No. 6--Well Played Dutch and English Soccer Games--Sparta vs. Rotterdam

by Soccer Coach Albert M. Luongo

On October 28, I watched a most interesting and enjoyable Dutch game—Sparta Rotterdam vs. PSV (Philips Sports Club). The teams were Dutch, containing international players with several from Latino countries. The broadcasting was in Spanish, but that mattered little. The teams were equally matched and skillful. Both teams played equally well with interesting attack buildups due to excellent ball control, traps that landed at the foot, thigh and chest, along with great passes—most of which were ground passes. The fouls were not excessive nor did the ball cross the sidelines too often making it an enjoyable game to watch. This is what I call a good spectator game. The score ended up with PSV 4 and Sparta 1. But only one goal was scored while the players were running. I will explain.

Four of the goals were what I consider unusual because they were all scored by direct kicks as a result of infractions: Three for PSV and one for Sparta. Only one goal, the first one, was scored by PSV in the usual manner by a pass in front of the goal and a once-on kick by one of the forwards. Discounting the goals scored by direct kicks, one could easily see that the teams played equally well. The ball control was superb by both teams. The point here is that North American players should witness games such as this to understand the difference between amateurish playing and top professional playing.

I only had one criticism and that was with the refereeing. If I didn’t know better, I would think that holding and shirt pulling were legal soccer tactics because frequently these offenses went unpunished. While this was not excessive, it occurred fairly often and only penalized probably half the time.

I have been a proponent of short ball soccer for over thirty years and generally do not watch long ball soccer. But I happened to catch part of an English soccer match, which I believe was Manchester United vs. Bolton. While the best English teams generally play a good game of long ball soccer, it is my opinion that this style of play cannot compete with short ball soccer. I believe that long ball soccer is becoming obsolete with the best professional teams in Europe and South America. Note: Long ball soccer is played with the ball headed or kicked in the air, for long distances the majority of the time. Short ball soccer is played mostly with short on the ground-controlled passes and traps. What surprised me was how well the ball was controlled with the many short passes. During this game, I did not see the usual English long ball soccer. Possibly the English are now starting to see the merits of maintaining possession longer with controlled short passing. Several years ago I can remember when the German teams switched over to short ball soccer. My books are based upon the merits of short ball soccer.

All of the above information is the author's opinion. This article in no way is meant to degrade, discredit or defame any team or person. Its sole purpose is to improve the skills of young soccer players, coaches and the game itself.