 or talk about how you can be a better player, but how you can just make a better impact on the field, be more noticeable, and most importantly, be more involved. So even if you're not playing at your best, you're more involved in the game because too many players are hiding, they're passengers in the game. They may be involved for five, 10 minutes, but then they disappear for 20, 30 minutes. Okay, so I want you to be involved in the game at all times, because even if you're not doing well, the most important thing is that you're involved. You're taking chances, you're getting on the ball, you're helping out defensively and offensively. You're involved in the game. Okay, so the first thing I want to talk about is wanting the ball. Too many players are shy, maybe they do want the ball, but they're not doing the things necessary to get the ball. Okay, so let's say we're playing as the red team here. Okay, so if you want the ball, first of all, you have to make runs into space. You have to always be moving. You can't expect this guy to get you the ball if you're not moving, if you're standing still. So you want the ball, you have to check out. You have to make space for yourself. You have to make runs. When he's on the ball, where am I running? How am I getting open, okay? What runs do I need to make to get into space? If I'm just standing still, he has no reason to pass me the ball. Why would he pass me the ball if I'm just standing still? If you're playing as a fullback and you want the ball, okay, standing here isn't gonna get you that. Make that run into space, do something positive, show into space, make some movement, give some reason for that player to give you the ball. So number one, move into space if you want to get the ball. Second thing is when you move into space, you have to demand the ball, okay? If I'm making a run into here and I want to play it into there, do something to get that. So making the run is one thing and yes, that's gonna give you more success right away, but can I ask for it? Can I yell for it? Say yes, pass me the ball, recall his name, ask for the ball. Ask for the ball with your mouth, ask for the ball with your eyes, try to make eye contact with him, ask for the ball with your hands, try to point to where you want it or show that you want it to feed or that you want it into space, okay? So ask for the ball. Make the run to get the ball, then ask for it with your mouth, eyes, and hands, ask for it in any way possible, okay? The next thing that I want to talk about before I move on to my other point is that it's very important that you keep wanting the ball even if you make mistakes. So even if you lose the ball, okay, shake it off. Make another run next time to get it back. Keep wanting the ball. Too many players, they'll get the ball and maybe they make a bad pass or they lose possession of the ball and then for the rest of the game, they don't want the ball because their teammates are gonna yell at them if they make a mistake because they don't wanna make any mistakes, they don't wanna take any risks. You have to be willing to make mistakes and after you make mistakes, you have to be willing to shake it off and just keep asking for the ball. Keep wanting the ball, okay? You're gonna make mistakes, it's gonna happen. You're not gonna have a perfect game but even if you do, keep wanting the ball. Keep asking for it, okay? So make that commitment to yourself. Even if I lose the ball 100 times, I'm gonna ask for the ball 101 times. You're gonna keep wanting it, keep making my runs, keep calling for it, keep showing for it, keep demanding that ball, okay? So number one, if you wanna play better, if you wanna be more involved, want the ball. Next thing I wanna talk about is playing both ways, okay? A lot of players only play one way. As an attacker, they only play offense. They lose the ball and then, okay, well I'm an attacker so I'm not gonna defend, that's the defender's job. Doesn't work like that. Even defenders, okay? They win the ball, let's say you're playing as a red defender, you win the ball back and then you pass it off and then your job's done. Okay, they're attackers, they're gonna attack. Doesn't work like that, this is total football. Everybody plays every position, okay? So as a defender, you need to attack. As an attacker, you need to defend, okay? So let's say you have the ball here and you lose that ball. If you lose that ball, you should be the first person working to get that ball back, okay? And the quicker you work, the harder you work, the more likely you are to get it back, okay? If you lose it right here, you can get it back right here, but if I lose the ball and then I've got my head down and mine or I've given up, well now we're gonna get hurt and now it's someone else's job to come and win the ball back, okay? As soon as you lose it, try to get it back right away. As an attacker, you need to defend, so just because they have possession of the ball, it doesn't mean your job's over. Can you press to make a mistake? Can you press to win the ball back or close them down or force them to go backwards, okay? Everyone