Are you ready to take your soccer game to the next level? Or just looking for ways to improve your understanding of the game? Consider the greatest players the beautiful game has ever seen. Pele and Puskas, Maradona - from the present time, Messi and Ronaldo.The likes of Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry, and Dennis Bergkamp, the great readers of the game such as Beckebauer and Bobby Moore and that devastating finisher, Gerd Muller. When we try to analyze what it is that made these players so successful and held in such regard, a number of similarities come to mind. They are, of course, mostly strikers, Beckenbauer and Moore apart. They played in the busiest, most challenging area of the pitch and in a position that could, and frequently did, change games. That is certainly true of the attacking players, but also applies to those with more defensive duties. Interestingly, though, the two defenders listed were known for their ball playing skills as much as their defensive ones. Each possessed pace, physical strength, fast feet. Each could control a ball in an instant, were balanced in their running and hard in their shooting. But there is something more that turns the merely very good into the exceptional, at whatever level they choose to play. And that is that indefinable quality we call soccer intelligence. Intelligent people in whatever field they work know that simple works best. Soccer is, at its heart, a simple game. Pass the ball, move into space (where it is easier to control a pass and to deliver a return), move the ball on. When the chance arises, attempt to score a goal. If you are a defender, try to deny the other side space. The purpose of this audiobook is to define soccer intelligence, to break it down into its constituent parts and, importantly, present drills that a good coach can use with his or her team to develop that intelligence to its greatest potential.
