Textbook: How to Give Away Goals

Here you will immediately notice a Chicago Fire player (in red, of course!) completely unmolested and easily able to receive a pass. Both players are in the offensive half. This is professional soccer? There are ways to mark up these guys to cut down the number of successful forward passes. I have heard the arguments for giving quick offenders space for fear they run by you freely and then are a massive threat. Isn't this pro soccer? Isn't everyone fast? and, Aren't defender able to rotate over and cover that stray offensive player that gets by someone? Yes, yes and yes. San Jose just looks lazy here.  It should be very difficult to receive the ball while facing forward in the offensive half, not easy as it is pictured here. Defenders are there to contest, molest, harass, and generally be complete pains in the neck for the offense every second of the game.

This was a key game for a San Jose side that is on the bubble to advance in the playoffs. This weak effort shows that they aren't up to muster at this late point in the season. No surprise that they went down to an embarrassing home loss that night.

Earthquakes' "Turn-Your-Head" Defense

About minute 1:30 RSL scores the first of three goals in their winning effort against San Jose on March 27th, 2010. The Earthquakes defender turns his head and the ball goes right by him. This is not a defensive move to copy.

And so it all begins again

Today is opening day for the San Jose Earthquakes. We will have either ice cream castles or dungeons of doom (last year). I prefer ice cream.

Sounders Open with Win. Red Bulls give the Defense the night off.

Anyone playing at the higher levels of soccer, a la the MLS, can score goals. So, the main topic always must be stopping the other side. Seattle won its MLS debut (3-0) because it played defense, and New York did not. The video explains a lot of why the MLS is so criticized in international circles. Seattle's first two goals were abysmal give aways by New York. Players wide open in front of the goal, and a ball - this is unbelievable - going through the legs of Cepero, the Red Bulls' keeper.

Through his legs? Yep. I actually think he must have closed his eyes.

On the other side, Sounders' keeper Kasey Keller has seen thousands of balls, and handled these with relative ease. His work is actually worth the price of admission.

MLS CUP 2008 - Very nice goals

Final was 3-1 Columbus Crew over New York Red Bulls.

Goalkeeper FINALLY Gets a Bounce in own favor

Don't we all love artificial turf bounces. I am in the camp of those that think MLS should require natural grass fields.

Still, this is just fun.

Right now there are goalkeepers practicing this, as if it could be controlled.

Soccer on Tv just stinks

I have never enjoyed Soccer on TV. The screen is too small to see the entire action. With less knowledge of other sports, I don't know if this is true in other athletic areas. Better Soccer is soccer taken in live. The whole field can be viewed. The small shifts that change everything can be seen, without relying on the camera to accidentally get it right.

I had high hopes that HD TV would solve this for me. It doesn't. It is better, but still not enough.

I suppose TV soccer is enough of a shadow of the real thing that its existence shouldn't be questioned, but tv will not attract new fans. It just isn't that great of an experience. Imagine your first soft drink had been Diet Coke. You might never go back. Tv soccer is the diet soda of the sports world.

Watch live soccer. Full sugar. Full flavor. No weird aftertaste.

Alexi Lalas playing the guitar....Alleluyah!!

Enjoy.

Here we go again. Is there no creativity left in soccer?

I have talked about negating, or at least reducing the threat posed by dominant players on the other side of the ball. In this video of David Beckham's first MLS goal (1 minute), the defense puts up the standard defensive wall, he shoots around it into the upper left corner of the goal. These guys on defense act like they are actually helping. They aren't.

The best part of the video is the shot of David's wife: she has seen this so many times that she isn't even impressed. So why don't teams try something different? I guess they haven't heard what Einstein said about trying the same failed solution over and over again: It indicates that you're crazy.

I only have some radically crazy solutions to creating a different defense for this kind of Beckham free kick. I won't share any here, because the specifics of the solution to great players isn't actually that important: the key to successfully defending great players is in having confidence to attempt that which others might consider folly.

If you think a defensive move or team defense plan will work and once it is clear that the normal plan won't work (it is quite clear in the Beck's case) then, by all means possible, try the new plan. The worst is having a little fun, showing you have guts and still getting scored on. And just imagine if your scheme were to actually work.

A wall 10 yards out in this video is just useless, so try something else.

In your own play, if you keep getting hurt by an offensive player, think as quickly as you can of some other play, some other way of conceiving your job, and then try it out.

The nice thing is that the worst you will get is the same poor result that no one will hold against you. And, .... it might just work.

Soccer Pro Arenas Part 6 - Dallas. Pizza Hut Pizza at Pizza Hut Park

Pizza Hut Pizza at Pizza Hut Park
Originally uploaded by cormack13

MLS has a lot of fans in Dallas/Fort Worth. If you build it, they will buy pizza for $6 a slice.

Pizza Hut Park Rating: B+

Soccer Pro Arenas Part 5 - Toronto's BMO Field

BMO Field
Originally uploaded by gbalogh

Clearly the nicest of the new stadiums in terms of integration with its city. Toronto FC plays here as does the Canadian National team.

Apparently the upper deck (not pictured) has a sort of hollow metal floor that the cheap-seat sitters like to jump up and down on to create noise to support their team.

BMO Field Rating : B+

Soccer Pro Arenas Part 4 - Dick's Sporting Goods Park

20070415_3322
Originally uploaded by Derek Holtham

Colorado soccer is pretty cold for the beginning and end of the MLS season, but an indoor facility wouldn't do for the rugged fans of in this state.

Yet another great soccer facility. The MLS would do well to not let any new teams into the league without this style of facility either already built or under construction.

Life is too short to go to a soccer game in RFK with 50,000 empty seats for a United game. Fans have got to feel like I do when I join the 300 for the Fresno State Women's games in the 44,000 seat Bulldog stadium: alone.

Fortunately, the soccer-specific stadiums are still under $100 million (the Galaxy/Chivas Center was more but included a tennis arena) and that is almost pocket change for the bigwigs that own these teams and can twist a few arms of city council members for public/private deals to get them built.

Dick's Sporting Goods Park Rating: B

Soccer's Pro Arenas part 3 - Outside of Chicago

View from the pressbox
Originally uploaded by goldstone97

Leave it to Chicago to ironically name their soccer team after an actual historical event that killed many and destroyed a quarter of the city in 1871. I don't think that in my lifetime I will see the day when New Orleans names a team the Hurricanes or better yet the Katrinas.

Anyway, Toyota Park is not a small drive for anyone living downtown, but in 2006 the Fire moved from Soldiers field to their own home in the suburbs.

Toyota Park holds 20,000. I assume that every luxury box would have to be at capacity to reach that since one end of the stadium is mainly a McDonald's and only has a spattering of seats.

It is another nice place to watch soccer.

In a future set of posts I will get into the seating in these newer arenas. History and money have led to some interesting compromises for the fans badunkadunks. I know that all my European readers are wondering why we ever sit a soccer game, since many of their stadiums don't even have seats. Maybe we are lazy and rich and fat, and maybe it is just not as life-controlling for us to go to a soccer "match".

Toyota Park Stadium Rating: B

Soccer Pro Arenas Part 2 - Home Depot Center

Home Depot Center
Originally uploaded by Paul!!!

In 2003 the L.A. Galaxy opened their new soccer-specific stadium in Carson, CA. A couple years later the Chivas USA started playing there as well.

Not really much innovative in design, but a quality facility that fills up for Galaxy games (27,000) and runs about 20,000 for Chivas USA games.

Home Depot Center Rating: B+

America's Pro Soccer Arena's - Part 1 Columbus Crew Stadium

Columbus Ohio would seem the least likely place for a first of anything in America's history (though "Columbus" himself was a trailblazer), still, the first soccer-specific pro stadium in the US was placed in this fine community. Columbus Crew Stadium immediately became the standard design and the basis for all those that have been built since and are being built today.

Generally, soccer specific stadiums are 20,000 - 30,000 in capacity (intimacy), have no track and field ring around the field (soccer fans are closer to the action), and create stronger team affiliation with their own facility (unlike the Kansas City Wizards that play in the NFL's Arrowhead to 40,000 empty seats every home game).

BTW: World-wide there is an explosion of stadium construction, and usually leisure (like watching events in stadiums) increases when wealth increases. Could the world be getting .... richer?

Columbus Crew Stadium Rating: B+

Landon Donovan

Landon Donovan
Originally uploaded by The Far Post

Landon is more naturally a mid-fielder if his teams (Galaxy, Team USA) had other better forwards. Neither does.
Scoring isn't his first desire, team play is his goal.