Football’s Principles of Play

By Peter Prickett

It started with a question, “What are the fundamentals of football?”

Whilst there are hundreds of books that look into the specific principles of coaches like Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola, and Marco Bielsa, there is no core, distilled text on the key principles of the game.

Until now.

Join best-selling author and coach – Peter Prickett – as he puts football under the microscope and breaks it down into its constituent parts. By addressing the two primary phases – in-possession and out-of-possession – the book examines the five attacking and five defending principles, plus the transitions between each phase, to reveal the underlying heart of the beautiful game.

These principles have underpinned coach education for decades and largely been unchallenged. When examining them, other deeper values emerge to support the one true principle – to score.

Designed for coaches and football fans interested in the theory of football, this handbook is a must-read for anyone looking to understand the foundations that football is built on.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bennion Kearny
• Release date: Jun 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9781914066092

Book preview

Football's Principles of Play

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Peter Prickett

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Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Other Top Coaching Books

Acknowledgements

Download

Create and use space

Overloads and sub-phases

The Principles of Play

Penetration (or go forward)

Support

Width

Mobility/Movement

Improvisation/Creativity

Delay

Depth

Concentration (Compaction)

Balance

Discipline/Patience

Positive Transition

Negative transition

Possession/Own the ball/Want to have and keep possession of the ball

Defend By Retaining Possession of the Ball

Strong Position Play

Finding Space to Receive the Ball

Playing in the Spaces

Using the Width and Depth of the Pitch

Play in The Opponent’s Half as Much as Possible

Play Forward Early and Consolidate Possession

Fast Counter-Attacking

High Pressure When the Ball is Lost (5-Second Rule)

Winning the Ball Back Quickly in High and Middle Areas With an Aggressive Pressing Game (5-6 Seconds of Aggressive Pressing, Especially When The Ball is Lost in Middle Areas)

Show Opponents Outside as Much as You Can

Deception Principle

Surprise Principle

Mobility Principle

Opportunity Principle

Cohesion Principle

Reserve Principle

Economy Principle

Pressure/Pressing

Battle to exploit and protect space

One versus one domination

Diamonds and triangles

Overloads and numerical advantage

How The Principles Impact Practice

Penetration

Penetration II

Support

Support II

Width

Mobility/Movement

Improvisation/Creativity

Delay

Depth

Compactness

Balance

Discipline/Patience

Counter-Attack

Counter-Press

Possession and building out from the back

Half-Spaces

Showing Outside

Deception/Surprise

Deception/Surprise II

Mobility

Economy

Reserve

Counter-Press II

Exploit and find space

One versus one domination

One versus one domination II

Diamonds and triangles

Diamonds and triangles II

Create Overloads

Selected Sources

Copyright

Published in 2021 by Hawksmoor Publishing, an imprint of Bennion Kearny.

ISBN: 978-1-914066-09-2

Copyright © Hawksmoor Publishing 2021

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that it which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Hawksmoor Publishing has endeavoured to provide trademark information about all the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Hawksmoor Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

Published by Hawksmoor Publishing, an imprint of Bennion Kearny Limited, 6 Woodside, Churnet View Road, Oakamoor, Staffordshire, ST10 3AE

www.BennionKearny.com

Many thanks to Garth Smith for his fantastic cover design.

Other Top Coaching Books

Peter's First Two Books

Developing Skill 1 & 2: A Guide to 3v3 Soccer Coaching | In these books, coaches of all levels, working with players across all age groups and abilities, will learn to utilise the 3v3 method to develop skilful individuals and effective teams. The books build up from 1v1 to 3v3 through technical exercises that improve individual skills. Book 2 outlines how you can further use and incorporate the 3v3 method into your training and provides more than 85 ready-to-use, illustrated practices. It also details how best to run warm-ups, how to work with different pitch sizes and shapes, and much more.

