Mullen vs. CT (2022)

 Mullen vs. CT

Location: CTHS/Legacy Stadium

V@3:30 (changed from 4pm) - Legacy Stadium

JV@4:15 - West Turf Field

(Varsity: This is an away game - white/gold/white. The early game puts us in a bit of a weird resource position. You will have just eaten lunch, but you need to eat between then and game time. Get a snack, get something. Make sure to arrive by 2:30 - our team meeting will take place at Legacy Stadium)

CT Strengths:

CT has some very talented players.

12: Usually plays the CB, but when they are in need of a goal or feeling comfortable, he will come out of the back. He sits deep as a CB and cleans up a lot of problems, but he is not afraid to dribble out. His movement is good, and on a technical level, he is very talented.

10: Plays in the central midfield and is probably one of their more technical players. He can move the game forward, and he plays a nice ball into the corners. He needs to be closed down and forced to make short passes, we can not dive in against him.

9: He is sophomore who moves across the attacking line. I think he is best as a false nine when he plays there. His distribution is phenomenal, he can shoot from outside, and he has great vision in front of goal. We have to share him between our CBs and 6's, and we have to contain him up top. If we have good pressure, it will drive him back into the midfield.

7. He plays out on the wing and he is fast. He is also a dangerous finisher - scored 4 goals or something against Eagle. He rounds the wing well, but he also comes inside nicely. He needs to be contained and forced outside.

*The theme behind all these dangerous players is that they need to be contained. If we pressure hard and force CT into dangerous passes, they will give the ball away. But if we dive in, they will come through technically, and they will create a number of opportunities on goal.

In addition to their strong players, CT is a confident, well coached team that thrives on momentum. If they can get on the front foot, and they are feeling good, they will come after us, and they are able to convert. If they feel pinned back, they are going to play more direct, risky, balls, and they will make mistakes. Our press has to be calculated and intense, not chaotic. We can't chase Trail, that will play into their strengths. We have to contain them and force them to play with a defensive mentality.

They have also shown to be dangerous on set pieces.

Reminder about defending the 3-5-2:

If CT chooses to come out with three in the back like they have all season, we will want to focus on pressing the center backs and strong side wings. Additionally, from an attacking standpoint, we will want to overload their back three. Every turn over needs to become a counter attack, and we need to exploit the weak side quickly because they will not have a recovery defender. Furthermore, the outside backs will need to elevate to push the CT wingbacks into their own final third, while one of our sixes makes a third run between the outside center back and the central center back. We are going to want to feed this third run as much as possible for him to bring the ball in on goal or across the face of it. Against a 3 in the back, it is absolutely imperative to get inside your defender on the weakside of the game.

As you can see here, when the ball is with the left center back, our 7 is pressed to him and forcing the sideline. Our 9 is preventing the pass back to the middle, and our 2 is marking the winger. The 6's and our 10 are sharing the midfield and our RCB is in position to cut off any passes through or to the corner for one of their forwards or a 10 making that run. Most importantly, our 11 is marked tight to the weakside winger, so that our 3 can share the other forward.

In this scenario, it is important to remember that they will have two forwards who move off the ball brilliantly. We will have to trust our system, constantly communicate, and share players as they move around the field. We also need to make sure that we never get high and flat. Our defense must always form the cup to catch and recover on players moving through. It is also the responsibility of the attackers to make sure that the CT defense can not send through balls (on the ground/through the midfield) that find the attackers. That makes us insanely susceptible to 3rd runs out of the midfield. 

Remember, when we are making recovery runs to stop players, it is important for our 6's to ask the question "Where are the off ball players moving?" Tonight, much like basketball, if will be imparative to have an eye for ball and player. Where is one, and where is the other headed. 

Lastly, in the 3-5-2, they do not necessarily look for the big switch, like Battle did, but they switch the ball through their 6's and their 10. If we can stifle that ball in the middle of the park, we can prevent the switch, and we can use it to counter to the weakside.

CT weaknesses:

CT has demonstrated two main weaknesses. 

1. They seem to struggle with the press. They only beat Smoky 1-0, and I think a big reason for that was the pressure forced them into a sloppy game. When you watch the film, CT got into the habit of just sending everything forward, and this played to Smoky's strengths. We need to apply the same pressure, and make CT play a little desperate. They will go into survival mode (like they did for a while even against Eagle) and that should force them onto the back foot.

2. The second piece of this puzzle is that CT, under pressure, has made a number of mistakes. We can't rely on this as a game plan, but again, if our press is calculated, we will hopefully create opportunities from their struggles in the back. 

Lastly, CT sometimes does has weird set piece practices, so we need to make sure to make our runs on corners and work hard to score!

Mullen primary key to success:

We need to approach this game kind of like a chess match. We need to make sure to get underneath and defend as a unit, and we need to hit our marking assignments. Force the ball right, put in the small pieces of effort, and we will find our way in!

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.

Snake - this essentially "1" but higher. Two runners near the top of the box, even with the near post, and a group of runners at the top of the box even with the far post. All runners complete an "x" route. Near post both attack the far post, while one runner goes to the corner on a diversion run. The ball is played on the ground, left by the first runner and struck first time by the trailing runner.

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 CTHS 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.

Good luck!