Match Report: Mullen vs. CT (JV@4:30 at CTHS, V@6 - Legacy Stadium)
Things to do:
Kits (This is an away game, we are white), socks, nutrition (Remember that this is a 6pm game, you need to eat food and have snacks, take care of your nutrition, don't eat nothing.)
Preface:
1. This is a very different trail team from last spring. They have acquired some talented players, and they are stronger defensively.
2. They remain incredibly opportunistic. Most of Trail's goals have come off of defensive mistakes.
CT Strengths:
1. Their counter is incredibly strong. CT has some unbelievably talented players going forward. Number 9 and number 7 are both talented and dynamic attackers that can finish when given the opportunity. They are audacious and confident, and they can fight through tackles. They also have some speed and are willing to go to ground easily. Trail draws a number of fouls around the box when they are able to create forward momentum. We need to be incredibly organized and press hard on our marking assignments.
2. Trail can shoot! When CT gets in front of goal, they have proven to be pretty effective this season. And they do not create a ton of opportunities for themselves either. CT's goals primarily come from capitalizing on the mistakes made by other teams; however, they have an insane opportunity to execution ratio. They finish like 80 percent of their chances. In order to combat this, we need to both shut down players going forward, take away space in the middle of the field, and not make mistakes in the back field.
3. They play with a sweeper. He is very good. This creates a really interesting dynamic on the field. Between the keeper and the sweeper, they collect most of the long balls hit down field. This severely reduces the probability of already low probability chances. High and over the middle just doesn't seem to work. If we go up the middle, we need through balls on the ground. Anything in the air needs to go to the corners.
4. Although this seems redundant, CT's primary strength lies in their ability to capitalize on mistakes: poor clearances, bad tackles, unfocused goalies, fouls in the final third - a majority of their goals have been scored in this fashion. You need to be precise.
CT weaknesses
1. CT seems to rely a lot on individual talent, and individual moments of brilliance. It is hard to tell whether they have some sort of organization, formation, or game plan. They have good players who can do good things, but they seem to rely heavily on that. A well organized defense and attack should create a world of problems for them. If we can shut down their talented individuals, they will have a difficult time creating opportunities.
2. Their keeper is erratic. He comes incredibly far off of his line during the course of play, but when the ball is in the box, he seems hesitant to commit. He relies heavily on his sweeper and their block to prevent shots on goal. He is also prone to spill shots in from of goal, so crash the net and pick up trash.
3. CT was insanely susceptible to Eaglecrest's quick passing. They spent a lot of time chasing them around the field. The biggest problem was that Eagle could not create a finished product. They squandered a number of chances, and then they got a red card. This is a product of being disorganized. Since they don't hold positions well, they can be beat by the pass quite easily. We just can't get into a long ball game with them, they will sweep everything up.
4. They play pretty territorial football defensively, and they block the middle and leave the wings. Under pressure, CT puts a lot out of bounds and chooses to just defend. This is good for us because of the long throw and our set pieces. We have to pressure, and then be patient in the execution of our set pieces. Along these same lines, their outside backs will give us the wing, so we need to push the ball to the end line and bring it back across the middle. If we get caught trying to cut in all the time, we are going to struggle to find the goal. Take the outside to come back in. (This is one of the reasons AHS failed to be effective. They played the long ball, had crummy service on set plays, and wanted to cut back inside against the block. Take it to the end line.)
5. The CT wings do not want to track back...
This leaves them with two scenarios, to let our outside backs go (in which case, the six just needs to be aware) or to track back and get stuck in their final third. We like both. Outside backs must stay involved.
Mullen Strengths against CT
1. Our passing game is fast and precise. Like last nights session, one and two touch play is going to create innumerable problems for this team. Play the direction you are facing, pull them out of shape, and then look to strike. Move the ball wide to attacking outside backs and the wings and let them execute the big switching ball.
2. We need to take advantage of our set pieces. We can't lose a half of this game to under hit corners. Remember that we are at Legacy, push the throw and push the ball.
3. Our press should cause CT a lot of problems, but we have to shift quickly and touch tight on the wingers and the outside backs. If we allow them to dribble, gain momentum and make penetrating passes, we are going to struggle. But if we put a body on their wingers, they are really going to struggle both physically against us, and mentally.
WE NEED TO EXECUTE ON SET PIECES TONIGHT - NO EXCEPTIONS
Main Focus:
No Mistakes
Finish opportunities
Clean sheet
Keys to success:
1. No mistakes out of the back. Smart decisions and smart passes that avoid the counter.
2. Exploit the space on the flanks and at the top of the box. Outside backs need to get involved in the attack. They should have space to move forward, and their attack will spread the midfield.
-Outside backs need to dribble at the CT full backs and then distribute the ball into space or feet. One/Twos around the defense will be very effective.
3. Know the set pieces. Capitalize on set pieces. If we can take advantage of these moments, we will have a great deal of success.
4. Discipline and structure in the back. We need to hold position and recover for one another.
5. When in possession of the ball in our defensive third, we need to play quickly, not get the ball stuck under our feet, and play into space instead of small spaces. It is a big field, don't fear the dynamic long ball.
6. Patience. We can't chase them all game. We will have to be okay giving up moments of possession in order to strike when the timing is right. Marking assignment and a high level of confrontation will be key!
7. We need to keep the ball out of the middle of the field in the central third. Swinging the ball quickly through the 6 and the 10 will open up the attack so that outside backs and wingers can serve. (See diagram above.)
Good luck!
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