Tag: football

Just What We Needed

After a week of practice we got exactly what we needed which is a punch from a reasonably sound team that offered up some lessons to be learned, Last year, we beat this school 4-1 and promptly lost our next two games albeit to strong opponents. My point being that a loss can often do you more good than a win as it can prompt critical examination of the bad and the good and the motivation and need to fix it. As with any unsatisfactory result, the responsibility lies with me. I ask the players to take the same vision – look inward to reflect on where they can improve and reflect on what they did well.

The good: For 20 minutes at the end of the first half, we were the better team. The field was tilted down their end and we were getting the kind of play we wanted and the goal to show for it – a give and go high quality score. A team goal. We were receiving easy balls into the back line and transitioning easily back into the mid-field.

The bad: We did not match the opponents intensity and speed at the beginning and at other moments in the game. Our touches were not of the quality we need and we need to move the ball faster to avoid being dispossessed. We were too often flat and not compact in the back allowing more open play. As the second half progressed, there were fewer give and gos and some hero ball resurfaced.

Lessons learned:

1. Playing it out of the back and building this way is a gamble with enormous risks. One failure led to a goal and another almost could have. Our opponent punted every time and it was highly effective.

2. We cannot hero ball our way to goals. We have arguably the best and industrious strikers in Eastern PA but we must remember to work the ball off of one, two, three, four players to get the look we want. Wall passes, baby through balls, far post, etc.

3. In the back we MUST BE EVER VIGILANT and compact when not in possession. Proper positioning – on the field – and with the feet not at attention but run ready. Fundamentals we will work on.

4. We must be a positive energy team. We want to leave the refs alone, build each other up, have each others back, and play with a positive fire that roars down the field. This must be in practice, outside of practice, and it will spill on to the field. Our first week was mired with absences-some out of our control, some within it.

5. The quality of our touches must be higher and our passing and movement must be better. Technical mistakes led to turnovers, mental errors led to poor off the ball movement.

6. We must be focused on the task. More listening, more growing.

Some highlights to me:

Kaarsen played for me for the first time at centerback and I was overall pleased with a lot of what I saw.

Nolan Browne is developing some skills to match his athleticism.

Yahriel gave us meaningful minutes

Dillard created no fewer than 5-7 real dangerous chances although no goal to show. If we can serve him better, he will be transformational.

Steven, Braden, Harnit, and Ben were tireless in the midfield.

Hetrick’s goal is exactly how we want to see things.

We will see some changes heading into next week. I will post more later and provide feedback to the players via email. JV did well today and clawed back a goal by Tyam. Nice job.

This is EXACTLY what we needed – a game to expose our weaknesses yet doesn’t count. Let’s all take our medicine and get well from it boys.

PLAYERS – respond to me when I email you your feedback.

Training Recap Day 2

More soccer today than yesterday. We broke into blocks of training rotating with different coaches and technical skills and emphasis followed by some full field for the first time. The full field work helps cement some of our ideas of how best to utilize the boys and get them working with each other. We have a LONG way to go but there were flashes of what damage we can do. MY THOUGHTS:

1. We need to take care of the ball. Too often we:

  • give it away by one too many touches
  • boot a hopeful ball that “someone should be there”
  • just have a sloppy touch or errant pass

We will look to clean this up as the days proceeed

2. We need to decide to counter-press HARD when we do and collectively. This is acutely absent so far. Tomorrow we work on the mid-block and the counter press defensively.

3. We need to get faster (Decisions, passing, movement on and off the ball). One of the BEST moments of the full field was a 1 touch from Barbed wire to the killer b to the hetrick system. We didn’t score but it was good soccer. Defensively we must be faster too – we are often in a place where we COULD have intercepted the ball and or prevented the turn if we anticipated the game. No one if ever off duty.

Lots to do and this is what we are here for. There was lots to love:

1. A wonderful ball from the Killer B to roll the Bleice. Yes he shot it over the moon but in his words “It was my right foot”. It WAS a great run and connection! Dangerous as Coach Carmona would say

2. Some of the youngsters are learning that this is not a low key affair. They are learning to work hard and get better. Of the newbies (noobs as the youth calls them) – I like the skill of Juan on the ball and Brycen is communicating! Our youths of yesterday are really coming along too. Yahriel plays like he has a chip on his shoulder – I like that. Nolan Lutz is jumping balls, and Kaarsan is seeing minutes as a Varsity center-back. Keep working.

3. The goalies work hard every day – maybe the hardest of any group. I love the work Coach Ale is doing with you AND the work you are doing with him. Logan Moore had a nice save in the scrimmage. I want to see more use of the goalie in field play and aggression from them recognizing when they can make a play on the ball.

