Once in a while at a practice I'll let my teams finish a session with a little scrimmage. When we're nearly out of time I'll yell out "next goal wins!" That's a great way to motivate them to give all of their energy for those last couple of minutes but it also re-enforces an attitude that I'd like them to have toward playing and competing in general. Regardless of what the score in a game is, regardless of how hopelessly out of reach victory may be, every chance you have to get to the ball and to take on another player, every chance you have to attempt to beat them with a move, in short, every moment of the game is still a competition. Don't let the score take you out of the competition. Literally, don't let your expectations about the outcome rob you of the chance to keep playing, to keep coming for more, to keep giving yourself over to the game. It's an easy lesson to learn on the practice field where they're naturally comfortable playing hard against each other, where the game really is just a game. But can they bring that attitude with them on match day?
I'm proud to say that my Legends teams did bring that "next goal wins" attitude with them to this past weekend's tournament play. Neither team managed any wins but they played every minute of every game as though the next goal they put in would seal the victory. They played with skill and patience, creativity and speed against some very good competition and I enjoyed every minute of it. Girl Power, especially, was challenged in a way they hadn't been during the regular season. Every team we faced had at least a couple of bigger girls with some real speed and skill. But rather than being tempted into trying to play at a speed that is beyond their abilities right now they just kept plugging away using their moves, getting space as best they could, doggedly running down opponents to steal the ball when they had to. It was a beautifully confident and committed performance all weekend for the girls.
The U10 boys stayed committed to their skills for the most part too. I was especially happy with the fact that they were generally playing with a very high level of mental and physical intensity without much accompanying emotional intensity. Something we've talked about throughout the season is that they've got to be able to play with intensity without being angry. What I saw on Saturday and Sunday was a lot of very intense effort and real commitment to possess the ball without a lot of emotional nonsense. They were strong but cool headed most of the time.
Thanks to everyone for participating. For me, to be able to hang out in one spot basically and watch our teams play game after game, that's just an amazingly great way to spend a weekend. I hope everyone had fun.
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Girl Power. Our Offense is Our Defense.
Here's something that I noticed in the game Monday evening: At one point in the second half a player on the ISC team got the ball just on their side of the half line and managed to break away down the bench side of the field. As that player is carrying the ball past me down the line Ava comes streaking up from behind, touches the ball away from the other player while still headed toward our goal. Then when she'd gained a good three or four yards ahead of the player she had just dispossessed she made a nice Cruyff turn followed by a simple zig-zag and got turned back up field and brought the ball well past the half line.
I've seen Ava make this sort of defensive stop before but in this game I saw some of our other players do it too and it occurred to me that this is another unexpected benefit of the sort of training we do and the confidence the girls have in their skills so I want to be sure everyone else understands what was going on. So, what Ava did there was to confidently take the ball away while running at full speed into our own half. She didn't feel like she had to run up on the opponent and somehow stop the ball right there. We see kids try that all the time with disastrous results. They play like they somehow aren't allowed to run past the ball when chasing an opponent. They are in a panic to get turned around immediately so they swipe at the ball or they try some sort of pull-back and then not only do they fail to get the ball but they also give up a step or two to the attacking player and then our keeper is in a one on one. But Ava knew better. She knew that the space she had left between the attacking player and our goal was more than enough for her to use her skills to get turned around so she just took that space by stealing the ball while running past the attacking player. She carried it right toward our goal but in doing so she got the space she needed to turn around. She was using the whole field. I've always thought that Ava is ahead of the group a bit in her ability to see the whole field and to anticipate. But I think that the confidence she shows in knowing how to use all that space to her advantage is a result of the hard work she's done in developing such excellent ball control skills. She's always been able to see where the open space on the field is but now she's got the skills to use that space, even for playing defense.
I think we can expect to see all of our girls adopting this tactic to great effect.
I've seen Ava make this sort of defensive stop before but in this game I saw some of our other players do it too and it occurred to me that this is another unexpected benefit of the sort of training we do and the confidence the girls have in their skills so I want to be sure everyone else understands what was going on. So, what Ava did there was to confidently take the ball away while running at full speed into our own half. She didn't feel like she had to run up on the opponent and somehow stop the ball right there. We see kids try that all the time with disastrous results. They play like they somehow aren't allowed to run past the ball when chasing an opponent. They are in a panic to get turned around immediately so they swipe at the ball or they try some sort of pull-back and then not only do they fail to get the ball but they also give up a step or two to the attacking player and then our keeper is in a one on one. But Ava knew better. She knew that the space she had left between the attacking player and our goal was more than enough for her to use her skills to get turned around so she just took that space by stealing the ball while running past the attacking player. She carried it right toward our goal but in doing so she got the space she needed to turn around. She was using the whole field. I've always thought that Ava is ahead of the group a bit in her ability to see the whole field and to anticipate. But I think that the confidence she shows in knowing how to use all that space to her advantage is a result of the hard work she's done in developing such excellent ball control skills. She's always been able to see where the open space on the field is but now she's got the skills to use that space, even for playing defense.
I think we can expect to see all of our girls adopting this tactic to great effect.
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Legends Soccer Party!
We had good weather for most of the day yesterday and thanks to the folks over at the YMCA we even had music during many of our games. What a blast! All of our boys U10 teams were in action at Boone Woods yesterday and they put on quite a show. We had the same referee for all of our games including an early game for Coach Ryan's U10 girls and by the end of the day he paid us the compliment of saying that he was really impressed by the consistent skill level of the players in our club. Thanks Ref!
Another measure of the progress our players are making was pointed out to me by Coach Les (he assists with Coach Johnny's team). As my U10 boys and Coach Johnny's team were showing signs of running out of gas near the end of their game yesterday Coach Les speculated that the reason they were tiring out was that so much of the game had been played without the ball ever going out of bounds. Since all of our players are committed to playing a controlled style of soccer with lots of smart touches and fewer big kicks the result is that when two of our teams face each other it's a marathon of dribbling and the ball stays in play nearly the entire game. So no breathers for throw-ins and goal kicks. I hadn't thought of it that way before but that makes a lot of sense and it's yet another way in which our Legends coaching philosophy and the style of play it promotes is beneficial to our players in the long run. To play the way we want them to play they have to work harder, they have to get accustomed to exerting themselves for longer stretches. Hopefully this means that by the time the current group of U10 players are in High School they'll all be able to run all day!
I'd asked the U10 Zombies to be sure and show me at least one fake-shot move at some point in the game and they all delivered beautifully. Lucas F. did a great fake-shot into a Cruyff turn and when he came off the field he was really excited to know if I'd seen it. That Cruyff turn had really frustrated him at the first training session where we introduced it but he's been plugging away diligently at mastering it. Now that he has the move he's understandably proud of it. Well done Lucas!
Cole is a big fan of the Maradonna turn and actually came to our very first practice with some ability to do that move, at least in a practice setting. I've prodded him every week to keep trying to use it in our games and he has attempted it pretty consistently. But yesterday was an amazing leap for him as he pulled the step off going at nearly a full run. It was a very sharp move and devastatingly effective, taking him quickly past a defender into wide open space.
Those are just two of the highlights from a game that was full of good skill. Well done Zombies!
Another measure of the progress our players are making was pointed out to me by Coach Les (he assists with Coach Johnny's team). As my U10 boys and Coach Johnny's team were showing signs of running out of gas near the end of their game yesterday Coach Les speculated that the reason they were tiring out was that so much of the game had been played without the ball ever going out of bounds. Since all of our players are committed to playing a controlled style of soccer with lots of smart touches and fewer big kicks the result is that when two of our teams face each other it's a marathon of dribbling and the ball stays in play nearly the entire game. So no breathers for throw-ins and goal kicks. I hadn't thought of it that way before but that makes a lot of sense and it's yet another way in which our Legends coaching philosophy and the style of play it promotes is beneficial to our players in the long run. To play the way we want them to play they have to work harder, they have to get accustomed to exerting themselves for longer stretches. Hopefully this means that by the time the current group of U10 players are in High School they'll all be able to run all day!
