Atonement - Is This Killing Your Soccer Game Plan?
The Soccer Bite Back - Is Atonement Killing Your Game Plan?
What is Atonement?
Atonement, as described in the Collins English Dictionary is to ” make amends (for sin or wrongdoing).
So what has this got to do with soccer and your game plan?
Atonement is an inbuilt system, programmed into our minds from birth, by well meaning parents, teachers and guardians, that we must atone for our mistakes. That is, try and make amends for any mistake we’ve made. In football that may be giving the ball away cheaply, not scoring or whatever we or our players deem as a mistake - to atone we go the extra yard to make up for our errors.
In football this sometimes equates to being dragged out of position to help our team, and ourselves, to rectify our error by attempting to win the ball back.
Atonment is a huge part of the British game. More so than that, the fans expect you to rectify - or at least attempt to rectify your mistake by winning the ball back - cue huge applause.
Any player not showing that committment or passion to ‘help’ his team WILL be questioned by both fans and neutral viewers alike - cue boos or disdain.
Now, I’m not an expert on the continental game, but what I do know of their footballing culture is that atonement, in the soccer sense, is not as an integtral part of their game - more important after an error is to keep shape and move on. That is believed in many circles as the best way a player can help his team.
Perhaps atonement is what makes the British leagues more exciting to watch. Perhaps that is one of the key factors that gives the English game in particular, its edge and passion and fire and fury.
Don’t get me wrong - I’m neither saying one is better than the other and I too, as a player am as ‘guilty’ as the next player of attempting to atone for my mistakes - getting drragged out of position trying to win the ball back.
I the EPL, atonement has many advantages and disadvantages. A great example was the recent Carling Cup Semi Final between Chelsea and Everton.
A finely poised game was decided by an ill-fated piece of judgement that led to a Lescot own goal in the dying minutes. Lescot’s instinct to make up for his ‘mistake’ led him to charge upfield (for those that don’t know, Lescot plays defense for Everton) and almost score the equaliser to put his team back on level terms.
Personally, I just wondered at that moment whether the passion and fight helped to push him a little too over the edge, as unfotunately for Everton, Lescot was unable to control the ball and shot straight at the keeper for a comfortable save.
Perhaps with a little more composure and self control he would have simply chipped it over the keeper, who had gone to ground very quickly. And anyone who has seen Lescot play knows that he is more than capable of such deft touches and skill.
Too many ‘ifs’, ‘buts’ and ‘maybe’s’ and easy to say with hindsight? I’m not too sure. I just felt at that moment that Lescots ‘want and need to atone’ just outweighed the self control and composure he probably would have shown if it were not for his mistake minutes earlier.
What do you think?
I’d love to get your opinion.