We only had one who wasn’t here today that was here yesterday. Here they are in all their sun-soaked glory. They are sore and working hard. What a blessing to coach them.

PLAYERS:

1. Check your email as this is how I am giving personal feedback. Respond thoughtfully or accountability

2. Watch the video below starting roughly 30 minutes or so in. (if it doesn’t work right away – give it some time as I just loaded into youtube) and:

a. Shoot me an email about 2 things you did (or someone else did) you thought was well done AND 1 thing you saw that YOU (or someone else did) that needs improvement. Enjoy the process of getting better and don’t worry. No one is judging and it is not personal. Challenge yourself to a NEW STANDARD.

I should get 43 emails tonight!

Some FAQ answered:

Do you “cut” players? Are there tryouts?

No, we do not cut players. All players who attend and conform to team/school rules and expectations have a place in the WABS family. That said, there is only so much room on the bus and we have to fit a Varsity and JV team on it. As a result:

a) All players will train in either a GOLD (Varsity) group or BLUE (JV) group. These groups will be delineated each day by performance, attendance, technical ability, effort etc. Both groups will do the same drills, same conditioning, same technical and tactical program and both will get instruction from all coaches.

b) For each Varsity game – a group of 18-20 will be selected as needed and as earned. For each JV home game – all JV players will attend and ALL will play roughly equally. For JV away games – a smaller roster will need to be chosen and the same metrics that are used to select for Varsity will be applied here.

c) Varsity is highly competitive and decisions here will be made with the best interest of the success of the team in mind as opposed to participation. JV emphasis is similar (we want to succeed and win here just as much) but we also have a secondary goal of ensuring participation of ALL our JV players.

*Play hard, attend all functions, listen well, give your best to the team to earn your minutes and time on the field every day!

What about uniforms? What are they like?

a) We wear our blue and gold jerseys / blue shorts and socks at home or our third kit black jerseys and shorts and socks. Depending on final numbers we may to wear a few plain blues on the field as well as we have 38 standard blue and golds. We will see.

b) We wear our whites for away games which may include blue shorts depending on captain preference. White jerseys and socks are mandatory when away. Everyone will be issued a white away uniform.

What do I wear for practice?

As of now, comfortable T-Shirts and Shorts. Practice shirts on the way!

Why Spain will win the World Cup

I expect both of these teams to line up and play Sunday like they have all tournament. Both teams are confident and both teams know their own weaknesses and how to hide them. Both coaches have proven to be stable Captains of their respective ships. The winner of this game will be the team that has the winning tactic and to my eyes – this is Spain. Read the rest and let’s see if you agree.

xG and SOS:

Over the course of the tournament, Spain leads Argentina in xG by 2 – and they did it against much stronger opponents as measured by FIFA rankings. It can be argued that the rankings might not reflect the current form of a team like Egypt for example but the difference between the two teams strength of schedule cannot be ignored:

Avg ranking of team faced by Spain: 9.8

Avg ranking of team faced by Argentina 29.8

Interestingly, despite Spain having the higher xG, Argentina has scored more goals as they have been more clinical in finishing their chances. Argentina has pulled victory from the jaws of defeat twice but I think the law of averages will reward the team that consistently creates more chances and this is Spain.

Edge: Spain

Style of Play:

Argentina was very tough contesting the ball against England and it affected England’s ability to move the ball quickly. Spain presents a different challenger for Argentina as they can move the ball more quickly and provide more options around the ball than England. It is hard for a team to change their identity quickly and I think Argentina’s bouts of aggression which served it well will ultimately be their undoing.

Edge: Spain

Personnel:

Of course Messi is Messi and one does not need to argue whether he is the best that has ever played to analyze his impact on this game. He is a danger man and can hurt you. No more need be said. Let’s be honest though, there are 22 danger men on the field and plenty more on the bench. The average player ratings during the tourney give the slight edge to Spain but this is probably the stat is trust the least. Man to man, this is an even match.

Edge: Even

Overall: Spain wins 2-0

Player Rating USMNT vs Belgium

Having read some of the other websites player ratings – I am wondering if they watched the same game. Here are my thoughts:

I will start with the good grades:

Tillman – A – This is not because of the goal. He was tireless and active and of our players seemed truly in the fight.

Balogun – B – He made runs, was active, and had a dangerous chance. Strikers can’t and don’t score every game. He was active.

