This is something that came out in Germany some time ago (in October 2007 I think), but it’s never too late to point out good reading material.

Step into a new world, a world in which football means more than just the result of a game and where no borders are set to your creativity. Football is more than fight and condition, football is above all also art. Show what you are made of, unfold your skills and let yourself be inspired by the bible of “football tricks”.

The knowledge that lies therein will take your play to a new level, and turn you into a powerhouse of the pitch. This book creates a new consciousness for the beautiful game, and is must for all followers of the football art.

The above passage is a Babelfish-translated (slightly edited by myself, thanks to my (fading) knowledge of the German language) introduction to the FUSSBALL TRIX book, as described on the authors’ official website StreetSpot. So what is this all about?

Basically you’ve all seen those Nike “freestyle”, “joga bonito” etc. etc. commercials, in which players showcase their Ronaldinho-like skills with fancy stepovers, Zizou 360ºs, reverse crossflicks and so on, right? Well, this book is meant to teach you how to do those tricks, with accurate descriptions and elaborate ‘how to’ illustrations.

But I think actions speak louder than words, so before I continue let me present the official book video:

Pretty cool right?

Basically the book was written by Florian D. Munz, a Sport Sciences student at TUM University in Munich, and the lad certainly seems to know what he’s doing: both on the playground (when it comes to demonstrating the tricks) and behind the desk (writing/organizing/editing the book). Indeed, despite I could only get my hands on the press-released 14-page demo version (in German), I have to say that for something written by a student the book is very professionally done.

FUSSBALL TRIX is organized into 5 sections: the Prologue (explaining the basic elements of the game), an Introduction (with subheaders like Factors influencing the trick, Your opponent, Speed of execution, Ball control, etc.), and then 3 main chapters called Face 2 Face Trix, Side 2 Side Trix, and Back 2 Face Trix. Each ‘tricks’ section is itself divided into smaller categories (e.g. Fake Trix, Shift Trix, Bypass Trix, Stepover Trix, Spin Trix, ShotFake Trix, and so on).

Navigating through the book is therefore made very easy, and reading the nearly 50 page-long introduction should help every reader familiarize him/herself with the philosophy of football tricks, styles, and the learning tools & requirements necessary to use the book to its maximum potential.

Now my German is a bit rusty, but the great thing I noticed from the 14-page demo version is that each trick is not only fully illustrated with real-life images, but also features a small box indicating which types of opponents are most likely to be fooled by it. FUSSBALL TRIX seems to distinguish 4 categories of opponents (defenders) to that effect:

1. Disturbers – These are the close man-markers I presume, that barely leave you an inch of breathing space.
2. Resters – Those that keep their distance, lay back and wait for you to make the first move.
3. Sidesteppers – Those that move sideward when you turn to one side, the kind you can’t outrun but who should also easily fall for fakes.
4. Watchers – The “contain” types: you slowly move forward, they slowly move backward -these are good at covering space, but wait until the last possible moment to challenge the ball.

Obviously, a good defender should be capable of adapting any of those 4 “styles” (depending on the situation and the opponent), however I find it extremely useful that the book’s author indicates whether a certain trick is more likely to fool a Disturber, a Rester, a Sidestepper, or a Watcher. An “arrow” diagram (see above) also seems to indicate the suggested speed of execution.

Unfortunately, the only disadvantage of FUSSBALL TRIX is that it is only available in… German. If you don’t speak Goethe’s language, well I guess you could look at the pictures and would still be able to figure out what to do, but you’d miss out on the first 50-60 pages of the book. The good news however: Florian is planning to release a fully translated English version within the year, and the English section of the Streetspot.net homepage is set to launch shortly.

The order form on Streetspot.net states the book is available for €29.90, shipping fees included for orders within Germany. For orders within Europe extra shipping costs have to added, which amount to €6.00 for fast orders (1-2 days) and €4.50 for normal orders (1-4 weeks). Outside of Europe (including North America): €12.00 (fast) or €4.50 (normal). In any case, even with the language barrier this should be a great read for technique-oriented players of the beautiful game. I will able to tell you more in a few weeks’ time, as Florian has kindly agreed to send me a copy of the book for review. :) I’ll keep you posted.

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StreetSpot ACADEMY

(Note: Once again, this is taken directly from the StreetSpot.net website, after Babelfish-translation and editing. If it doesn’t ‘sound’ very good, don’t blame it on me )

Philosophy

We welcome you cordially to the StreetSpot ACADEMY, the homeland of the beautiful & perfect football.

A player attains perfection by the combination of duel strength, skillful teamwork and sophisticated ball technique – Fighting, Strategy and Style. When these basic elements of football are reunited, they lead it to its ultimate level, Kingstyle.

While the elements ‘Fighting’ and ‘Strategy’ are already controlled by many players, the element of ‘Style’ is still underrepresented in the today’s play. Dismissed by some as showboating and breadless art, the future of play nonetheless lies in technique-oriented football. Our mission is striving towards promotiong and furthering the artistic element present in the beautiful game.
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Training Concepts

Football tricks belong to the most spectacular plays in the game of football, but they are not beautiful only to look at. Correctly implemented into a player’s game, they give him considerable power to affect the play, take unexpected shots on goal or create surprising and dangerous openings for himself or his teammates.

Teaching these techniques in football practice was so far considered difficult, if not impossible. Usually one left it to the players themselves, to decide to what extent they wanted to perfect their individual technical repertoire. Simple movements and basic techniques can be demonstrated in training and rehearsed in obstacle courses, but in order for football tricks to be used IN PLAY this is not sufficient.

Constructing on the contents outlined in our “FOOTBALL TRIX” book, we developed a revolutionary training concept where one can learn and immediately apply these techniques. The focus of our training is the demonstration & application of football tricks in actual play situations, as well the types of opponents it works best against.