I'd asked the U10 Zombies to be sure and show me at least one fake-shot move at some point in the game and they all delivered beautifully. Lucas F. did a great fake-shot into a Cruyff turn and when he came off the field he was really excited to know if I'd seen it. That Cruyff turn had really frustrated him at the first training session where we introduced it but he's been plugging away diligently at mastering it. Now that he has the move he's understandably proud of it. Well done Lucas!
Cole is a big fan of the Maradonna turn and actually came to our very first practice with some ability to do that move, at least in a practice setting. I've prodded him every week to keep trying to use it in our games and he has attempted it pretty consistently. But yesterday was an amazing leap for him as he pulled the step off going at nearly a full run. It was a very sharp move and devastatingly effective, taking him quickly past a defender into wide open space.
Those are just two of the highlights from a game that was full of good skill. Well done Zombies!
Girl Power Shows Their Mettle.
Yesterday's game was a real test for the girls and it demonstrated clearly how they are so different in temperament from other teams. Obviously our girls are at this point somewhat accustomed to winning. It was also obvious yesterday that the team we faced is probably accustomed to success too. It became apparent early on that the game was going to be a close one and the contrast in the reactions of the teams to that situation was very revealing. Simply put, the BSS team reacted by getting progressively rougher as the game went on, with a couple of their players openly showing their frustrations with some crude, graceless behavior. Meanwhile the Girl Power squad reacted by simply pressing forward as they always do, sticking to their style of play. They absorbed the pressure without backing down. They dribbled into the other team over and over knowing full well by the end of the game that they weren't facing a defense so much as a gauntlet of elbows and stiff-arms. Yet they kept going and even raised their own level of intensity to match their opponent without lowering themselves to playing in the same angry style as the BSS team.
Unfortunately we'll have games like this where we face teams with young rage-a-holics in training on their side, big players with infantile attitudes who lash out physically when the game isn't going their way; the type of player who wants to turn the beautiful game into a hockey game. I hate hockey. (I could rant about that sport for a while but I'll spare you.)
A phrase I've used before when talking to some of my older players, and even some of my teammates on my adult teams, is that you have to take the game you get. You don't get to pick your opponent in advance or write a script for the game. I want my players to be more in love with the game than they are with winning so that for the love of the game they'll take whatever opponent they get in whatever weather on whatever field with whatever lazy referee that we're stuck with on that day. Girl Power is the exemplar of this attitude. Last fall when they were getting beat a lot they nonetheless played every minute with the same enthusiasm. This spring with the situation reversed they still play with the same enthusiasm and joy for the game and they've learned how to be somewhat casual about the way they dominate games, staying focused on how they are performing themselves without developing any bad habits either in terms of their play or their attitudes. They are graceful under all conditions and that is something to be very proud of.
In terms of game highlights I have to confess that I was so caught up in keeping an eye on all the pointless off-the-ball fouls being committed by the BSS team that I wasn't taking notes as I usually do. I know that Abby put in the first one, and I can't forget the beautiful pass and shot combination that Abby and Hailey H. put together for the final goal. Send me a note if you know who had the other two. In any case, it was fantastic to see them come back from two goals down to tie it up. That showed some amazing heart. And they played, as always, with a beautiful combination of skill and determination.
Unfortunately we'll have games like this where we face teams with young rage-a-holics in training on their side, big players with infantile attitudes who lash out physically when the game isn't going their way; the type of player who wants to turn the beautiful game into a hockey game. I hate hockey. (I could rant about that sport for a while but I'll spare you.)
A phrase I've used before when talking to some of my older players, and even some of my teammates on my adult teams, is that you have to take the game you get. You don't get to pick your opponent in advance or write a script for the game. I want my players to be more in love with the game than they are with winning so that for the love of the game they'll take whatever opponent they get in whatever weather on whatever field with whatever lazy referee that we're stuck with on that day. Girl Power is the exemplar of this attitude. Last fall when they were getting beat a lot they nonetheless played every minute with the same enthusiasm. This spring with the situation reversed they still play with the same enthusiasm and joy for the game and they've learned how to be somewhat casual about the way they dominate games, staying focused on how they are performing themselves without developing any bad habits either in terms of their play or their attitudes. They are graceful under all conditions and that is something to be very proud of.
