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Items on the Subject of Soccer Fundamentals: Books
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How
to - Soccer Clearance
When hearing the
phrase "soccer
clearance", a lot of people picture a defender striking the ball
full-force
into the sky, in order to "clear" the danger and pressure off his
team's
defense and buy some seconds for reinforcements to come.
Although that's the classic
scenario for a soccer clearing, the term is not bound to it. Actually,
a
clearance is done whenever a defender insures that a ball is clear of
danger,
regardless of how he does it. He might be kicking it, but at the same
time he
might be shielding it out of play; it's still called a soccer
clearance.
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So is there really anything to
discuss about regarding soccer clearing? After all, it's a rather
primitive,
no-brain technique. Well actually, that's how we perceive it, but from
a soccer
player's point of view, clearing requires some fast thinking and
decision
making, perfect execution and in most cases, bits and pieces of other
fundamental soccer skills.
A clear example of fast decision
making is when a goalkeeper has to handle an incoming cross, but he's
unsure
whether he can hold it or not. So he chooses to clear the ball by
boxing it out
of danger, or divert it to a safe
zone.
There are countless examples out there
where a goalkeeper in the same situation chooses not to clear the ball,
but
will rather try to catch it, only to end up dropping it at the feet of
one of
the opposing team's strikers.
Perfect execution of the
clearance is also required. Whether this perfect execution refers to
defender
kicking the ball into the skies, a goalkeeper boxing the ball out of
danger or
a player protecting the ball out of play doesn't make much of a
difference.
The point is, when a player needs
to clear the ball, his team and himself are already in a tough spot,
with the
opposing team pressing them down and close to stealing the ball. Now,
unless
that kick in the sky, boxing or shielding is done perfectly, the
opposing team
will have a good chance of grabbing possession and scoring.
Soccer clearings might also have
slightly different purposes, depending on the situation they occur in.
The main
reason is safety, as explained in the above mentioned example of the
goalkeeper
boxing the ball instead of catching it.
Secondly, a clearance can be used
to cut off the opposing team's momentum. For example, when the other
team is
pressing hard and has your penalty box under a constant siege, it's
better to
clear the ball as far
away from your own goal as possible, whenever you get
possession. This interrupts their momentum and also gives your defense
a breather.
Last but not least, a clearance
can provide the base of a counter attack. If a defender has the ball
and is
under pressure, but has no safe option to pass it to, he will choose to
clear
it up front and hope that his striker teammates can maintain
possession, or
even create a scoring chance.
All in all, the soccer clearance
is not necessarily something that needs to be trained by a player.
Instead, you
should know exactly when a clearance is called and when you should try
to solve
the problem with a pass or dribble. If you're confident enough with
your ball
control and passing skills, you may never have to clear the ball,
although
certain situations are way too
risky to solve through a different method than a
clearing.
