Match Report: Mullen vs. Battle - Semi Finals 4A State Championship
Location: UNC Greeley (Jackson Stadium) 411 20th St, Greeley, CO 80631
Time: 8PM
Details:
Our team meeting will take place @2:20 in room C5. The bus for Greeley will depart at 3:00 and arrive around 5ish. We will have a team dinner during the first game at about 5:45 and then we will have access to the locker room after halftime of semi-finals game 1. Snacks will be available at the game and on the bus.
We are away - White/Gold/White
Match Report Preface:
This game holds some interesting psychological weight. We faced off with Battle two times last season, winning both games with a total differential of 8-0. However, here we are, game three in two years, and they are the higher seed. They are going to be looking for some revenge, and they are going to come out hard. However, I think they also know that we are better than them. I think there is some fear present, and they are somewhat distracted by having to travel for the late game - the coach isn't happy, and that can impact the athletes. We have to create a "here we go again" mentality in this game tonight. Battle is a young team and we want them thinking that it was nice to have a good run in the tournament, but like Pueblo, it is coming to an end. They have not played as hard of a tournament schedule as us, and they are not prepared for this game. The teams they played were too conservative and made a lot of mistakes. We have to go out hard against Battle tonight, and quickly assert that we are the dominant team. They will break.
Battle Strengths:
As we saw in the film, battle has a couple boys who can really play.
#7 plays on both wings, he is tricky with the ball and very quick in transition. He also dives a lot. He heavily prefers his right foot, and wants to come inside on it from the left. When he plays on the right, he looks to hit the long switching ball. He will also keep the game wide, and try to hide on the sideline, find the ball in transition, and attack.
*Number 7 does not like to track back and defend. He doesn't seem to have the fitness for it. We need to find our wing backs in transition. They will either be wide open, or they will draw 7 back into the defense. Either way works for us. We also need to take care of the ball in the middle of the park because we can't allow 7 to be rewarded for not tracking back. We want to punish him on the wing with lots of running, and that means we need to play good passes to the flanks.
#9 usually plays along the left flank, sometimes as an attacker, sometimes as an outside back. He does well to get forward, and he loves to drive the line with his left foot. He can be really dangerous and sets up a lot of battles goals.
#12 usually plays the outside back. He loves to get forward (he is small and speedy) the more we can do to trap him in the defensive corners, the better.
Additionally, Battle has a really dangerous front line that will press and shoot at will. There are a number of occasions where the Battle front line will dispossess the defense and then just let one rip. It is always a shot that you think to yourself "hmmm... the keeper should have done better..." and yet, they score this way a lot, which means that they are catching the keepers off guard, and they can get a shot on goal from distance.
*WE NEED TO CLOSE DOWN SHOTS. And we need to be smart in the back field and hyper sensitive to their press and desire to shoot. @Mitch, tonight you always need to be ready for them to take a look. They will go from anywhere.
Finally, Battle is really strong in transition. They turn the ball quickly and attack up the flanks. They can go from full defending to goal scoring opportunities very quickly. This is a strength of their game, much like Pueblo. We need to be smart with the ball and prevent these opportunities.
***As noted: In the same fashion as the Pueblo game, when we are going down field, we want to convert into goals, goal kicks, corners or throw ins. We do not want to give the ball up in the final third.
As another aside - the Battle goalie is both a strength and a weakness (more on that below). He has had some strong performances in goal this season, we have to be clinical against him.
Remember that they also have some creative set pieces. The drive to the near post, they start with two, or they play that long ball up the line to then play it in. BE PREPARED FOR CORNERS.
Battle weaknesses:
Battle has a couple weaknesses we are looking to exploit:
1. In the run of play, the corners are exposed. If we can make those runs from out 9s and 10s into the corners, and then go in and attack the goal, we will create a number of opportunities. However, we can't make the same mistakes as AA. When we get in behind Battle, we have to attack. AA was too conservative, tried to bring the ball back across the middle, and was stiffled by the Battle block. We need to be fast in transition and attack the goal.
2. Their defense (when isolated) can get pretty disorganized. In the same fashion as the Pueblo game, our key to success will be attacking Battle in transition. We need to go forward. If we allow Battle to get low, they become difficult to score on, but if we attack with pace on the counter, they will really struggle against us. We saw on numerous occasions how overly conservative play by teams in the playoffs played to Battles strengths. We want to get them alone in the back and attack their goal.
3. The attackers do not want to track back. The biggest thing here, on this wide field, is that we want to find out OBs in behind the play. This will expose battle, and it will force their wingers to defend. We like that a lot. Play simple in the middle, and move the ball out wide. One and two touch soccer in transition please.
4. Their goalie: as noted above, he has made some really good saves this season. However, I think that his biggest weakness is his decision making. He gets drawn out by set pieces and the fast break. We need to be clinical on set plays from range, dropping the ball into dangerous areas, and corners. A runner always needs to be at the back post to put the ball away.
Lastly, Battle has given up a number of goals late this season. No matter what is happening in the game, we need to go hard to the end.
Things we've learned this season:
Pueblo Centennial: When in the box, recover to the back post.
Centaurus: Take what the game is giving you. Don't force your will on it. Play the easy pass. Make the three yard drop. Recover to the middle!
Northfield: We can't chase the ball and we need to hold our shape. Also, let's retain position on throw ins, or send them deep to the corners or in on set pieces.
Cherry creek: We need to start the game with intensity. We need to get underneath the ball on goal kicks. And we need to recover to position with speed. You could prevent a goal.
Eaglecrest (and others): Keeper needs to be fast off his line, or we just need to clear it. No room for mistakes. Stay sharp.
CT: Accurate match ups in the box on set pieces. No mismatches.
Arapahoe: OBs need to be in those half spaces so they can close down quickly and disrupt the counter.
Grandview: We need to see the game all the way through. No plays off. We play every second of the 80.
No mistakes = no goals
Keys to success:
Keep the defense connected and communicate with one another to keep our shape.
Make sure that our match ups are good on corners and set pieces
Don't allow for mistakes to compound. If you make a mistake, close down the player and stop forward progress. Allow us to reset and get shape.
Don't expect anything from the refs.
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.
Bumblebee Gold - a player breaks out of the hive, making a run toward the corner kicker. We play him the ball, he holds up, and then flicks the ball to the player making the run. Shot at the near post, or be ready for the ball across.
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 Battle 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!
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