soccer & "reading" opponents

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My son has been playing soccer for 7 years. He started with a friend and was coached by the friend's dad starting at the age of 4. This bond, in addition to his dislike of change, was often the impetus for his choice to play soccer year round. He has done fairly well, and has mostly played defense as he is big and has a solid kick that can land the ball on the other side of the field. He seems to be having more difficulty lately, though, and is getting "beat" by the offense. He is frequently taller and as fast, if not faster, than these players. It appears that he is either getting caught "flat-footed" or is slow to start pursuit. It is almost as if he is having a difficult time anticipating the opponents move. Unfortunately, my son doesn't have any answers or ideas as to what is happening, but he is becoming discouraged. The coach is trying him as forward and that seems to be ok. However, I would also like to help him improve his current play if possible. As part of his Asperger's could he be having difficulty reading the player's body language and anticipating the next move? Do you have any tips or advice I could give my son or I could give his coach? Thanks!

Maybe like baseball, that even if a player is batting .300, he or she is still going to have hot streaks and cold streaks?

And maybe "softening" your vision and being aware of what way the opponent's hips are moving?

First off your son at his age needs to have fun while playing football as thats one of the best ways to improve is game.

How is the lad's passing skills? Can he header well and deal with crosses?
If your son is good with the ball in the air then playing him as a striker is perfect of him tho he might have a few issues with getting tacked in the box.

Ideally if he is partnering smaller and quicker strikers in a formation he should play just a little bit behind the smaller forwards. With him in that position (the Italians call this position Trequartista) he can take advantage of his height in the air (especially with corners and free kicks) plus feed passes to his fellow forwards that will compensative for his pace.

For the lad to succeed in playing in the hole as a support striker he'll need to work on his technical and off-the-ball skills plus creativity with both long and short passes. Also in this position its perfect of him to take long ranged shots on goal.

Thanks again.

You know, in June of 2008, I had abominal pain for several days and it seemed to localize on right side. Called up local emergency room, I know you can't give medical advice, can you just tell me what side of the body the appendix is on. And sure enough, the appendix is on the right side. I had emergency appendectomy. (although a later internist said, the appendix can be burst and fat globule enclosed for quite a while. So, as always, complicated.)

Anyway . . . while I was recovering and in the hospital, there was the European Cup 2008 on TV, and I got into it. I remember there was one play in which the German player, with a great German name, ran "a county mile" and had beat out the defender when he received the ball. So he must have been even or behind when the ball was advanced.

Defending is about keeping the player with the ball in front of you and not letting them get behind you. With that said, it sounds like your son is closing down the player too soon and not keeping his weight on the fronts of his feet. Also, as a defender you can get down on yourself if your getting beat, but every defender gets beat in every game at some point. The idea is to limit those blow byes by keeping a little distance between you and the player with the ball and wait for the player to make a move. Watch the ball. Once the player has made a move, their balance might be a little off, and their dribble may have gone a little too far allowing the defender to close down the ball and have the reaction advantage to get a piece of the ball.

Also, pay attention to which foot is more dominant in the player you're defending. Watch for habits like, a player wanting to use the outside of their right foot to beat you around the right side every time, for example. Don't run up to the ball and face up unless you have some backup, angle your body to one side or the other making the player with the ball have to decide which way to go. Playing fullback for example, you usually want to guard against the player cutting inside, and you'll see defenders on TV giving the sideline to the offensive player and then close them down trying to squeeze them on the sideline. If you're beat get on your horses and get back into position or move to the goal mouth and mark someone. Slide tackling should be a last resort not the first option. Lots of stuff, sometimes there's exceptions but keeping the weight on the front parts of the feet and watching the distance between you and the attacker are a good way to hold up the attacker and wait for some help.

Good Luck.

The Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide, 1999, page 783.
http://alturl.com/h2iay
“When you get appendicitis, the pain usually starts in the area around your navel. It becomes steadier and more severe over several hours and moves to the lower right portion of the abdomen. . . . When a woman gets appendicitis during pregnancy, the pain may be focused in the upper right side or the lower left part of the abdomen because the fetus has pushed the appendix out of its normal position. . . ”

Just showing that things can be a little bit different. (And we haven’t even really gotten to “referred pain” yet!)

And it sure helps having a doctor you can halfway talk with.