Robinson – B- – You knew he was on the field unlike some of our other players. Up and down and having to cover the whole left side really. Some culpability in the 1st goal but he was fine tonight.

Freeman – C – There was trouble down the right all night. Some successful challenges. Some poor positioning. Some good some bad.

Adams – C- – Outmanned in the midfield and not on his best night but was saddled with low ebb all around him but he didn’t dispel the gloom and became lost in it.

Berhalter – C- The super sub brought some fire and that shot was whisker close ….. to hitting the post! A full foot from punching it in. Good hit but those are not enough for a grade above a C. Not much else that was game changing from the son of our former coach.

Dest – C- Not as aggressive as I wanted him to be. Some sites have him ranked as a 2/10. C’mon man!

Richards – C- Had some clumsy moments. Seemed to care the most at the end – nothing objective to support that. He’s a good center back – it just all crumbled around him.

Ream – D+ – Did have some successful challenges. No one can be a hero all the time and he was ordinary tonight. Beaten on header. Clumsy on the 3rd goal when we needed a hero. The grade seems harsh based on his age but no favors for the old. I think we need another center back or two.

Reyna – D Not much to speak of and he played TOO LONG for that to be the narrative. Did he help with momemtum at beginning of second half – yes. Did he change the game? No.

McKennie – D- Forgot he was playing. I even looked for him at times to locate him. Disappearing act par excellence.

Pulisic – F – Led the team in turnovers despite exiting. Maybe he was playing hurt all along. I hate the whining for fouls which makes him hard for me to grade always but today he did not pass the test.

Coach Pochettino – As a coach my heart goes out to him. Did he pick our best 11? Probably. Do we have some talent holes and gaps? Yes. He tried his best to hide our weaknesses and for that I rate him well. BUT – we came out with less intensity than we should have and that is on him and despite kicking bottles was not able to change the game enough with subs – partly due to the roster. Was he expecting Belgium to pack it in like our other opponents (except Turkey and we lost to them). Distractions, energy, and lack of aggressiveness are his responsibilities and he must go down with the ship – D.

USMNT Player Ratings (vs. Paraguay)

Freese: Always available for the pass back. Good chemistry with back-line. When called into action, a save would have been a miracle. A-

Richards: Some wonderful interventions. Beaten for the second ball on Paraguay’s lone goal so not a perfect night but a very good one. Tougher tests await. A-

Ream: A very solid night, no obvious mistakes. Boring performance which is perhaps just what you want from a CB. The pressure high up the field took a lot of the pressure off the back line we must all say so I can’t get carried away. A-

Freeman: Similar report to the other CB but Freeman was a touch more involved in the regular goings on in the fray so I give him a higher grade – deserved or not I don’t know but his night was a touch more interesting. A

Robinson: Bright performance and all lit up like his hair. Natural wingback. My fav performance of the night A+

McKennie: Active and Everywhere and keeps that ball close to his feet – some turnovers but always has ambition.Worked hard off the ball too or this system would break down. A

Adams: Tough job for one man and he could have done without the card. How many miles did he run? A-

Dest: Fantastic – constantly slipping past – aggressive. A

Pulisic: Splitting the double was awesome and was super dynamic. I don’t like the crying about fouls but I can’t fix soccer and Christian is just playing todays game. B+ (only because he played just first half), otherwise A

Tillman: Active, instrumental. Easy decision as to why he starts. A

Balogun: No offense to past American strikers but we have never had a guy like this. That left footed blast was world class. A

Do we finally have a world cup team that can really go after another team?

Pochettino: Congratulations – you picked a great team and they were dynamic. Creating width with the wingbacks, Pulisic, Dest and McKennie, doomed a team that wanted to stay compact – surprisingly, Paraguay fell right into the trap. You did right by us: A Not perfect because of the soft goal conceded. See below.

Collective grade: Ruthless soccer and high quality. Paraguay clearly not prepared for the intensity though. The conceded goal was soft and that worries me a fraction but it was 4-1. A

Looking ahead!

Some items the coaches are working on and would like to share with the team!