In terms of game highlights I have to confess that I was so caught up in keeping an eye on all the pointless off-the-ball fouls being committed by the BSS team that I wasn't taking notes as I usually do. I know that Abby put in the first one, and I can't forget the beautiful pass and shot combination that Abby and Hailey H. put together for the final goal. Send me a note if you know who had the other two. In any case, it was fantastic to see them come back from two goals down to tie it up. That showed some amazing heart. And they played, as always, with a beautiful combination of skill and determination.
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Derbie Day Soccer. U10 Boys and Girl Power show their style!
During this week's practice sessions the players had worked on a move that is particularly useful for drawing a defender out away from their goal so that you can then cut back past them so I had asked all of my players to be sure they made an effort to use that skill at least once during their games. I'm happy to say they all did it and it seemed for some of them to really kick up their confidence. Most players, myself included, can't help but feel tension when they are in possession of the ball. One way to put it is that you feel hunted. You have the ball and everyone else wants it so they are literally coming after you. The attitude we hope to instill in Legends players is that when you have the ball you aren't the hunted, rather you're the hunter. If you have the ball you are in control of the situation and you can use the ball to tempt, trick and even force opposition players into mistakes. Drew W. is our leading exemplar of that sort of confident predatory style of play. Over and over again he uses the other player's anxiousness to get the ball against them and yesterday he found the goal four times in just one half played. When Drew had to leave at the half to get to a baseball game some of the parents on the other team seemed relieved. That was premature on their part as the remaining Legends continued to find the goal often, all of them showing enormous confidence in their ability to possess the ball.
By having my players dribble the ball back up field a few steps and allow the defender to chase them before they make that sudden cut move back I wanted them all to get comfortable with the idea of taking control of the situation. You could see in the games yesterday that they are getting it and in both the U10 Boys games and in the Girl Power game they totally dominated possession of the ball. What you see in a lot of our games, especially with Girl Power, is that other teams, even the ones with some skilled players, expect the game to have a kind of flow of shared ball possession, like the teams are basically taking turns playing offense then defense. But what Girl Power demonstrates week after week is that the ball belongs to them all the time. Even when you have it it's still our ball and we're coming to get it!
For the U10 Boys this week's game was an amazing improvement over the previous week. They played with much more energy and more anticipation, rarely giving the other team the luxury of even a few unchallenged steps with the ball. We need that confidence every week, even against stronger teams. Overall the team's ball possession skills were so effective that in the second half, with no subs, we were actually able to play for stretches with only five players on the field. I hope I can keep them playing with this level of energy for the remainder of the season.
Here are some highlights for the boys:
>Drew S. played with a beautiful touch on the ball all day. He's kind of where Conner was a few months back. His touch is great and he's confident he can shield the other players off the ball and now he just needs to add in a burst of speed into space to be instantly more effective.
>Conner was indeed bursting more confidently into space and by the end of the game he seemed to have realized that his first move was often creating that space so a second move wasn't necessary. Of course his preferred step is still the Maradonna!
>Kaleb executed a stop hop and play that was so graceful and effective that I wouldn't be surprised if the defender he was facing has still not found his shoes. He put in a few goals too and a couple of beautifully placed corners, one of which earned us a goal.
>Drew W. was his usual combination of strength and grace, weaving in and out of traffic and, most importantly, clearly seeing the way the situation would open for him one and even two defenders ahead. Love that ability to anticipate.
>In a great example of anticipation Will at one point made a nice little dink pass to Drew W. as he ran towards him then continued his run in a sort of overlap to get open on the right sideline. At that point Drew didn't need to pass off to him but that Will anticipated how that might open things up was brilliant. His goal keeping was stellar too. Just fierce to smother the ball!
