My U10 boys played on the larger field this Sunday and prior to the start of the game I talked with them about how we should adjust to the field size. I had been anticipating that if they were pressed hard while playing on the larger field some of our players would be tempted into old bad habits of defending by kicking the ball away. I've been trying to impress upon them since the summer that our attack always begins from wherever we get possession of the ball. At the midfield, deep in our third or right in the goal box, once we get the ball we are on the attack so don't kick the ball away and give up possession. With the exception of the keeper, I want them to dribble the ball up field into open space rather than try some long clearing kick/pass. For this game I offered a suggestion for how they might deal with the size of the field while still sticking with our style of possession ball. I described it as "rotation". If one player gets the ball back in our third and starts dribbling out then one of the players farther up field needs to rotate back to cover for him, and not only cover but to actually support him by being there to pick up the ball if an opposition player manages to knock it loose.
I was really impressed by how the team adopted this way of playing. They were moving up and back and into and out of attacking and defending positions with real confidence. They were communicating well and cooperating easily. It was fun to watch. They really seemed to be learning a lot during the course of the game and getting better and better as the game went on. I hope it sticks with them.
Every one played very well and I could fill pages with highlights but I want to just mention a few. Braden didn't see much action in as keeper in the first half although he handled himself well when we needed him. In the second half he was in the field and when I saw him two times make just the slightest hesitation/stutter-step/sort of shake-and-bake move to get around a defender my jaw was on the floor. That is a huge breakthrough for him to attempt that sort of thing in a game situation and I'm so glad to see him taking that step.
Similarly, I saw Logan G. taking a big step forward. Logan has always been an aggressive attacker with a strong foot but, like most kids, it's taken him a while to realize that you can't always just rush past the defender. Sometimes you have to take the long way around and in this game I saw him do just that a couple of times including at one point executing a sort of double-pull-back turn to get clear and find a shot. That's big, that stage when a player gets comfortable with the idea of turning their back to the goal in order to shake a defender.
Finally there was Conner S. who seems to want to Maradonna turn his way all the way down the field. We joked with him about it at the last team practice. "Maradonna turns all the way, baby!" But he really does like that move and it seems to suit his feel for where he wants to put the defender. He was also one of the quickest to grasp the "rotation" concept in this game and to understand how and when you need to take a chance and move away from your "position".
It was a great game all around against a team that had some very good players with very little experience playing together. I'm happy to say that the Legends took advantage of that in just the right way and stayed true to their style.
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