How to get faster?
Are you a slow player? Were you much faster years ago? The speed is in the genes, but you can do something about it.
You are certainly not Mbappe, probably you have never been even close to his speed. Still, when your teammate sends the ball into the channel and you just can’t do anything about it, that sucks.
Your speed and acceleration levels go down with age. A lot of players over 30 and certainly over 40 migrate from wing to midfield and center back.
Some think they can manage on the left or right back, but in the usual 442 formation used by amateur teams (just the easiest to understand and explain to everyone), this position demands a lot of running back and forth, overlapping. And guess what, wingers won’t help you as often as you help them.
So, central midfield and defense it is! Well, now it’s time to use all that wisdom, knowledge, and experience gathered over the years.
That’s what pro players do as well. Milan legend, Paolo Madini, in the last few years of his career, had to switch from left back to center back. At 38 years old, he won the Champions League playing in central defense. He retired as a 40-year-old, playing 1000 games.
Il Capitano, who still played with no.3 on his jersey (Milan later retired the number, the same as Franco Baresi’s no.6), expertly read the game and the opponent’s movements. And he was an elegant player.
He avoided unnecessary slide tackles, used his body to get between attackers and the ball, was intercepting passes, and expertly setting offside traps.
What we should learn from Maldini is the composure and intention. Not to commit to a desperate slide tackle, but to use own body and movement to rob the striker of the ball.
The most importantly, to delay the attack by slowing down the opponent to get help from other defenders, which is the essence of defending. Let’s remember that tackling and sliding are secondary weapons for defenders!
Intent and composure mean having a plan before the ball comes. That is derivative of scanning and reading the game. And this translates to speed.
Simply, quick thinking buys time to do things earlier.
Then we have physical speed and acceleration. Or rather, explosiveness.
You can’t have great speed and acceleration as an older player, but you can manage how explosive you are on those first two steps. And that’s often enough.
You can do a little training to fix your stride, posture, and hand movement.
Here is a fantastic video by Unisport, who invited a running expert. They talk and show few practical things about arm positioning, hip extension, and foot placement with drills. Enjoy your runs and play a little more!
And here a video showing how good Maldini was and why: