Tim Oswald and Rutgers-Camden 

Come Oh-So-Close

Other News & Thoughts Around The Soccer World

UEFA Champions League this week!  Matchups and game times here.  All on FoxSports or the FoxSoccer2Go app.

NCAA men's final four this weekend at PPL...hope they get the field shoveled off.  New Mexico, UVA, Maryland and Notre Dame all face off.  Only one cold-weather school in that bunch..

National Champs crowned all over the place last weekend:
NCAA Division I Women.....UCLA (first ever title)
NCAA Division III Women....William Smith

On the fella's side:
NCAA Division III Men....Messiah (10 for 10 in NCAA Finals) second place to local institution Rutgers-Camden.  Given Messiah's tendency to sub like it's hockey, one has to wonder if Rutgers-Camden might have had a different result if the NCAA/NSCAA and college coaches got their acts together and gave the final four teams more than 18 hours rest between the semis and the final.

Loras used 23 players (35 substitutions) in the semi to Rutgers-Camden's 16 (14 subs...double their total in the final, but with virtually no rest between games the staff has to balance between weakening the squad or being too tired to play the next day for a title!); Messiah used 18 players (17 substitutions) to Rutgers-Camden's 15 (6 substitutions) in the final.  Messiah used 19 subs against Williams in their semi-final, but that was a walk-away 4-0 blowout.

Loras and Messiah combined for 57 substitutions in the semi-finals in 2012, something I griped about just this past October.

Hey, it's within the rules, but it's not in the spirit of the game, and that should be changed.

Lastly, here's a great graphic of from whence goals come.  3 years of goals from the EPL (some 1100 in total) generates this image, courtesy of arcticicehockey.  The image is of the 18 yard area, dark red is more activity, blue is very little activity.  Clearly, virtually no goals are scored from outside 8 or 9 yards from goal:

Check It Out

The Rundown

Farewell To An Extraordinary Man...

OK...going to keep it short 'cause there's a lot going on!

• The USA is swimming in deep water!  Germany, Portugal and Ghana stand stoutly between the Nats and a berth in the round of 16.  The geeks at ESPN offer this assessment of the USA's chances (39% chance of advancing)...but they're cowards who hide behind their slide rules.  Klinnsmann will select the guys who actually know something about the game, and the real components that factor into a winning team.  (remember, the nerds who compile these stats have never played in anything resembling a World Cup!)
• RIP Madiba.  FIFA offers this remembrance.  On behalf of my family, my South African brother-in-law and my two nieces who will be raised as dual citizens...Mandela did many great things, but he also did small things, like make my sister's happiness possible.  Here's hoping we see more leaders of his ilk around the world.
• MLS Cup Final is Saturday (4pm EST, ESPN); stats preview here from whoscored.com, the MLS preview here.
• The NCAA championships conclude this weekend for the women's teams; see the bracket here.  Watch the games via ESPNU or the WatchESPN app/website.  UVA, Florida State, UCLA and Virginia Tech face off starting tonight at 5pm.
• Men's NCAA tournament rolls on this weekend as well.  Click here for the bracket; click on a given matchup to find a web-based video feed to watch.  Michigan State/Notre Dame and Maryland/Cal are both offering video - the other two matches may need a little more investigation.  The Terps v. Cal matchup is the one people have been praying for this year!
• For those who are planning on watching the men's final four next weekend at PPL park, some nice notes from the Union media gurus here.
• Premier League matches this weekend here...Jozy plays Spurs (did you know Gareth Bale and Clint Dempsey accounted for 40% of Tottenham's goals last year?) and both US goalkeepers, Guzan and Howard play Sunday.  Arsenal v. Everton is probably the game I'm looking forward to most...
• Keep track of all (most) of the Americans playing overseas - and who are all hoping for a call-up from Klinnsmann for June! - here, here, here, here, and here.  Pretty interesting reading, and usually some good video of players playing well!
• Here's a good story on Christie Mewis, former BC standout, current pro and USWNT player.  I coached against here at Colgate, and she is the real deal. 

PHEW...Have fun!

Mix and Aron

Who's Going To Brazil?

This Ball, For Starters:

The just-released Addidas "Brazuca," no doubt the most sinister sphere ever developed.
Every World Cup sees the GKs in particular lament the erratic and unpredictable flight of the new ball!

The US MNT is dormant until the winter camp in Jan/Feb when they'll have one last look at the player pool for Brazil.  Many, many players have been used since Klinnsmann took over the program, and guesses are flying as to who will be handed a ticket, and who'll be home watching like the rest of us!  Follow ESPN's "hot list" for some useful information on the topic.

Remember the FIFA 2014 World Cup Brazil draw is THIS FRIDAY, ON ESPN2.  Find out if the US can avoid a/the "group of death!"

And here's a couple persuasive arguments for being selected to the roster:

Aron Johannsson does it again:
http://espnfc.com/video/espnfc/video/_/id/1627536?cc=5901

Mix Diskerud is warming up...can he keep it up and get on the roster for Brazil?
http://espnfc.com/video/espnfc/video/_/id/1627175?cc=5901

Jermaine Jones is a virtual lock for selection, but he isn't letting up...check out his latest Bundesliga effort:

Quick Boys

Post-Thanksgiving Classic Thoughts

A balmy weekend saw some really good performances from the team, and a solid 2-2 record.  Probably the most gratifying of the games was a solid 2-0 win over our old nemeses "Santos" (with great admiration from all for Evan's willingness to spell Henry "Popsicle" Cooke for a few minutes, during which small window of time his teammates evidently thought it would be hilarious to concede a PK for Evan to handle.  While the Santos shooter missed, I must point out that Evan went the right way, and positioned himself to save even if the ball had been on target.

