Poise

Girl Power faced a familiar opponent Saturday evening, the NKSA Cheeths.  We played them in two friendly matches in the fall and while we won both games I could clearly see the NKSA squad growing in confidence during that second match.  When we ran into them at the fall tournament they were a team transformed, playing with a high energy level and a lot of discipline.  They got the best of us in that tournament match despite the fact that we had so much more ball possession during the game.
     Thinking about that last match later I came to the conclusion that all of that ball possession was a result of the individual skills of our players, which is what we train for.  But in a game situation where a strong team gets a goal up on us early my squad's response is based on that same individual skill.  That is, they each as individuals pick up their intensity while at the same time becoming less coordinated as a group.  Each girl goes out there and does what they've trained so hard to do.  They attack the ball, get possession and then attempt to dribble penetrate.  Against less experienced or less organized squads the Girl Power's level of individual competence leads to wave after wave of patient but relentless attack generating a lot of shooting opportunities.
     In that fall tourney game against the Cheetahs we met an opponent who had learned how to keep a disciplined shape on the field and as a result when one of our players would eventually lose the ball after attempting yet another 1v1 the NKSA players were more often in an advantageous position to capitalize.  As their lead grew our girls' level of intensity increased to becoming nearly frantic and that only added to NKSA's advantage.  Our girls began wandering and then actively chasing toward the ball, leaving more and more empty space around the field so that, again, when one of our players lost the ball on the dribble after valiantly pressing through defenders (and their own teammates) the Cheetah player who picked up that turnover was often looking at an open path to goal.  Their final goal of the game was a dagger, a rocket off the powerful right foot of Cheetah leader Jolie (she's a real player and fun to watch).  She had picked up a lost ball from Anna I think near the center circle then sprinted diagonally toward the corner on her right.  Just as Ava threatened to catch her Jolie let loose a blast from the eighteen cutting back across to the far post.  Frozen at the near post Eileen didn't have a chance of getting to that one.
     Playing indoor on the small field at T&C the conditions can be favorable to a team that plays the ball over the top a lot, that is, with long passing from the back and a "clear it out" defensive mentality.  Saturday evening that proved to be the case as the Cheetas got out to an early lead even as Girl Power were, as usual, putting on a show of individual skills.  This game, I thought, might go the same way that last one did.  But something happened twice in the opening minutes that in retrospect I can see indicated that we would see a new level of confident team play from Girl Power.  In the first run of play after kick-off the Cheetahs managed to boot the ball down into our left corner.  Ava had plenty of time to get to the ball and trap it cleanly and then she did something that was so remarkable and yet so very "Scout" like.  Looking up from the ball and quickly assessing her options Ava turned toward her defensive partner Olivia and made a smart pass right through the box to the other side of the field.  It may have looked risky at the time but in reality Ava made exactly the right choice.  Olivia was wide open and the Cheetahs were all lined up on Ava's side of the field.  Olivia had an open path to the midfield with the ball and most importantly she was ready for the pass.  Ava did that again a few minutes later and this time it was at Olivia's prompting who was calling out "square" to her.  I could hear the groan/moan from the bleachers, the murmurs of "oh no, not that way" but again it worked beautifully.      By that time, despite the energy with which the Cheetahs were pressing, Girl Power started to settle in and started to feel their strength.  Their body language was casual and confident. Suddenly they were not only dribbling brilliantly but they were communicating, mostly in the correct specific terms we've been working on, and we started seeing some beautiful passing to compliment their 1v1 skills.  Suddenly our girls were playing with a disciplined shape, but not a rigid formation as most teams attempt.  Rather they flow about the field now, ever more aware of their shared responsibilities.  As the play of Ava and later Emily and Eileen in defense showed they feel free to find different ways to solve the problems encountered in defense, solutions that keep our defense and attack connected, one leading directly into the other.  The way I've described this style of play that we've been working toward is "rotation" and in Saturday evening's game they were masterful in executing it.
