We've all felt it. The thrill of getting past a defender with a little bit of trickery or skill, the cry from our mates as we nutmeg someone in 5-a-side. And most of us have been on the wrong side of an amazing piece of footwork, too - when all you can do is smile and nod in appreciation (before plotting your destruction of the cheeky divil who went made you look like an eejit).
Chris Waddle had a phenomenal career, racking up over 60 caps for England. He is known for a couple of things: his mullet, his music career and more recently his brilliant rant after England got beat by Iceland at Euro 2016.
But what he was perhaps best known for was the incredible skill and trickery that he used to beat defenders and which got him the nickname 'Le Magicien' at Marseille.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC67tFYfmQs
Waddle was on Off the Ball tonight and went into really interesting detail on the art of beating a man one-on-one. We've broken down his advice into a few headings. Learn off, practice in back garden and implement on your soon-to-be-infuriated mates. You'll be a 5-a-side God in no time.
Wait until you get to within touching distance of the defender
I watch the TV now and I see guys doing stepovers from 5 yards away, and they do like 14 stepovers. And the guy's 5 yards away. No disrespect to the defender, he'd have to be a complete and utter mug to buy a dummy from 5 yards away.
You've got to be within a yard of a guy to make a trick work.
If you actually want to beat people, you've got to get these guys, nearly within touching distance with your arm out, to beat a guy.
If you've got a trick that works, don't be afraid to repeat it every time
The art of beating people is, you've got to have the trick, we know that. And it's got to work. Tricks work on Sunday morning level, the same trick works against whoever you want to name as a fullback. For me it was Maldini...they all bought the same tricks. If you do a trick very well, there's no way he's going to stop you.
People do fall for the same trick. You watch Lionel Messi, when he picks the ball up. In your mind, watching the game, you're going: 'I know what he's gonna do here.' Try and stop it.
Be aware of the defender's body position and movement
Once the ball came to me in a certain area of the field and I started getting momentum with the ball and looking at the fullback, and I'm looking at the fullback's position, I just used to think: 'He's toast.' I could just feel it, the way he was lined up, his body, everything, I just thought: 'He is going to buy this trick.'
Sometimes I didn't have to do a trick, I just had to push it. He came too close, got on his heels and I thought, 'Just push it.'
Certain players used to dive in...when you're walking towards them or jogging towards them with the ball they used to think, 'The element of surprise. I'm gonna jump in, dive in, and I'll rob it.'
But if you see it coming, once you move that ball in (and) he's committing his body in, he's gone. He's out of the game, he's complete history. Otherwise, you're running with the ball - stepovers can go either way, you can go left and go right or go left and go left.
Perfect the body swerve and you're onto a winner
In the body swerve, which is my favourite trick - it never, ever didn't work - if you can drop your shoulder and get everyone to think you're going right when you're going left. The amount of people I've went past over the years - even today, when I play - who say, 'I knew you were gonna do that.' They all say the same thing.
Waddle still plays football every Sunday and he told a fairly hilarious story about skinning a young lad aged about 18 inside and out for a whole game - while the unfortunate victim was berated by one of his chunky, older defensive colleagues who insisted Waddle only had one trick - and consoling his opponent at the end by reassuring him that "Maldini fell for the same trick".
It's a brilliant interview with Waddle. He talks about his music career (appearing on 'Top of the Pops' in 1987), Jack Charlton, getting the bus home with fans when he was a kid starting at Newcastle, his legendary status at Marseille and much more. Listen to the full thing here.