Another point worth reflecting on was how easily the team transitioned from the past few weeks of training inside with a futsal ball to playing 11-a-side on grass.  That's really not easy- we go to great lengths at the college level to ensure that we train on the surface most like the matchday one.  The Quick Boys looked like they'd been on grass all month.  I was legitimately worried ahead of the 1776 game about this; it was probably the only thing that really worried me about the weekend.

ACC Semis

Terps Take What They're Given

Byline Service Wins ACC Semi-Final

Clemson lost a narrow semi-final to Maryland on a goal that was so very close to prevented.  A tough goal to defend, for sure, but a little more composure might have generated a save that defines a season. Interestingly, Maryland turned around 48 hours later and scored on a byline service against UVA to win the ACC tournament title.  Interesting pattern.

Here's the breakdown in still images, the pass arriving to the shooter (yellow arrow below) by a byline cross from the shooter's right and a knockdown by a defender at the top of the 6 :

ACC Championship Goal

Byline Service Rears Its Head; 

UVA Heartbroken In ACC Final

Calle Brown, the 6' 5" GK for the University of Virginia, played small with 90 seconds to play in the ACC final against University of Maryland, and paid a steep price.  The trouble with the details that prove so often to be a team's downfall is that they require great attention, often being downright counter-intuitive actions.  It's not enough to simply intellectually understand the detail...that minute point has to be so thoroughly trained that it's a thought-less action, an instinct.  In the pressure of the moment, it would appear Brown suffered some degree of paralysis by analysis and got himself stuck in an untenable situation.  That the play resulted in an own-goal only makes the breakdown that much harder to watch:

Aron Johannsson

MNT Newbie Johannsson Galvanizes 

USA's Brazil Dream

So far this season, Johannsson has played in 11 games, scored 9 and picked up 2 assists.  Whoa.

Follow this link (courtesy of ESPNFC) to see some clips of the 23 year old AZ Alkmar scoring sensation, and see what lethal penalty area movement looks like:

http://espnfc.com/video/espnfc/video/_/id/1614713/league/latest?cc=5901

Here's the standard YouTube glorification video from last season:

Talent Evaluation - Reprint

How Good Is Your Kid, Really?
Depends On Who's Watching...

Since Jeremy Lin (whose brother plays hoops at Hamilton College) hit the big time with the Knicks, lots has been discussed about talent, and the identification of said characteristic.  My favorite article is not (another) saccarine rags-to-riches tale of woe and hard work, rewarded and happily ever after, etc. Rather, it was this article (thanks to my big sis for passing it on) from Wired.  Yup, Wired magazine.

Lehrer raises a great point about talent identification, and how Lin is a resounding example (though hardly the only one) of how absolutely lousy front office guys are at drafting players and building teams.  Then Lehrer shows a result from a Yale paper indicating NFL draft decisions are "right" 52% of the time (so for all the combine results, scouting and hyperbole, guys pan out at the rate one would expect from a coin flip.  Not a great validation of NFL front office track records.) Watch the Sloan School of Business (MIT) video to the same effect here from their wonderful annual sports analytics conference.  Or Bloomberg's shorter version here.  Seriously, for all the evaluating the pro clubs do, they really ought to do better, oughtn't they?

Far more disturbingly, especially as you read below about the French National Team, is the notion of youth coaches (who know far, far, far less than GMs/coaches at the top levels) picking teams!  Barcelona are

Some Good News

Out And About In PA

Some cool soccer-related stuff from our own backyard as of late.  Good to see some sincere and truly sporting behavior on the fields.

Senior day at Haverford College for the women's program saw a nice gesture.  Ursinus cooperated in allowing a GK who had ended her career through injury to step into the net at the opening kickoff with her fellow seniors, make a "save" and play the ball back for Ursinus to put into touch, thereby allowing the healthy current starter to step onto the field and replace her.  One last touch for a player whose career had ended too soon.  Classy stuff.

The Special Olympics visited Villanova on November 1-2-3, and what a show they put on!  I caught some soccer (of course) peeked in at the volleyball games, wandered through the Olympic Village and watched the young athletes (kids under 9, I believe; too young for the formal teams/competitions) doing activities at the 'Nova "Oreo" sculpture.  Sam and Heather and I were impressed with the energy and effort, the quality of the overall organization (it must have felt great to be a participant, everything looked like a big-deal event) and the athletes themselves.  Everyone was having a great time.  I shot a little video of the soccer:

Concussions

Ask The Question No One Wants To Ask

Over the weekend, Tottenham GK Hugo Lloris was unlucky in a fairly common play involving Romelu Lukaku of Everton:

Lloris was knocked out cold, and it took some minutes for his muddled brain to clear enough for him to get back on the field.  ESPNFC.com had a good article on it, as Tottenham and AVB in particular took some heat over the incident.

As the nephew of a woman who suffered a severe head injury in the aftermath of a car accident (once safely in the ICU, the power was lost to her respirator, emergency generators failed to come on and staff didn't/couldn't provide timely enough help) I don't see any good news in the world of concussion research.  Not that the causes are the same (though it's a bit tough to separate the accident trauma from the respirator failure...) but the end result sure is.  Brain injury is a life-altering event for everyone around the injured person.  Taylor Twellman is quoted in the SI piece as saying that this is the one common injury that can take away your life...and he's right.  My grandparents spent the last 25 years of their lives caring for her 24/7.  My parents and sister and I spent every holiday at home because my aunt was all but incapable of travel, and even now my parents don't spend holidays away despite their grandkids living in Boston and Philly.  Not to ask for pity, it simply is what it is, but that injury has had a ripple effect unlike any torn ACL or broken bone through four generations of a family.  Brain injury is terrifying.

