NEWS - JANUARY: WHY FUTSAL?

Those who are involved at FDS as players and parents might be wandering why do we spend so much time on Futsal when we are supposed to be developing football ability! You have to look at the nature of youth football and also the characteristics of English football to see why Futsal is so beneficial. Around the world the English game is renowned for passion, strength, work rate, tough tackling, direct play (getting the ball forward quickly) and bravery. All of these are important qualities for any footballer and will be developed well in the our football culture. Other qualities such as keeping the ball, individual skill,decision making and technique under pressure need work for us to compare favourably with other football cultures around the world.

The reason futsal is so beneficial is that all of the qualities we develop in England aren't part of the game of Futsal whereas the qualities where we are lacking are all emphasised. You can't slide tackle, too much tough tackling (after 5 fouls) and you will give away penalties, longer passes into space are liable to go off the pitch, and if you chase around you are likely to end up exhausted so the emphasis is on playing smart. The heavier ball means that you have to pass the ball quickly, the small court means you have to have good skill and control under pressure, and because you have alot of 1 v 1 situations you have to be able to beat players and dribble well. It also helps to take the emphasis away from size and strength in favour of skill, an area youth development in our country could benefit from.

A similar game to Futsal which some people may have heard of is Futbol De Salao, which is the pure South American version of the game and is played with a size 2 ball as opposed to a size 4. We also use these balls in much of our skill work.

Hopefully this has helped to provide a bit of detail and background into our use of Futsal. We are massive believers in how this game can compliment the strengths of the English game and in particular help to develop more technically gifted players in the future.