This Gladwell piece in the New Yorker got me thinking about how teams in soccer try to kill the game off when they have a lead or change their style of play when they’re losing. Same goes for teams in the NFL when they’re winning. Teams use the prevent defense and drop back. They often lose. They concede too many short passes and the team kicks a field goal.
In soccer they bring on a defensive player or start to send the long balls into the corners and hold it. This is all well and fine, if it’s done properly. But many times it’s not. It’s just done poorly. Teams end up hoofing the ball into the corners and losing the ball, not winning throw ins, and then fouling unnecessarily. No possession. No building of confidence. The game becomes frantic.
In the recent Champions League game semifinal, Chelsea took off Didier Drogba and brought on Juliano Belletti in the 72 minute. Barcelona had ten men at this point. Why not keep the pressure on. Why not, instead of going defensive, continue to attack and attack and attack.
Barcelona on the other hand did the right thing. They stuck to their passing game and didn’t become desperate. They didn’t resort to sending long balls as most teams would at the end of the game. They kept to their tight short passing game. This resulted in a calm and smooth pass by Messi across the top of the box to a waiting Iniesta to knock home. Game over.
It’s almost like the Seinfeld episode where George does the opposite of everything he normally does and things turn out a lot better. Sometimes you have to go against the grain or the conventional wisdom. Maybe don’t always do what’s expected.