This article on SI.com's planet futbol describes the scene around Lloris that day, and offers some comparative examples from recent EPL action.  It editorializes that the EPL is playing ostrich, and taking risks with player's livelihoods and lives. 

Two dads who actually had their kids' best interests in mind show that success can be had without overdoing things...see if you recognize these names: Tom Brady, Sr. & Archie Manning.  Not only did these guys not rush their rather successful sons into early-stage competitive situations, they actually put the physical well-being of the kid first.  Read a nice blurb on how to be a good dad here.  Here's some concussion information that might reinforce what these two guys just intuitively sorted out 30 years ago (click here) - thanks to John Ulrich for passing that article on.

What we don't know about TBI, concussions, repetitive injury and the healing process is staggering.  The past few years have shown us that we know little, like shining a small flashlight in a giant cavern- we know the field goes well beyond our best attempt to bring light to it.  I don't know where this will all end up...the news that no helmet offers any real help in preventing concussions is discouraging enough.  But I'd offer this; nothing nothing nothing is worth risking damage to a person's brain.  

Ibra Bomb

Champions League Goal Of The Week

Ahead of next week's resumption of the Champions League, it's worth using recent history as a teaser for the next round of matches.  Ibrahimovic just keeps coming up with wild performances, making PSG must-see TV if for no other reason than his ability to stun.  Here's the proof.

At 72 miles an hour, this missile might have had NORAD on high alert:

This guy just keeps scoring some of the most remarkable goals.  Remember this one (skip to the 8 minute mark)? : 

Quick Boys Video/Big 5 Table Analysis

Quick Boys 4-0 V. Phoenixville

In the penultimate DELCO regular season match at Phoenixville, the QBs avoided the trap game after a good 2-0 home win over Harford on Saturday and put in a comprehensive performance on Sunday.  Mr. Joseph shot a little video which captures beautifully some of the themes the team was discussing throughout the match.

First, a couple screen grabs from the counter attack goal we scored in the second period (the 57 second mark of the video below).  This particular play highlights a couple of concepts we've been harping on all year.  First, good defending, with decent team shape.  It's our winger, Miles (with the ball in the still below) who makes the interception (any time our midfield can shield the back four they get a gold star), then makes a quick move to escape the pressure and find a passing lane to Wyatt.  Turnover- play it immediately to any teammate...something I constantly ask the boys to do.

Go Endline, Young Man

Byline Service Handcuffs Even The Best

If an attacker can't score, or pass to a teammate who can shoot, a fantastic plan B is to attack the endline at a point as close to the goal as possible.  The USMNT had a plus-7 goal differential in the Hexagonal stage of World Cup qualifying, but even their excellent defense was breached by Panama (photos and video below); we see Tim Krul, a long-serving EPL GK with a very good record beaten by the remarkable partnership of Suarez and Sturridge (being called the "SAS" now, a reference to both the Special Air Service, the British spec ops guys and the former partnership of Chris Sutton and Alan Shearer at Blackburn back in the day); and we see Hugo Lloris gamble and win against Finland in a qualifying game.

College Critique

Why Possession Can't Be A Priority 
In College Soccer

  Pragmatism and the NCAA hobble the game

While most of the world is steadily moving toward an acceptance of highly skilled players at all 11 positions who can pass and retain possession, the United States lags behind.  Here, a quick case study in the most significant factors at the college level holding the game back.

It's worth noting that the rules of the game (FIFA has laws - the NCAA has rules and as such operates as a wild west of football unrelated to the rest of the world's game) are ironically written by the coaches.  In an effort to aid and abet the sham of college amateurism and the cartel of the NCAA, the coaches of the game have hidden behind the participation argument and completely removed any need for technical development of players.  The NCAA would have people believe that liberal substitution rules allow more players to "participate."  This, of course, serves only to further reinforce the notion that a player who doesn't get on the field is of no value, and can gain nothing from being a team member.  Life is hard, sometimes a player isn't good enough to warrant getting in the game.  A better lesson than encouraging participation by under qualified athletes might be: work harder, get smarter and be a better player or manage the consequences.

Columbus Day Weekend Notes

Weekend Thoughts

As much as I disparage tournaments, I must step away from my curmudgeonly side this week and give credit where it is due.  The Springboks, who are on a bit of a rough streak in PAGS, played a nice semi-local tournament in Allentown over the weekend and several benefits were clear.

First, based on some conversations with parents, here's a glimpse of a couple examples of defensive work from the last couple days of pro matches which show the themes my teams are constantly being harped on about.

First, from Germany's 3-0 win over The Republic of Ireland, we see the Irish defending deep, very low pressure, in two banks of four, with one striker withdrawn (circled) to provide an outlet upon repossessing the ball.  The distance between the back line and the four midfielders is quite small, making it very difficult for the Germans to pass or dribble through - and any long pass, either lofted or played between defenders, ought to be simple for the GK to pick up.  This is a good example of a "short" team...they aren't particularly "tight" meaning close together left to right.  For that example, we'll look at the next two screen grabs from Sunday's Portland/Seattle match in MLS.

Stats Analysis - as of Oct. 8th

Why Details Matter

Wait, that can't be right...

This fall has seen one of the most confounding statistical train wrecks I've ever seen, let alone been a party to.

Haverford College has seen it's men's soccer program play it's way to a solid 7-3 record, which is nice.  But at 2-2 in Centennial Conference play, the Fords sit precariously at 6th place of ten, with only the top 5 advancing to the conference tournament (4 & 5 play off mid-week to see who advances as the 4th and final semi-finalist on the weekend).

While the offense is doing alright (2.2 goals per game) it is on the other end that the Fords are falling short, furthermore, they fall short in an astounding fashion:

This is the Fords' save percentage over the 10 games; 20 saves, 13 goals.  60 % save percentage. 

