MLS Analysis

Excellent Analysis Of The Genesis Of A Goal

Just passing on good work by www.mlssoccer.com.  The first portion of the analysis covers how good defending leads to a chance at goal...I'd add to the fine points of the narrator about how the whole team presses Montreal that the defender who actually steals the ball takes but one touch and rewards the midfielder who did all the hard work with a pass (the midfielder then returns the favor for the goal).  Amateur players would take a touch (or two, or three) and kill the instant attack; these pros show no hesitation.  Win the ball, advance the ball and catch the opponent in the moment of transition between attack and defense.  Excellent goal, terrific video and analytical work by MLS video folks...

UEFA Champions League Analysis

If At First You Don't Succeed...

Malaga Get Behind Porto With Effort And Savvy

One of Malaga's forwards demonstrates smart, hard working running as they break against Porto in a taut and chippy first leg tie.  It's nothing complex, but the work required is clearly considerable.  The notion of running into a defender to "get open" may seem counter-intuitive, but it is precisely this attracting of attention HERE which creates open space THERE...and there is much closer to goal.  The timing of this is harder to see than in the EPL pics I post, as the Champs League broadcast doesn't have a clock onscreen at all times. But suffice it to say, the forward in this instance covers a solid 20 plus yards with two changes of direction in the time it took his teammate to take two touches, slip to the outside of the first defender, and pass the ball off...even if that took four seconds, the forward is working incredibly hard.  And he'd be expected to do this on every change of possession in their half, for the full 90 minutes.

Pics after the jump:

De Gea & Shotstopping

De Gea's Greatest Strength On Display

American Clint Dempsey tried every trick in the book a few weeks back to beat De Gea for Tottenham.  Here, we see De Gea stuff Dempsey point blank through remarkable posture (remember he's 6' 3" -wikipedia; or 6' 4" - ESPNFC.com) and reaction time.  Video at the bottom of Dempsey's eventual break through, helped, reasonably enough, by De Gea's greatest weakness, handling crosses just on the edge of the 6-yard area.

News Updates

Hints And Allegations

News From Around The Soccer World

Manuel Neuer and Bayern Munich are so good, he doesn't even watch while his teammates are dismantling the latest hapless opponent.

The good news for Arsenal is that they scored for the first time in Bayern's last seven games...but as you may have seen, Bayern managed three of their own at the other end (and the gunners scored on a corner that shouldn't have been awarded!)  The return leg at Allianz could get ugly...

The Wall Street Journal is my favorite spot (Slate.com has good stuff, but more rarely) for offbeat soccer news.  They provide two good ones here.  For the concussion-wary out there, some bad news.

For TV viewers, some confusing news...

Fans of the women's game will find this of interest...And they might want to see what the emergent English FA is planning for women, here.  Be sure to follow the link for more at the bottom of the article.  The US should be wary of falling behind in these ways.

From the Europa League, Tottenham's Gareth Bale scores two of the more remarkable free kicks in recent memory against the French side, Lyon:

Some humor, for those who stuck with me this long...Wesley Sneijder is an easy target.

Fowards Off The Ball

City Deflated By Southampton

Since Southampton didn't just sneak by the defending champs, but rather comprehensively thrashed Mancini's side, they'll get some love in this space this week.  As a rather sterling example of "late" running - late meaning position more than timing in this case - Jay Rodriguez breaks from a deep position as Southampton steal a ball, and flies over 50 yards to attempt to finish a counter attack.  It's a very direct move, but off a turnover well worth the risk.

Be Brave - Head It

Berbatov Heads A Goal - 
Berbatov Is An Effective Forward

Video and UEFA 2012 Technical Report

A couple training sessions ago, we did a bunch of crossing and finishing.  The message I kept yelling, as I do with the college boys I work with, was to "head it."  It's a simple thing...if the ball is off the ground, you head it.  Why we can't get that message across is beyond me.  Or is it that those who coach young players don't know to demand it?

Forwards & Defending

Forwards Who Defend

Luis Suarez might not be anyone's favorite, but he is a hard-working attacker when his team is out of possession.  Perhaps he's sorted it out that unless the team has the ball, he can't add to his goal-scoring tally!
(17 Goals in 24 Premier League Matches)

Forwards "Backing In"

It's The Little Things That Count

Forwards' Other Jobs

As with any position, the success of a player often lies in his or her ability to do the less-glamorous tasks at a consistently high level.  For a front runner, being physical with a defender (most of whom will be bigger/stronger - in the lucky few cases, "only" as strong or big as the forward!), sprinting hard when asking for the ball (over and over and over) and understanding a nuanced role in the defensive phases of the match are among the jobs required that too few understand.  Now, scoring goals is surely the reason forwards continue to be selected to play...but if they don't do these type of jobs, the ball won't get to the goal mouth to be finished.

Anyway, in these cases, we see forwards battling for position with a defender as a ball is played into them.  Many of these are high, long passes, but we'll see instances where the ball is on the ground as well.  Bottom line, the forward must be a target, and must do everything possible to secure the ball and keep possession.  Hard work...but perhaps in a later post we'll look at some off-the-ball running these guys have to do, and it might not look so bad.

Defensive Tactics

Leighton Baines Scores Both

In 2-1 Win Over WBA

WBA Wide Players Lack Defensive Organization, In Pictures

Five shots show how a positional error cost WBA the first goal.  Two reasonable possibilities led to the breakdown:

1. The winger (Dorrans) was pressing too high resulting in his being beaten by the give-and-go play, or,
2. The defender (Jones) was sitting too deep and not joined closely enough with Dorrans resulting in the give-and-go being effective.

Here's the sequence, with some notes: