Hi. It’s been quite some time since my last post on here, not for the want of trying, but such is life. A recent Twitter exchange has prompted this piece on which (for most) will cover nothing new, but hopefully allow me to articulate my thoughts in a more eloquent and erudite manner than the micro blogging world allows. It would appear that every week I’m in what feels like everybody’s mentions wanging on about futsal or photography (or both) so I guess this is over due in that sense.
Okay, so what is futsal?
FIFA’s only approved small sided version of football (apart from beach football). Usually played on a hard surface with a reduced bounce ball on a 40m x 20m (or thereabouts) lined court. Two teams of five compete for two 20 minute halves played to a clock which stops when the ball is out of play. Restarts are taken in the form of kick ins/corner kicks or a throw/roll from the GK within a four second time limit.
Complete with a few more rules, this makes the game quite different from regular football or typically English 5-a-side but essentially you could describe futsal as ‘basically indoor football’ and to be honest I wouldn’t take offence as, in it’s most basic sense, this is exactly what it is.
In reality, it is far from it.
5-a-side doesn’t really have a culture throughout the world. It doesn’t have an official European (other continents are available) Championship, or an official World Cup. Futsal has all of these. It’s a way of life in parts of the world.
As a game that has an out of bounds and is played in a relatively small space, futsal requires excellent control to navigate the court well. A bad touch will almost certainly put your team under pressure with the consequences often being a goal scored against you. With no side boards to assist, the reliance is on ball manipulation, movement of other players and (probably) above all else – speed of thought.
In terms of how it looks, just like football, futsal varies from club to club and country to country. Brazilians tend to be more individual based from my limited experience of seeing them and the Spanish (of which I see the most) more team focused. If we compare it to 5-a-side at this point, does 5-a-side really vary that much up and down the country? Pretty much all of the 5-a-side I see looks the same.
Futsal has dedicated tactical approaches that have been developed over decades. Many of which aren’t fully understood by most (myself included) in England. 1-2-2, 1-3-1, 1-4-0 (notice how the GK is included in the formation? The most important player on the court – the 5-a-side GK can’t even leave his area…) all with specific movements, actions and ‘rotations’ that are designed to destabilise the opposition and provide an attacking advantage. All pre-planned and often interchangeable providing a very fluid system to work with.
Away from team tactics, set plays from kick-ins, corners and free-kicks form around 30% of goals scored and are a real area of creativity. From the viral videos of Falcao flicking balls over the GK to 3 and 4 man routines in Spain, this is something that adds to the excitement factor as you know that, more often than not, something is going to happen.
Individually, players are almost always tidy with the ball. Poor control simply cannot exist at the highest level in futsal as it will be punished regularly. Concentration must always be high because of this threat and their speed of thought is honed from hours and hours of playing against like minded opposition in small spaces. Strong, aggressive yet disciplined (futsal has a foul count whereby after 5 fouls in one half, every foul thereafter is a 10m penalty for the opposition) and technical. Very technical. Controlling and moving the ball is different from football (although more and more footballers use their sole to control the ball – a futsal technique). Feints occur all of the time, whether it’s to beat a player or gain some space, deceit is all around. Then we have the rotation of players meaning they must be comfortable and understand the many roles required whilst occupying different areas of the court.
At this point, to call the game a glorified version of 5-a-side does actually become a bit of an insult.
How does all of this transpire when being viewed? Lots of action moments. Shots, saves, goals, blocks, take ons, clever movements – everything. Of course not every single futsal game is the most entertaining game ever, but then neither is football, naturally. I didn’t intend for this to be a futsal vs. football vs. 5-a-side piece but it’s important to distinguish the differing formats from one another.
FC Barcelona Lassa (second in the league) vs. Movistar Inter (top of the league) match stats show there is a goal every <7 minutes on average. A shot every 50 seconds and this game has been described as an average affair for the two sides.
Further info from another Inter game (’16/’17)(Peniscola are usually a mid table team for reference):
A shot every 23 seconds(!!) resulting in a shot on goal every 64 seconds. At least 32 chances for a set piece (more, in reality, when you factor in fouls and kick-ins from the final third). To put the game in football terms, once you cross the half way line of a futsal court, you’re on the edge of the 18yard box in football…
Hopefully that’s given a brief outline of the game and how it isn’t just 5-a-side with a heavy ball.
The LNFS is arguably the best league in the world and has some of the world’s best players but watching the games will show that it’s not about the flair or tricks that we see in viral clips or YouTube compilations. Ricardinho can pull them off with almost alien like regularity. Other players may pull them off when the opportunity occurs. The way to really play this game is to constantly move both the players and the ball. Rotation of position, one and two touch passing with an emphasis on accuracy and speed.
With that said, how does that transfer to youth futsal? Some may think that in order to play like this at the highest level, players must play like this from 7 years old? That simply isn’t the case. Youth futsal will look very much like youth football for the foundation years (hence the England DNA and the work of Pete Sturgess, both promoting futsal for young players).
Players need to master the ball at an early age before they can move onto the tactical side of the game. One and two touch passing coupled with tactical elements isn’t much use if you struggle to control the ball. I’ll use the example of Bolton Futsal Club’s U13s who have spent the last year learning tactical aspects of the game and it’s just starting to show with them. Trying to spend this amount of time with a team of eight year olds would not make sense whilst they don’t fully have the control/technique or temperament required to make it work.
If you believe that futsal is basically 5-a-side then I implore you to watch the following clips and re-offer your opinion. I’m not suggesting futsal is better than 5-a-side or football, only that there are differences and as a result I enjoy it more. Whilst there are attitudes that are tantamount to snobbery around the issue, futsal is growing and the more people that get involved, more seem to fall in love with it.
With lots of action available up and down the country, it’s never been this easy to go and see the game…
@WilkinsonCT 