Match Report: Mullen vs. Lutheran Parker

 Mullen vs. Lutheran Parker

JV@5

V@7

Location: Lutheran High School (11249 Newlin Gulch Blvd, Parker, CO)

Arrival Time for JV is 4pm and 6pm for Varsity. We are away so White/gold(Blue)/White. Make sure you are consuming good calories today and staying hydrated. Varsity players should eat a good meal at some point before the late game.

Preface:

Lutheran has had a good start to the season with 5 wins over notable opponents. They are coming into this game with the intent of making a name for themselves in the 4A classification. They are going to be gritty, and hungry to win. They have also had the week off games, so they'll most likely be at full strength.

Lutheran Strengths: 

Most notably, Lutheran is strong, fast, and athletic. I think these are their greatest strengths as a team. They tackle hard in the middle of the park, their wingers have some good speed (and they are gritty so they drive through weak tackles), and they play very direct with a heavy reliance on their athleticism. This has worked for them, for the most part, this season.

Additionally, Lutheran appears to be incredibly opportunistic. I have seen them score a number of goals against the run of play, and they are excellent at turning their opponents mistakes into goal scoring opportunities. They go strong to first balls, and capitalize on poor clearances and bad passes out of the back. They are also quite masterful taking it to poorly organized teams. They use the space well.

Finally, they have a relatively strong midfield that wins a lot of 50/50s, and works through tackles on the attack. The midfield sits well in the gaps, and finds their central striker between the CBs. When a defense is out of position or fails to clear the ball out of the back, their center forward does well to find his way in. He is also quite impressive at toeing the offsides line, so we should not count on a trap (not that we do anyway) but don't expect him to be called offsides often.

Lutheran weaknesses: 

The biggest thing about Lutheran thus far is that they appear to struggle against well organized defenses. Especially ones who can keep their structure in the middle of the park. Lutheran relies a lot on poor defensive structure in the run of play or on set pieces to score their goals. When a team recovers well and gets organized behind the ball it really disrupts Lutheran's ability to play the direct and opportunistic game they rely on for success.

Additionally, Lutheran really seemed to struggle with Regis' press. When the outside backs and wings had to play under pressure, it disrupted their ability to get anything started out of the back. Furthermore, when the midfield was pressed hard, and Lutheran South won balls out of the air, LHS Parker could not get anything forward. The constant pressure on the back line, from a press, or returning balls out of the air led to a number of mistakes.

Lastly, LHS Parker's outside backs have not shown a lot of involvement in the attack thus far. They rely heavily on their CAM and attackers to capitalize on opportunities. If our outside backs get forward, and we reward them with good passes, the LHS wingers will have to track back, which will hinder their ability to attack.

So if we press the back line, win balls out of the air in the middle of the park, and get our outside backs involved in the attack, we should cause them some problems. 

Mullen Keys to success:

The biggest key to success this evening will be keeping our structure and shape, especially in the middle of the park.

As you can see in the build up to Lutheran's second goal against HF. All three midfielders commit to one player in the middle of the park. Not only do they leave a massive gap between themselves and the back line, they also leaver the LHS 10 wide open to dribble at the back line, which he does. Then, the weakside CB leaves his man to step to the ball, rendering the other CB and OB totally irrelevant. The CF receives the ball at the PK spot (and is kept onside by the fact that while the weakside CB is stepping, the other CB drops...) and he slots the ball into the upper corner.

This goal is easily prevented by sending one midfielder to press the ball, while the others retain shape and structure. In the event of a breakdown, the free CB should step while the other retains shape.

Everything about this play is wrong, but easily prevented if we retain structure in the middle of the park.

On LHS' fourth goal of this game, HF again abandons the middle of the park and leaves a huge gap in between the CBs. Lutheran is simply able to sit in the gap for a one time finish on a ball across the box. We need to remain in pressure cover, and keep our shape. This will prevent LHS' opportunistic moments.

Set pieces:

(Corners)

1 - Low driven ball to the near post. Two attackers crash the near post, other attackers fill in the middle and back post. 

2- Short corner overlap. Attackers cover near, middle, far - slight delay on the run in.

3- short corner choice. The players taking the corner will choose to overlap or take on the player. Attackers cover all positions, and delay runs in.

Jolly - Bend it in the goal. Attackers cover all locations, especially back post. Anything that goes long should be headed back toward goal.

Bumblebee - cluster around the goalie inside the six. Ball should be played into the cluster. 

White - Chipped ball to the near post flicked across the goal. Remember, initial runners attack the near and far post and bounce off. When the front post runner bounces off the near post, the ball should be played and the remaining attackers should be making runs toward goal.

Blue - Long ball to the back post. Like "white" runners should bounce off the near and far post, but this corner will be played long to the back post. The back post runner should then play the ball back across the middle of the goal for the finish. 

7- We set up in 2, but play a long ball out. That ball is then played back to the 2 or a penetrating run is made into the box. Fire the ball on an inswing to the back post and look for the player crashing on the opposite flank.

11 - Three runners at the near post, two at the back. The three runners circle around to the near post, middle, and far post, while the two at the back make direct runs across the goal.

Reminders: 

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 LHS 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!