all our goals come off mishandled long shots or crosses.

    It sounds to me you want to create the perfect goal everytime by making a move with short passes and literally walk it into the goal. You say almost all your goals come off mishandled long shots or corners - that to me means you need to be making plenty of those, force the errors. Simple football can be the most effective. Just getting tall players into the box and sending a big corner in is so much easier than passing the ball round the whole team and relying on a good finish.

    I'd say yes, by all means try and play it on the ground if at all possible but there are times that need long balls and don't confuse them for a lack of skill.

    One thing that annoys me is when people say (after I've hit a long pass) "Oh, give it to feet" or "Don't do long balls". If they had called for the ball I would have given it to them. If there is noone making a run towards me or calling for it, I take it into my own hands and make a long pass or ball through - and therefore get pissed off when people thing it's just me being nervous or lacking skill - it's because nobody is making the short ball easy for me.


  • Longballs are good if your forwards are fast.
    if you have strikers who have a great ability to control balls pinged into them and can hold them up for overlapping mids etc







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