This weekend saw games for four of the Legends teams. The U10 girls played early Saturday and you can catch the highlights from that match at Coach Ben's Huddle. Apparently it was a lopsided affair with at least eight of the Legends girls scoring and a few of them scoring multiple times. Ouch.
Well, unfortunately that is how it seems to go more often than not. You're either getting drubbed or you're doing the drubbing. Games where you are really well matched with your opponent and where a little extra effort or even some well earned luck can make the difference are more rare than you'd like. When you get one of those sorts of games you've got to savor it, regardless of the outcome.
Also in action this weekend were the U8 boys, the U8 Girl Power! squad and my U10 boys. In all three cases the teams were in the fortunate position of facing an opponent who was a pretty good match in terms of skill and experience. All three games were fairly close affairs all the way through with the U8 teams taking very close losses while the U10 boys managed a win with a late burst of scoring. Even when the outcome was disappointing I think the players probably left the field feeling exhilarated by the intensity of the competition.
Girl Power! played Saturday evening and they were full of energy from the kick-off. This game saw a much better performance from the whole team in terms of their field awareness and so while they were continuing to bravely attempt to dribble and possess the ball they were also giving each other more space to work. We saw much less own-team-defending in this game and I was glad for that. That seems to be a very distinct hurdle that every team has to get past and from there on we can begin to make some very rapid progress in developing their in-game skills. Right now, for instance, my U10 boys are at a point where they are very good at rotating on and off the ball so that they each know how to let their teammates have some space to work. Consequently we're seeing the beginnings of some spontaneous cooperative play with that squad. It's fascinating to see that type of play developing out of the players' own growing understanding of the game.
Anyway, the GP! girls played brilliantly against a team that had much less in the way of skill and much more in the way of inches and pounds. But they held their own and made it a close match all the way through. We had two goals from Ashley who gets faster with the ball every game. Hailey H. put one in too and her ability to look up from the ball while moving is very impressive. She comes out of the defensive third already seeing the path she'll take and then combines her ball skills with some real speed. After the game I talked with the team about how everyone needs to attempt to mimic that combination. At practice we'll focus on really mastering the technical aspect of any particular move but in the game we'll try to use the move at game speed. Be perfect at practice but in the games be fast.
We had great play from everyone else including some dramatic improvements by Hailey B. and Maya. Maya was clearly playing with less fear of the ball and Hailey B. continues to trust her dribbling skills and in this game was moving the ball with much better awareness of where the defenders were and which way to go to find open space.
My highlight of the game was one energetic run from Ava. She and Eileen took turns in the keeper position and they were solid as always. Late in the first half, while Ava was still playing the field, there was a moment where we got a quick break away up the middle. Ashley, I think, had the ball and had just beaten one opponent at the half line and was now facing three more, all bunched near the goal-side edge of the center circle. Ava had been all the way back in our penalty area covering on defense and while I was focusing on Ashley I caught this sudden blur zipping up the side-line and into the wide-open space just to the right of the other goal. It was Ava and she'd read the situation perfectly and was using her speed to take advantage of an opportunity. As she got into position she was calling to Ashley for the pass. Now, Ashley didn't manage to get free to make a pass but the effort from both girls was awesome. Ava sees the field as well as any player on the squad and I love to see her taking those chances. She never plays like she's saving her energy for later.
The U8 Boys squad took the field early Sunday with a short roster. But as usually happens when you have no subs, the whole team played better than usual. It was a high scoring game and thanks to Tate's amazing skill and determination we were in the game right to the end. Jackson H. and Diego both contributed goals too and on the whole the team played with much better field awareness and with more patience on the ball. Like the U8 girls though, we still aren't combining our ball skills with any real speed. Tate is fairly comfortable moving at speed while still controlling the ball but for most everyone else there is clearly a trade off where more speed equals less control. More practice and game experience is the solution there.
Tate's goal's were all the powerful strikes you expect from him at this point. He just crushes the ball. But now I'm seeing much more confident dribbling from him and in this game he executed a beautiful Maradona turn that even included a very confident "bump-and-run" component. Tate was approaching the goal from the left side when a defender sort of herded him toward the corner. Tate went ahead and touched to his left as if to go deeper into the corner but just as he was closing in on the defender he stepped over the ball while also turning his back to the other player. As he bumped the other kid off the ball with his backside he simultaneously pulled the ball around himself with his left foot. As he continued to turn around he was well clear of the other player and had an easy shot from only six yards out. It was an amazing combination of grace and power. I'm sorry I wasn't videoing the game at that point.
