Barca U9's in Action.

     Please try to get your player to watch the video below with you.  After you've watched the first few minutes jump ahead to the 15:00 minute mark.


    These are players in the Barcelona Academy going through a typical training session.  These are U9 players. That means they are all eight years old.  Think about that.  Now, there are some drills they are running that I might like to steal for one of my own training sessions but what I'm most impressed by is the level of focus the players have.
     There have been times when a parent or a fellow coach might ask "when are you going to work on passing?"  By which they mean tactical passing, not the ball skills needed to execute passes.   My normal response is to say that until my players have actually developed a good passing stroke (kick) and have developed a good touch for receiving passes then there is no point in talking to them about when and where to pass the ball.  The tactics are worthless without the techniques.  So, it occurs to me while watching the young players in this video that I need to take yet another step back to an even more basic level.  If I can't get my players to stay focused at practice I can't begin to teach them technique.  This is something I need to think about for a while.

Girl Power! Opens Season by Putting on a Clinic.

     That was a pretty good game for our girls.  They played with a real commitment to their skills and with a growing ability to be aware of their surroundings.  We're still defending against ourselves a bit but given the way we dominate possession we're usually committing those mistakes in the other team's half and usually in their penalty area.  The fact that all of our goals were put in from within the penalty area or even the goal box indicates the extent to which our girls rely on dribbling.  They are always trying to bring the ball right into the goal with their dribble and they're tenacious.  While they do end up getting in each others way, sometimes their crowding the ball also has the affect of containing the ball.  Since the other team is usually just trying to kick the ball away all they do is kick it into our next closest player.  So, in a way, we're like a basketball team that really works at getting offensive rebounds.  The girls keep pressing until eventually the ball comes lose with a little space to work then its a simple tap in.
     I saw them making an effort to use aspects of the more complicated deceptive moves they've been working on in training including some fake shots.  That's great to see and it gives us a good foundation to work from moving forward.  I also saw a lot of very smart play away from the ball.  As I mentioned in a post a while back, I want them to understand that when you don't have the ball it doesn't mean you aren't doing anything.  You need to anticipate and play actively off the ball.  Right now Ava has the best sense of how to do this as she tends to break quickly ahead and at an angle from her teammate with the ball providing a real passing option or at least drawing a defender's attention.  More than once on Saturday I saw Ava get more than ten yards out from the ball, really opening the field.  I think the other girls see the value in creating that kind of space or at least they're aware that I want them to create that space.  But for most of them their sense of scale is skewed by their own perspective so that the space that they give a teammate may be only a yard or two.  To us it still looks like they're crowding but to them it probably feels like they're more than far enough away.  I tried to point out to the other girls the way that Ava commits to really getting well out into the open when she's off the ball on an attack.  Hopefully they'll start to develop that same sense of field-scale that Ava has and so open things up a bit more.
      So this brings me to what I have in mind as a goal for our work at practice and in games this season.  As a group the girls have started to move beyond being a collection of good dribblers who aren't normally aware of their teammates on the field.   That's that initial "ball-hog" stage that is a necessary part of the process.  Now they are more aware of each other and more conscious of their team "style" as it were.  They know they are all trying to play the same sort of possess and dribble game and they're beginning to figure out on their own how to support each other in different situations.  I do think at this point we can begin to make some real progress in helping them all understand how to work effectively together.  At half-time yesterday I tried to point out the way Ava was getting clear of the scrum so quickly and I asked them all to think about how they could help a teammate who was dribbling the ball.  They each offered a different answer: get to the side, get behind, get out front, get open, etc.  I replied that the answer could be different in every situation so "your job is to use your eyes to see what's going on and make a good decision."  I said to them, I can't tell you what the right thing to do is because it will depend on the situation but I can tell you that if you use your eyes to see what's happening you'll probably know what to do.  That's something I've said to them in some form before but Saturday I got the impression that it really made sense to them.  When I said "there's no right answer, it's up to you to figure it out" they all seemed to pause for a moment really thinking about that.
    At team practices then we'll spend time re-enforcing the skill work they have been doing but we'll also try to play some games that will help them to get a better feel for the space on the field.  I'm not thinking so much of passing as I am of supporting.   By support I mean they way you maintain space between you and a teammate in order to help them either on the attack or in defense.  Right now they mostly maintain space because I'm telling them to but I'm seeing more and more smart spacing where they are realizing on their own how to be at an effective distance.  So, that's our theme for the season to go along with their dribbling skills:  how to play off the ball.
      Some quick highlights from Saturday:
>Multiple goals from Hailey H. and Ashley.  They both are very stubborn about moving toward the goal and with their good ball control that usually works fine.  Rather than dribbling around defenders they usually manage, especially in crowds, to simply push past them while dragging the ball along.  They both attempted the Puskas though with pretty good fake shot moves to start it off.
>Hailey B. had another goal and I expect now she'll be wanting one every game.  Her speed is excellent and I've just got to get her comfortable with combining that speed with a move.  Right now she makes a good cut to get to one side of a defender but then just tries to run away from them rather than cutting back to really get behind them.  So, something concrete to work on as her skills continue to improve.
>Abby was, again, showing her willingness to change directions dramatically while dribbling.  She'll even turn her back and move away from the goal when necessary.  She managed at least one goal too.
>Zoe is so fast with the ball that my only concern with her is to get her to have a softer touch.  If she can go fast while keeping the ball close she'll be deadly.  As it is she's constantly disrupting the other team's efforts to get any sort of attack going.
>In contrast, Eileen was showing that good touch she has throughout the game and now I've just to convince her to go a bit faster with the ball.  She did manage a goal though with a strong left footer from a few yards out.
>Finally there was Ava.  I've already mentioned her play off the ball.  She also had some very good runs with the ball and was using her skills very effectively.  But her best moments were the two corner kicks she took.  I'd noticed at practice that she was really improving her shooting stroke dramatically so I wanted her to take at least one corner so we could see how she'd handle that.  Man, was it impressive.  She jumped through the first one like a seasoned striker; all shoe laces right on the back of the ball.  Her second corner was even better as she adjusted her angle to get under the ball a bit and lift it to head-height.  Beautiful!  If they'd scored on that one I'd have had to go over and apologize to the other coach.  And to think these girls all have another two seasons of U8.  Look out!

     Well done ladies.  We just love to watch you play so...thanks.

     

U10 Boys Opening Day! Okay Weather. Okay Field Conditions. Excellent Soccer.

     We got the season started with an early game at Freedom Park for the U10 Boys #2 (we need a name for this team) and the conditions were pretty good considering how bad that field has been in the past.  The sun was shinning and it was warmish and the boys showed up ready to play.  What I expected from this team based on what I had seen in practice was that they would have lots of energy, that they'd be willing to take and give a lot of contact to stay with the ball and that they'd be very communicative on the field.   I was delighted to see all of that and more in this game.  While their energy level was very high they were actually playing with a fair amount of organization, maintaining effective spacing most of the game.  They were generally playing with good skill and patience on the ball and with good anticipation off the ball.  And as expected, there was a lot of good communication on the field too.  These boys are really comfortable playing with each other and will probably develop some really effective cooperative play very quickly.  Given their potential I may consider devoting a tiny bit of team practice time to working on that sort of thing as a way of improving their field awareness generally.   Maybe.  I don't want to stray too far away from our season curriculum of deceptive dribbling skills since I was really impressed with the amount of quality ball control I saw and I'm anxious to push them to build on their skills.
     I think the team we faced may have been mistakenly placed in the wrong division.   Prior to the formation of the league schedules I requested that our team be placed in the middle division of the U10 age group, assuming that their would be three divisions.  That's where we ended up but I don't think the team we played should have been in this division.  They clearly had a couple of players with little or no playing experience and that game was a little rough for them.  I know at least one parent on the other side was complaining loudly about some of the contact they were seeing and from their perspective it may have looked like our boys were playing too rough.  That's not what I saw.  We did commit some fouls but they were of the honest sort, the kind of unintentional tripping and pushing you get when two players are both contesting hard for the ball.  Nothing malicious.  I really like that all of our players are comfortable with that level of contact and that gives us a foundation to work on in terms of technique.  If players are willing to accept and even initiate a little contact I can teach them how to use that to possess the ball more effectively and how to efficiently dispossess an opponent, hopefully without committing a foul.
     In any case, for us this was the right team to face in our first game.  I had asked Owen to set a very clear example right from the start by using every skill he had and staying completely committed to dribbling the ball and then to shoot early and often.  I told him that if it turned out that the other team could play a little defense we'd modify our approach as necessary but initially it should be dribble, dribble, dribble.  As it was they were giving us plenty of space to work and so the other boys all were doing the same as Owen and using their dribbling skills.  My job as the season progresses will be to convince them to remain committed to that style of play even when we face teams with more experienced players who have a better sense of how to close down on defense.
     So, some quick observations about their individual play:
>Lucas Y. was solid in as our first keeper and had two or three really good punts.  (note: I will always be requiring my keepers to punt, even if they aren't good at it yet)  Once he got out on the field Lucas scored almost immediately and played with excellent skill and energy.  His touch on the ball gets softer all the time.
>Lucas F. surprises me every time I see him get on a good run.  He's easily the most comical of the group and at practice it can take a little while to get him focused.  But in the game Saturday he had a couple of really outstanding runs to goal where he demonstrated a really skillful dribbling style that will be a great foundation for him going forward.  He seems to like to move into traffic leading with his left shoulder and carrying the ball a bit behind and to his right so that he's sort of skipping and dragging the ball, shielding it all the while.  In one of those runs he made he ran past two opponents doing nothing more complicated than that shielding dribble.  Very effective.
>Luke had a great game in so far as he was very solid as a defender and he struck the ball solidly most of the time.  He had a good sense of where to be most of the game too.  I do need to work with him though on getting comfortable with trapping the ball and moving with it at his feet.   This is something we'll work on in team practices a lot; make your first touch smart and soft, get control and move into space.
>Cole is right now the player most willing to execute more complicated deceptive moves and he's comfortable with pulling the ball under and behind himself.  That's big because some of those moves we teach require you to lose sight of the ball momentarily and to sometimes turn your back to the goal or the opponent and most kids aren't comfortable with any of that.  His willingness to be really crafty, even in traffic, gives him an excellent advantage.
>Oliver is, like Luke, more comfortable kicking the ball rather than trapping and dribbling but that's in game situations.  At practice he's very comfortable attempting to dribble and has a good touch on the ball.  He was very effective in this game and had some excellent touches.  I'll just keep talking to him about being more stingy with the ball.  Passing is fine and it's an essential component of higher level soccer.  But a good player passes the ball as a way to get it to the goal, not because they want to get rid of it.  So for all of my players the first phase is the selfish "it's my ball" phase.  That being said,  I did see some very smart, positive passes in this game and Oliver and Luke were two of the standouts in that regard.  I won't discourage passing and when it's of good quality I'll cheer like everyone else.  I'm just going to be asking my players to possess the ball as long as they can and to be willing to test their skills.  A well placed pass is a beautiful thing but beating an opponent one on one is slightly more beautiful.
>Which brings us to Will, who is clearly our ball hog.  I say that as a compliment of course.  Will has a wonderfully simple natural dribbling style.  Nothing fancy or particularly deceptive.  His strength is that he's willing to be very close to his opponents knowing that he doesn't have to run away from them but rather he just has to keep them from touching the ball.  His best run of the game came late in the second half.  He picked up the ball at midfield and immediately saw the open space between the defense and the right touch line (bench side).  He cut to that space with three defenders approaching from within five yards of him.  His cut move took him to the right of the first defender and then, just as he had cleared that first kid, he cut back to the left to split the other two defenders and beat them both by simply delicately touching the ball between their feet.   He went on in for a shot and I think he scored.  That was so wonderful to see him actually cut into the traffic rather than just running away from it.  That's a way of using good ball control skills that I'd like everyone to be comfortable with.
     Great first game.  I'm really looking forward to working with this team.

Post-game Ice Cream Social.

There are my Girl Power! goofballs enjoying some ice cream after their final indoor game of the winter session. They played beautifully again with lots of skill and confidence. They are a joy to work with.  I'd love to sit on the other side of the field some time just to be able to hear how the other team's parents are reacting to what they are seeing.  Do they ever notice the fact that while their players keep kicking the ball our players are fearlessly keeping possession and trying to dribble around everyone?  The Girl Power girls don't play kick-ball, they play soccer.

Outdoor Season Begins This Saturday (Hopefully). The Rules.

     With the outdoor season beginning this weekend I want to take a moment to go over some things with everyone.  First I'll go over the rules of the game as they apply to the age groups we're in and then I'll reiterate a few of the points we tried to make at the parents' meeting a few weeks back.
     U8  plays 6v6 including keepers with games consisting of four 12 minute quarters.
There is no off-sides rule in U8.  On throw-ins players will be given one do-over per game by the ref.  All fouls will result in direct free kicks, meaning, it's okay to shoot at the goal on the free kick.  We'll be able to sub in players after a goal, before a goal kick or before a throw-in.  On throw-ins we can only sub if a) it's our ball or b) the other team elects to sub a player.  I can only send in subs after I've gotten permission from the ref so there is no "subbing on the fly" as in indoor soccer.
     U10 also plays 6v6 including keepers but in two 25 minute halves.  Again, all fouls result in direct free kicks.  We lose possession on improperly executed throw-ins, no second chances.  The sub rules are the same as for U8.  In U10 we will be playing with the off-sides rule in affect.  If you need a refresher on how that rule works I'd suggest you have a look at this video:  Off-side Rule Explained.

     Now, a few things to keep in mind.  I and the other Legends coaches and trainers are constantly trying to convince the players to challenge themselves to play with skill; to be tricky, tenacious and thoughtful.  You'll be sitting right by the field now with no glass between you and the players.  They'll be able to hear you so I want you to be careful about what you say.  Encourage them to play with skill rather than yelling to them to "kick it!" or "boot it!".  If you see them attempt a deceptive move or if they attempt to possess and dribble the ball in a crowd let them hear your approval.  If a kid on the other team does the same cheer for that too.  We want to encourage quality soccer; beautiful, skillful soccer.
     Keep in mind too that if our players are possessing and dribbling the ball a lot they are going to get fouled a lot and with lots of fouls happening the ref's chances of getting them all right decreases so please be patient. You can boo if you like.  You can groan.  But please don't try to engage the ref verbally.  Don't yell "call it both ways ref!"  I'll talk to the ref if it seems necessary but more importantly I want my players to know that the game outcome is in their hands, not the referee's.  They have to learn to take the game as it comes to them and to adapt.  If you have to deal with a lazy referee then deal with it but keep playing.
     I think that's about it.  If I hear anything about games being postponed due to weather or field conditions this is the first place I'll post that info.  Then I'll email everyone and or send text messages.
   

Girl Power!!!

