German Soccer Tips
German soccer is not really known for its flair or panache. Nor are large numbers of German players playing anywhere outside of Germany, as there are Dutch, Brazilians and Spaniards. Yet surprisingly, Germany has won more World Cups than any country outside of Brazil and Italy. In the 2010 World Cup, the Germans took the tournament by storm and knocked out several tournament favorites, narrowly missing the final themselves.
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Develop Cardio Fitness
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Like the United States, another team not known for being particularly skillful, German players tend to be exceptionally fit. German players work as a team and the strength of that team depends on all the players having a good cardio fitness. To play soccer the way Germans do, cardiovascular fitness must be emphasized because German teams often win by running the opposing team into submission.
Develop Strength
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The German Bundesliga is a physical league at least on par with the hearty English Premiere League. Unlike players in the Spanish or Italian leagues, German players rely on strength to ward off opposing players rather than employing tricks or flashy skills to outmaneuver them. However, the strength of the average German player makes it easier for them to push off defenders on the way to goal or to crowd out attackers to spoil their shots. Developing significant upper-body strength is helpful when playing soccer in the German style.
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Cultivate Sound Basics
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To say that German players are not skilled would be patently false. They are not skilled on the level of Dutch or Spanish players, but they are still skillful. German players tend to employ a sound, crisp, basic technique. They can control the ball, they can pass the ball and they can take it where they want to on the pitch. To play in a German way means not to spend lots of time developing tricks or doing stepovers, but rather to cultivate sound, dependable passing, shooting, dribbling and defending skills.
Play as a Team
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German teams tend to do things together as a whole, and to do them well at that. It starts with the goalkeeper who is defending one moment by stopping a shot and launching a counterattack a moment later by hurling it to an open midfielder. German soccer tends to be less about individual brilliance and more about teams functioning extremely well together and being highly organized. In the German mode of playing soccer, every player must have a purpose regardless of whether they are on the ball or off the ball or in attack or defense mode.
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References
- Photo Credit bandiera germania image by Marco from Fotolia.com