LMSC College Prep Night

Hit The Books, Kid

Why The College Scholarship Is A Pipe Dream

Squeaky wheels get the grease.  Everyone lauds the kid who grows up in, say, Philly, and stars for LMSC and Delco, then goes Division I at Colgate where he plays for a semester, drops out and signs with the Union.  Awesome story.  Really nice young man with a ton of talent.  And a rare thing.

I'm a dad, I get it.  Sam runs around with a soccer ball, and I wonder...But then I watch how he asks the dog, or his mom, or me to kick with him, how he giggles when he makes a "save" (rolls on the carpet) or laughs when he throws the ball up and it hits him on the head (what can I say, he's clearly my son...)  In some regard, when creating a great soccer environment for kids, we have to accept the list of things we can't control.  And in terms of the variables that lead to a Division I or professional career, that's just about everything.  To say nothing of the sheer numbers; 99.5 per cent of kids are finishing their career at DIII or lower.  The real question is how to make club and youth programs effective at both advancing the individual player's abilities and provide a fun and fulfilling environment.

Anyway, if your kid has some higher-level aspirations, encourage him or her.  Support those goals.  But be a responsible parent and understand the long odds.  Richard Williams and Earl Woods are grinding their teeth right now - well, Williams is, anyway.  There're some specifics here that might help any soccer parent manage expectations a little bit, as well as some food for thought on the value (cold, hard cash value) of youth soccer.

"Effective" Time

90 Minute Game?
Understanding The Game At A Deeper Level

One of the stats sites I visit offers this glimpse into the J-League (Japan's top league), and how much time the ball is actually in play - much of the beautiful game is really the ball being stood over by a player about to take a free kick, or throw in or other while some slob rolls around on the ground in agony.

Here's the link (click here) for the soccermetrics post...but essentially it correlates strongly to some posts in this space: click here to see what my numbers showed.

Haverford V. Arcadia Recap

Fords Go Left For The Win

Turnover Data Reveal The Price Of Youth

In a return visit to the site of 2012's NCAA first and second round tournament games for the Fords, the result was more definitive than the taut 2-2 draw and PK shootout win over Wesleyan in the first round, or the tough loss to Stevens Tech in the second!  It was the noticeable lack of success on the right side of the Fords' attack and joy found on the left that defined the match.

Arcadia were forced to use a reserve right back (3 Games Played, 1 Start and only 3 appearances as a freshman for 45 minutes total time in 2013) as well as a inconsistent starter at right center back (4 GP & 3 S) and while there are many reasons this can disrupt a defense, the outcome was that Haverford enjoyed more success on their left side than the right.  That Whittle was playing behind a freshman winger, Herrera (9 starts in 9 games) may have contributed; too few freshmen arrive at the college level with a real understanding of the defensive obligations.  By contrast the 9GP/9S left center back and left back are sophomore and junior, and the left mid is a senior with 9GP/8S.

To illustrate the point, the image below shows Haverford's turnovers and goals:

Springboks Week 2

There's A Silver Lining Here Somewhere

A couple rough results over the weekend to be sure.  But, as it would be entirely inappropriate (not to mention counterproductive) to play the blame game, we'll look at a few things that offer some positives.

Firstly, we played the only three teams who have yet to lose.  So while losing games is lousy, and certainly when conceding so many goals, the quality of the opposition appears confirmed:

Quick Boys Week 3

QB's Score 4, Win 3-1?

Yet another interesting match with WCUSC for the Quick Boys.

A few individual performances worth noting...Henry shut down three or four 1v1 breakaways (even more interesting because we had been talking about them all week since Ukis scored their breakaway against us, and even did a 20 minute segment on Thursday where the boys helped me get Henry some reps in those situations) and forced another one well wide, allowing Connor to hustle back and clear the ball from the goal line in the second period.  What I really like about Henry's play on Saturday?  The fact that he asked to play more balls short when distributing...not many GKs enjoy having the ball close to their frame.

Haverford/Rosemont

Turnovers

Haverford Hosts Rosemont, Wins The Lancaster Avenue Derby

Box score and story here.
A quick glimpse into the data-driven approach, and what a 5-0 win looks like:

Springbok's Week 1

Rocky Start

West Mont brought industry and effort to the match this weekend, and should be given credit for the win.

As the center official put it to me after the game, we played more soccer than West Mont, but to our own disservice.  He asked, specifically, why we didn't have Olivia take the goal kicks...before I address that, consider that a comment was made in the team huddle that a Springbok wanted to play on the side away from the parents because it's so onerous having to listen to the negativity coming from the sideline.  Not in so many words, of course, but that's the gist of it.

Parents...grow up, or hush up.

Quick Boys Week 2

Points Dropped Versus A Point Gained

A sharp start to the match with Ukrainians boded well, scoring a good goal inside the first 5 minutes...a counter attack goal the other way in the first half tightened the match up.  In the end, we'll certainly feel that with a lead, a missed PK, and a very good second half, we dropped two points rather than winning one.  But that's football and a hard lesson learned in defending a lead.

The First Half

Both teams defended very well- credit to the Uki side for the job they do as a team, their shape was very good and they pressured the ball nicely.  As both teams valued defending, the game was very compact and narrow.  For our part, in the first period, spectators may have noticed a couple players called toward our bench for a quick word.  Because of the ball pressure, and lack of space in the middle of the game, I was asking the midfielders to find longer passes, even just dumping the ball in behind the Uki back 4 to stretch the game out and pin the opponent a bit deeper.  Two primary obstacles befell us at this point:

Firstly, while the Quick Boys are fine players, we're a little, well, little.  The guys just don't have enough strength to hit 40 or 50 yard balls, especially out of a tight space.  In time, they'll all become strong enough, but at this point, we'll just have to make do!

