USA U20

U-20's Advance To Semi-Final

The U-20 National Team gutted out a hot and humid night in Japan to defeat the North Korean side in the quarterfinal matchup.  By a 2-1 scoreline, in overtime, the US showed resolve despite conceding a tying goal in the second half that was a stunning breakdown in penalty area defending.  VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS HERE.  All's well that ends well, of course, and it was great to see two players not named Maya Hayes score, which will boost the team's confidence in the group's ability to create goals...and it might relieve the pressure Hayes feels to put the team on her back.

US U-20 Women

Pros V. Joes

...So To Speak

The US women's U-20 national team survived to advance to the quarterfinals early Monday morning in Japan.  The German team that stomped them 3-0 were far more polished, ruthless and effective as a group.  Steve Swanson, a terrific coach, was outcoached by his counterpart, Meinart.  Their quarterfinal game against Korea DPR will be on ESPN3.com at 6.20 AM (available around 9.30AM on replay) FRIDAY the 31st of August.  Bouncing back from a thrashing like the Germany game will not be easy under the pressure of an elimination-stage match.

Soccer News

Great Games To Watch

The US U-20 Women's National Team played China (in Japan...FIFA 2012 U-20 Women's World Cup) Thursday morning (replay available on ESPN3.com).  No score here, in case you want to see the match for yourself!  Maya Hayes is a name every fan of the game should become familiar with ASAP.

Thursday afternoon, on ESPN2 and ESPN3.com is the big one: Los Galacticos versus the Catalans, Real Madrid take on Barcelona in the Spanish Super Copa (last year's champion - Madrid - and last year's Copa Del Rey -Barcelona...a two-leg, home and home matchup).  Will Alex Song (acquired from Arsenal last week) factor for Barca?  Will Luka Modric (acquired from Tottenham last week) feature for Real Madrid?  Who will fire the first shot, Ronaldo or Messi?

Hope you'll be watching!

Technical Skill

Skill & Training

Gervinho played the full 90 versus Sunderland this weekend for Arsenal.  As a winger, he rightly led the team in "dribbles attempted" according to OPTA stats.  However, he also took the high water mark for the entire league stretching back to February, 2006.  How many times did he dribble with the ball?

20.............

In almost seven full seasons, the most times a player has run with the ball against an opponent (versus into open space) is 20.  Each of the 20 teams play 38 matches per season (EPL only, not FA Cup, Carling Cup or European tournaments) which gives us 4560 games over six full seasons.  410,400 minutes played by 11 (usually!) players: Four point five million man-minutes played.  20 dribbles leads the pack.  By comparison, Gervinho out-dribbled the entire Fulham side by more than double (9 attempted dribbles as a team) and the Cottagers were enjoying a 5-0 romp over Norwich (click the Sunderland/Arsenal link above, and scroll down past the bit on Gervinho to see the Fulham/Norwich numbers).

Now, those of us who believe that the best way to learn to take a player on is by playing more games...please.  The sheer ridiculousness of such a notion is laid bare here.  In 10 minutes, an organized coach can get 10 players 20 dribbles each, under pressure - to goal if you like!

Watch this clip of Christiano Ronaldo being tested in some creative ways on Sky Sports.  Imagine the number of times he has to be in these situations to establish the level of precision and mastery he demonstrates.  Sport skill, in the final analysis, comes from correct repetition...and it is both far easier and efficient to engineer training situations than to let the competition phase provide the volume needed.

Soccer On TV

Back To The Dark Ages

Remember when you couldn't see a soccer match in the States without a complex array of parking lot-sized satellite dishes?  EPL games were seen a day or a week after the fact, and forget ever seeing Champion's League (well, Cup Winners Cup, then) or La Liga, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, Serie A and so on.

Well, the last few gravy-laden years of soccer viewing in the U.S. led by Fox and ESPN (as well as "findable" Univision/Galavision/GolTV) are, evidently, over.

This article on ESPN's website hints at dark days ahead...football fans in the U.S. best prepare to get hooked up to every service they can find.  But it does auger well for our own MLS:  This webpage shows you how to get virtually every MLS game played in a season.

As the league has quietly made money and grown steadily over the past 10 years, perhaps this is what US domestic soccer needs most.  A complex, expensive and short-sighted TV arrangement for the European leagues.  And let's be honest, while the big clubs in England make a ton of money in the U.S., the rest of the would-be leagues never got a foothold.  If they end up on some Al-Jazeera second channel via dish only, well, they never will.  But the media blackout that would cause might encourage a few more spectators to start accessing MLS matches just because they are "around the corner."

Greetings PA!

A Quick (HA!) Introduction

On the Kennebec River in Bath, ME
With my main man, Sam.

I am excited to be on the Main Line, just north of Philly, and as August settles in and the football year begins, I wanted to put a little bit of a biography for the new pals I'll be making in PA.

The broad strokes are these:

Schools/Playing Days
I was born in Maine, lived near Bath (home of the finest American shipbuilding tradition; our museum proves it) in a town called Arrowsic (pop ~500).  I began playing soccer around age 5, and never looked back.  After a more-so-than-usual poor academic performance in my

EPL

Chelsea V. Manchester City: 2-3

Ivanovich & Co. Appear Little Changed

With his straight red card sending-off, Ivanovich (one of my least favorite players, I must fully disclose) contributed disproportionately to Chelsea's demise in the FA's Charity Shield match, a one-game meeting the week prior to EPL league play which matches up the FA Cup winner and the EPL champion.  There was, in addition to Ivanovich's studs-up infraction, very little that was charitable about the match.  A fistful of cards decorated the game, and Chelsea appeared petulant in their defending - though City put in their share of foolish/cynical challenges.

To let bygones be bygones, we might ascribe the reckless nature of the game to early season rustiness - but we certainly saw goals that bespoke mid-season accuracy!

The main storyline coming out of the match must be that Robert Di Matteo has effected less change than hoped over the off-season.  Once up 1-0 through Torres (more signs of life...) despite being pushed to the brink by the potent City attack, it looked like a classic 2011-12, second half of the season Chelsea performance; get beaten in every category save the one that matters!  But, a defense that could bend under City's attacks had to break once Ivanovich was sent off.  Despite a consolation goal, the 3-2 result was a safe one for City, and that Tevez scored a laser of a shot from the 18 ought to send chills down some spines in Old Trafford - recall Sir Alex mocking City, and Tevez last season.  Toure Yaya hitting a impressive shot as well from a higher position on the field will give opposing managers some things to think about as well...an offense that was impossible to stop last season appears to be even hotter to the touch this season.  Sleepless nights are ahead!

So, what will Chelsea give us this year?  Bend but don't break, or does Di Matteo have some grander plans in order?  It seems reasonable to think that the Chelsea brass and fans will demand more than the highly defensive (negative?) approach used last season.  Man City, for their part, have thrown the gauntlet down (though not so emphatically as to quash all discussion) and remain in championship form, evidently ready to repel all comers.

USA GOLD
Sweet Revenge

The US 4-4-2 (4-4-1-1?) against the Japanese 4-4-2.  Formations
mattered less than execution in this game- and maybe luck!

Thursday's women's gold medal game was a taught affair, despite a 7th minute goal by Carli Lloyd.  Some notes from the game:

Amy Leipelbet is the weak link.  Team USA (men's and women's) continues to struggle to find backs who can get it done at the top level.  Japan was wise, and so often a hair's breadth from successful, in their attention on the right side of the US defense.  Nearly every attack of any note was originated on Liepelbet's side.  Granted, she did enough to not give away the game, but it was touch and go the entire 90 minutes.

Rachel Buehler struggled as well, looking nervous and uncertain with the ball at her feet.  It was a blue collar performance, with

LMSC Opening Post

Quick Boys And Springboks Open 2012-13

A few training sessions in to the new season, and things are beginning to settle in nicely.

Key points have been to introduce the expectations for the players, mainly in terms of their conduct at training, and to establish a degree of comfort around the training ground for the players.  Uncertainty does not bring out the best in a kid, so the goal is mainly to be very clear about what is expected in terms of effort and behavior, what is meant by certain language, and the general pattern of training sessions.

Games V. Training

Fatigue, Effort And Skill
Why The Game Still Looks Good When The Players Are Tired

Coming off July's highly successful ID camp at Colgate one sequence of events has remained in the forefront of my mind.  In my quest to bring some degree of reason to the results-oriented approach to youth soccer, something stuck out at camp that lends some further weight to that argument.  The selection of the "all-star" groups was heavily lopsided.  Upon reflection, the schedule is a huge factor:  The campers checked in on Monday at midday.  They trained that afternoon, and began playing games after dinner.  All day Tuesday & Wednesday (including 6.30 AM "futures" matches...7 v. 7 all-star games, basically), then a final match Thursday AM wrapped the week up.