Tough Humble Together

Tomorrow is a big game. Everyone knows it. You have the ability to make a statement – at home, our home. Everything we need to win is here.

Tough – not just physically but mentally. Mature in your approach and who you play for. It is not for us .. it is for this community, your families, the blue and gold.

Humble – we are not a team of individuals or even select groups of individuals. We do not have greater thens or less thens. We ALL need to play our best soccer. Look inward not outward.

Together – we are our best when we have each other’s back. Always. Remember when I said at the beginning of the year, you get to meet the man- not when things are going well – but when you are in the thick of it. Will you point fingers or rally the troops? Moravian will know how to play, but you can play better. You will beat them to every FIRST ball, SECOND ball, THIRD ball, and make them chase the ball to kingdom come. And we will do it all together.

Everyone, read this and email me something genuine about the game tomorrow. Oh, AND WEAR YOUR BLUE AND GOLD HOME JERSEY tomorrow. Don’t hide it under a hoodie or jacket. I will do the same. I will play those committed to TEAM.

Lineup and tactics to be emailed later.

Defeat the enemy!

Remember, the enemy is us! Win over us today…How?

  1. Be early to practice
  2. Be focused in practice
  3. Embrace growth and pick a skill to get better at
  4. Not just another day… its a day to get better and enjoy the beautiful game!

Did you know?

No yellow cards in the last 7 games. And no, Connor is not injured.

Did we get away with one here? Connor says “It was all ball”.

Today’s Game

Bus Leaves at 2:00 PM. Early dismissal at 1:45 PM. WHITES!

Starting Lineup:

4-5-1 Narrow (4-2-3-1 narrow). Rubarb and Pavorotti jump out when ball transitions to their fullbacks. Lt. Dan stay as a true holding CDM in front of centerbacks and D. Jones move up to mark and connect. If Lt. Dan goes, D. Jones will hold.

This will look quite different when we are in possession.

This is for example if ball is in Rubarbs clutches. Keerat could remain as safe option or overlap. Keep space around Braden uncrowded, Gigi look to poach, etc.

Quick, quick, movement. Make unpredictable runs that are impossible to mark or see coming.

We will experiment with some personnel as well so be READY!

TOUGH, HUMBLE, TOGETHER!

Some notes on the new system

1. It’s something we are going to try – we have to be open to change to get better. We still have some holes to plug we don’t want good teams to exploit.

2. Outside backs – Justin, Nolan, Keerat, Andrew, Noah, Kyle, Jayden, etc. – LOOK at the ball carrier. If they are not being pressured, back off the opposing winger (Dillard style) to avoid getting exposed and only go after them once the ball comes in and prevent turn. PREVENT the turn. IF the ball carrier is under duress (we are pressuring them), SHUT OFF THE WINGER (Stewart style) and make them suffer in the trap. This is the best of both worlds. In other words, READ THE PASSER as well as the winger. If the passer has time, we need to be cautious of the ball behind and wait for the pass to come in to pressure the winger. If they are under WARRIOR pressure, shut off and make their life insufferable. We will call this hybrid of approaches the “STELLARD”.

3. CDM’s – we will have one sit deeper screening the centerbacks or covering for an exposed overlapping fullback while the other jumps into the midfield to mark out higher and support our attacking play. This must be coordinated and disciplined. We will decide on this in the lineup.

4. Fullbacks – you will need to adventurous and active but also very SMART. You must read the play. You MUST pick the right times to bomb up the field (available for the overlap or switch of field). In this system…YOU provide the width so be active. If we lose possession in the midfield, you will need to recover fast like rabid wolves are after you.

5. Crowded midfield – this is a blessing and a curse. Crowd the middle and get narrow and encourage the pass out wide – then pressure blocking passing lanes. Mark out their midfielders with ours. The curse comes in possession and not getting in each others way. I want to see creative runs to get in behind the backline. Expand. If they want to play a high line – hit gigi nice and easy through on the ground and let him run at them.

I know this was short notice and not much time but I think the experiment will be worth it. Let’s go WARRIORS!!!!

Let’s GOOOOOOOO!!!

Today must be a WARRIOR day full of WARRIOR soccer with a WARRIOR win. League game. Do not assume last year’s Pen Argyl will be this year’s Pen Argyl. In fact, don’t think about them at all. Nameless faces. Think about YOUR preparation, YOUR communication, YOUR work rate, etc.

Keys:

1. Press, Press, Press. Do not give them an inch to breathe.

2. Rotate in the back and midfield. As the ball shifts, so do we. The diagonal on the opposite side of the field is less dangerous then the ball side runs.

3. QUALITY soccer. Nice triangles, including in the attacking third. Do not be afraid to rip it IF you have an open shot. Avoid blasting it into bodies. Look for that pass.

4. COMMUNICATE. I have yet to see this year the FULL ON, BELT IT OUT kind of communicating we want off the ball in all thirds of the field, particularly with marking but also in helping teammates with the pass. MORE of this the better.

5. FINISH – we must finish our chances. Be calm and strike like a snake.

Noah is absent today as we will need to stay healthy in the back. Let the ball do the work.

YOU GOT THIS MEN!

Varsity Letter Points Updated

Braden still leads with 270 points.

Congrats to Nolan Browne, Gigi, Hetrick, and Steve Barba who have all joined the 200 point club this week joining Dillard and Danny and Braden in the VL club. Keep it up! Every practice and game matters. Remember clean sheets are +10 and we missed one on Saturday. Let’s get one Monday.