Diego's goal was a hard won reward for a long days work. He just keeps plugging away, dribbling through traffic, going down and getting back up quickly. Then he makes a good tackle to get the ball back and starts over again. He finally got through late in the game and put one in. As he grows and develops some speed he'll be unstoppable.
Jackson H.'s goal was a simple matter of being in the right place at the right time. As some of the other boys were contesting for the ball on the right side of the goal Jackson smartly stayed put in the center and a quick and definitely intentional pass from Micah put the ball at his feet for a quick one touch strike. Delightful football there.
Bilal followed up a nice half in the field with a great half in the goal. My compliments to his goalie coach on Bilal's excellent technique. He rolls up on the ball like an old pro and his punt skills, when he uses them, are excellent. I saw some excellent ball control and field awareness from Micah in this game. He's become quite good at seeing where his teammates are and so he often passes the ball off to good affect. I'd like to see him dribble more and possess the ball longer but his passes are usually smart ones so I can't complain.
Louis had really his best game so far I thought. He actually beat a couple of players on the dribble at two different points in the game. I hope that opens his eyes to the possibility of doing that more often. He really does have a good touch on the ball if he'd just trust it more.
As for my U10 Boys the score was probably closer than it should have been. The other team was a very good squad with some really strong shooters. They came into this game with the same record as our boys and I imagine that this was largely due to their performance on the small field where a kid with a big foot is in goal scoring range from anywhere on the attacking half. They did have some players with real dribbling skills but generally they were trying to advance the ball by making long passes up field in this game and that hurt them in two ways. First they were forced by our players patient ball possession to keep dropping their whole team back into defense. That is, as one of our players like Drew or Luke would possess and move with the ball for longer and longer, say, five then ten then even fifteen seconds, their forward players would be drawn deeper and deeper into their own side as we started to load up their defensive third of the field. This meant that frequently when they did steal the ball and get a long pass off they wouldn't have any forwards up in position to receive the pass. Secondly, when their long passes were a bit errant then our lone defender was able to easily corral it then bring the ball back up so their long passes were often just long turn-overs.
Our boys played with a lot of brilliant skill, especially Luke and Drew who had three and two goals respectively. Luke looked like a slalom skier as he weaved in and out of the other teams' players, at one point dribbling through five of them in the same run. Drew, who used to rely heavily on his ability to slalom in that same way has now added a devastating stop-and-go move that let's him draw over-anxious defenders in only to see Drew blowing past them with the ball to his left and out of their reach. His two goals were typical low angle balls from the corners. Low percentage shots but clearly Drew's specialty.
Kaleb managed two for his third really good game in a row. I'm most impressed with his smart play off the ball and both of his goals were the result of that. He anticipated the movement of the ball and got himself into the right position to take a shot. The first goal was off a beautiful pass from Will that found Kaleb dead center at the edge of the penalty area. When you're prepared you make your own good luck and that worked for Kaleb in this game when he got his second goal from a similar position off a ball that had come loose from a scrum in the corner.
Conner was once again trying to Maradona all the way down the field and it was working. He builds on that every game and is getting faster and more confident. Joe had a great game and while he didn't score, his aggressive efforts to dribble-penetrate right into the goalie box were irritating the other team so much that at one point he got shoved from behind. Probably a card-able offense but given the score at the time I think the ref was right to let it go with a warning. Logan was strong again although he didn't find himself in position to take a shot this game. Nick played beautifully in the field and probably could have scored if he'd let the ball go earlier. In the second half he was a stone wall in at the keeper spot.
Great game all around and I did see some very interesting small space passing toward the end of the game. Not exactly tiki taka yet but it was neat to see the boys trying it with no prompting from me. Owen, Will, Conner and Luke seemed most involved in this and I was impressed with how they were able to keep the ball close in crowded spaces while still seeing their teammates and the passing lanes. As I've said before, this is not something we will practice or even discuss much. We will, though, while working on our dribbling moves be practicing all of the individual skills you would need to execute this sort of cooperative play. If the players then improvise on their own and start passing the ball around thoughtfully I can't complain. For my part, I'll continue to encourage them to possess the ball for as long as possible and to keep their dribble alive rather than passing it off. But if they see passing opportunities and their passes are thoughtful, intentional and positively struck then I'll applaud along with everyone else. At this point in the season they are very much aware of the standings and their opportunity to contest for the number one spot. My job is to remind them that the style of play they came into the season with is what got them here. Stay committed to that and we'll see what happens.
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