     The girls had easily their best performance of the session playing for the first time on the large field.  As we went out onto the field before the game they were all excited about the prospect of playing in such a large space.  Abby even asked me "is this as big as a football field?"  So while they were focused on the size of the field they didn't take much note of the size of the other team which was a great thing.  Our girls aren't so impressed anymore by the appearance of their opponents.
     At the start of play Hailey H. ended up back in defense and after the first thirty seconds or so I noticed that while Ashley and Kelsey had gotten the ball way up into the other team's half Hailey and Maya were playing way too deep in defense.  That's a function of not being used to the large field so I called out to Hailey to move up some in order to contain the ball if the other team managed to boot it up to the half line.  She pointed at the yellow "attacking" line as if to say "I'm in defense and I'm supposed to stay here."  I kept encouraging her to come up toward the half line but I think she thought I meant that I just wanted her to go on up and join the attack so she did.  She got to the ball while it was still in the other team's third and she took control, started dribbling around players and got us our first chance at a shot.  Well even though Kelsey, Asley and Ava had all been very active to that point the confident display of skill they saw from Hailey really seemed to convince them that they could do that too and for most of the game our girls were playing the way we want to play.  They trap the ball, get control then dribble...from anywhere including our own goal box.  They dribble with their heads up seeing the next opponent and then using their skills to get around them.
     So what you see then are really two different games being played on the same field.  As I told the girls last night, the other team came to play some kick-ball but we came to play soccer.  The other team got lucky a few times and managed to kick the ball over our players leaving one of theirs in a one on one with our keeper but more often then not when they would kick the ball away they were just giving it back to us so we could dribble up again.  I'm so proud of these girls.  They're fearless and they are clearly enjoying their skillfulness.  They play the beautiful game, the in-your-face "if you want the ball you have to come and get it no matter how big you are" game.  Ole.
     Quick highlights:
     Hailey H. dribbling all over the place and even throwing in a move that she made up on the spot (she was very proud of that).  It was a kind of step-over, hip-fake and it was just comical the way it froze the two closest defenders.
     Ashley scoring yet again with her left foot.  She saves us some chances we might otherwise miss by being able to come from the right of the goal toward center and still get off a shot.  One thing I talk to players about often is that when you get around a defender using a move you need to break quickly into open space and if possible cut back toward the defender so that you get behind them, that is, so that you are now shielding the ball from them with your body.  If you break to the left and get past a defender you should immediately cut back to the right a little so that if they pursue you they will be behind you and have to run around to reach the ball.  Ashley did just that  neatly a couple of times last night.
     Ava was a dribbling machine.  She, along with Kelsey, Abby and Hailey H., attempted the Puskas move they had learned at skills training with Coach Jeremy this week.  Most impressive was that she had so many good get-aways in this game where she made a move to get some space and then really took off when she saw green grass in front of her.
     Hailey B. has grown so much both in her skill and in her confidence that each game is a revelation.  Last night on that big field she was able to display her great speed too.  I had no idea she was so fast.
     Abby is still our most committed dribbler.  She is just positive she can dribble out of any jam and she proved herself right over and over again last night.  You have to see how that wears another team down.  It may make you tense watching her or any of our players possessing the ball tenaciously in spots where you really wish they'd just clear it out with a big kick but every second that our girls possess the ball is time that the other team is losing.
     Anna and Eileen were both showing some great skill too and I was especially impressed with Anna's ability to look up and see the opening she wanted to get into as she approached defenders.  Eileen had one very lovely run to goal from one of the corners where her ball control was excellent.
     Maya was a real revelation in at keeper!  She'll be moving up to play U10 during the spring outdoor session and her team will be grateful to be getting such a good goalie.  Her dribbling skills in the first half were excellent too.
     Kelsey is another player who will be joining one of our U10 teams in the spring and she has found a new level of confidence in her dribble skills.  She was very proud of herself last night for trying to use that puskas move in the game and it really is a big deal.  Kelsey has a really strong shooting stroke and she has tended to play impatiently, shooting early and from too far away.  But now she is starting to slow down a bit and play more dynamically, changing speed and direction, throwing in some real deceptive moves and really taking control of the game.  That's what a player with her natural ability should be doing rather than reacting to the game.
     Hajar had an excellent game and made real progress in terms of starting to move quickly after using that great first touch she has.  And like all of the girls she makes that first touch without seeming in any way hurried by the proximity of the other team.  Cool heads.
     Avery is another player whose first touch is excellent but who is still trying to find that good get away touch to take advantage of her ball control.  But she is solid as a rock when it comes to stealing the ball away from other players.  She's got a big kick but has become much more selective with when to use it lately.  Remarkably she saved her biggest kick for just the right moment last night.  Right when it seemed the other team would get one final break-away Avery was there to intercept the ball and send it deep into their end.  Game over.
     Erin had a couple of good chances in front of the goal but couldn't get off a shot quick enough.  She was in the right spot though and that is definitely her strong suit.  Her field awareness is quite good.
     Finally, Kennedy had trouble getting close to the ball most of the game but late in the second half she saved a goal for us when the ball came to her at the eighteen and she calmly trapped it, took two dribble steps then passed it off to a teammate.  If she'd taken a wild swing at the ball and missed it would have resulted in a goal for sure for the other team but by doing the more difficult thing, by getting control of the ball even as the other team was rushing toward her, she took away their scoring opportunity.  That's good soccer.

