What part of my body should I control the ball with?
How close is the defender?
Can I touch the ball into open space?
Should I shoot?
Should I pass?
Should I travel with the ball?
Which trick should I use?
All of these things need to be considered within one fleeting moment. All the options calculated and computed before a decision can be reached. Make sure it is a good one.
Make sure it is the right one.
But.
What is the right decision?
Every manager coach and fan will have their own idea of what is the right decision. Whether to play a simple pass, cross to the near post or far post, give the ball to someone better than you. Many will have our own experiences. I can recall going to a Chelsea game in the mid 90s and the fans howling for his team mates not to pass to Furlong. A friend often recalls a Freddie Kanoute goal for Spurs.
The description of the moment is him shouting “What are you shooting from there for?” Swiftly followed by the ball whistling into the net. A moment of stunned silence, then a roar.
When Jermaine Pennant headed the ball down to Peter Crouch against Manchester City I am sure the coaches in the crowd and sat at home had a barrage of instructions. Crouch is in a slightly wide position, with good support in front and to the side. If he just pulls the ball down he could play the ball into his team mate inside the penalty area. Or turn and lay the ball across to his team mate who is moving towards the D. Instead Crouch flicks the ball up and hits a waist high volley over the goal keeper. It is doubtful many of the onlooking coaches would have had that particular play in mind.
Marco van Basten provides a more famous example in the 1988 European Championship Final. The image tells us all we need. He is only a yard or two inside the penalty area when the ball is looped across by Arnold Muhren. In the penalty area we also have Ruud Gullit, who may be marked by two defenders but is an exceptional header of the ball. Near the penalty spot is an unmarked attacker. So van Basten must decide to cross the ball or cut it back. His decision is to score a remarkable volley into the far corner.
It is not just volleys. In the above image Cristiano Ronaldo has just received the ball, with his first touch popping the ball out of his feet. He is closer to the centre circle than the D. Ronaldo being the powerful, fast runner with the ball that we all admire is surely going to drive at the defence. From 40 yards he fires a strike at goal that wins the game and that year’s Puskas Award for most beautiful goal.
When Zlatan controls the ball here there are six defenders plus the goalkeeper (out of shot) between him and the goal. There is a seemingly obvious pass into his team mate on the right hand corner of the area. An easy decision. Zlatan takes on the defenders.
He progresses to the edge of the area where a sharp turn creates a little space but there are still four defenders and the goalkeeper between Zlatan and scoring. Maybe a pass to the team mate? Maybe a left foot curler? He continues to take defenders on.
Eventually wriggling into this position well inside the area. Shoot! You can imagine everyone screaming. Still he doesn’t, performing one more twist, creating more space and then stroking the ball home. Zlatan defied every “obvious” decision, right up until the last moment.
Even the coaches on the pitch will disagree with a players’ decision. Xabi Alonso famously scored from inside his own half against Luton in the FA Cup. The position of the goalkeeper shows that the decision was not an unreasonable one, especially when you consider the score and the time remaining. Yet Steven Gerrard is well placed to receive a pass and run in on goal.
After Alonso shoots Gerrard turns and berates Alonso for not passing. A split second later that turns into applause as the ball trickles in to the empty net.
Were any of these decisions incorrect?
Would the answer be the same had the ball not ended up in the back of the net?
There are hundreds of other examples of players shooting when observers would have screamed for the pass. Or dribbling instead. How many wonderful Messi or Maradona goals would we have been deprived of had they made a safe choice? How many Gerrard strikes would we not have? Would David Beckham have had a different career if he had decided against shooting from halfway?
There will always be a percentage decision. A simple decision. A logical and obvious decision. A safe decision.
Some players do not like to play safe. Some players will take that risk because it is that risk that might win the game. A risk that might give them a moment in time that people will remember forever.
How can immortality be a wrong decision?
Kanoute vs Everton –
Crouch vs Man City
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCGjEOnVw94
van Basten vs USSR
Ronaldo vs Porto
Zlatan vs NAC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz5VL3mcso4
Alonso vs Luton