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Coaching and Team-Building

Togetherness: How to Build a Winning Team

The Future Coach - Creating Tomorrow's Soccer Players Today: 9 Key Principles for Coaches from Sport Psychology

Building a Successful High School Sports Program

Winning Your Players through Trust, Loyalty, and Respect

Play Like Pep Guardiola's Barcelona: A Soccer Coach's Guide

Youth Soccer Development: Progressing the Person to Improve the Player

Soccer Brain: The 4C Coaching Model for Developing World Class Player Mindsets and a Winning Football Team

Making The Ball Roll: A Complete Guide to Youth Football for the Aspiring Soccer Coach

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Goalkeeping

Goalkeeping Basics

Scientific Approaches to Goalkeeping in Football: Goalkeeping Basics

Scientific Approaches to Goalkeeping in Football: A practical perspective on the most unique position in sport [Second Edition]

101 Goalkeeper Training Practices

50 More Goalkeeper Training Exercises

65 Goalkeeper Training Exercises: Modern Games-Based Soccer Drills for Shot Stopping, Footwork, Distribution, and More

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Training

Through The Thirds by Tony Mee

Through the Thirds: A Systematic Approach to Planning Your Football Season

Pre-Season Soccer Training: A Seven Week, 50 Session Guide to Building For The New Season

Developing Soccer Players: Forward-Specific Practices

Soccer Training Blueprints: 15 Ready-to-Run Sessions for Outstanding Attacking Play

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Deliberate Practice

Deliberate Soccer Practice: 50 Small-Sided Football Games to Improve Decision-Making

Deliberate Soccer Practice: 50 Attacking Football Exercises to Improve Decision-Making

Deliberate Soccer Practice: 50 Defending Football Exercises to Improve Decision-Making

Deliberate Soccer Practice: 50 Passing & Possession Football Exercises to Improve Decision-Making

Deliberate Soccer Practice: 50 Rondo and Positional Play Football Practices

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The Modern Soccer Coach

The Modern Soccer Coach: Pre-Season Training

The Modern Soccer Coach: A Four Dimensional Approach

The Modern Soccer Coach: Position-Specific Training

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Soccer Psychology

Soccer Tough: Simple Football Psychology Techniques to Improve Your Game

Soccer Tough 2: Advanced Psychology Techniques for Footballers

Coaching Psychological Skills in Youth Football: Developing The 5Cs

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Other Books

It’s Just a Ball: Exploring the Complexity of a Simple Game

The Bundesliga Blueprint: How Germany became the Home of Football

Let’s Talk Soccer: Using Game-Calls to Develop Communication and Decision-Making in Football

Developing the Modern Footballer through Futsal

Paul Webb Academy: Strength Training Books for Footballers and Goalkeepers

Soccer Tactics 2014: What The World Cup Taught Us

Universality | The Blueprint for Soccer's New Era: How Germany and Pep Guardiola are showing us the Future Football Game

The Footballer's Journey: real-world advice on becoming and remaining a professional footballer

The Way Forward: Solutions to England’s Football Failings

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Website

See all our football books at: www.BennionKearny.com/soccer

Acknowledgements

Thank you to the people who have helped me write this book.

It started with a question I was asked by a Twitter user; they may not even remember asking the question. Why Mladen Jovanovic chose to ask me the question, I do not know, but if he hadn’t this book wouldn’t exist. He asked if there were any fundamentals of football he should be aware of. After some thinking, my answer was the Principles of Play.

He then asked, Is there a book you can recommend?

I couldn’t. I could not think of a single book that focused on the general principles of football, rather than the specific principles of certain coaches. That was the birth of this book. Thank you, Mladen.

Thank you Garth Smith, for your excellent work on the cover, the

Reviews for Football’s Principles of Play

[treasurefromthevault · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The author does an excellent job of breaking down and clarifying the game of football.

[Renukumar M.Kandasamy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful. Full of information that helps the Coach understanding to build a Game Model.