Secondly, the Uki boys ran very hard at the ball, but not as individuals as most teams do.  They pressured the ball as a group and worked very hard to clog up our passing options.  As a result, the QB's found the game a bit disjointed, and the attacks we did muster up were lone ranger deals; not nearly enough support!

What I Did Last Summer

Hiatus Over

Cooled my jets a little back back in July and then had a hard time getting back to writing at the end of the summer...new home, some vacation time, pre-season and so on made it tough to carve out time to get on the blog.  But things are settling back into the more normative routine, and it's time to resume regular posting.

Anyway, to keep it light in the early going, some bullet points from around the soccer world, both locally and internationally.  Lots of the heavier soap-box stuff in the pipeline, too.

• USA hosts Mexico in Ohio tonight at 8pm in a crucial MNT World Cup qualifier.  Two regional heavyweights stunned last week, and about a million story lines within the matchup; not the least of which includes the firing of the Mexican boss on Saturday.
• Gotta brag on my boys a little; Haverford was ranked #14 nationally last week after a 2-0 opening weekend...stumbled at home to Kean (pronounced, by the way, "Cain") on Sunday and are no longer so honored.  Fun while it lasted.  Still, 3-1 to open the year hints at much higher expectations than ever at Haverford.
• Quick Boys (LMSC U-13s) took a nice road win at the USTC over Lionville, 2-0.  The scoreline flatters though, as the second came mere seconds from the final whistle.  Regardless, a good shutout to open the fall.  Evan and Danyal scoring, Wyatt assisting on Evan's while Danyal's was a terrific "put-back" of a clearance, chipping the GK cleverly.
• Bob Bradley, former USMNT coach, is tearing it up with the Egyptian MNT, on the verge of qualifying for the World Cup...great documentary trailer- presumably, once they qualify, and the World Cup has passed, we'll see the finished product. 
• ESPN is carrying good college matches (men's and women's) Kansas and San Diego Friday (women's) and Clemson v. NC State Saturday (men's)
• Haverford hosts Rosemont in a cross-Lancaster Ave. derby on Thursday at 4.30PM on Walton Field.

Quick Boys

Looking Ahead To 2013-14 

Coming out of the rather enjoyable GTT tournament at the terrific Lawrenceville School's facilities the Quick Boys squad began to emerge in a tangible way from the fog of the post-tryout season.

Without too much preamble, some notes from the weekend's experiment:

• Clearly, the size of the field is a significant factor.  All the boys will need to attend to their ability to play passes of 20 yards or more on the ground, and drive balls 35 yards or so in the air.  While the boys looked to play many good passes over the weekend, far too many were left short, and a substantial number of those turned into the counter attacks which doomed our results.
• Defending was good in many ways.  Mainly, while we did concede far more than we'd like, given that the worst break downs came on set pieces and counters, the team defending was pretty good.  Any time a team tried to pass or dribble through the side, they found three or more QBs in close proximity.   As the back four become more adept at snuffing out counters, this bodes well for the team.
• The weekend provided confirmation that the group we have contains several solid fullback options, all of whom have the ability to play high up the field and contribute offensively.  More on this in a bit...
• Our wingers played well, and attacked with determination.  When they don't have the ball, however, we'll need to see harder running, more determined running.  More on this in a bit...
• The holding midfielders linked the team nicely, but found the bigger and faster opponents very difficult to manage when seeking space (time) to play passes.  They need to use the lateral pass to stretch out the defense in order to find the space necessary to play more attacking balls...longer, forward passes require more time to prepare, more time to find the target, and more time to evaluate the positions of the defenders.
• We're not a big team.  You may have noticed.  Defending wide areas effectively will be a key for this group.  If a team is swinging in cross after cross, we'll struggle.  
• The team can effectively (and with no real effort at refining the strategy in training...yet) hold a high back line, while simultaneously defending in a low pressure fashion.  More on this in a bit.

The Back 3

Napoli's Back 3:

Invite, Exploit, Opponent's Possession

They might use a back three, but Chelsea is outnumbered 8 to 5 in this attack.
Result- goal kick for Napoli.

 Jonathon Wilson discussed the use of the back 3 in Italian soccer (he claims 11 of 20 Serie A clubs use a back 3 regularly) and offers a great analysis of how Napoli can play with three in the back, yet not seek to dominate possession.  In 2012, with the loss of Dzeko & Lavezzi, it will be interesting to see if Napoli go the same route...(ED. Note, 6/30/13: they did.)

Valeriy Lobanovsky

Further Shame Of The Iron Curtain
Lobanovsky's "Peculiarity" Obscured

The collective, Comrade, is the secret...
Valeriy Lobanovsky

The horrors of Eastern European Post-Revolution history are legion.  But as a far-off disaster like the Tsunami of 2010 causes us relatively little pause, whereas the unexpected break-up of a romantic relationship causes weeks and months of disrupted behavior, small things give us reason to consider further the costs of the Communist experiment.

Valeriy Lobanovsky, along with Victor Maslov, revolutionized football in the Ukraine and is credited in some circles (most notably by Jonathon Wilson of The Guardian Newspaper; read his Inverting the Pyramid for a comprehensive history of the tactical evolution of the game....not nearly as dry as that sentence makes it sound) with establishing some of the very earliest statistic and scientific approaches to the game.

