Forgive me for nerding out a little bit in this post, but I’m going to make an Avengers reference right off the bat! If you haven’t seen the movie, you’re not missing too much in my opinion. Maybe I’m just bitter because my friends bought me a ticket and didn’t tell me it was 3D. I hate wearing the 3D glasses over my regular glasses! I told you I was going to nerd out. Sorry…
In one scene, Captain America and Iron Man are getting ready to go into action. Captain America doesn’t want to go to battle blindly.
Captain America tells Iron Man, “We need a plan of attack.”
Iron Man responds, “I have a plan… ATTACK!”
Did you forget that you’re on a soccer blog? How/why the heck am I referencing super heroes? Read it again, but imagine Pep Guardiola as Iron Man saying that to his Barcelona players just before they take the field. Make sense, yet? It should. Barcelona’s plan is to attack the shit out of the other team. Their weapon is possession. Their bullet is the ball. Their target is the goal. They wait until they have a clear shot and then they pull the trigger. If they miss the target, they reload as fast they can, wait for the next good opportunity, and fire again! I know this is a crazy reference, but it makes sense, right? If you were in a gun fight, wouldn’t you want to be the person with the loaded gun for the majority of the duel? Wouldn’t you want to take more shots? I think that answer is obvious.
So what’s the counter to this?
Captain America, “We need a plan of attack.”
Iron man, “Let’s just defend our territory and let the enemy fire away at us. If we dodge enough bullets, we might be able to get a shot off and hurt them.”
Quite a contrast, eh? Again, wouldn’t you want to be the one with the loaded gun? So, if you relate it to soccer… which style do you coach? Do you teach your players to keep possession? Do you teach them to reload and get the ball back quickly as possible when they lose it? Share your style with me.
“That’s the plan!” – The Pig
