"The common saying, "Practice makes Perfect" describes the skill aspect of football very well. The time dedicated to the improvement of skills; be it ball control, dribbling, passing, shooting or defending will see your exponential development on the field. The points to remember to ensure development fruition are:
Be Opposed
Be Creative
Be Curious
Be Determined
Be Confident
Be Obsessed
Be Smart
Ball Control:
According to professional coaches, ball control is the most important aspect of a player's game. Ball control is the ability of a player to receive the ball in different situations using different parts of the body such as feet, thighs, chest and head. Exercises to practice this include:
"
Excerpt From: Adam J. Sinclair. "A Guide For Aspiring Footballers." v1.0. Adam J. Sinclair, 2014. iBooks.
This material may be protected by copyright.
"Lionel Messi is an excellent example of a player with great skill. He is able to beat consecutive players, pass accurately, control the ball under pressure and shoot with varying techniques and from different positions on the pitch."
"Juggling
Long distance passing
Tossing the ball into the air and controlling it in different ways
Also, make sure you develop into an ambidextrous player by learning to control with both feet and both legs.
Dribbling:
Dribbling is the ability of a player to move the ball around the pitch while retaining possession. Numerous drills are available for such development, with websites like the BBC and youtube channels such as the "Skills Twins" providing explanation on new ways to dribble around or through players. Good basic dribbling skills to master are using all parts of the foot to dribble such as the 'inside', 'outside' and 'underside' of the foot. Visual awareness is also an important part of dribbling. Remember to:
Look up and around, know where both your 'friends' and 'foes' are
Check (look) over your shoulder
Look where you plan on moving before you receive the ball
This is a skill that needs to become a habit, so constant practice is essential
Passing:
Passing refers to any process of transferring possession of the ball between two players of the same team. Having numerous types of passes in one's repertoire, including masked passes, will allow for more sophisticated play[...]"
"be done through a laces strike, a side foot shot, a long shot, a chip, a header or other creative methods. It is critical that a player develop numerous types of shooting so that they can be used in the different situations that may arise. Practice for this skill can occur through:
Cone exercises, where cones are placed in front of the goal to mock defenders or positions to shoot from
Target practice, where different types of shots must be accurately place the ball between two cones in the goal
Practice with a goal keeper, where different techniques are used to try to score against a goal keeper from the edge of the 18 yard box
The precision goal, where the ball must be placed accurately in each corner of the goal for the player to move to a different position
Header goals, where the ball is kicked or tossed into the air by a teammate and the head must be used to hit it into the goal
Defending:
Defending is an important skill for any player on the pitch to know, even if your preferred position is striker. Here is a catchy way of remembering the steps:
Close[...]"
