4,700 See an Impressive #1 Akron Down a Solid Tulsa Team

Both teams undefeated going in. Akron clarifies who the better team really is. And 4,700 saw it all. I believe that is the story this year. Soccer is an inexpensive couple of hours, and if your team is doing well, it is a good entertainment value. Who knew that economic downturns were good for the minor sports? Now we know. Here is the whole story in numbers.

---------------------------

Soccer Box Score (Final)

2010 University of Akron Men's Soccer

#2 Tulsa vs #1 AKRON (Sep 24, 2010 at Akron, Ohio)

Goals by period 1 2 Total

Tulsa 0 0 0

AKRON 2 2 4

Tulsa (6-1-0) vs.

AKRON (6-0-0)

Date: Sep 24, 2010 • Attendance: 4,744

Weather: high 70s clear, w: sw 16 gusts to 29

Why Goals are Scored: #4

Goals are scored, sometimes, because perfect timing allows for a huge advantage. At minute 3:30 of the video San Jose gets a play that New England thinks is a pass to a player offside. He wasn't offside because the passer (Johnson) sent the ball at the perfect moment to create an easy play. This can be practiced.

Why Goals are Scored: #3

On offense, if you can keep control long enough in the offensive end, you WILL find an opening.

Why Goals Are Missed : #2

Casey Keller gets the announcers' respect here, but the shot would have been stopped by any quality keeper from high school on up. There was no angle. The ball should have been sent across the field or back. Some overtly "good opportunities" are in fact not so. Better soccer is to live in reality and wait to shoot until an actual good opportunity presents itself.

One on One

The audio commentary is very instructive to the defense here (surprisingly).

For Offense: How about using the rest of your team?

Why Goals Are Missed : #1

For Offense: Get used to working within a big crowd. The offensive player here gets lost in a mess of people and sends a head ball way off line. The mind must always control itself before it can tell the body what to do.

Don't be fooled

Sneaky Soccer Goal - watch more funny videos

I especially liked the move the offensive player used once he got the ball.

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.

La Mano de Dios

In eleven short seconds, you can see the second most controversial goal in modern soccer history. Notice after the goal that the English players all can't believe a hand ball wasn't called. Remeber that Maradona himself termed the play the "hand of God", so how do you think HE believes the ball got into the back of the net?

Should today's players be instructed in how to cheat effectively? Don't they already do it?

Landon.

I got to see Landon play live only once when he was a youngster with the original version of the San Jose Earthquakes (at the time called the Clash). He is just good.

This goal with his current team Bayern (Munich) is very nice, though the goalkeeper violates a cardinal rule by letting in a goal on the near post.

Absurd Goals, or Pressing Offense and Bad Defense? All 3.

My favorite is number four (the second on the video) when the ball bounces from one post the other post before going in. Mathematically I know that it is as likely as any other angle of deflection, but I have a lot of soccer experience and have never seen (nor heard of) such a result. Each of the five goals is enjoyable.



On defense, we see goalkeeping errors, and panicked clears that don't clear. Solution? Well, to start with, don't panic. Moving very quickly and moving at a panic pace look equally fast, but panic is a player's mind out of control. Fear is for non-soccer activities.

Passing produces goals

Passing for over a minute without loss of ball takes team effort: looking around, running to space, brief dribbling (usually in the wrong direction) to get to free space. Sum total is a goal.

MLS CUP 2008 - Very nice goals

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

Pirlo produces Goal off a set play. Bonissimo!

Consider the first goal (1 minute). A set play shot done correctly is unstoppable. The defense shouldn't feel badly, except that they were inept enough to give a direct kick foul so close to the goal. Few players 30 years ago could do this. Now, many college and pro players can (though certainly not all).

Offenders: practice these many times to be the hero of a minimum 3 games per season. The trick to is to slice across the ball so that the spin brings it back down quickly. Pace is not the most important thing unless you want to launch the ball into the back row of the stadium seats. Slice. Practice the slice. 25 times a day? That's a starting point.

This Defense Wins the Moment

UEFA Champions League - Werder vs. Olympiacos
Originally uploaded by nicholas_m.v.h.

UEFA Champions League - Werder vs. Olympiacos (2007)

The photo is an example of poor offense in the face of good defense. The offense (red) has a few options, all unlikely to succeed because they have gone too far forward into heavily controlled areas of green defense.

When you find yourself in this situation, the most important thing is to find a teammate to pass back to. Start over, regroup, rearrange yourself on the field, and then attack anew. Suicide is to plow ahead.

Defenders reading this can note that this is what defense is supposed to look like.

Better Soccer Teams Score Goals

Watch and enjoy. A great pass makes scoring this easy.

It's a Team Sport

So here (1 min. video) is a nice bit of ball control, but the best part is that the player knows when to stop. He passes to an open teammate for an easy goal.

Point #1 to consider: sometimes, one person SHOULD keep the ball and dribble around a few people . Yes, Yes, I know that what I just said is poison speech for some coaches. Well, I think this player was correct, because you pass when you have no other options. As a game progresses, you can determine who you can beat with a high percentage of probability and who you can't. Somtimes (not always, you ball hogs in the group) your best option is to keep the ball and not just pass to your own defender.

Point #2: his teammates didn't stop and wait for him to go coast to coast. They knew where he would most need them, and they went there. This kind of goal seems obvious, but is very difficult to defend.

That is why it was successful.

Can the goalkeeper get an assist for the other team?

Goalkeepers, don't look beyond the obvious. If a player is standing close to you, notice that fact.

Offensive players should always press forward, get in the way, and generally be a nuisance. This video shows that it can be productive.
(Video is 10 seconds.)

Ripping Failure out of the Hands of Sure Success

Next time your mind doesn't talk to your foot correctly, remember these clips.
Enjoy

A great study in team passing

In this video (2 min. 50 sec.) you will see simple teamwork that scores goals against some of the world's best defenses.

How is it done?
1. Before you get the ball, think of at least two things you could productively do with with it if you got the ball. This is, frankly, the big part of the game that most players never enjoy. At first it is real work, since the two options usually come and go every few seconds and must be re-thought that often as well.

2. Accurate passing is easier than making brilliant shots. Practice all manner of passing. It also helps to know your teammates and pass to their strengths as players.
This video is just fun. ENJOY!!

I won't get into how to defend this. This is all about effective offense.