A Real Test
A real good test for us on Sunday with our 08 ECNL team.
My thought was to test our 4-3-3 formation, and see how it held up against the athleticism of the older girls.
We talked before the game about how the 4-3-3 can easily change into a 3-4-3 while we were in the attack with possession of the ball, and how this really relied on our back 4 defenders to recognize when this could happen and communicate with each other to make it happen.
Last year the 09s didn’t have a shot against the 08s. We played once in a fall for 30 minutes and the 08s might have scored 4 goals on us. With ease. Not only was the athleticism gap larger (last year to this year) between the teams, but the overall skill gap was larger as well.
This year we’ve narrowed both gaps considerably - based a bit on catching up on growth and muscular developments, and more on our roster development.
The 08s put us under a lot of pressure. I’d be really surprised if any of the Midwest Conference 09 ECNL teams would be this athletic, but who knows.
Taken a bit by surprise early on at the speed of the game versus the 08s, I think we settled in well. Though the older girls had the better of the play, we were able to create chances and capitalize on 2 of them.
We scored first as our pressure in the attacking third forced a square pass that Kenny picked up just inside the 08’s penalty box and, after some quick footwork, rolled the ball home with a tidy little side-foot finish.
Got caught sleeping defensively with about 10 minutes left in the first half, let a hit-and-hope long ball get over our heads, then got to watch a terrific finish on the volley by Greta that squared the game at 1-1.
Right before half, Livi scored a really good goal after a terrific solo effort, pressuring the 08 center back, pouncing on her first touch, immediately taking on the other center back 1-v-1, and slipping a well-placed shot off the far post and in.
The halftime talk was all about low pressure vs high pressure - a new concepts for many of the girls.
Against a team that could knock the ball around, we were getting killed by having our forwards chase the ball on their own. Low pressure was the key here - let the 08s have the ball in their defensive third of the field. We’d look to drop off when the 08 defenders were in good possession of the ball, hold a line of pressure at the top of the circle, and let them pass all they wanted to 65yd+ away from our goal.
The important thing here was to clog up passing lanes and stop long, penetrating passes from their defenders to their forwards - passes that would beat 3, 4, 5 of our players.
I’m going to have to do some work on this this week for sure.
If we got an opportunity to press (high pressure) this needed to be done as a team. Again, we’re going to need work on this as well.
Second half was a dog fight. The older girls did not like being behind to the younger team, and their intensity picked up.
The 09s didn’t back down one bit. This was my best takeaway from this game. We have a bunch of fighters on this team. A ton of heart. This bodes well for the tough fall season ahead of us.
The 08s scored a goal off a CK in the last minute to tie the game. An official clearly whistles a foul for us as Gwynny gets chopped down in the back of her legs during the scrum in front of our goal, but the score is not what was important here. The 08s have an edge on us due to their overall athleticism, but they will never again have a cakewalk against us.
