Women's Pro News

Former Colgate Player Brought To Western New York Flash

A player from Colgate University women's soccer has been called upon to join the Western NY Flash for the preseason.  Ashley Walsh was a four-year starter at Colgate, earning numerous accolades in her time there, including two Patriot League championships and the ensuing NCAA tournament appearances (2009 & 2012).

A Colgate legend

Having coached Ms. Walsh for three of her four years, there is a long list of superlatives I could offer on her behalf.  Perhaps most telling, however, is the simple fact that one winter the men's team at Colgate was short GKs and Walsh trained occasionally with the men, and more than held her own.  Given that the men sent three guys to the MLS (though none were able to make a roster at the end of the day) it's not like Ashley was keeping up with average players.  She was more than talented and determined enough to be well-respected by the men's team and their staff.  The WNY Flash will be closely watched in this space to see how this former Colgate stand out fares.

Lastly, it is even more important to note that Ashley is not just talented, but she's also been a highly successful student at Colgate and is a genuine, kind and personable woman.  No ego here, she is the consummate teammate, and I cannot imagine that anyone who has played or worked with Ashley will wish anything but the greatest success for her on this new endeavor.

Follow the fledgling NWSL here and check this space for updates, too!

Letter to the USSF

The USSF's Perspective Problem

Well-Intentioned Soccer Insiders Must Remember 
The Love Of The Game

As I take in more and more of the soccer landscape in America, meeting new coaches, talking with more parents and players, observing match after match at parks and indoor facilities, a couple things have begun to bubble to the surface that seem worth sharing- hey, I have my little soapbox here, might as well shout from it.

There are a lot of reasons to coach (I outlined a few of mine here when I moved to Philly) but the overarching source of satisfaction is seeing how completely a player under my care can reach his or her potential.  Sadly, I haven't been able to stay in one place long enough to watch a kid through the entire youth career, but in five years with OSSC in NY, I worked with every age group in a small enough organization that I was able to closely observe a lot of kids as they grew over those five years.  I also keep getting reports even now from colleagues and families with whom I keep in touch.  It's the little game I'm playing in my head -if you ever see me on the sideline looking a little distant, it's a fair bet I'm comparing and contrasting someone's performance over time - day in and day out.  But it occurred to me the other night as I stood out in the rain at Tee's with three players at training that my objectives may not be anywhere near to the goals of the families involved.

German Cup

Bayern Build From The Back Line

From the German Cup match versus Dortmund, we see Bayern build patiently from a throw-in, but when the defense gets stretched out, the attack to goal is instant, if not as accurate as Bayern would have liked.  Whether this is good, thoughtful attacking or broken team defending is debateable - without hearing from the manager what was sought for either team in this situation it can be tough to make conclusive analyses.  Maybe the two Dortmund players thought they could trap Dante, and just missed it...but Dante is pretty technical, and could always bail himself out by playing backward to Neuer.  Leaving Schweinsteiger seems ill-advised; perhaps there was a miscommunication as to who was to pressure Dante.

At any rate, the pics show a really nice instance of patience in build-up play, the effective creation of a 2v.1 and then good, calm breaking of high pressure (easier than it could have been as there was no defensive support for the two forward Dortmund players when they attacked Dante) and then a fast attack to take advantage of numerical superiority on the left side of Bayern's attack.

Bayern throw the ball in.  Dante, the left center back receives and initiates the attack.

Stopping PKs

Pro (Hart) Versus "joe"

Three PKs, One Stop: 

Simple Geometry The Difference

Joe Hart (forgive the lousy pun in the title...) made a PK stop the other day for Man City.  Sam Miller, a Haverford College recruit (HS class of 2013) saved one of five in a shootout he shared with the college staff.  Sam, to his credit, guessed right on 4 of 5, but dove over the first two shots...the last shot, which he saved, was identical to the first two in all ways (speed of the shot, him guessing correctly, overall evolution of the play, etc.) except that the shooter left the ball maybe 18 or 20 inches higher than the first two shooters...and it hit Sam in the chest.


No kidding, a GK has less time to react (and a lot bigger "strike zone" to cover) than a MLB hitter.  UVA helps prove it here; and the Huffington Post gives us some info here.

So here's a little helpful advice...with the caveat that every player who stands between the sticks and faces a PK must be firm in their own mind, and be fully committed to whatever course of action chosen.  Much like 1v1 moves (they don't all work equally well for all players), attempting to stop a PK is a highly personal moment.


Look at the two freeze-frames, and notice the dramatic difference in launch angles by the GKs:

The ball is at the red dot's location.  Sam, here, shows a line from his toes, through his knee, hip, shoulder that transects the crossbar, about a yard inside the post.  Steep.  Ball snuck under his ribs.

Hart, here with his hand just touching the ball (and the shot coming much faster at him than the shot at Sam) shows a line from his toes, through his knee, hip and shoulder that transects the post, about a yard below the crossbar.  Flat.

At 6' 3" or 4", we can see that Hart's left arm could cover a ball in this instance that is more than halfway up the post...so he's covered more than 25% of the goal.  Shooters know that GKs have a hard time getting low, and that the lower they shoot, the less likely they are to miss the target outright (better to be saved than miss completely).  It's doubtful the founding fathers of football had any idea when they selected the dimensions of the goal back in ye olde dayes, but the physics of the game dictate that max power on a shot requires some lift of the ball; any shot on or near the ground tends to be just a bit slower.  The trade of is the difference in time it takes a GK to get to a ball low in the corner versus a strike three feet high and just inside the post.

One more pro, this fella from Oldham failing to stop a PK (during which he's clearly anticipated correctly):

The shooter's foot can just be seen here, just striking the ball.  The GK's body is moving the correct direction
but far too tall; the ball slipped under his hip.

Here's the front view of the moment where he gets his hand on the ball, but it sneaks underneath him.

The dotted line is the toe/knee/hip/shoulder line, the solid line is his arms.  It's tough to stop a spot-kick with just the hand and arm; the body must be behind the catch or parry.

Young GKs...learn to dive explosively and low.