Again, in soccer, THERE IS NO "HALO" AROUND THE GOALKEEPER. If he gets creamed on a 50-50 ball. SO BE IT. I really wonder if there is a youth referee anywhere in North America that understands that. Probably not. This ref, refreshingly, got it right.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
The Two Towers
This has been a rough year for me as a soccer fan.
DC United, as I wrote previously, gambling that old legs would still have some magic, lost the gamble big-time and are all but out of the MLS playoffs. The Virginia Tech men, having lost their coach due to apparent recruiting violations, is floundering somewhere in the middle of the ACC.
The UVA men are doing their usual "we are a pretty good soccer team" thing. The US Men have qualified, and that is great, but have suffered some serious, some would say catastrophic, injuries in the process. Thus the victory may yet prove to be Pyrrhic.
On the "Plus" side, though, are the Stanford women, who over the weekend knocked off powerhouses USC and UCLA by 4-0 and 2-0 scores, respectively. USC is a fine team, maybe not as fine as their tradition would dictate, but a national power nonetheless. They could not withstand the relentless, multi-dimensional onslaught (engineered by the two Maradonas, Kelley O'Hara and Christen Press) that Stanford rained down on them. This victory put Stanford firmly in what I call the "scary-good category".
Two days later, Stanford faced UCLA, a team that is entirely capable of beating any team in the country. Throw out their early season lop-sided loss to UNC. The first three games in any college soccer teams schedule, men or women, are essentially preseason games, due to very limited preseason practice time. UCLA is, top-to-bottom, an outstanding soccer team, and they have the best pure striker in the country in Lauren Cheney.
Well, #1 Stanford handed them a 2-0 loss. This game was, to be sure, an epic battle, UCLA almost putting 1 or 2 goals in the back of Stanford's net. But, unlike Stanford's Final Four match last fall, it was Stanford that got the breaks this time. This time, the round thing went across that lonely white line for the Cardinal, causing digits on the scoreboard to change in their favor.
So, it would seem, there are two towers rising above the rest in women's D1 college soccer. One has long stood in the rarefied climes of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The gaze of its flaming eye must surely be fixed on the other -- one rapidly rising and already imposing, on a farm in Palo Alto, California.
DC United, as I wrote previously, gambling that old legs would still have some magic, lost the gamble big-time and are all but out of the MLS playoffs. The Virginia Tech men, having lost their coach due to apparent recruiting violations, is floundering somewhere in the middle of the ACC.
The UVA men are doing their usual "we are a pretty good soccer team" thing. The US Men have qualified, and that is great, but have suffered some serious, some would say catastrophic, injuries in the process. Thus the victory may yet prove to be Pyrrhic.
On the "Plus" side, though, are the Stanford women, who over the weekend knocked off powerhouses USC and UCLA by 4-0 and 2-0 scores, respectively. USC is a fine team, maybe not as fine as their tradition would dictate, but a national power nonetheless. They could not withstand the relentless, multi-dimensional onslaught (engineered by the two Maradonas, Kelley O'Hara and Christen Press) that Stanford rained down on them. This victory put Stanford firmly in what I call the "scary-good category".
Two days later, Stanford faced UCLA, a team that is entirely capable of beating any team in the country. Throw out their early season lop-sided loss to UNC. The first three games in any college soccer teams schedule, men or women, are essentially preseason games, due to very limited preseason practice time. UCLA is, top-to-bottom, an outstanding soccer team, and they have the best pure striker in the country in Lauren Cheney.
Well, #1 Stanford handed them a 2-0 loss. This game was, to be sure, an epic battle, UCLA almost putting 1 or 2 goals in the back of Stanford's net. But, unlike Stanford's Final Four match last fall, it was Stanford that got the breaks this time. This time, the round thing went across that lonely white line for the Cardinal, causing digits on the scoreboard to change in their favor.
So, it would seem, there are two towers rising above the rest in women's D1 college soccer. One has long stood in the rarefied climes of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The gaze of its flaming eye must surely be fixed on the other -- one rapidly rising and already imposing, on a farm in Palo Alto, California.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
How to Beat Stanford
I really don't like taking such a point of view on teams I like, but I thought I would try it.
If I were the coach of a team opposing Stanford, what strategy would I have my players execute in order to win? Well, here are the keys, as I see them.
1) Have my two best man-marking d-mids tag-team shadow KO. Cover her like a wet blanket. Deny her the ball. Force her to retreat well into her defensive half to get the ball. When one member of the d-mid tag-team gets tired, and she surely will, sub her out and bring in the other half of the tag-team to keep fresh legs out there. The thing about college soccer is you can be subbed out and then come back in the next half. That means KO will be marked by effectively 4 sets of fresh legs through the course of the game. Allowing KO to line up against an isloated defender to run onto early balls out of midfield or the back MUST BE AVOIDED AT ALL COSTS (within the bounds of sporsmanship). she will GET THE ball AND SHE will BURY IT. an-marking by the d-mid will allow the defender to back off a few paces.
2) If job #1 gets done, that means part, and I emphasize the word PART of job 2 is done, and job #2 is what to do about Christen Press. CP, if I have interpreted the film correcly, is more service-dependent and a bit more of a pure forward than is KO. If you deny KO the ball, that is less service for CP. However, CP can run out of the midfield with the ball at her feet, take on defenders and score. She will have to be zone-pressured. You can't man-mark everybody. WATCH OUT for her diagonal runs. MF's will have track back, and centerbacks will have to step up. Or be eviscerated.
3) Try to force SU's other striker into long range shots. Force everything wide, and NO CLEARANCES UP THE MIDDLE. Get them out, out, out of bounds, into the upper deck or into the next county if you have to.
4) Offensively. Play fast, play to feet, and run, run, run at the central defense. There are seams to be found for the diligent, assuming you can keep the ball.
5) HOWEVER -- play too much of a south-north game and you are toast. Playing too direct means giviong Stanford too much possession. If there is no place to go, then play a back or square ball. But for Pete's sake keep the ball or you will be sorry. Switch the POA, play back all the way to the keeper if need be, but keep the ball.
If I were the coach of a team opposing Stanford, what strategy would I have my players execute in order to win? Well, here are the keys, as I see them.
1) Have my two best man-marking d-mids tag-team shadow KO. Cover her like a wet blanket. Deny her the ball. Force her to retreat well into her defensive half to get the ball. When one member of the d-mid tag-team gets tired, and she surely will, sub her out and bring in the other half of the tag-team to keep fresh legs out there. The thing about college soccer is you can be subbed out and then come back in the next half. That means KO will be marked by effectively 4 sets of fresh legs through the course of the game. Allowing KO to line up against an isloated defender to run onto early balls out of midfield or the back MUST BE AVOIDED AT ALL COSTS (within the bounds of sporsmanship). she will GET THE ball AND SHE will BURY IT. an-marking by the d-mid will allow the defender to back off a few paces.
2) If job #1 gets done, that means part, and I emphasize the word PART of job 2 is done, and job #2 is what to do about Christen Press. CP, if I have interpreted the film correcly, is more service-dependent and a bit more of a pure forward than is KO. If you deny KO the ball, that is less service for CP. However, CP can run out of the midfield with the ball at her feet, take on defenders and score. She will have to be zone-pressured. You can't man-mark everybody. WATCH OUT for her diagonal runs. MF's will have track back, and centerbacks will have to step up. Or be eviscerated.
3) Try to force SU's other striker into long range shots. Force everything wide, and NO CLEARANCES UP THE MIDDLE. Get them out, out, out of bounds, into the upper deck or into the next county if you have to.
4) Offensively. Play fast, play to feet, and run, run, run at the central defense. There are seams to be found for the diligent, assuming you can keep the ball.
5) HOWEVER -- play too much of a south-north game and you are toast. Playing too direct means giviong Stanford too much possession. If there is no place to go, then play a back or square ball. But for Pete's sake keep the ball or you will be sorry. Switch the POA, play back all the way to the keeper if need be, but keep the ball.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
USA Qualifies
I remember all too well being a soccer fan in the 1970's and 80's.
The US Men's National soccer team had no hope, zero, zilch, nada, of qualifying for the World Cup. They could beat neither the minnows who made it or the ones who didn't. For most of that time the US Team was composed of a sort of college-all star team. Sounds nice, but the college game back then, other than Indiana and a few other suspects, was a sports backwater that attracted few quality athletes.
And so, over those decades, we were on the outside looking in. Even by 1990, things were not much different. The US side found itself in Port of Spain, facing a favored Trinidad and Tobago side. But Paul Caligiuri's "shot heard round the world" secured a 1-0 win for the US boys and their first trip to the World Cup since 1950. You read that right. five-zero. The 1990 World Cup would be the US's first in *40 years*.
This past Saturday night, the US team came away from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, with a hard-fought, difficult and improbable 3-2 away victory which has secured their passage to a sixth consecutive World Cup.
Some observations on the game:
1) Landon Donovan has gone from being a very effective, slashing forward to a truer #10 shirt, creative attacking midfielder. His lovely, perfectly paced and perfectly placed through-ball to Conor Casey could not hacve been better executed by Lionel Messi, Maradona, or even Pele himself. You can't do it any better than that, and it was Donovan who did it.
2) Landon's curling free kick over the wall and into the uper corner of the net further secures his postion as a multidimensional attacking player.
3) Youth referees take note. Conor Casey's headed goal in which he collided with the goalkeeper AFTER he headed the ball was a COMPLETELY legit goal. I wish I had a nickel for every time I saw a play like that whistled a foul on the offensive player, especially in youth leagues out of the mistaken belief the goalkeeper is sacrosanct, and the play must be whistled dead every time the goalkeeper is within ten feet of the ball. Youth officials, just because a player is a goalkeeper does not mean they have a divine right to get the ball just because they are near the ball and they want it. If a goalkeeper gets creamed on a true 50-50 ball, SO BE IT. The goalkeeer is just another player, one who happens to be able to use his hands.
4) Conor Casey can score if he gets service. Many of our other strikers fail to score even with good service.
The US Men's National soccer team had no hope, zero, zilch, nada, of qualifying for the World Cup. They could beat neither the minnows who made it or the ones who didn't. For most of that time the US Team was composed of a sort of college-all star team. Sounds nice, but the college game back then, other than Indiana and a few other suspects, was a sports backwater that attracted few quality athletes.
And so, over those decades, we were on the outside looking in. Even by 1990, things were not much different. The US side found itself in Port of Spain, facing a favored Trinidad and Tobago side. But Paul Caligiuri's "shot heard round the world" secured a 1-0 win for the US boys and their first trip to the World Cup since 1950. You read that right. five-zero. The 1990 World Cup would be the US's first in *40 years*.
This past Saturday night, the US team came away from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, with a hard-fought, difficult and improbable 3-2 away victory which has secured their passage to a sixth consecutive World Cup.
Some observations on the game:
1) Landon Donovan has gone from being a very effective, slashing forward to a truer #10 shirt, creative attacking midfielder. His lovely, perfectly paced and perfectly placed through-ball to Conor Casey could not hacve been better executed by Lionel Messi, Maradona, or even Pele himself. You can't do it any better than that, and it was Donovan who did it.
2) Landon's curling free kick over the wall and into the uper corner of the net further secures his postion as a multidimensional attacking player.
3) Youth referees take note. Conor Casey's headed goal in which he collided with the goalkeeper AFTER he headed the ball was a COMPLETELY legit goal. I wish I had a nickel for every time I saw a play like that whistled a foul on the offensive player, especially in youth leagues out of the mistaken belief the goalkeeper is sacrosanct, and the play must be whistled dead every time the goalkeeper is within ten feet of the ball. Youth officials, just because a player is a goalkeeper does not mean they have a divine right to get the ball just because they are near the ball and they want it. If a goalkeeper gets creamed on a true 50-50 ball, SO BE IT. The goalkeeer is just another player, one who happens to be able to use his hands.
4) Conor Casey can score if he gets service. Many of our other strikers fail to score even with good service.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
DC United: What Happens in Vegas...
Now how does the rest of that go?
This MLS season, which, with 2 games remaining, IS OVER FOR DC UNITED, my friends, despite there being a remote mathematical possibility of DCU still making the playoffs.
Posters on bigsoccer.com are screaming for the coach's head.
But I don't think it is as much the coach as it is the players. The fact is, the DCU front office -- of which yes, the coach is a part, at least in terms of player acquisition decisions -- gambled on several of the big players, and unfortunately the gamble did not pay off.
They gambled that Jaime Moreno would still have some pace to combine with his incredible vision and skills. Didn't pan out.
They gambled that Gomez had one more year left in the tank. He didn't.
They gambled that stalwart Ben Olsen would have something to contribute once he healed from his foot injury. That's a negatory, good buddy..
They betted, reasonably, tht Fred would still have some Brazilian spark. Sadly, nada.
They wagered that Quaranta would do something other than run up and down the field and make clever backpasses, punctuated with the occasional cross into the upper deck. Snake eyes.
They also doubled down on Burch at right back, and Janicki in the middle. Throw in the fluid goalkeeper situation, and our Vegas triumvirate Got. Royally. Skunked.
So, DC United fans, the season is over. Likely the offseason will see the naming of a new coach. But if it does not also see a wholesale changeover of the roster, well, didn't Mama always say "Don't play the ponies"?
This MLS season, which, with 2 games remaining, IS OVER FOR DC UNITED, my friends, despite there being a remote mathematical possibility of DCU still making the playoffs.
Posters on bigsoccer.com are screaming for the coach's head.
But I don't think it is as much the coach as it is the players. The fact is, the DCU front office -- of which yes, the coach is a part, at least in terms of player acquisition decisions -- gambled on several of the big players, and unfortunately the gamble did not pay off.
They gambled that Jaime Moreno would still have some pace to combine with his incredible vision and skills. Didn't pan out.
They gambled that Gomez had one more year left in the tank. He didn't.
They gambled that stalwart Ben Olsen would have something to contribute once he healed from his foot injury. That's a negatory, good buddy..
They betted, reasonably, tht Fred would still have some Brazilian spark. Sadly, nada.
They wagered that Quaranta would do something other than run up and down the field and make clever backpasses, punctuated with the occasional cross into the upper deck. Snake eyes.
They also doubled down on Burch at right back, and Janicki in the middle. Throw in the fluid goalkeeper situation, and our Vegas triumvirate Got. Royally. Skunked.
So, DC United fans, the season is over. Likely the offseason will see the naming of a new coach. But if it does not also see a wholesale changeover of the roster, well, didn't Mama always say "Don't play the ponies"?
Monday, October 5, 2009
Stanford: Weapons Free
The Stanford Womens' soccer team (11-0) retakes the #1 spot in the SoccerAmerica poll, and rightly so.
This is a team that plays at a very high technical and tactical level, and they play very fast, a rarity in college soccer. Stanford is loaded with strikers and attacking mids who know how to put the ball in the back of the net.
If Stanford has a weak spot, it is in the central defense. But I use the term, "weak" in a relative sense. Stanford has plenty of shutouts this season, the central defense can't be too bad.
The Brazil National mens' team is not known to be a defensive fortress, but they win plenty of games. Stanford, like Brazil, has a phalanx of top strikers, and they have the two best attacking midfielders in the country in Kelley O'Hara and Christen Press. Both are, for some reason, listed as forwards. Really they play as a blend of forward/attacking mid. They take turns quarterbacking the team, and they score plenty of goals.
The nice thing is other players are making better runs off the ball than last season, leveraging the creative vision of the two Maradonas. All this makes for a multi-dimensional attack and more than adequate defense that can beat anybody.
All that said, I would not be too quick to gloat about UNC's loss to Va Tech. UNC is extremely good. From the top starter to the last player on the reserve bench, UNC has players who are very fast, very athletic, very soccer-smart, and have a high level of mastery of individual and team soccer fundamentals. They are a team that plays excellent positional football, read passing lanes very, very well, and it goes without saying they are extremely well coached. Their highly efficient, swarming team defense all over the field is something truly wondrous to behold.
Bottom line, these are the two best teams in the country right now.
This is a team that plays at a very high technical and tactical level, and they play very fast, a rarity in college soccer. Stanford is loaded with strikers and attacking mids who know how to put the ball in the back of the net.
If Stanford has a weak spot, it is in the central defense. But I use the term, "weak" in a relative sense. Stanford has plenty of shutouts this season, the central defense can't be too bad.
The Brazil National mens' team is not known to be a defensive fortress, but they win plenty of games. Stanford, like Brazil, has a phalanx of top strikers, and they have the two best attacking midfielders in the country in Kelley O'Hara and Christen Press. Both are, for some reason, listed as forwards. Really they play as a blend of forward/attacking mid. They take turns quarterbacking the team, and they score plenty of goals.
The nice thing is other players are making better runs off the ball than last season, leveraging the creative vision of the two Maradonas. All this makes for a multi-dimensional attack and more than adequate defense that can beat anybody.
All that said, I would not be too quick to gloat about UNC's loss to Va Tech. UNC is extremely good. From the top starter to the last player on the reserve bench, UNC has players who are very fast, very athletic, very soccer-smart, and have a high level of mastery of individual and team soccer fundamentals. They are a team that plays excellent positional football, read passing lanes very, very well, and it goes without saying they are extremely well coached. Their highly efficient, swarming team defense all over the field is something truly wondrous to behold.
Bottom line, these are the two best teams in the country right now.
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