Happy Friday!  I hope you’re gearing up for a great hockey weekend, getting started with this week’s Playbook.

It was a big week in The Hoofdklasse last week with some heavyweight match-ups.  The game that caught my eye was a much anticipated battle between Amsterdam and Kampong women.  The match ended up being a comfortable and very impressive win for Amsterdam, 4-0.

What grabbed my attention was that the conditions for scoring the second and fourth goals, came from very similar situations and used some of my favorite skills 🙂

Let’s watch Goal #2:

A lovely finish but this goal was created by some incredible play from Felice Albers, the Dutch National Team defender and 2022 FIH World Player of the Year.  We see below at the start of this move, Albers is carrying the ball out of defense into the space that is open in the left channel.

This is a common scenario when teams progress the ball out of their defensive structure because attacking teams very often overload or shape their press to cut off the right side.  Traditionally as we have talked about in previous editions, the right side is the most dangerous, so it makes sense that solid pressing teams try to funnel possession down the opposite wing.

I digress, the trap that many players fall into, and that Albers totally avoids, is continuing down this path and ending up being trapped on the left sideline with nowhere to go, narrow field vision and limited passing options.  A good defender will box you out against the sideline and then progressing the ball or even keeping possession becomes difficult.  We see this trap being laid by the two Kampong defenders circled in red below:

But as I said, she does not fall for it.  Instead, she plants her right foot ahead of the ball (to ensure it is protected) and then rolls strong inside of the field.  This might look simple and honestly it is not the most technically difficult skill to master, but in my opinion it is one of the most impactful.

Rolling through the backspace means it is almost impossible for the defenders to make a play on the ball, especially if your body is positioned correctly and then once completed you are attacking towards the middle of the field and crucially now on the reverse side of all the defenders who surround you, instead of their strong sticks.

Albers makes the most of the space she has created and aggressively carries through the middle and then because she has carried diagonally left to right a passing lane opens up under her shoulder that only she can see (not the defenders).   She hits an inch perfect sweep down this channel and sets up her teammate to score.   If you are able to carry on this line in a game this kind of pass often opens up because you are moving the defense to your right as you carry in that direction.

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Now let’s look at Goal #4:

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Instead of a carry, Amsterdam outlet the ball in the air this time and Noa Muller’s first touch to bring it down takes her into the left sideline.

From here we will see a lot of the same fundamentals.  The image below shows how just like Albers, Muller plants her right foot between the ball and the defender, protects the ball and maintains possession.  Then rolls strong inside, onto the reverse side of the defender.

Muller then carries a short distance into space with a left to right diagonal run and yet again, opens up a similar passing lane underneath her shoulder.   This time the forward crosses to the far post to set up the goal instead of scoring herself but you can see the almost identical way this pattern opens up the Kampong defense.

The evidence in this game is very clear, but the more top level hockey you watch the more examples you will find of how powerful this set of skills are:

1. Plant your right foot and protect the ball.
2. Roll strong inside through the defender’s reverse side.
3. Attack the space you have created with a left to right diagonal carry.
4. Look up to see the vertical channels you will create for a line breaking pass.

Don’t get trapped in the barren wasteland that is the left sideline, roll strong into the middle, full of opportunity 🙂