For football lovers, few players have had the skill and grace that Thierry Henry demonstrated during his career. The French forward set the Premier League alight with Arsenal and the world alight with his national team, winning two Premier Leagues, the same number of La Liga titles with Barcelona and both the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship with France.
Little wonder, therefore, that many people look to try to emulate his playing style, with his fake pass one of the most useful skills when it comes to tricking your opponents with your excellent misdirection.
About the Skill
It would be a lie to suggest that Thierry Henry is the only footballer that has ever pulled the fake pass trick out of their locker during a football match, but he is certainly the one that became best known for it. It is a skill that came out of the world of futsal and street football in general, but it is one that can be used in any form of football match, especially if the person trying to pull the trick off is in a situation where they feel as though they need to mislead their opponents about their plan. The key aspect of it, therefore, is to look in one direction whilst passing the ball in a different one altogether.
You are still going to make a pass, but you’re not going to do so in the direction that your opponent is expecting you to do. Instead, you will stop the ball with your foot and drag it back. From there, you will step in front of the ball as if you’re going to make a pass with one foot, all whilst actually passing it in another direction with your other foot. One of the things that allowed Thierry Henry to stand out from the pack was the fact that he had numerous different fake passes in his locker, so his opponents would never be entirely sure about what it was that he was going to do with the ball.
This included the ability to make a pass with his standing foot, as well as to backheel the ball, all whilst making it look as if you’re going to hit the ball in a different direction. Of course, as well as being able to master the skill itself, one of the other keys to being able to make this skill work is knowing where your teammates are and whether or not you’ll be able to get the ball to them successfully. After all, there is no point in disguising a pass only to end up ceding the ball to the opposition because you didn’t realise there was no one from your team where you were hitting the ball.