How do you play with fearlessness in soccer? A theme I’ve seen of late in the soccer world is how fearlessness is key to being successful on the soccer field. Without it, you might as well not play at all.
Underlying this is of course confidence. Feeling comfortable. Knowing you have the support of your coach and teammates.
How do you play soccer without fear? How do soccer coaches inspire fearlessness in their players?
If we only knew. It is sort of the holy grail of a thing. Instilling this confidence. It is so powerful. If you have it you feel like you can do anything. If you don’t, you really struggle to do much of anything on the soccer field. It is much like momentum in a soccer game. Things just become easier to do if your team just scored a good goal.
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However, there’s a difference between playing good and playing without fear.
Sure, you can do all the simple things and maybe help your team somewhat, but you can’t make the killer pass or change the game if you’re fearful.
James Maddison Plays Fearlessly
One English Premier League player who plays with a fearlessness for Tottenham Hotspurs is James Maddison. He’s an excellent signing so far for the London club. Maddison attacks with the ball at his feet. He attacks the space and goes right at defenders. A sure sign of fearlessness. Hopefully for Tottenham, Maddison’s good form only continues.
Here, Maddison plays a perfect through ball to Richarlison versus Liverpool.
Maddison ➡️ Richarlison ➡️ Son!
Just SMOOTH from Spurs. 🔥
📺 @USANetwork pic.twitter.com/Qpxjj9Xi9n
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) September 30, 2023
Furthermore, part of the reason why Maddison is playing well is the club’s new manager, Postecoglou. Playing brave football is Postecoglou’s motto.
Although to regain the ability to play with fearlessness is tricky, if you’ve lost it.
Moreover, you certainly can’t rush things. Overall, you have to do all the basics first. Get your sleep. Get healthy, if injured. Work hard. Maybe put in extra training to sharpen your skills in a certain area. Yes, even pros do this. Yes, even pros have ups and downs and lose confidence. But the best players bounce back and keep going.
Also, another way to say this is if players aren’t showing off then they aren’t feeling confident or playing fearlessly enough.
Cole Palmer Plays Fearlessly
Over at Chelsea, they’ve signed a young player from Manchester City who plays without fear. “Cole Palmer is an inspired signing, not least because he’s fearless,” said Henry Winter of The Times Sport. Former footballer Joe Cole has compared Cole Palmer to James Maddison and Jack Grealish. And of course Maddison and Grealish are both creative and fearless players.
Cole Palmer turns in the box and nutmegs the defender for the assist. That’s pretty fearless play by the new Chelsea signing.
The pivotal moment! 🥅 pic.twitter.com/ncX4UrZEs0
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) September 28, 2023
Jack Grealish is a good example of a footballer under tons of pressure at Manchester City when he first arrived about a year ago. But he battled and played hard and has overcome any poor form and his finding success. Pep Guardiola having faith in him certainly helped with that.
I think one thing that holds true is the crowd and supporters get behind players who are trying to attack and make things happen. They can see it. They see their players who have the desire to score and win. Also, any hesitation is so clear and almost painful to watch. The game doesn’t like tentativeness.
Henry’s Advice to Pulisic
Thierry Henry recently gave some advice to Christian Pulisic over on CBS about how to succeed at AC Milan. Henry said Pulisic should ‘try and make mistakes’.
“As a creative player if you don’t try to make mistakes, you cannot succeed. I can see on the national team, [Pulisic] feels like, ‘I can make mistakes.’ When you play on the big club [team], you play the ball one time and it’s a mistake and the next time you touch it is 15 minutes after.
People remember every time you touch the ball that you lost it. The international team, he plays with that confidence. We were all creative players, so you have to score. So if you feel like in your head you can’t lose that ball, then you might as well step out of the field and don’t play.”
Yet I think another American might be a bit smoother and more fearless than Pulisic. That being Gio Reyna. Reyna is both calm on the ball and fearless in trying things.
Over at Barcelona there’s a 16 year old who plays like Thierry Henry in a way and is fearless on the field. He is very young though. And plays as if the giraffe just started sprinting from the go. There was no stumbling. No training wheels on the bike. Lamine Yamal is the new star of Barcelona.
Xavi Tells Lamine Yamal to Play Fearlessly
“I told him to go out and try things, and he did”, Barcelona’s manager Xavi said according to reports from Marca.
“He is special. He could have scored, and made an assist. Lamine is very self confident, he has shown what he can do. He has no fear and he is very talented.”
Overall, in a way, it helps to be young. There is a freedom to getting started and not having demands. But Yamal is doing something in the pressure filled world of La Liga and Barcelona. Above all, playing fearlessly with a smile on his face is how Alejandro Moreno phrased Yamal’s play.
Indeed, Lamine Yamal is FEARLESS for Barcelona! One of the best we’ve ever seen?! On ESPN FC, Sebastian Salazar, Steve Nicol, Alejandro Moreno, Stewart Robson and Ian Darke wax lyrical on Lamine Yamal’s performances for Barcelona, his rapid rise to prominence with Xavi’s side.