>Braden was great in as keeper too and was especially efficient in his outlet punts too, getting them all out very quickly. Once on the field he showed some very good skill including a well executed Cruyff turn.
For Girl Power yesterday's game was another goal scoring bonanza. Ava, Anna, Hailey H. and Ashley all scored for us and everyone else had their chances with our girls maintaining possession of the ball for something close to 90% of the game. They play with great grace and skill with their possession of the ball always being purposeful and when they do occasionally lose the ball they swarm to re-possess with an unnerving fierceness. And I think that, more than just their crazy skills, is what throws other teams off. Our girls don't run into opposition players to kick the ball away, rather they always move in close rapidly to regain possession. They steal the ball. Most teams are used to playing a version of the game where the ball sort of pin-balls around the field from one cluster of players to another and eventually someone gets lucky and puts one in. Girl Power goes to the ball with the intention of coming away with it into open space. No pin-balling or volley balling or kick-balling. Just beautiful football and with the attitude, as I mentioned above, that the ball belongs to them at all times.
As for their highlights...well the whole game was a highlight reel and the other coach and the referee sitting on the side were both sort of dumbfounded by what they were seeing. At one point late in the game Ava executed a beautiful Maradonna for the sixth or seventh time and it carried her right into the open space in front of the goal. As she made that turn the other coach said "she really likes that move" and his tone of voice told me that while he meant it as a compliment he was also tired of seeing her beat his defenders with it. I think by the end the other coach, his players and their parents were all very tired of seeing the Girl Power squad. I never get tired of them.
By having my players dribble the ball back up field a few steps and allow the defender to chase them before they make that sudden cut move back I wanted them all to get comfortable with the idea of taking control of the situation. You could see in the games yesterday that they are getting it and in both the U10 Boys games and in the Girl Power game they totally dominated possession of the ball. What you see in a lot of our games, especially with Girl Power, is that other teams, even the ones with some skilled players, expect the game to have a kind of flow of shared ball possession, like the teams are basically taking turns playing offense then defense. But what Girl Power demonstrates week after week is that the ball belongs to them all the time. Even when you have it it's still our ball and we're coming to get it!
For the U10 Boys this week's game was an amazing improvement over the previous week. They played with much more energy and more anticipation, rarely giving the other team the luxury of even a few unchallenged steps with the ball. We need that confidence every week, even against stronger teams. Overall the team's ball possession skills were so effective that in the second half, with no subs, we were actually able to play for stretches with only five players on the field. I hope I can keep them playing with this level of energy for the remainder of the season.
Here are some highlights for the boys:
>Drew S. played with a beautiful touch on the ball all day. He's kind of where Conner was a few months back. His touch is great and he's confident he can shield the other players off the ball and now he just needs to add in a burst of speed into space to be instantly more effective.
>Conner was indeed bursting more confidently into space and by the end of the game he seemed to have realized that his first move was often creating that space so a second move wasn't necessary. Of course his preferred step is still the Maradonna!
>Kaleb executed a stop hop and play that was so graceful and effective that I wouldn't be surprised if the defender he was facing has still not found his shoes. He put in a few goals too and a couple of beautifully placed corners, one of which earned us a goal.
>Drew W. was his usual combination of strength and grace, weaving in and out of traffic and, most importantly, clearly seeing the way the situation would open for him one and even two defenders ahead. Love that ability to anticipate.
>In a great example of anticipation Will at one point made a nice little dink pass to Drew W. as he ran towards him then continued his run in a sort of overlap to get open on the right sideline. At that point Drew didn't need to pass off to him but that Will anticipated how that might open things up was brilliant. His goal keeping was stellar too. Just fierce to smother the ball!
>Braden was great in as keeper too and was especially efficient in his outlet punts too, getting them all out very quickly. Once on the field he showed some very good skill including a well executed Cruyff turn.
