We were recently joined by current Finland Futsal National Team Head, Sergio Gargelli, as part of our new segment of live Friday interviews on MSC alongside our partnership with APFA (Association of Professional Football Analysts), to discuss how to create principles around the attacking side of the game in futsal. The former coach of Norway, Vietnam, and China, discussed many aspects including rotations, overloads, chance creation and player profiling. He also shared insights into his new book, ‘The Futsal Way’ and detailed the sessions which he shares in the book. If you would like to watch the full interview, just click here, start an account and watch for FREE!!
Having recently finished Sergio's new book, 'The Futsal Way', I was really looking forward to discussing many concepts that he shared in the book about attacking play and methodology around training. One of the aspects of Sergio's insights that I enjoyed the most was the passion to challenge current practices around futsal and the 11v11 game. An example of this during the interview was how he compared a traditional rondo in 11v11 training, with the game of futsal, and potentially how it could benefit from movement and a 'dynamic' component. When you think about it, it makes perfect sense, most traditional possession overload games have the attacking team in fixed positions, with the defensive players aggressively trying to win the ball back. However, does the design of this session potentially create poor habits around movement and recognition of spaces? I think this would be a great discussion to have with a group of coaches. (See the video below)
Another big takeaway for me personally (in Sergio's interview and the book) was the detail that he provided around positional work and specific techniques to solve tactical problems. One example that we discussed in the video below was the sole of foot used by Marcus Rashford only this week to score against Real Betis. Sergio points out that the sole of the foot can be used effectively in 1v1 attacking play, but also when a forward has their back to goal. Sergio discussed how effective use of the sole when the forward has their back to the defender, allows the forward to manipulate the body shape of the defender. He referenced Romelu Lukaku during the interview as someone whom he feels would be more effective in a game doing this, rather than using the sides of his foot. (See video below)
If you enjoy attacking football and are open-minded to new concepts around game models and player profiling, you will love this discussion. To watch the full presentation, please click here. All you have to do is sign up for a free membership with APFA! You can also order a copy of Sergio's new book, 'The Futsal Way' by clicking here.
