How to Evaluate a Soccer Player
It requires skill and insight to evaluate a soccer player on the basis of his strengths and weaknesses on the field. The idea behind evaluation is to identify strengths that would be particularly useful under certain situations and note weaknesses that need to be addressed through coaching and practice.
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Instructions
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Determine whether the player is mobile on the field. Mobility is essential to most positions in soccer in which it's required to cover a lot of ground, even when the player is not actually in control of the ball.
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Note the player's passing skills. Is he able to support another player making a pass by creating room for him? He might need to block a defender to do so. Evaluate whether he has a good sense of the passing lines. How strong is he in receiving passes? Can he anticipate and create room for himself to receive a pass?
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Evaluate the understanding of the tempo of the game. Does the player understand the action to take under a particular situation? She should have an intuitive understanding of when to block a defender, when to support a teammate by creating room and when to move forward or backward in anticipation.
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Recognize the player's aggressiveness, or lack of it. In a forward position a player must constantly push forward and apply pressure on the opponent. Note whether the player has the tendency to attack the goal to score or to pass the ball to another player.
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Study the ability of the player to quickly switch from an offensive position to a defensive one and vice versa. In the fullback position, the player is expected to do so constantly, while covering a lot of ground quickly.
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Monitor how the player is spreading out in formation. Is he able to move in formation and maintain passes between teammates?
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Check the defensive skills of the player. Is she able to intercept offensive passes? Can she block aggressive forward players? Is she able to anticipate and move into defensive position? Does she chase opponents moving into scoring positions?
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Record the consistency of the player's control. Does the player consistently gain control of the ball and move it into the opponents half, or does he lose the ball to opponents more often than not?
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Observe the tenacity and mental strength of the soccer player. Does she continue to push against a stronger team? Is she urging on her players even when lagging in scoring? These are key elements when it comes to being in the leadership role of captain.
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Tips & Warnings
Don't make a final evaluation based on what you see in one game. What you are trying to find are patterns and for patterns to emerge, you need multiple observations.