     So, just a wonderful game.  They play their last one next week on the big field too.  I can't wait to see what beautiful soccer they'll have for us then.

If we get some fields to use...and the fields dry out...

Okay, not part of the training curriculum but we're adding this one in for sure on team practice days.  Too simple.  Too effective.  Too fun.




This is the soccer equivalent of a baseball pitcher throwing "salad", just un-hittable junk.

Monday Night Football!

   

     From the reports I received I really missed a great game Monday evening.  The Legends boys, I'm told, got off to a good start, matching their opponent shot for shot in the first half but then really turned it on in the second half and took a commanding lead.  I hear that Logan, Drew, Luke, Joe and Will all had goals.  Anyone else?  Late update:  Kaleb put one in too!
     I also hear that the team received some very gratifying compliments from some other coaches.  Nick's uncle, an experienced select team coach, told our own Coach Ben that he was very impressed with the consistent quality of our team's ball control and dribbling skill.  Ben also ran into the coach of the Bethel Bullets, the leading team in our division.  Unfortunately our teams did not get scheduled to meet this session and after watching some of last night's game the Bethel coach told Ben that he really wished we had had a match with them as he was so impressed with the quality of our team's play.
      Great session Legends!  You represented your club honorably and it was a privilege to be your coach.

Sunday Games Both Thrillers.

     The U8 boys' game Sunday morning reminded me a lot of the U8 girls' game in that while the players had had two weeks off they came into this game playing better than ever.  And like the girls, the most obvious area of improvement was in their field awareness and their spacing.  The amount of ball-chasing and crowding that we were seeing was dramatically reduced from last game and there was a lot of very thoughtful play away from the ball with players smartly anticipating the action. 
     In terms of skillful dribbling, there was plenty of that too.  Tate was literally slaloming down the field, cutting back and forth between players like a skier angling through the gates.  He now has a wonderful patience and confidence with the ball to go along with his crushing strike.   Diego was also using his quick cutting skills to weave in and out of the traffic and had much better success in this game in his ability to avoid being tripped.  Plus he made some awesome tackles, taking the ball off the other team and leaving them in a heap!  His keeper work in the second half was brilliant too.
     Micah was another premier dribbler in this game and he had two really remarkable turns on the ball, one in each half, where he executed combinations of cuts and spin-turns to get himself out of the corner and back toward the goal.  And in each instance his tempo was dynamic.  He would slow down and let the defender come in then quickly make his turn and then go.  Micah had a very strong goal in this game too so this game may have been a real break-out performance for him. 
     The other boys all played very well too.  Jackson H. really had his best day in terms of having good ball control to go with his speed.  His vision was great too and he made some brilliant passes.  Jackson P. was all energy in this game but with much more of a sense of how to position himself off the ball.  His touches were very thoughtful throughout the game, especially his last one where he drove the ball deep into the other half with seconds to go to hold the other team off.
     Bilal started the game in keeper and his cool-headedness is his strongest asset.  Whether he takes the ball with his hands or comes out to take control with his feet he is always calm and confident.  I'm amazed by that as so many kids are really afraid of the keeper position because they see it as a position where you are just doomed to fail no matter how well you play.  Bilal, though, has a great sense of how the keeper is essentially the start of the offensive attack.  I know he sometimes seems to hold the ball too long, especially when he's got it at his feet out of the box, but that is a great place to start from in training him to play the position.  Better to start out being too bold than being too timid.
     Finally, Louis was having another great game and his first touch was really good in this game.  He played the entire field with great anticipation, sometimes moving up to attack then quickly falling back to defend.  His confidence with his dribble was very good too throughout the game.