defends. As a defender, let's say you win the ball, okay? You win the ball off him. If you want 12 weeks of in-depth coaching, covering every area of player development, daily follow-along training routines to improve your skills, fitness, and confidence, 12 weeks of professional match analysis and access to every advanced course I've created in the past, check out the link in the description below. Now you play, your job's not done, okay? Try to get everyone up the field, okay? He's gonna play into here, and then as a fullback, you can overlap, you can get involved in the play. As the center of half, you have to come and support, so if he does get in trouble, you're there to help. If there's space and there's no one on, you can dribble into these spaces. Someone's gonna cover you, okay? But start thinking about playing both ways. Everyone needs to play offense, everyone needs to play defense, and if you're only playing one way, you're only playing half the game, you're only playing to half of your potential. The last thing I wanna talk about is making quicker decisions, okay? So let's say we're going forward as a red team. What can I do to make quicker decisions? Number one, I need to analyze the field more, I need to look around more. So most players, all they're looking at is the ball. From the time this player gets the ball, from the time they pass it to them, from the time they receive them, to the time they make a decision, they're only looking at the ball, they don't know what's going on around them. So if you wanna play quicker, you need to get your head up, okay, so you know the ball, he has the ball, okay, what's going on around you? Because it's possible that when you make this run into here, he's gonna give you the ball if you've done all the things that we've talked about. So what's gonna happen around you, okay? These guys are gonna come to close me now, I know they're coming to close me down, okay? I know that I have attackers here, I know that I have an attacker here. So I'm trying to make a decision before the ball even comes to me, because if they're defending properly, I'm gonna get closed down right away. So maybe what I need to do is my first touch has to be into space so we can attack like that. Okay, but if I have my head down and I'm only looking at the ball, what's gonna happen is I'm gonna take a touch and then I'm gonna try to turn and then, oh, it's too late, they've already closed me down. Okay, so number one, get your head up, look around more, before the ball comes to you, can you shoulder check? Can you see where the defenders are? Can you also see where your attackers are? The next thing I wanna talk about is your first touch. So if I'm gonna try to play quickly, if my first touch is here, stop dead, and then I take a touch to turn, another touch to turn, it's too slow, you're gonna get closed down, you're gonna lose possession of the ball. So you wanna think about your first touch going into space, okay? So I know that these guys are coming to close me down, so I'm either gonna take my first touch into here or I'm gonna take my first touch into here and then I can play a pass into there for my teammate to run onto, but that's not possible if I stop my first touch dead at my feet, okay? So try to think about taking your first touch into space, either direction, or even if he is closing you down, taking your first touch away from him, rather than stopping dead. If you are gonna stop a dead, make sure you protect that ball really well with your body, okay? With your arms, with your butt, with your whole body. Okay, the other thing you wanna think about is, let's say you're playing in here, if no one is closing me down, I don't wanna receive like this, I wanna receive like this, I wanna receive opened up, so you wanna receive on your back foot so you can play the ball into space so you can attack quickly, we can play with quick movement, we can make quicker decisions like we talked about, okay? So again, you're looking around, you see that there's space, you're receiving on your back foot one touch, you're already open, you can already play. The biggest thing though is your mentality, okay? As soon as I get it, I wanna play quicker. I wanna one, two, boom, moving off into space, boom. Playing into space, boom, okay? You're playing two touch, you're playing three touch. If you are dribbling, your first touch is in space and you're sprinting with that ball, you're taking off with it, you're not hesitating at all. That's the biggest thing is hesitation. Too many players, they get the ball and then they're not sure what to do with it so they turn and they turn and four touches later, they've already been closed down, they've lost possession of the ball, the other team came the other way and scored, okay? So if you wanna play quicker, think about those things, looking over your shoulders, looking where the space is before the ball comes to you, reading the play, taking your first touch into space and just playing more quickly, quicker mentality, quicker decision-making in your mind but also quicker decisions with your feet.