     I say masterful in this instance because of the confidence, the ease with which they rotate and cover for each other now.  And they do so in a way that is actually deceptive to other teams.  At one point in the first half, with the teams tied now on three or four apiece, there was a run of play where Olivia I think trapped a long, aimless, ball that came into her corner and began dribbling out into the open space the other team was giving her.  Her defense mate, Eileen had just made a similar run from the other side and so as Olivia struck up-field our half was empty save for Emily in goal.  I could hear the tone of the other coach's voice change as he pleaded for his girls to challenge Olivia quickly.  He could see the opportunity that had opened up and wanted them to take it.  But before Olivia had even taken on her first 1v1 just past the half line Emily smartly read the situation and called out for someone to get back.  Keep in mind this is while we still have possession.  Eileen shouted back with a supportive "I got ya" and looped back into a central defensive position.  When she did that I could hear the disappointment in the other coach's voice, realizing they'd missed their chance.  Our girls did that the whole game; freely attacking space from the back; smartly rotating to cover.  And they weren't just covering to defend the goal, to simply block the shots.  They were playing to recover the ball and attack again.
     Late in the game Ava made another one of her smart outlet passes having trapped the ball against the wall near our goal.  She saw that a pass to Olivia in goal was not an option and neither was dribbling out across the box which was crowded with Cheetahs.  But she did see Eileen to her right up the wall so she made a quick pass to her.  Eileen then did the Legends thing which is she tried to dribble out of a tight spot despite being double and then triple covered.  Back and forth she played the ball using her pull-and-play-behind, dragging her opponents with her until eventually they just sort of got tired of it and left her an opening so she could split two of them and get headed up field.  Her long pass up for Hailey was a bit strong but eventually that play led to a goal for Abby. That run of play demonstrated the important difference between what Eileen and the other girls had been doing in defense and the way other teams, the Cheetahs included, deal with balls in their own third.  After Eileen got the ball up toward Hailey she chased after her to be there for a drop.  Hailey dug the ball out of the corner, trying to get off a shot or get the ball to Abby who was waiting far post.  The ball ping-ponged around in the Cheetah's third for twenty seconds or so with Eileen moving into the corner as Hailey moved toward the penalty spot.   With Cheetah players frantically trying with each touch to clear the ball out they were only managing to give us the ball back over and over.  Eventually a rebound off of one of their defenders fell to Abby's foot and she calmly chipped it over the keeper's left shoulder high into the corner of the goal to put the game away.
     The difference in the attitudes of the teams toward defending is that when Eileen or Ava or any of them trap the ball and attempt to dribble out or find a smart pass they are defending to create offense.  But a team that clears the ball as their default defensive option is defending only in hopes of regrouping and their players are in a mode where thinking about how to solve the problem the actual moment presents is not required or even encouraged.
     I watch enough pro soccer to know that being able to clear the ball is an essential skill for good defenders and every week I'll see some amazingly acrobatic turn made by a defender who is running full speed toward his own goal and yet manages to spin and boot the ball thirty yards back up field.  But what you also see from good defenders on good teams is that they only clear the ball when they are unsure of their other options.  So those players are expected to be able to assess the situations they are in on the fly and find their best way forward rather than acting in some automatic fashion.  I know that our girls can put themselves in some precarious situations by dribbling out of the back but don't think that I'm encouraging them to do that because I think it's the best strategy for a team.  Rather I think it's the best strategy for a coach who wants to put his players in a situation where they are free to feel the power of their skills and to creatively solve the problems they see in front of them.

     So now some highlights.
     Emily was strong in goal the first quarter including a stop made with one foot as she did the full "splits".   Cat-like!
     Abby was stringing combinations together with really remarkable effect and now she's adding in this new found power on her shooting stroke.  Guess the box soccer thing is working.
     Anna, despite having recently had some serious dental surgery, was gliding through defenders with those silky step-over/scissor combinations she loves.  And in this game she was smartly getting into position on the weak side of the goal when off the ball too.  As a result she had a couple of nice "clean up" goals.
      Ava was playing with her usual stellar field awareness.  Her first touches into space and her passing were brilliant.
     Hailey was hard pressed in this game with the Cheetahs being less susceptible to her subtle feints than other teams.  She seemed to adjust to that going into the second half and began adding more of an irresistible pause to her fakes and lunges and so she started drawing her defenders more off balance.
     Olivia was tentative the first few minutes about dribbling out from the back.  She made some brilliant through-ball passes in that first quarter though and by the second quarter and into the second half she was taking full advantage of the space in front of her to dribble up and take her chances.  She was brilliant in keeper to with some really excellent outlet throws (defense flowing into offense).
     Ashley was having a hard time initially finding the feel for playing effectively away from the ball.  By the second half though she seems to have had an epiphany and began smartly moving quickly to either a central or far-post position when one of her teammates had the ball on a wing.  As a result she got a lot of chances on goal.
     Eileen's new found speed and confidence continues to impress.  She's a firecracker!