     The U10 boys' game was a thriller too but it ended in defeat and it was, frankly, had to take.  They worked really hard the whole game and they gave it all they had.  There were many highlights but right now my heart just isn't in it.  I need to think about this one a bit.
    I can say that the boys all agreed that the play of the game was Will's goal-saving bicycle kick.  I wish I'd caught that on video.
    My thanks to Wyatt and Nathan for coming out to cover for Joe and Kaleb.
    

Girl Power Skills!

     What a great game that was!  The sudden improvement by the whole squad in terms of their field awareness was wonderful.  I've noticed in the past that sometimes a little break away from the game can give players time to "percolate" as it were, so that when they get back to it they are suddenly more comfortable with a move they've been working on or they are seeing the field and their teammates more clearly.
     In last night's game the girls were clearly playing with better peripheral vision and while they still had moments where they got in each others way they were generally maintaining more thoughtful spacing.  I saw a lot of very smart movement by players away from the ball and there was much more anticipation of where the ball might be headed so that we had less chasing in this game.
     The level of skill on display too was wonderful.  Every player at the U8 level should be able to execute a simple cut move where they move laterally to get past a defender but when you see so many of our girls bravely trying more complex skills and fakes you've got to be proud of them.  Their commitment to being skillful is their best asset as a team.  Notice the difference in the way the two teams scored their goals last night.  The other team managed most of theirs on break-away one v one situations.  Kudos to them for seizing those opportunities.  But most of our goals came in situations where our attacking players (usually all of them but our keeper) were crowding into the other team's goal area.  That is clearly the result of the way they are getting the ball up the field, i.e, with patient dribbling and short passes.  How many times did we see them execute a sort of "ladder" up the field with one player taking on a defender or two then making a short pass up to our next player and so on.  I was really impressed by that because it shows how some of our girls are beginning to understand how to play in support of a teammate who has the ball.
     Finally I want to note how attentive the players were to the game when they were on the bench.  I mentioned a couple of weeks back that I think it's really important for them to watch the game when they aren't in.  Last night I was stunned at how tuned in to the game all of our players were while on the bench.  There was cheering but there was also a lot of thoughtful and funny conversation among them about what they were seeing from their teammates on the field.  At one point I said to the girls on the bench that since they all seemed to be doing so well in maintaining their spacing the next step was for them to work on anticipating the action better.  One of them asked what "anticipating" meant and after I tried to explain they went back to watching the game.  A few moments later Maya noticed something in the action on the field and she said to everyone on the bench "right there, she did not do a good job predicting the future."  Hilarious and accurate.

Games to Watch. Blogs to Read.

     The US Men's National team has a game this Wednesday versus Ukraine.  Strange coincidence there.  It's on ESPN 2 at 2:30 PM.  Maybe record it then watch it that evening with your players.
     Saturday is First Kick for the 2014 MLS season with Sporting Kansas City and Seattle Sounders taking the field at 3:00 PM.  That will air on NBCSN.
     And Coach Mark has joined in the soccer blogging so check out his observations on his team at Marksnkylegends Blog.