Football became for him a system of 22 elements – two sub-systems of 11 elements – moving within a defined area (the pitch) and subject to a series of restrictions (the laws of the game). If the two sub-systems were equal, the outcome would be a draw. If one were stronger, they would win. The aspect that Lobanovskyi found most fascinating was that the sub-systems were subject to a peculiarity: the efficiency of the sub-system was greater than the sum of the efficiencies of the elements that comprise it. That, as Lobanovskyi saw it, meant football was ripe for the application of the cybernetic techniques being taught at the Polytechnic Institute. Football, he concluded, was less about individuals than about coalitions and the connections between them. 

(Emphasis added, quote taken from Jonathon Wilson via The Guardian Newspaper)

Common GK Question

Manuel Neuer's Terrible Hands

A great question the other day from a dad of an LMSC GK after training.  After watching this video, he noted that Neuer didn't catch too many of the balls launched at his goal:

So are we to conclude Neuer is somehow technically deficient?  

USA Top The Hex

Odds 'N' Ends

Lots to cover, so bullet points it is!

1. USA tops the Hexagonal after 5 games.  Had the PK been given, or Beasley and Dempsey's woodwork efforts gone in, or Bradley not hit Dempsey, the US would have been the only team thus far through some 15 games or so to score 3 goals in a match.  Close but not quite, but at least we aren't drawing Costa Rica at home 0-0, in one of the most intimidating venues in football (yeah, Mexico, I'm looking at you - Azteca?  More like snooze-teca)
2. Some good points on the USA's win from MLSSOCCER.com.  Besler and Gonzalez appear to be firming up their partnership; losing Beasley for next week's Honduras match in Rio Tinto will make the back four shuffle somewhat.  The mothership's WCQ page pretty much tells the whole story.
3. Jozy Altidore: 90 professional goals for club and country (23 years old) with more than thirty of those goals coming in the past 10 months.  Uh-oh...someone's heating up?  Now if only Landon will get off his tush and join the fun.
4. 30 seconds of genius by Wesley Sneijder of the Netherlands against China:
5. Less brilliant by Javier Mascherano, kicking a medical staffer as he's carted off the field:
Mascherano expulsado by hoyno255
6. Here's one way to stop Messi...put him in jail.
7. The game says goodbye to a big name, perhaps made large for the wrong reasons as Michael Cox points out via ESPNFC.
8. The World Cup in Qatar (2022) might be the most ludicrous sporting even plan ever...or the coolest, if they really can pull off stuff like this.
9. An amazing 2-second, 3-pass goal by Benfica of Portugal:

Wingers & Decision-Making

Connecting Talent To Team

Wide players tend to carry the load of 1v1 attacking.  Suarez, Ribery, Bale, Ronaldo, Di Maria and Nani all come to mind, and are all clearly dangerous players with the ball at their feet.  However, a recent post on Whoscored.com shows us who is actually effective at dribbling (Ribery) and who is perhaps less circumspect in their application of the skill (Suarez).  Read the article here.

Holding Midfield Par Exellence

U! S! A!

Good Win Over Jamaica & Bradley's Decision-Making

Michael Bradley turned in a terrific performance for the US MNT against Jamaica in the US's crucial and dramatic win.  While hipster football "fans" will continue to degrade the US (it's only Jamaica, they'll say, or, Germany were badly shorthanded...) and wear Spain jerseys in public, real Americans will take heart from a gritty performance, and admire the job done by Bradley.  90% of his passes were completed, and the only time he lost the ball he did so seeking to play the team forward, on long attacking passes.  Holding midfielders take note.  And wide defenders, recall that the right back, Evans, scored the game winner on a play from the left side of the field.

Here are the 61 complete passes he played:

...And here are the 7 incomplete passes- all lost in the Jamaica half, all forward passes:

Big Things Come In Small Packages

Here's a 5' 1" dynamo that proves it's the willingness to just try something that makes all the difference.  Spontaneous, optimistic and beautifully executed, this is a goal young women should all hope to emulate:

Lisa De Vanna

Soccer player

Lisa Marie De Vanna is an Australian football forward. She is currently playing for Sky Blue FC in the National Women's Soccer League and is a member of the Australian National Team. Wikipedia

Born: November 14, 1984 (age 28), Perth, Australia Height: 5' 1" (1.56 m)

This Is Not Innate

The LMSC GK Corps has spent substantial parts of the past couple training sessions working on physical courage.  Contrary to the conventional wisdom, we are not born with courage; we learn it.  Are there genetic traits that make it easier for some to stand tall and take a hit?  Of course.  But any determined person can find the grit within themselves to make a tough play. 

Roman Weidenfeller of Borussia Dortmund shows the results of being trained to be brave in the image below.  Some find this funny.  Some think it's nuts.  GKs watch and think, good boy, you closed down the shooter and got close, your hands are below your knees as the ball is about to be struck, weight is on the front half of your feet, movement is forward, but controlled, and you didn't flinch until after the ball hit you.  And he stays on his feet; he knows that ball won't go far, and he's going to need to make a second play.  

How did Weidenfeller get here?  Thousands of repetitions of close-in saves.  Being put in situations very much like this in training over and over and over.  If you threw a rock at him from this distance, he'd duck like any normal person; through training he's learned that on the pitch, the ball is not to be feared (though this certainly stung a little) and his job is to cowboy up and take the hit.  The context, the training, and the faith in his skills and technique let him make this save...in any other environment, his "instincts" will be just like yours and mine.

Goal Scoring

A Gift From The Universe...Or Geographic Superiority?

Great Goal Scorers Aren't Born; They Are Well-Located

Mark Taylor presents a nice statistical representation of the difficulties of scoring goals when he compares direct free kicks to open play chances.  Given that a direct kick must be taken 18 or more yards from goal, and five years of EPL data show that teams convert those chances at about a 7-8% clip (he offers that the data set is so small we need another 5 years of data from the teams in question: all have been in the EPL since 2008) Taylor submits that the analogue in open play is a scoring chance within an arc extending out to 16 yards from the center of the goal.