For Girl Power yesterday's game was another goal scoring bonanza. Ava, Anna, Hailey H. and Ashley all scored for us and everyone else had their chances with our girls maintaining possession of the ball for something close to 90% of the game. They play with great grace and skill with their possession of the ball always being purposeful and when they do occasionally lose the ball they swarm to re-possess with an unnerving fierceness. And I think that, more than just their crazy skills, is what throws other teams off. Our girls don't run into opposition players to kick the ball away, rather they always move in close rapidly to regain possession. They steal the ball. Most teams are used to playing a version of the game where the ball sort of pin-balls around the field from one cluster of players to another and eventually someone gets lucky and puts one in. Girl Power goes to the ball with the intention of coming away with it into open space. No pin-balling or volley balling or kick-balling. Just beautiful football and with the attitude, as I mentioned above, that the ball belongs to them at all times.
As for their highlights...well the whole game was a highlight reel and the other coach and the referee sitting on the side were both sort of dumbfounded by what they were seeing. At one point late in the game Ava executed a beautiful Maradonna for the sixth or seventh time and it carried her right into the open space in front of the goal. As she made that turn the other coach said "she really likes that move" and his tone of voice told me that while he meant it as a compliment he was also tired of seeing her beat his defenders with it. I think by the end the other coach, his players and their parents were all very tired of seeing the Girl Power squad. I never get tired of them.
Derby Day Soccer. Zombies!
I realized at this week's practice session that the younger U10 boys team have continued to refer to themselves as the "The Beechwood Zombies" which was the name they used in the preseason 3v3 tournament. I like the name for the irony of it alone since when they play the way they did yesterday they don't look anything like zombies. They were fierce in their attack in yesterday's game but they were also wholly committed to playing with skill, even to showing off their skills a bit. You have to keep in mind the added effort that it takes when you commit to playing that way. Passing the ball up the field from player to player is an energy efficient way to advance but dribbling and taking on defenders one on one or even one on two is physically demanding. Add into that the energy it takes to execute some of the more complicated moves the boys were using and you have to be really impressed with the overall effort of that game. Despite the final score I think the Zombies clearly had the majority of ball possession throughout the game and they were definitely wearing down the other team, especially their midfield players, by the end of the game.
Someone might ask the obvious question, if passing is more efficient why aren't we working on that rather than all this deceptive dribbling stuff. The answer to that question was visible in the game. The other team's real strength was that they had players who played very aggressive defense, challenging our players very quickly for the ball rather than giving any space. Despite that excellent defensive effort by the other team our own players were able to win those confrontations at least half the time thanks to their growing confidence in their dribbling skills, When watching pro soccer you'll sometimes hear the phrase "holding up the ball" used to refer to players, especially midfielders, who can smartly distribute the ball (pass) but who can also possess the ball when pressed and so are able to coolly "hold" the ball up in midfield or beyond for their team thus keeping the attack alive. Every one of our Zombies is going to be that kind of player, able to absorb pressure and maintain possession then find space to either attack or pass effectively. At higher levels of play against better defenses being able to execute passing but not having the ball skills to "hold up" the ball means you get beat.
Yesterday we saw a lot of the possessing and dribbling but we also did see some passing play starting to develop. In particular I saw one beautiful little pass from Luke S, to Cole that was a great example of the type of passing I'm happy to see them attempting. I don't want to see them passing off the ball to get rid of it in a panic but when they are confident enough over the ball to look up and see an obvious opportunity then I'm fine with it and that is what happened with Luke in that situation. He'd taken the ball off of one player and made a nice move toward the center of the field. Two more players were closing on him and he looked up and saw that as they moved toward him they were leaving a wide open path for Cole so he took advantage of that. It was smart and the pass was well struck and on target. Excellent.
Another good example was a run that Lucas Y. made where he brought the ball all the way from our own half into the opposition penalty area. By the time he'd zig-zagged and spun his way right to the goal line he had at least four of their players hanging on him and at that point his dribbling options were sort of exhausted. Realizing that, Lucas managed to get just enough space with one more move to be able to put in a crossing pass that found Cole and Luke wide open. Brilliant play!