  1. A summer lifting and training schedule is being worked on and will be posted up soon.
  2. We are currently playing after school on Tuesday and Friday from 2:45-3:45 PM at WAIS. It’s a lot of fun and this is how we get better. If you / your child isn’t busy – come and work to get better with us! Shout-out to Harnit, Keerat, Ben and others that have played when they had a break /opportunity when their normal spring sports weren’t in action. That’s commitment and that is WABS.
  3. I have emailed out to 8th grade students looking to recruit. If you know of an athlete that has played or looks like they can play or that you think would be a positive thing for them to be on a team – put them in touch with me. EVERYONE can all help the program in lots of ways
  4. I am also actively recruiting student managers for our team this year – please let me know if someone is interested.
  5. We are going to getting a “third kit” and requesting extra varsity uniforms so everyone has the same uniforms making it easy to shuffle kids from one team to another without issue of new uniform or putting them in one from 1952.
  6. We will be running the JV and V differently. For each game we will be selecting 18 players for the “Varsity Roster” based on performance in training/fitness etc. It will be a meritocracy. If you do not make this 18 man roster, you will play Junior Varsity assuming health permits. This will hopefully provide both incentive and motivation for players to keep their positions and hope for others that if they play well and practice well, a spot on the varsity roster will be there for them.

Up and Coming:

  1. Finding out when the free physicals are
  2. Getting final designs for third kit
  3. Getting in shape. – fitness standards will be higher (more old school Stewart standards this year) so get running and working on speed, strength, and agility.

Saturday Update

Calendar:

After Wednesday of this week, the regular season comes to an end. For JV, there are no playoffs so your season is over 😦 All double rostered players will continue with Varsity and I am likely to expand the Varsity roster to include a few more JV’s so we can continue to play full field in practice for training. I have posted the district schedule and my guess at the Colonial League schedule for playoffs. Please clear weekday calendar for the next few weeks as if we are not playing, we will be practicing.

Yesterday’s Game

The good:

  • Some nice combinations at times
  • Rocco getting that goal
  • Watching JV players linking up with Varsity
  • Another clean sheet

The needs to improve:

  • Our intensity – against southern lehigh and earlier in the season, we were on every 1st ball, 2nd ball, etc and that has dropped – one of my main goals this coming week will be to get back to that.
  • Our maturity – this goes with number one, but our warmups and our attention and focus must be higher as we prepare for games – I will work hard to improve that
  • Our passing in final third – we have gotten better slipping Gigi through from deeper (Braden had some nicely weighted passes again here) but we are still lacking consistent quality passes in that final third. Harnit did have a nice pass to the top of the 18 yesterday.
  • Our attention and anticipation in the back. We still have a tendancy to switch off from time to time.

Responsibility:

  • All responsibility for the team’s occasional shortcomings reside with me. Each loss, each performance. The boys are wonderful and the responsibility lies with myself and my coaches to try to get the best out of them each day.

Thanks:

  • I appreciate Brian Walsh for volunteering to operate the Veo camera and get the game recorded. I will upload it when I am done writing this up! Thanks so much!

Looking Ahead

  • Varsity Practice Monday will be structured differently. We will work with smaller groups at a time to improve play. Details on this to be posted later
  • Our goal is to improve every day. I am so excited for what this team can do in the playoffs. Let’s make dreams come true boys.

Tough Humble Together

Update and Notes 9/30

Analyzing the win:

It was a signature win for the program and a very important win for us now. It is CRITICAL that it be unpacked to see what is different about how we played compared to how we were playing. Some highlights and thoughts:

  1. Danny was very vocal in the back moving his pieces around. This gave us a lot of solidity.
  2. We won FAR MORE 1st, 2nd, and 3rd balls. We got in trouble when we didn’t. It is among the MOST IMPORTANT things we need to do and everyone was trying to do it, from Braden through the midfield to our backline.
  3. We played with an edge and a passion that had been somewhat missing in the last tough stretch. Focused, strong, passionate play is ESSENTIAL against any opponent.
  4. We played together and had each other’s back.

Never lose focus of what it takes to win. The formula NEVER changes. Personnel and shape might change to deal with what we have and what different teams bring but the formula is ALWAYS the same.

Looking Ahead:

  1. Practice today will be a recovery practice with focus on loosening the muscles and legs and refining our shape from yesterday. We will end a little earlier today – around 4:15-4:30 PM.
  2. SAME ENERGY AND FOCUS for Northwestern and we win again. You ARE AND CAN BE AN AMAZING TEAM WHEN WE DO THINGS THE WAY WE CAN DO THEM.
  3. Non-double rostered JV’s are NOT REQUIRED to attend the game with Northwestern tomorrow. We love having you and encourage you to come but it is NOT required.

Players with Injuries:

Please report to Trainer Room today at 2:15 to get treatment. Ben will be there.

Video from Game:

I am looking for a volunteer to help record games on Veo. I have tried but I am too busy with the team and my phone too old (maybe me too). If you would like to help with this, I can give you the login credentials and show you how to do it. Thanks! In the meantime I will work with our AD to try to get videos from other teams we have played including yesterday.

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!!!!