Seems fairly intuitive.

However, as stat nerds scramble to say "duh," (eye-rolling optional) think about what that says about chances from inside 16 yards.  A team needs to take about 14 and a half shots inside that range to get a goal.

Fun & Interesting

Odds 'n' ends from the soccer world:

Men's National Team Friendlies this week:

USA v Belgium May 29th, 8pm on ESPN
USA v Germany June 2nd, 2pm on ESPN

Women's National Team v Canada 4.30pm on ESPNnews June 2nd.

BeIn Sport is carrying the Men's U-20 National Team at the Toloun Tournament in France, their final tune-up ahead of the U-20 FIFA World Cup in Turkey in 2013.

Bayern Munich play their final match of the year against Stuttgart in the DFB Pokal, the German Cup.  ESPN3 will carry the match at 1pm on the 1st of June.

3-Goal Defending (GKs)

The loneliest GK on Earth...

3-Goal / Endline Cross Scenarios

Goalkeeping Tactics - Video & Stills

If only attackers played some in the goal.  They would know the extraordinary pressure attacking the endline puts on a GK, and the defenders trying to cover for him/her.  Yet another instance where position-specification harms the game.  But let's do keep winning those meaningless tournaments, youth coaches - and keep demanding those results, parents!  Short term success is always preferred.

Here we see two excellent goalkeepers victimized by endline crosses, despite playing the situations pretty well.  Bearing in mind the speed at which the EPL and Bundesliga sides featured play (and if you don't watch soccer live, be it Villanova here on the Main Line, or Reading United AC, or the Union, you truly don't know) slight errors, while not forgivable, are a reality.

Decision Making In Football

Football Math
Does Decision-Making Trump All Other Skills & Characteristics?

"L'architetto"
Andrea Pirlo

"It's a simple game," an old coach once told me, "made complicated by the idiots who play it."

I suspect he was speaking about me, directly, but one can see his point across the whole of the game (I hope...)

Given that human performance has it's limits, speed, size, strength and so on are capped by the physics of the human frame, is it any surprise to say that the brain offers the greatest source of potential?  Given that the four men pictured in this post are all 5' 10" or shorter (5' 6" - Britton; 5' 9" - Modric; 5' 7" - Xavi) and none are possessed of the freakish athleticism of say a Bale or a Ronaldo, it would seem we're on to something.  Granted, there is a minimum standard of athleticism, and technical skill, but it's evident that the greats are distinguished by their choices as much as the execution of those options.

I wondered how difficult, really, is the decision-making component of this game?  11 players, one ball, one goal...

Combination Play

Chelsea Prove The Point

A couple themes that have been steady companions this spring with the LMSC teams:

1. Limit turnovers in our half
2. Use give and go, 1-2s, wall passes, whatever you want to call them often
3. Once a pass is played, the passer should move to offer to have the ball back
4. If an attacker can't get to goal with the ball, get as close to goal along the goal line as possible

It's not to say that sessions have been built around these notions (though the 1-2 thing it certainly is) but that they are coaching points I make often in a variety of settings.  Here, in a single attack, we see Aston Villa lose the game in the 88th minute to Chelsea's ability to take advantage of not one but two balls lost in the AVFC half, use two kinds of combinations to get behind the defense, and a "short cross" to create the goal.

The play in pictures after the jump:

Brad Guzan

America's Latest GK Success Story

While the uniformed bandwagon jumpers cling to the glories of the big spenders, true fans of the game, especially those who support American soccer (seriously...why do I have to go to training sessions and look at kids with other nation's jerseys?  Have we no pride?!) and the American players who are striving to make it in the top leagues around the world are talking about the recent announcement of Brad Guzan as the Aston Villa Player's Player of the Year and Supporter's Player of the Year awards (read the AVFC.co.uk press release here).

Here's a small homage to his outstanding season...and bear in mind that AVFC scored 45 so far this season, conceded 67 (a minus-22 goal differential) and still they voted Guzan the best in the team...how much impact must he have to be seen as so crucial to the squad despite such terrible numbers?

CLICK HERE

(some bureaucrat thinks I might make a ton of cash on embedding a YouTube video on my blog)

Enjoying The Supernova

Bayern Munich Get Some More Love

Lots of talk about defending lately, and about Bayern, but why not, with the Bayern Munich squad's domination of all comers this season!  Here's a nice look at how careful Bayern are with the ball, courtesy of OPTA Stats lovely "StatsZone" app (in case any armchair analysts want to get in on the fun).

When I coach my kids, it's a fine line between playing attractive football (keep it on the carpet, use skill and thought to get a result rather than brute athleticism and, shall we say, more direct methods of advancing the ball?) and being careless about doing ourselves more harm than good.  One topic that comes up a lot as I try to teach mastery of the very grey area of risk V. reward, is in the geographical sense; turnovers in our own half of the pitch.

Great teams, no matter their style of play, don't lose the ball in their half.  It's simply too easy for an opponent to counter attack when the distance to goal is less than 60 yards.  Add to that that virtually every offensive shape requires a team to space themselves more widely than when defending, and it's no surprise that this type of turnover can be particularly painful.

Here is Bayern Munich's first 32 games of the year, with turnovers in their half in blue, and turnovers in the opponent's half in red:

Ricardo Portillo

I'd Rather Lose Than Act Like You

In Memory, And In Honor, Of Ricardo Portillo

Fox News, among pretty much every other news outlet covered the story of Utah referee Ricardo Portillo, who passed away Saturday after being punched by a 17 year old GK during a game a week prior.