I had set the boys a specific task prior to the game that they had to demonstrate in the game that they could play the ball backwards, away from the opposition goal, and then make a quick cut to head back to goal. They all did it at least once in the game and I was thrilled with that. When they see every game opportunity as a chance to put their skills to the test then they can begin to progress very rapidly and, most importantly, they can relax and enjoy the game because they know that it's their effort not the game outcome that matters.
A couple of other highlights:
>Cole and Lucas Y. both pulled off Maradonna turns.
>Lucas F. was great in goal. The shots that went in were completely beyond his reach but when he did get the ball he made a beautiful punt that made it past the half line.
>Lucas F. also played beautifully while in the field showing off some brilliant skills.
>Oliver was playing brilliantly too, exemplifying that sort of "holding" midfield play I mentioned before.
>Will was on fire. He took the ball where he wanted throughout the game, even striking out from keeper to dribble down field. My spouse, Chris, was on the sidelines near him when he got the ball on that run. According to her as the ball came to Will and his teammates were all calling for the ball to be passed out to them Will took off saying "I got this". Awesome!
Someone might ask the obvious question, if passing is more efficient why aren't we working on that rather than all this deceptive dribbling stuff. The answer to that question was visible in the game. The other team's real strength was that they had players who played very aggressive defense, challenging our players very quickly for the ball rather than giving any space. Despite that excellent defensive effort by the other team our own players were able to win those confrontations at least half the time thanks to their growing confidence in their dribbling skills, When watching pro soccer you'll sometimes hear the phrase "holding up the ball" used to refer to players, especially midfielders, who can smartly distribute the ball (pass) but who can also possess the ball when pressed and so are able to coolly "hold" the ball up in midfield or beyond for their team thus keeping the attack alive. Every one of our Zombies is going to be that kind of player, able to absorb pressure and maintain possession then find space to either attack or pass effectively. At higher levels of play against better defenses being able to execute passing but not having the ball skills to "hold up" the ball means you get beat.
Yesterday we saw a lot of the possessing and dribbling but we also did see some passing play starting to develop. In particular I saw one beautiful little pass from Luke S, to Cole that was a great example of the type of passing I'm happy to see them attempting. I don't want to see them passing off the ball to get rid of it in a panic but when they are confident enough over the ball to look up and see an obvious opportunity then I'm fine with it and that is what happened with Luke in that situation. He'd taken the ball off of one player and made a nice move toward the center of the field. Two more players were closing on him and he looked up and saw that as they moved toward him they were leaving a wide open path for Cole so he took advantage of that. It was smart and the pass was well struck and on target. Excellent.
Another good example was a run that Lucas Y. made where he brought the ball all the way from our own half into the opposition penalty area. By the time he'd zig-zagged and spun his way right to the goal line he had at least four of their players hanging on him and at that point his dribbling options were sort of exhausted. Realizing that, Lucas managed to get just enough space with one more move to be able to put in a crossing pass that found Cole and Luke wide open. Brilliant play!
I had set the boys a specific task prior to the game that they had to demonstrate in the game that they could play the ball backwards, away from the opposition goal, and then make a quick cut to head back to goal. They all did it at least once in the game and I was thrilled with that. When they see every game opportunity as a chance to put their skills to the test then they can begin to progress very rapidly and, most importantly, they can relax and enjoy the game because they know that it's their effort not the game outcome that matters.
A couple of other highlights:
>Cole and Lucas Y. both pulled off Maradonna turns.
>Lucas F. was great in goal. The shots that went in were completely beyond his reach but when he did get the ball he made a beautiful punt that made it past the half line.
>Lucas F. also played beautifully while in the field showing off some brilliant skills.
>Oliver was playing brilliantly too, exemplifying that sort of "holding" midfield play I mentioned before.
>Will was on fire. He took the ball where he wanted throughout the game, even striking out from keeper to dribble down field. My spouse, Chris, was on the sidelines near him when he got the ball on that run. According to her as the ball came to Will and his teammates were all calling for the ball to be passed out to them Will took off saying "I got this". Awesome!
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