₦airaland Forum

SerVik:
If you are a student of cruyff, the most important part of your play is your ability to interpret the space-time concept.

A football pitch covers a certain area. Coaches try as much as possible to cover this area using formations, in such a way that every player has a certain space within which to operate. A coach might get his formation right but a player who doesn't get this space concept will always leave alot of space for opponents to exploit.

That is where xavi and his knowledge of space comes in. Xavi does the cruyff turn alot not because he enjoys turninoninown but because he knows that as soon as he makes that turn, he has succeeded in drawing two or three midfielders out of the space they are naturally supposed to occupy and he exploits this opening perfectly with his pin point passes.
If you watch that video I quoted, every time xavi controls the ball, he controls into space. When he dribbles, he does so to create space.

About time, this has to do with when a player arrives into space and when the ball reaches that player. It Is not enough to create space, you have to get the ball into that space at just the right time else the opponent is going to block the space. Xavi knows exactly when to release the pass. That is his time sense.

First you create space, then you get the ball into that space at the right time. That is the space-time concept in football.

forgiveness:
Even now, Ighalo is still far ahead.

TheGoodJoe:
I summarized my understanding in a nutshell of finding the Spaces. That was what Xavi was good at, finding it. Same with the likes of Scholes and Pirlo. Sometimes, before the ball reaches him, he has seen the space and with a smart quick pass, the ball is into space for his team mate to have time to cause damage.

Even in a tight situations, the player at the back is in space. Under tight press, the keeper is in Space. If the press the keeper, with the Space, he has time to pick the defensive midfielder, who is Space to build up play to the wingers in Space.

Xavi played with this idea and made sure he always got the ball to the players in Space and in tight situation, created them.

Clementoke:
This is why it is nice to av a good bench. Imagine this strange sickness hitting the 2014 WC squad before the tournament

SerVik:
I have zero doubts about xavi's understanding of the game, where I have little doubts is his ability to recognize talents.

I have seen so many xavi interviews where he called some average midfielders his heir, and how they possess 'barca DNA.'

Sure he has alot to learn, he just recently received his UEFA coaching license and I think he has been given the coaching role in his Saudi Arabian club. Let's see how it goes.

But bro, if you're going to feel that way about xavi based on what he said, how did you feel about Henry when he said he started learning how to play football under guardiola?

edi287:
Agree but I don't think he'll be a great coach. Being a great coach isn't solely about understanding the game but being able to impart that knowledge on players.
I also haven't forgiven him for saying Henry was just a physical player and lacked technical ability. Let's not forget he has bigged up a number of flops i.e Samper, etc.

Danielnino00:
Abeg what kind of sickness is it exactly ?

At first it was Omeruo and Etebo that fell sick after we played Zimbabwe under the heavy rain in Asaba.. ...

Clementoke:
This is why it is nice to av a good bench. Imagine this strange sickness hitting the 2014 WC squad before the tournament

soetanoreoluwa:
Super falcon latest!

Asisat benched

Earthquake3:
Malcolm, Dembele, Douglas Costa all have bits of Ronaldinho in them in varying degrees

ChrisKels:
Collins is OK.

onuachu has been the best attacker in training, don't know if he's gonna start though

lexyman:
this is a TACTICAL move , let her come in from the bench ....

bataderemi:
You sure? We'll see sha

iSlayer:
You get time. You can imagine a fellow comparing a non coach to Guardiola.

edi287:
Lol. But Musa can come in last 10 - 15 minutes instead.

SerVik:
You clearly do not follow Xavi. You clearly have not seen Xavi discuss football tactics.

Every barca fan is waiting patiently for the day Xavi returns to the club as a coach. Xavi's understanding of the game is up there with Pep.

Barryseal:
We won the AFCON in 014 thanks to the bench.

iSlayer:
Continue waiting patiently, at the end reality may just smack you in the face.

soetanoreoluwa:
Super falcon latest!

Asisat benched

ChrisKels:
I thought I wrote somewhere that the DRC FA is made up of f**ls?

soetanoreoluwa:
Super falcon latest!

Asisat benched

edi287:
Henry has Pep's balls deep down his throat. I was shocked when he said that. Wenger was the guy who practically made him the striker he was.
I can understand praising Pep's tactical acumen but that was just plain dick riding.

SerVik:
If you are a student of cruyff, the most important part of your play is your ability to interpret the space-time concept.

A football pitch covers a certain area. Coaches try as much as possible to cover this area using formations, in such a way that every player has a certain space within which to operate. A coach might get his formation right but a player who doesn't get this space concept will always leave alot of space for opponents to exploit.

That is where xavi and his knowledge of space comes in. Xavi does the cruyff turn alot not because he enjoys turninoninown but because he knows that as soon as he makes that turn, he has succeeded in drawing two or three midfielders out of the space they are naturally supposed to occupy and he exploits this opening perfectly with his pin point passes.
If you watch that video I quoted, every time xavi controls the ball, he controls into space. When he dribbles, he does so to create space.

About time, this has to do with when a player arrives into space and when the ball reaches that player. It Is not enough to create space, you have to get the ball into that space at just the right time else the opponent is going to block the space. Xavi knows exactly when to release the pass. That is his time sense.

First you create space, then you get the ball into that space at the right time. That is the space-time concept in football.

Earthquake3:
Can I, yes

Xavi calculates how much time it takes for a through pass to reach a player whether he will be offside or not

He also calculates how many touches he can take in a small space before he is closed down

That's why his game is so simple

comodo:
Which bench All those moving objects u dey call bench?? Our beloved Musa was even minus 1 during that Afcon.

soetanoreoluwa:
Super falcon latest!

Asisat benched

TheGoodJoe:
When a player has space, he has time to make decisions that can cause damage to the opposition. A good example is France 98, Ronald De Boer vs Carlos in the Brazil - Netherlands game. During the game, De Boer was dribbling Carlos repeatedly and giving crosses to Kluivert who kept getting closer with dangerous nods but could not score.

Mario Zagallo, coach of Brazil ordered Carlos to leave De Boer since he could not stop him and go and stop the headers of Kluivert. This tactical calculation proved a mistake because when De Boer got the ball, he had the Space, which in turn gave him time to pick an accurate cross and Kluivert buried the header in the goal in between Carlos legs.

The concept is spending time looking for players who are not marked, free. These players will have the time to cause problems to the opposition.

As Xavi plays, he looks for players who are free whether defence or attack, full back and midfielders. With time, the team gets to create deadly chances to score.