55 Attend Rhinos Game

Rochester Takes 1-0 Victory Over Charlotte 

55 OSSC Members Attend Home Opener

A great evening weather-wise made for a fun event at Sahlen's Stadium on May the 5th.  The U14-and-up age group players spent the whole game on the sidelines as ball boys (and girls- Danielle Benincasa representing the girl's side of the club!) getting a very up-close look at what was, on the whole, very good soccer.  

Some pics courtesy of Tammy Keck:

Box Defending

Now That's Box Defending

Here's some of the better examples of what goes on in defending set pieces in the penalty area.  While always wary of whistle happy refs, and being downright stupid, the intensity in these clips is to be emulated.

Back 4

Back 4 Too Deep, Too Static

Here's a quick clip of the Colgate back 4.  As the ball is played into the Hartwick striker, the Wade Martin holds him up and forces him backward well enough.  However, from that point onward, the back line (which is too deep to start with) never regains the ground given up as the ball is dropped, turned toward the far sideline, and played 60 plus yards across the field.  It's only one clip...but there are plenty more if anyone feels this isn't symptomatic of how our back 4 move (or not) in games.

The striker takes 4 touches, drops it to the mid who takes one or two touches while retreating nearly 10 yards, and then hits a pass 30 or more yards sideways...the Colgate back four don't gain yardage, but lose it, to the tune of 5 or 10 yards by the time the wide player takes a touch.  At least two players could have been put in offside positions- or if that's too close to pulling a trap- forced to check back to the winger with much less space to work between the holding mids and the back line.

Holding Mids

"Holding" Means Not Charging Forward

A little tongue-in-cheek with the title, but the point is that if a player is a holding midfielder, he ought to hold things first, and get forward second.

Some video to show that of which we speak:

MLS Stats

Goal Scoring:

Like Real Estate- Location, Location, Location

Some thoughts on goal scoring, and how it may correlate to successful team's performances.  Granted, there is a long way to go from a single player's goal scoring and a team's record, but they are related, and good teams tend to have players who finish well- however that is defined.



In the first grab, we see this week's MLS conference standings...

In the second one we see the teams who finish best inside the 18.  Hit 'em all you like from outside, if you fancy a 4 to 5 percent chance of scoring.  If you're a real goal scorer, you get inside the 18, and finish in the middle teens- about three times more likely than that long-range effort.  Granted, it takes a team to get the ball into the 18 (usually) so thank your buddies for getting you there.

Now, if you're sharp, you'll say, hey, four of the top seven teams in shot efficiency are in the bottom half of their conference!  What gives?  Well, as noted at the very top of the post there is a lot more than just shooting efficiency that dictates a team's record...what we ought to do is check back on these numbers in a few weeks.  Presumably LA, Portland and Chicago will move up the table as they settle in and get better at getting the ball forward; once they get more chances, if the finishing rate keeps up, they should win more.  Generally, a six or seven game sample size is pretty hairy to draw conclusions.

For players, the bottom line is, if you get 9 shots in a game inside the 18 (that's a LOT) you should have 2 goals to your name. And if you practice shooting, do so under pressure, inside 18 yards.  So...if I'm a forward, I'm trying to stay inside the 18 as much as possible (let those silly midfielders do all the heavy lifting!) and make the most of the chances I get.  (See Gomez for Bayern against Real Madrid on April 17th for a great example.  Took him 90 minutes, but the law of averages won out for him!)

Colgate Men's Home Games In April

Division I & Division III Teams To Attend

I encourage any player thinking of playing in college to make time to attend these weekends to see excellent college teams from both Division I & III in action.
Saturday, April 28
Colgate vs. Albany: 11:00 AM
Swarthmore vs. Albany: 12:30 PM
Colgate vs. Swarthmore: 1:45 PM

Recent results:

Sunday, April 15

Colgate vs. Hartwick: 12:00 PM
2-0 Colgate, Goals : Reidy/Messing Assist: Arpey

Hartwick vs. Hobart: 1:30 PM 1-0 Hobart

Colgate vs. Hobart: 2:45 PM
2-0 Colgate, Goals : Messing/Arpey

Colgate/Akron U14 Homework Part II

Akron Attack Using Wide Players

Barca Video, Too!

Here's a wing attack from Akron...same assignment as Homework Part I.

Here's a pic to help clarify the players involved:

The back 4 are circled, holding mid is the rectangle
(other two mids are unmarked) and the three
front-runners are in triangles.

Here's the video clip...map the ball movement player by player and try to figure out the defense's movements (what player tracked which Akron attacker).  The move starts at the bottom of the screen, with a throw-in for Akron.

Two crucial questions:

• What should the Colgate defense have done instead?  
• How did Akron create this dilemma for Colgate? (think technically, rather than tactically...)

A little something from Barca...along the same lines as Akron's movements, but with a twist.  The video pretty well spells out how it works, so no questions here; just watch closely a few times through, and note the timing, and where guys are looking as Alexis Sanchez roams around the front of the team. 

For the midfielders and backs who support the forwards, here's Busquets in a video that isolates some of the things playmakers must be able to do: