State Cup Game #2 vs Dakota Rev

Taking nothing away from Dakota Rev, I didn't expect them to be able to put up much of a fight against us on Saturday evening.  I saw them play this winter a couple times and we just have too much all around athleticism and skill for them to be able to handle for 70 minutes.  This isn't saying that any team out there can't score on us or that we are guaranteed to step on the field and get a result in all our games, but IMO we would have to do something very wrong to drop either of our two remaining group games.

We came out in the 4-4-2 that we have been playing so well as of late.  My thought, right or wrong, was that if we could get up early in the match we would make the rest of the game easy for us.  Why?  Well, we saw the Rev girls two summers ago in league/tournament play a number of times.  Most games were relatively lopsided affairs and I felt that our group intimidated the Rev girls a bit.  If we could finish early, we could basically affirm the feeling of "we're up against a WAY better team" that I thought ran through a number of the Rev girls' heads.  They might then back down a bit and not have as much fight in them.  However, the longer the game would go on at 0-0 or even 1-0 us, the more the Rev girls would feel like "hey, we can play with these guys!"  I didn't really want it to get to that point as we would then be in a battle in which anything could happen.

I ended up playing Millie and Ripper up top to start, mainly for the fact that these two had been the main goal scorers against Dakota Rev for us in the past and they were known (and maybe feared).

By the way, in case anyone has failed to notice, I live in my own little world.  I hope people understand that I don't think my thoughts are gosple, just giving insight (right or wrong) as to why I'm doing what sometimes.

We got off to a flying start in the 2nd minute when Ripper (RF) tore down the sidelines and crossed in a ball, looking for Mille (LF) at the far post.  Millie made a play on the ball but the cross rebounded off a Dakota Rev defender and into their net.

Two minutes later, Ripper played a nifty little through ball to Getch (RM) who had made a blind side run.  Getch's early cross found Millie again at the far post, and Millie slotted a low shot past the Rev GK to put us up 2-0.

I made substitutions at around the 10 minute mark, and the new attacking crew had an immediate impact as in the 11th minute Sting (RF) received a pass at the top of the Rev penalty box and hammered a shot into the upper left part of the goal.

In the 20th minute Ripper got on the scoreboard herself with a long range effort from about 30 yards out that must have taken a weird bounce in front of the Rev GK and trickled past her into the net. 

Our 5th goal of the half came from a hard, low shot, again from the top of the box by Macky (CM).

At halftime, I talked to the girls about looking to keep possession of the ball, not always look to play in one direction (up the field) at one pace, but to look to change fields and change the rhythm of their play a bit.  In an effort to blunt our attack while also challenging the girls to play quicker/smarter soccer, I mandated a 3-touch or less restriction on our players in the attacking half of the field.  They had unlimited touches in our defending half, but needed to look for other alternatives to beat players in the attacking half of the field rather than by sheer speed and athleticism.  I did tell them that if they combined and went on a breakaway, they could use more touches and try to finish.

I will never tell my girls to stop playing the game, to not try and score goals (see Handling Blowouts).  I think passing around for the sake of passing around, or having players on a breakaway turn back from a clear goal scoring opportunity is more of a slap in the face to opposing players and coaches than scoring 7, 8, or 9  goals in a game through good soccer.  I saw an older team yesterday simply try and play possession soccer in their own half for much of the game without even a thought of going forward to goal.  No one is going to tell me that this is 1) enjoyable for their players (the team in possession), and 2) honoring the game and the other team.  Don't get me wrong, I understand the thought here, but I just don't believe losing opponents would rather chase a ball around a half field for 45 minutes rather than having additional goals scored on them through creative and exciting soccer.  I know which I'd prefer if I was on the losing end.  This is about respecting our opponents and respecting the game. 

As a side note, State Cup is the Minnesota's highest level soccer event.  Teams need to understand that the goal here is to try and find the absolute best team to represent our state at Regionals.  If you enter this competition, you need to be prepared to face the best and prepared to deal with potential lopsided games.

However, no matter what some people may think of me, I am conscious of opposing teams' soccer experiences.  I know the Dakota Rev coaches and have a lot of respect for both of them.  I also know that they will do/have done a good job of selling the State Cup experience to their team, stressing that their girls will get better by playing against better competition.  They will highlight some of our strong play and their girls will benefit in the long run having direct experience with the ideas their coaches are trying to get across.

The restriction definitely had an effect on our attacking play and it was interesting to watch the girls struggle to adapt to the more forced style of play.  We still generated some dangerous attacks are were rewarded for our efforts on a 41st minute corner kick.  I had spoken to the girls after our Premier league game against Eden Prairie last Thursday about looking to try and drive in our corner kicks rather than simply put them up high in the air and float them in.  Nash took this advice to heart as she served in a well hit ball that Maddog rocketed into the back of the net off her head from about 8 yards out. 

Two minutes later, an almost mirror image of the goal was repeated from the opposite corner, with Nash once again driving in a laser that Maddog again got on the end of with her head.  It was amazing.  These were also not just simply headers that found Maddog standing in the right place at the right time.  Maddog hit both these goals on the dead run, attacking both services aggressively finishing with powerful headers back in the direction the balls were served from. 

We got our 8th tally in the 55th minute as Scratch tore up the right side on a breakaway and hit a low, hard shot into the far post that the GK did well to get to, but couldn't fully stop the powerful shot.  Hannah was following up the play and scored on an easy tap in.

Out final goal came off a beautiful give and go combination between Mille and Getch at the top, left-hand side of the Dakota Rev penalty box.  Getch found Bidi in the center of the area with a little square pass, and Bidi finished well with a solid strike.

The team played very well and the girls looked sharp.  Our next game vs TC Fire will likely see a similar outcome as Dakota Rev beat TC Fire 3-0 in the first group game.

With this win (and Wayzata's 4-0 win over TC Fire) we have won our group (Group C).  Our White team has also guaranteed a place in the semis by beating Centennial 4-0 in their second game.  Our Green team pulled off what many will call a mild upset, beating Eden Prairie 2-1.  Our Green team has come a long way and now also has a chance at a semifinal place if they can beat Blaine next Friday.  I think I initially picked Cottage Grove or EP to win this group.  So much for what I know.

In Group A, NSSA fell to Maplebrook 1-0.  Wings tied St Croix 0-0, so the group will be decided next Friday when Wings meet NSSA (assuming Maplebrook will get a victory against St Croix).  We will face the winner of this group in the semifinals on Saturday, and we've lucked out that their games have all been played at different times than the rest of the U13 group so I've been able to watch many of them.

* * * * *

This will be a busy week for us.  Training tonight at Holy Angels and Wednesday at Macalester College, game in Woodbury vs Coon Rapids on Thursday (we'll be missing Bidi and Jilly for this one), game vs TC Fire on Friday, semis on Saturday, and hopefully a long awaited State Cup final on Sunday. 

Recipe For Success Update - May 11

Controlling the SEA - Focus players' energies on what they can control

Premier League Game #1 vs Eden Prairie

Beautiful day to kick off the 2007 MYSA summer Premier League season yesterday.  It finally feels like summer!

As mentioned in previous posts, I knew that we had our hands full for our first league game against a talented Eden Prairie team.  They are one of the top 2 U14 teams here in MN, always playing our BTFC U14G Blue team tight. 

I've seen EP play a few times already this year.  They were a very good attacking team last year with 3 or 4 strong forwards, and added a few key defending players this year, namely a central defender, Ally, who we passed up at our Bangu tryouts last fall... bad decision on our part I think as she would have helped our Blue team.  EP is athletic and well coached, though I think this year we'll have an edge on overall technical ability thanks in large part to the continued focus on this technique over the years.

The 6:00PM game was scheduled to be played at Miller Park in Eden Prairie.  Nice complex.  Suffice it to say that at 5PM, the game was shaping up to be a bit of a disaster.  I had received 5 different phone calls about traffic issues and girls were definitely going to be late.  One of the phone calls cam from Bidi who was in a car with 4 or 5 of our players who lived in Woodbury.  There was an accident on I494 in Inver Grove Heights and the the minivan had been forced to take an alternate route.

As I was getting off the phone with Bidi, it occurred to me to make sure that Maddog (in the car from Woodbury) had the passes and game line up sheets with her.  Maddog's mom, Wendy, is our team manager extraordinaire who has volunteered her time to help me since the fall of 2004.  I called the car back and asked Maddog if she had the passes.  She said no, and my heart skipped a beat.  She informed me though that her mom was coming to the game straight from work in Minneapolis, and all was good again. 

On a hunch, I called Wendy to make sure she had the passes with her, and her heart must have skipped a beat.  As it turned out, with all the stuff going on this month with the West Des Moines event, travel with her U11 daughter Mackenzie to Ohio, and State Cup, she completely blanked about the game and the passes were still in Woodbury.  It was 5:15PM.

Wendy called her husband David and he was able to get on the road fairly quickly.  But he was in Woodbury, had to pick up his U11 daughter from training, then try and make the 30+ mile trek in I494 rush hour traffic.  We're dead.

According to Google Maps, the trip was about 38 miles.  This didn't account for the time it took to get ready to leave the house, swing by and grab Mackenzie from practice, then get back on the highway.

I had already known that Jilly and Blondie were going to be arriving just at game time due to track commitments.  Add in a few other girls and a carload of girls car pooling from Woodbury stuck in traffic, and we had a grand total of 5 girls there at our scheduled 5:15PM meeting time. 

At 5:30PM we finally had enough girls on site to play and started to make our way over to the sidelines.  I spoke with Hisham and Tina (EP coach and manager) letting them know about the pass situation.  Hisham assured me that he would speak to the ref and help sort things out so that we could possible play and get checked in at half time.  Nice gesture on his part that was greatly appreciated. 

5:40PM we eventually started warming up.  Hisham came over and said that he spoke with the one ref who was already on site and the ref said it would not be a problem to delay the game until the passes got there.

5:50 the head ref showed up.  Though we were still missing one AR, the head ref came over and warned me that he would only wait until 6:15PM.  He would not wait longer than that as he had another game to officiate that night.  If the passes were not on site by that time, we were to forfeit the game.

6:00PM came and went and we were informed that David was at I494 and Penn Ave.  We had no chance of him getting to the park in fifteen minutes.

6:10PM the ref called for captains, making ready to start the game (if our passes were there) or pack up his things and find some air conditioning.  I told the captains to walk to midfield very slowly and ask the ref a lot of questions about the rules of soccer. 

6:18PM, minivan tires were heard squealing in the parking lot.  I don't think the car came to a complete stop and Mackenzie hopped out (or maybe was pushed out) and ran over to the field with our passes.  Well done, SuperDave!

With all the pre-game chaos, we came out really flat.  EP dominated the first 15 minutes of the game though were unable to break through our defense to score.  We started to settle in a bit midway through the half and finally looked to create unpanicked attacks up the field. 

We played a 4-4-2, trying to build off the success that we saw against Wayzata in the second half of our first State Cup game using this formation, while also trying to contend with EP's midfield dominance that we've experienced in past meetings.

First half ended 0-0 though I could feel the match shifting to our favor.  At halftime we talked about a few key points; wanting to do a better job in the second half of keeping the field more compact, battling hard for every 50/50 ball, not allowing their players to play long ball or win air balls unchallenged, and trying to press our apparent advantage in the game of getting balls wide and looking to serve in crosses and/or win corner kicks. 

We discussed tracking central player when they made diagonal runs to the corners as EP tore us apart early on with this tactic.  Our central players either had to stick with their marks, or they had to communicate and pass on their marks to other players. 

Lastly, I reminded the girls that I wasn't focused on results in our Premier league play.  Our focus at the moment was State Cup.  I wanted the girls to be confident and composed on the ball, encouraging them to get into their Futsal mentality as the girls played some of their best soccer indoors in the Futsal environment this past winter.  Relaxed, confident, creative, and enthusiastic - playing for the love of the game. 

We came out on fire in the second half. 

Six minutes in we were awarded a free kick about 30 yards from goal.  I encouraged Nash to get a strike on goal, and she proceeded to lazer a shot off the underside of the crossbar.  The ball bounced straight down close to the goal line then up into the air about 20 feet.  Lily was in a good position but just didn't get enough on the header attempt and the EP GK was able to recover and smother the ball.  From the ensuing GK punt, EP countered up the field.  One of their forward dribbled around at the top of our box, beat our marking defender who was left without enough cover by supporting players, and hit a great shot past a diving Mudd (GK).  That's what I love about this game.  A great chance for us at one end turns into a goal at the other end within a matter of seconds.

To our girls credit, not many heads went down after this.  We took the kick off, knocked the ball back and around through midfield a bit, and found Scratch (right mid) on a long ball.  Scratch beat a player and served in an early diagonal cross that the EP right defender misplayed.  Mille (one of our forwards) had drifted to the far post area, settled the ball with a great touch, and side-footed a ball past the onrushing EP GK into the right side of the goal.  It was a great build up and a classy and composed finish by our little U11 player. 

I'd say EP had at least two or three other good chances to score in the second half.  One was sent wide and Mudd made terrific saves on the other two.  No lie, we probably created 7 or 8 quality chances - many off crosses and corner kicks, a few with decent build up and 1v1s and breakaways.  I don't think I was the only one watching who thought we deserved to win the game based on our second half performance.

Regardless, it was a fun, competitive game for both teams, and a very good start to the league play season for us. 

Game Notes

• We are settling in to the 4-4-2 formation very well.  Our forwards are dynamic and are better able to grasp the lateral movement that is needed when playing with 2 up front.  Our defending midfield play with the added 4th midfielder is much better than we saw with our 3-man system (as could be expected) and our ability to switch the ball through midfield is improved as we are now not asking our outside backs to understand the concept of releasing up field on the changes.
• We are slowly getting our outside mids used to getting up the field more to supply width in the attack, but need to do a better job of having our outside backs communicate and push the outside mids up.
• We need better communication from our central defending players and GK.
• We struggled to pick up central mids and attackers who made diagonal runs to the corners.  EP did this very well and threw us off balance in the first half.  We need work on this, but it was a good learning experience for us to see how effective this movement can be when used properly.
• With the 4-4-2, I need to work with the wide mids getting wide early when our wide backs have the ball.  If they are too slow getting wide and the ball is played, the wide mids receive the ball running towards the sidelines and can't see the field.  Also, no movement out wide blocks passing channels into our forwards.
• Our ball striking is really, really good overall.  This was clearly apparent in the game as we have 8 or 9 girls who can strike a long ball well.  EP may have had 2 or 3 players who could do this consistently.  This was a testament to the work many of these girls have done regarding ball striking in our small group sessions at Acceleration MN over the years, as well as to our constant focus on proper technique at the younger age groups.
• Due to good technique and more mature muscular development, our crosses are now going too far more times than not.  I need to work with the girls about measuring the distance better on these services.
• Our team's overall heading ability is very good, thanks in large part to technical development and the Full90 Headgear. 
• It's nice to interact with opposing coaches who see what this game is really about.  At no time at all did Hisham bring up the thought of a forfeit.  He and his staff were very accommodating and did what they could have to try and avoid the replay/forfeit.  No matter what clubs people are with, it's good to remember that this game is about the kids and about their enjoyment and interest in competition.

We saw EP last year twice.  Our first meeting last May in State Cup (we played up to the U13 age group as U12s) was a completely one sided affair.  We had a good chance to score in the first few minutes then hit the post on a half chance in the second half, but other than that we were never in the game.  They only ended up beating us 1-0 but the score was in no way indicative of the game flow.

Our second battle with them came in the U13 State Tournament final in early August.  We matched up much better against them in this game, managed to score a great goal and have one or two more solid chances, but ended up losing 2-1.  We were still outclassed a bit but gave a good accounting of ourselves to finish out the summer season.

I think we have continued to close the gap on teams like this.  This year, we are not so outmatched athletically, thanks to team personnel changes last fall as well as to the muscular development catching up.  I think we have closed any technical gap with EP, and may even have the edge now from an overall team perspective.  This is taking nothing away from EP as they are a solid team and have also improved since last year.  Our next game is sure to be a battle as well with either team capable of scoring 3 or 4 goals on the other.

Up Next in League Play

Coon Rapids - Thur, May 17

17 Girls Selected for ODP Pools

I took some flak from some other club coaches last weekend for encouraging the girls to take part in the Saturday ODP Festival in Stillwater the morning of what I (and many) felt could be one of, if not the toughest game we'd have this year in State Cup.  Things worked out well that evening with a 2-0 win at State Cup, and yesterday I found out things worked out well on the ODP end of things as all 17 girls were named to their respective 93, 94, and 95 (yes, we have a 95 on this team) pool groups. 

I know many of the girls were nervous about this ODP tryout and many of the parents (and the girls) were hesitant to participate initially with the thought that some girls might not make the pool while many of their teammates would.  In the end, all the girls decided to give it a go for the experience and I was proud to see all their names on the final selection lists.

I'm not exactly sure where they go from here and I think that there will be more cuts at the older age groups to finalize an ODP group that will head to Illinois for region camp, but the confidence and experience gained by prevailing through this first stage challenge will benefit all the players in the long run.

Training - Wednesday, May 9

6:45PM - 8:15PM Field Training

Pics from this session can be found here

With a sure-to-be tough game tomorrow evening against Eden Prairie to open up our Premier league schedule and our second State Cup game on Saturday against Dakota Rev, I didn't want to do too much with the girls tonight.  I did want to get back to some technical finishing work, but wanted to set up the training session so that I would be able to focus on the finishing in smaller groups rather than in a 17:1 ratio.

Here's what I did.  With 17 players, I divided the group into 4 teams of 4.  The 17th player was Mudd, our GK.  Two teams (8 players total) would work with me on finishing while the other two teams would play various small sided games.  The teams would rotate after a set amount of time so that the two teams shooting would go to play small sided soccer, and the two teams playing would come to shoot. 

To make things interesting and competitive for the girls, we kept track of points in everything (in the shooting and in the small sided games) to try and determine a winning team for the evening.

As you will see below, I didn't just send the two playing teams off to play 4v4.  I set up one field that offered 3 different small sided games (2v2 to Goal, 4v4 to Two Goals, and 4v4 to Goal) without a complete re-set up.  In this way, the training session flowed well and there was not much down time for field set up. 

Along with the variation in small sided games, I also changed up the shooting each round.  First round was first time shots from lay backs, second round was focused on far post ships, bending balls (the skill goals), and the third round was volleying technique.

We ended the evening with Power Finesse, one of the team's favorite shooting drills.  As you can see below, this game features one girl working (and the GK) with 15 girls standing around waiting for their turn.  I hate activities like this but the girls absolutely love this game, so every once in a while I breakdown and we play it. 

I. 4v4 Challenge - Round #1

Finishing Work - One Time Lay Backs

Set Up

• 2 teams of 4 players, each player with a soccer ball
• 1 goal with a GK
• Starting disks for each team 16 yards and 28 yards from goal (see below)

Procedure

• Each team designates a retriever (D) who stands behind the goal, a passer (C) who starts at the disk closest to the goal, and then two players (A and B) with all the soccer balls at the furthest disk
• Blue goes first, A passes to C who lays a ball back for A to shoot
• A goes to C, C goes to D, D retrieves the shot and takes their place in line behind B
• Green goes next and follows the same sequence

Make It Competitive

• +1 point for a goal if the GK gets a touch on the ball
• +3 points for a goal if it goes in "clean" (without the GK touching it)
• Double points for weak footed shots (trying to encourage weak foot development)

Coaching Points

• Verbal communication ("Set it!")
• Visual Communication (hand pointing to the side of the body you want the ball played to)
• Tough to keep the ball low when it is rolling back to you - concentrate on hitting the top half of the ball, upper body over the ball at impact
• Pick one half of the goal or the other to shoot at, commit to your shot and visualize the outcome

Field Play - 2v2 to Goal

Set Up

• 2 teams of 4
• One 40x30 yard field with a midfield line set up as shown below (you will use this same field for three different games)
• teams split into 2 teams of 2, each pair plays against 2 players from the opposite team in a half of the field
• 3 soccer balls per game, one in each of the two goals, one on the field

Procedure

• Teams play 2v2 to goal
• If you miss the goal with a shot, you must go retrieve the ball and your teammate plays 1v2

Make It Competitive

• +1 point for each goal

Coaching Points

• I let them play

For Round #1, I went for 5 minutes.  On the 2v2 fields, the girls played for 2 minutes, rested for 1 minute as they switched opponents, then played for another 2 minutes.  Doesn't seem like a lot of time but the players will get tired easily in this game.

On the finishing field, the teams worked for 2.5 minutes then switched sides and immediately picked up where they left off. 

After the five minutes, blue and green headed over to play 2v2, gold and gray came to work on finishing.

II. 4v4 Challenge - Round #2

For Round #2, blue played gold and green played gray.

Finishing Work - Bending Balls

During Round #1, all the girls tired to hammer the ball as hard as they could at goal. 

I used to do this as well back in the day, thinking that the only way to beat the GK was to kick the ball as hard as I could and that the best goals were the ones that rocketed into the back of the net.

I distinctly remember my first professional shooting practice with the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the summer of 1992.  We were going through a simple give and go sequence finishing with a shot on goal.  After my second or third shot, all of which had gone in by the way, I heard a "Hold up son!  Let us have a quick chat with you."  I turned to see Rodney Marsh, our General Manager, sitting in a golf cart and beckoning me over.  I knew his history as an English International and English First Division player, and all of us players were in awe of him.  Yes!  The head honcho has just seen me rocket the ball past Golden Boy (rookie sensation and my roommate, Billy Andracki) three times and I'm about to get seriously complimented by Mr. Marsh! 

"You think those are good goals, do ya?"  He said to me.  I was obviously taken by surprise by the comment, but composed myself enough to respond, "Umm... yeah."

"Let me tell you something son, any pro can strike a ball well.  The classiest goals, the ones that set you apart from the others, are the ones in which you use skill, not power."  Right or wrong, to this day those words ring clear as crystal in my head. 

Same set up and rotation as One Time Lay Backs, with the focus this time on bending balls into the corners or chipping the balls over the GK from wide angles.

Instead of laying a ball back, I asked the passers to lay a ball out to either side.

 

I went over the technique of bending balls with the inside and outside of the foot, as well as gave the girls the thought of trying to float a high ball into the opposite corner from a wide angle.

Field Play - 4v4 to Two Goals

Same field set up as 2v2 to Goal, but I had the girls pick up the midfield disk line.  They now played 4v4 to two goals.

Each half of Round #2 lasted for 6 minutes.

III. 4v4 Challenge - Round #3

Finishing Work - Volleying Technique

Set Up

• Same as One Touch Lay Backs

Procedure

• A passes to B who flicks the ball up and catches it, then tosses an underhand ball up in the air for A to volley after one bounce

Make It Competitive

• If B does not flick the ball up and catch it, any goal scored is +1 point
• If B flicks it up and catches it, then +3 points for a goal if the GK touches it, +6 points for a clean goal

Coaching Points

• Toe down, ankle locked
• Contact the ball at a point below your knee - patience for the ball to drop
• Upper body over the ball at impact
• Looking for top spin on the ball

Field Play - 4v4 to Goal

Set Up

• Same as above
• 4x2 yard crease around each goal

Procedure

• Play 4v4 to goal
• No player may enter the crease (this prevents a defender from standing right in front of the goal)

Make It Competitive

• +1 point for each goal

Coaching Points

• Let them play

IV. Power Finesse

Set Up

• 2 teams of 8 lined up about 25 yards from goal at two starting disks
• All the soccer balls with the coach to one side of the goal

Procedure

• Blue goes first
• Coach passes a ball out to the top of the box, 16 - 20 yards from goal for the player to shoot first time (without controlling the ball first) - this is the power shot
• Immediately after the shot, the coach throws another ball out for the same player to finish about 8 yards from goal - this is the finesse shot
• The finesse pass out can be rolled on the ground, though I try to play a ball in the air for these girls to finish on the volley or with their head
• GK must hold their line on the finesse shot - not come off their line to smother the ball prior to the shooter getting a shot off

Make It Competitive

For a player to remain in the game, they must score either their power shot or their finesse shot
If a player missed both shots, they are out of the game and wait behind the goal
If a player who is out catches a ball that is shot over the net by the opposing team, they are back in the game
If the shooter scores one of the two shots, they return to await their next turn in line
If they score both goals, they get to pick one player on the other team who takes a turn immediately after begin selected and MUST score both goals to remain in the game
Last team to have a player "alive" in the shooting line wins the game