Futsal: Training, Technique and Tactics

By Peter Sturgess

The first English-language futsal guide covering training, technique and tactics.

Many of the top world-class professional football players played Futsal in their youth – Pelé, Luis Figo, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Xavi and Fabregas – and have stated that playing the game made them the great players they are today.

Futsal is an exciting, fast moving game of technique, skill, tactics and physical endeavour. Players take the ultimate challenge by testing their skills under the most intense pressure due to the lack of time and space. Coaches face huge tactical challenges as the game changes minute by minute. It is for these reasons that Futsal has taken a huge grip upon the football landscape and the development of players from grassroots upwards.

This book is the ideal book to assist players and coaches in honing their futsal skills and techniques. If you want to be the new Messi, Ronaldo or Fabregas, can you afford not to read this book?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: May 4, 2017
• ISBN: 9781472929969

Peter Sturgess

Peter Sturgess is a FIFA futsal instructor, the England Futsal Head Coach, and The FA's National Development Coach for 5-11 Years.

Book preview

CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1    So what is Futsal?

Chapter 2    Coaching young players

Chapter 3    Creating the right environment

Chapter 4    Technique, physical literacy and decision making

Chapter 5    The Futsal coaching session

Chapter 6    One of the secrets of Futsal – the importance of the ‘building blocks’

Chapter 7    Developing your ‘game plan’

Chapter 8    Developing your attacking game plan

Chapter 9    Developing your defensive game plan

Chapter 10  What next?

INTRODUCTION

The game of Futsal is one of the fastest-growing sports in England. Once it has been watched, played or coached, the appeal it has for supporters, players and coaches is clear to see: it’s an exciting, quick-paced game of technique, skill, tactics and physical endeavour that captures the imagination of all who come into contact with it. Players test their skills, decision making abilities and physical conditioning under the most intense pressure because Futsal is played on a small, fast-paced court that compromises the important elements of time and space allowed by traditional field football. Coaches also face a multitude of tactical decisions as the state of the game changes minute by minute. It is for these reasons (and many more that will become clear as you read each chapter) that Futsal has taken such a firm grip of our football culture and is now here to stay, grow and develop.

In reading this book you have taken an important step in your own development as a Futsal coach. Each chapter will help you understand not only what to do but also how to do it. Coaching is about much more than this session or that practice; it is about understanding and developing both your knowledge of Futsal AND of teaching, learning and player-development, and the information given here should help you develop an effective coaching methodology as well as providing challenging and enjoyable coaching sessions.

The book starts off with a focus on the development of young players who might be engaging with Futsal, and sport in general, for the first time. The later chapters subsequently become more Futsal-specific so that your knowledge of the game becomes deeper and more extensive. This will give you the confidence to embrace Futsal, with its many benefits in relation to player-development, and help you to provide a vibrant, exciting environment in which your players can play and evolve.

I have no doubt that Futsal is a real ‘game changer’ and you have taken the first steps towards further establishing the game and changing young-player development forever. Enjoy the book.

England Futsal squad playing Sweden at the iconic Copperbox venue in London

SO WHAT IS FUTSAL?

The game of Futsal has its origins in South America, where from the 1930s two different versions of small-sided football were being played in the football-mad cities of Montevideo in Uruguay and São Paolo in Brazil. The name Futsal comes from the Portuguese futebol de salão (roughly translated as ‘room football’) and the game under the governance of FIFA and UEFA has, from humble beginnings, become one of the fastest-growing global sports, with FIFA World Cups and UEFA Futsal Euro competitions occurring alternately on a two-year cycle.

The game is played on a hard, fast surface, of which there are many types – from the polished concrete of southern Europe and the traditional sprung floor seen in many gymnasiams to the portable tiled floors used to stage major World and European finals. For international games the court measures exactly 40 x 20m (66 x 132ft) although sometimes its size is more approximate, falling within minimum and maximum guidelines. Both players and ball move quickly on the hard surface and play to demarcated lines; this is what sets Futsal apart from traditional 5-a-side football, which is played off the side walls. This difference means that more shielding and screening are required and it allows for the invention of many creative restarts from corners and kick-ins from the side line.

The FA’s first ever national Futsal conference at St. George’s Park

THE LAWS OF THE GAME

As the game developed it became necessary to formalise its laws, and so the first rule book was published in 1933. This enabled a consistency of interpretation, and because of this it was possible to develop the league and competition side. The game of Futsal, under the careful guidance of FIFA and UEFA, was thus developing the important governance and administration that today underpins any global sport. This framework would eventually help to produce the many professional leagues that are now firmly established in Europe, South America and other parts of the world.

The sport’s laws now shape the game and provide the basis for the tactical and technical development that is possible. The laws also demonstrate how different the game is from the traditional 5-a-side format played in the UK.

The main laws are outlined below:

The dimensions of a Futsal court

The Indoor Stadium Huamark in Bangkok was the venue for the 2012 FIFA Futsal World Cup

• Sides There are five players on court for each team, one of whom is the goalkeeper (GK). However, there can be 12–14 players in each squad (including another GK) to allow for rolling substitutions.

• Substitutions A team can make as many substitutions as they want so long as only players in the named squad are used and there are only five players on court at any one time. To make a substitution, players must enter and leave the court between designated markings in front of their bench.

• Duration Each game consists of two equal periods of 20 minutes measured with a stopping clock (every time the ball goes out of play or there is a foul, the clock is stopped).

• Timeouts Each team can request a one-minute timeout in each half.

• Kick-in If the ball goes out of play it is restarted with a kick-in either from the touchline or from the corner.

• The four-second rule For kick-ins, free kicks, goal clearances and corners the player in possession has four seconds to restart the game. The referee counts these on fingers clearly shown in the air.

• Goalkeepers Futsal GKs can come out of the penalty area (called the ‘D’) and players can go into the area. The goalkeeper is also bound by the four-second rule and they are not allowed to control the ball with either hands of feet for longer than this time in their own or the opposition’s half.

Futsal court as part of Hurucan sporting club in Buenos Aires

• Goal clearances A goal clearance must be thrown out and the GK is not allowed to touch the ball again unless a member of the opposition has touched the ball or the GK receives the ball in the opponents’ half.

• Red cards If a player is sent off then the team to which the player belongs must remain with four players until two minutes have passed or a goal is scored.

• Accumulated fouls A team may concede five fouls in each half of the game. However, on the sixth, and on any subsequent foul, the team commits, a direct free kick will be awarded to the opposition from the 10m (32ft) penalty mark. The defending team may not use any player other than the GK to stop the shot.

By now you will have realised that this game is very different from the traditional 5-a-side played in the UK even though there is the same number of players on court. The laws help to make the game challenging, tactical and very exciting. When working with the youngest players the different elements should be introduced in a phased, age-appropriate way until they are able to play the game using all of the laws that make it so unique and engaging.

Antwerp Euro Futsal Final, 2014

SPECIAL SITUATION: FLY GK

To expand upon the rules as they apply to the goalkeeper, the GK has four seconds to release the ball in his own half of the pitch from a goal clearance or open play. From open play, the goalkeeper can run the ball over the halfway line and bring it back again for the four seconds to start again. If they play/pass the ball the above counts. The fly goalkeeper is bound by these same restrictions. If a team changes to fly goalkeeper it is the same principle despite the substitution.

TOP TIP

When selecting which law to introduce first to young players (there is no real right or wrong answer), you could try:

• the four-second rule for restarting the game and then;

• the goal clearance rule that forbids the repeated use of the GK once the ball is

Reviews for Futsal

[Carlos Sarmento · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A great overview of the sport of futsal for beginners!