Hello Players and Fans,
I'm catching up on my homework this Saturday. Hopefully all our players are taking advantage of the day off to work on some iSoccer fundamentals?? Yes, very good. Remember, open practice on Monday, 8am, Mountainside. Maybe send the kids with a small hand towel or dry shirt to wipe down before class starts. Our last session worked really well. Practice on Tuesday, Stake Center, 5:30pm.
As I've thought about our Thursday game against sport Logan I have made several observations / conclusions:
1. We were the better passing and better dribbling team--in game 1 we were only the better passing team.
2. We played hard the entire game. Even when up by 3 points with only seconds remaining Dylan ran down a counterattack from his position as striker. They still scored, but the effort was an "A". We never give up.
3. Regarding counterattacks, we need to communicate more as a team--Ethan had run forward from his defensive position, leaving us vulnerable with only Kyler back. Kyler did a good job holding the back line, but if we fail to score with numbers up and are dispossessed then quick counter-goals often result. Overlapping players making runs into the offense need to communicate this to the midfield so we are not left with only a single defender. Kids, you must talk to each other!
4. If you are the last defender and find yourself facing an attack, you have a couple options:
a. Slow down the attack (i.e. "running interference" to allow help to arrive--get your body in the way!)
b. Anticipate the attack and move yourself up to intercept the ball (dangerous, but effective if the striker is not expecting the last defender to be in such a forward position--use with extreme caution)
c. If in a side by side foot race toward own goal kick the ball to the keeper--our keepers know not to pick it up.
5. Last game we were not very effective at set pieces. We had four direct kicks from the top of the goal box ("the 18") and three different players squandered these opportunities: Isaac chipped it straight to the keeper, Nick sent one wide and soft, Ethan sent one to the near post but again too soft. The best effort was in the first half when Ethan took the kick and passed it to the mid midfielder, who sent it to the far wing for a shot. For Thursday's game I don't want any free kicks to be taken as shots on goal--all kicks must be passes (PKs are the exception). Same for at least half of the corner kicks--the players should look for drop passes.
6. Some of our passes were a bit soft and not on target--work on getting that head up for a millisecond to see the field--likewise, open players must make themselves heard! Let the dribbler know where the defender is and where you are. Thursday's game will be a "Silent Thursday" game. The coaches from both our teams will sit together and watch, the fans will sit together and only cheer after a play is made. No instruction from fans, parents, or coaches will be allowed. Both of our teams need to work on communicating and this game is a great opportunity.
7. Focus on closing out the game. We were up 4-0 and gave them a window. We won the first half 2-0, but only tied the second half 3-3. That was a very good team and a 5-3 win is absolutely fantastic! But when we have an opponent down by 4 we need to continue to play smart and remember our defensive obligations.
8. We played clean and emotionally supported each other with compliments--in contrast the ref had to caution several of the kids on the other team. I like that we are aggressive, but are not pushing (at least not too much!) Keep the elbows in and keep winning those 50:50 balls!!
9. No more jumping in the air and twisting sideways when a ball or player is coming toward you--stay with two feet planted on the ground, with pressure on the back foot, keeping the front foot light and ready to intercept the ball if it is on the ground. If the ball is in the air, keep the arms in and block it with the chest or stomach--do your situps and pushups to prevent this from hurting!
Now for the play by play summary:
We came out very strong, pushing the attack on both wings. The short field gave us plenty of opportunities on offense and kept us busy on defense. We broke through early on the right side as Tate made a run from his position as right wing (aka "right midfield") and took the ball from the half line and ran past two defenders to put a screaming shot over the keeper into the far side of the net! That never gets old--I could watch that every game! Shortly after we struck from the left side as Ethan "never mind the nose" set up a strong shot to his right foot that ripped past a diving goal keeper--GOOOAAALLL!. We had some other scoring opportunities (i.e. free kicks) that we didn't convert leaving the coaches very sad. Nick made several great saves as keeper to bring us into half with a 2-0 lead. With only 9 players we will likely always make one or two goalie substitutions per game to keep legs fresh.
Isaac took over in goal second half and a well rested Nick showed some great footwork in the offensive end of the field--he did appear to lose a little energy toward the end? Just sayin'. Next, with some tight passing on the right side the ball ended up again at Tate's feet and he quickly released the ball and scored his second goal of the match to put us up 3-0! I think the kids sensed that they could keep scoring and Dylan made a great run into the box where he was taken down hard by a defender. Dylan shook it off and confidently put away the ensuing PK into the upper left corner--WOW! 4-0. No keeper is touching that ball. We've not always converted on our PKs, so this is a good start to be 2 for 2 on PKs--and everyone should practice these. The opposition looked a bit deflated but still showed some good ball control and they have a player (shaved head this year) who every game makes several solo runs through our defenders to fire off a shot--this is his trademark and we need to do a better job with primary and secondary defenders to slow him down (1ary) then close in for the steal (2ary). I did enjoy when Isaac ran off his line and grabbed the ball of his head--but he would get his revenge as a subsequent shot went past our keeper to make it 4-1. We struck back when Jackson Weaver found himself in an open midfield position to intercept a defensive clear and send a nice lob ball back on frame where a defender took a swinging kick that sliced the ball into his own net for Jackson's first Wolverine goal!!! Good things happen when you send a dangerous ball on frame. I liked that we answered their goal with a quick goal. With time running down they pushed another ball into our defensive end and again found the back of the net by literally running over our defender and keeper. Time for another keeper training session with Andy Parker!
We kept up the offensive pressure and had a few more scoring opportunities--with a minute left the "shaved head" took advantage of a quick counterattack to give Sport Logan their final goal (again running the ball into the back of the net). I think we did a lot of good things on the pitch and in all four matches against Sport Logan we have showed steady improvement. In our very first game as a new competition team we lost to them 5-0. In the next match it was 2-0, with an unlucky last minute goal. In our third encounter they had to come from behind to tie the match 1-1. So with a solid 5-3 win I really like the direction of this trend!
Next Saturday we have a chance to beat an Aggie team that has two wins and a tie against us. Let me know if you can't make this game--I'd like to have two subs and we invited Jackson Hulse to help us out on a development pass again. Before then we need to use our intraWolverine match on Thursday to work on our "heads up" play and communication on the field.
Go Wolverines!
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