(Story here)

After the behavior of the Quick Boys and the spectators at the State Cup Final on Saturday, and the home fans at the Springbok's away game on Sunday, this news was particularly sobering to me.  I'm not going to get on my high horse for too long here, but for whatever impact it will have, I offer this thought.

Why do we insist on placing such importance on such an arbitrary activity?  Sure, anyone with half a brain will say "I know it's only a game...I want my kid to learn teamwork, and leadership...blah blah blah"  but over and over I hear teenage refs (Saturday) being sworn at "Jesus Christ, a foul is a foul" was one particularly enlightened mother's appeal, if memory serves; the coach of the opposing team subjected to cursing and accusations of dirty play (mind you, Steve is a pal of mine who teaches the game in a very similar way to me, so accusing him is accusing me, to say nothing of essentially attacking a person with whom I have a personal and professional relationship with based on mutual respect).  On Sunday I was much prouder of the LMSC players and families, as we all watched a Concord parent lose his mind over a non-call on a passback situation & an advantage call in their favor (the ref, to be fair, also got pretty heated...but we just won't help each other get out of this cycle, will we?) and then continue to spend the remainder of the game baiting the ref with foolish comments.

Knowing the "right" thing to say is not sufficient.

Just to be clear, whatever respect I have earned in the short time I've spent in the Philly area, I detest and am ashamed of those among us who act in anything other than a respectful and courteous manner toward all involved with a game.  I don't give a rat's ass what your bank account says, what car you drive, how many people you spend bossing around 9-5, or what you see when you look in the mirror each day, you're name is mud in my book if you won't conduct yourself with class.

I love this game more than most things, and the opportunities it offers to help kids grow into people they can be proud of and confident in, and the joy it offers- as well as the many gifts it has given me.  But no aspect of it is worth the loss of respect, the embarrassment of others, or threatening or endangering others that has occurred the past couple days both here and in Utah.  Think the LMSC events were a different situation entirely than the Utah one?  Then you're naieve and only fooling yourself.  These things (and I've seen it go like this, though thankfully never with such grave consequences) turn on a dime, going from standard operating procedure to completely out of control in a blink.

It's a great game.  But it's a game.  And it's a pretty stupid game if you think about it; 22 grown men in short pants kicking a ball around.  Ascribe it only the importance it ought to be given.  Nothing more.

GK - Reprint

Fulham-West Brom (2011-12)

GK Positioning On Offensive Corners...

&

Why Supporting MLS & USL Teams Is A Good Idea

Clint Dempsey scored his 16th goal in all competitions against West Brom in a 1-1 draw...what caught the eye of this GK coach was the corner kick shown below in pics.

The Fulham kick was cleared unconvincingly to the corner of the 18 where a Fulham player was able to control it and look for support back toward midfield:

Bayern Munich Defending

Turnover Management

FC Bayern Munich Offer Case Study In Controlling The Opponent's Starting Point

IF  you can get behind Alaba, Dante, Boateng & Rafinha,
you still have to beat this guy...

If you play good teams- if you are that lucky - having some control over where you lose the ball is essential to getting results.  For a team through 31 games who have scored 90 and conceded 15, this sort of control is crucial.  They just never hurt themselves, and when the opponent makes an error, FCB have more than enough talent to make it count.  27 wins, 3 draws.  1 Loss.  

For FC Bayern Munich, against Frankfurt, the screen grabs below show a tale of two halves.  In the opening 45 Bayern's takeaways are clearly higher up the field than in the second period.  The second half, after an early goal, Bayern are put under a great deal of pressure compared to the first half, as Frankfurt pushed the FCB defense deeper and consolidated their attacks much closer to the Bayern penalty area.

LMSC Notes

Everton v. Fulham

LMSC Weekly Notes

Quick Boys Advance To State Final;

Springboks Impress Again In Draw With Nike Rush (DE)

Everton's goal looks a lot like the give & go play and wing play worked on by my teams the last couple weeks.  It's quick in this video, but the combinations and movement will ring very familiar with the LMSC troopers.  Remember, while defending the give and go is simple...when done one-touch and with such intent by the attackers, even a solid mid-premiership team like Fulham will occasionally be defenseless in the face of such play.

Future Game

What Does It All Mean?

Barcelona Wiped Off Map By Bayern; 

EU Concerned Over Missing City

Football fans on this side of the Atlantic could be forgiven if they were to think that the city of Barcelona itself had been removed from the face of the earth following this week's Champion's League semi-final stomping at the hands of Bayern Munich.  Rest assured, Catalonia-philes, all is just fine in Barcelona.

But the events of the scoreline brought rise to some better discussion by a couple of football's more sensible (and knowledgeable) writers.  A couple quotes from their writing are below, offered up in this space to underline the need of coaches and players (and...dare I say it...parents) to consider the approach taken to the game.  It will be clear that the final score in Munich on Tuesday was not a sudden success.  Bayern did not buy a few players last summer and slap together a squad capable of the accomplishments this team has enjoyed so far.  This game was, in a sense, two students of the same Sensei battling to see who would become the next master of the discipline.  It may not be that dramatic in the end; there are many, many great teams capable of beating either Barca or Bayern on the day.  But if things go the direction we might expect, even the teams that challenge these two will feature similar philosophies.

What this means for my U12/13 teams is simply that many of the principles discussed below will be heavily featured as characteristics we'll seek to emulate.  Several ought to be familiar already!  Will it look like the big boys this weekend? No...nor next spring, nor the spring after that.  But as a student of Physics won't ever master that discipline, people will continue to "discover" new angles, new strategies, and so forth within the game; players must understand where it all came from, what's being done in the game now...in order to evolve into the next generation.  Exciting stuff...if we think more globally, and with the focus on creating students of the game (rather than winning youth events come hell or high water) and fostering a connection between every player and the best-known current method of playing.