Match Report: Mullen vs. PRA

 Mullen vs. PRA

Location: Prospector Ridge Academy High School (Prospect Ridge Academy, 2555 Preble Creek Pkwy, Broomfield, CO 80023)

Varsity @4 (Arrive by 3)

JV immediately to follow - arrive by 4:30

We are away, so varsity will wear white, gold, white. JV will wear white, blue, white.

Preface:

We split games with PRA last year when they came down to us. They suffered a lot at the varsity level and the goalie played a huge role in controlling the score of the game. That was a young team that is older this year and has retained a number of their talented players. They will be more physical and organized. They will also be more comfortable on their home turf. We need to be ready for a good game.

PRA strengths:

From what we know, we can expect at least two things from PRA -

1. Their goalie will be good and he'll fight to keep them in the game. We need to be clinical in front of goal and create high percentage chances. Additionally, we need to take advantage of our set pieces when the goalie is at a disadvantage in his own box. If we can capitalize on set pieces and stay organized in defense, we can beat this team.

2. They will be willing to get underneath and suffer. Last year PRA's strength came in their willingness to recover under the ball all game long. This is a team that is scrappy and willing to defend, and it keeps them in games. We need to be patient with the game and keep our attack going in the face of adversity, missed opportunities, and frustration. They would love to escape with a 1-0 win or and result with a shut out and they will be willing to do the work to fight for it. We have to be creative and find a way in!

PRA weaknesses: 

1. I think that PRA will struggle against an organized press. If we learned anything from Timnath, their organization is exceptional and their desire to recover possession is strong. If we can press together and hit our marking assignments, PRA is really going to struggle to get out. 

2. PRA doesn't have a great deal of depth, and they don't play in a particularly competitive league. Our speed and formation should be a lot for PRA to handle. I don't think they've played the type of competition we have this year and we need to bring the big boy game to Broomfield tonight. I want to catch them off guard and keep the pedal down when we press on the game. This needs to be a no relief kind of night.

***Lastly, their coach left last years game musing as to why we were even playing and reflecting that it wasn't a good match up for them. We are a different team than last year, but they don't necessarily know that. If we bring aggressive Mullen soccer, we can capitalize on their fears of being outmatched. 

Mullen Keys to success:

As we noted yesterday in film, thus far, our preseason and opener has been a tale of two teams. We have one identity in which we press hard, stay organized, and never allow our opponent a chance to breath. However, we have another identity in which we switch off, get out of position and end up chasing the game to our own demise. Tonight we need to claim that first identity and rid ourselves of the other. Tonight we need to stay focused and clinical, keep our shape and do the right thing for the whole 80 minutes. 

Please take note of the images below:

As you can see in this image, when we are pressing in the 3241, we use the 9 to direct the game to one sideline or another. At that point we press our winger into their outside back and our OB into their winger to eliminate opportunities up the line. Our home 10 slides into the bottom of the triangle between our 9 and 11 while the strong side 6 occupies the higher space up field and the weakside 6 holds the deep central position. Our other 2 CBs slide toward the strong side staying as a conncted unit while our 7 drops a little deeper to share attacking players on the weakside. 

If we organize in this fashion (like against Denver North) the only relief is the attempted clearance over the top.

In contrast, when we look at this image we can see that our 11 is pulled all the way inside to try to compensate for the fact that our 10 is split between players as is our 7. Both of our 6s are stuck on the weakside of the game in a straight line with our weakside CB. This has left our strong side CB flat and our LOB stretched to try and cover the switch. Denver North has free reign over the middle of the field and hits line breaking pass after line breaking pass. All we are left to do is chase and an almost foul results in a free kick that scores.

When we look at this image in comparison to the diagram above, we can understand the importance of getting our central midfielders into position on the strong side so that the rest of the shape and fall into line.

When we turn off organizationally, we get beat.

How to beat PRA:

1. Organized and effective press

2. Retain/regain possession

3. Use the width

4. Score on set pieces.

Don't turn off, see the game through.

Set pieces:

(Corners)

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. 

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.

Snake: 

For this corner, we will have two groups of two players at each corner of the six. They will make phantom runs where they appear to check away and then just bounce back. Two more players will start at the front top of the box and make diagonal runs to the back post. At that point an initial runner will sprint to toward the corner taker while the second runner trails. The corner taker will make a pass to the top of the box, the first runner will dummy and the second will strike the ball. 

Reminders:

1. No mistakes out of the back. Smart decisions and smart passes that avoid the counter.

2. 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!

3. 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.

JV tactical notes:

As we discussed in Wednesday's tactics session, the JV team lost 4-2 to Prospect Ridge Academy last year.  Based on what we know, they probably will swing varsity players to this game.  So we expect them to be strong, fast, and physical.

To prepare for the game, we worked on:

• How we play when we are tied, winning or losing a match
• Keeping our midfield shape 6,6,10 working as a triangle
• Hold up play by our 9/10 to bring midfielders and 7/11 into play
  
• 9 and 10 working together to play simple 1-2 combinations to play other midfielders or wide to 7/11 who can look to cross the ball
• CBs breaking pressure to our defensive midfielders who can play bounce passes to our outside backs to start attacks
• 7/11 pressing the opposition's outside defenders 2/3
• GKs looking to play over the pressure (out wide and upfield) to the 7 or 11 if they press all 4 of our defenders

We need to be defensively sound, actively scanning the field, and communicating LOUDLY between players to close gaps, block shots, and win the ball back. 

Once we have the ball, we want to keep it by 

• playing smart passes to our teammates
• not running away from our player with the ball, instead:
• checking to the player with the ball to be an option to receive a smart pass
• when necessary, play back to go forward instead of just turning into defensive pressure or booting a long ball

We worked on our first Mullen corner (#1) which is a low driven ball to the near post. Two attackers crash the near post, other attackers fill in the middle and back post - running at an angle so the back post runners have a chance to finish if the ball gets through.

Finally we learned the difference between our normal defensive shape (mid-block) in a 4-2-3-1 formation and a low block - where we drop everyone behind the ball, on our defensive half of the field into a 4-5-1 formation.  We nicknamed this formation "Derek" in honor of Coach Edwards!