Match Report: Mullen vs. Eaglecrest
Mullen vs. Eaglecrest
JV@4:30pm at Thunder Rdge Middle School (
Legacy Stadium
JV early release @2:30 - Bus and carpool leaves at 2:45
Varsity Team meeting in 303 @ 3 (7pm arrival - 7:15 boots on)
Eaglecrest Strengths:
This is a very technical Eagle team that is trying to play good futbol out of the back. They do a lot of things right. The OBs get involved in the attack sometimes, the 6 holds his position well sometimes, and they try to move the defense around and then play direct up the wings when they bait the press. Overall, it is impressive to watch them play.
I think that their strengths can be summarized into a handful of themes:
1. They do well to control the tempo of the game. They will play their goalie all the time. He has decent footwork, and they (similar to Denver North) like to play the box in the back. The goalie will play a wide CB, he will try to bait the winger, and then he'll play the OB and the OB will either attack or play a direct ball down the line to one of their speedy 7s or 11s. I saw them do this effectively against PR a number of times, and they were dangerous against Lakewood as well. Additionally, especially at Legacy, this allows them to control the pace of the game and dictate its tempo. They don't handle the pressure well, and so they have strategies to alleviate it.
**This method was not effective against South. I think this was for a couple of reasons - one, South had a better organized press, so Eagle really struggled to get out. Two, South's turf field is smaller. Either way, if we are well organized in the press and we pressure at the right points, we can force Eagle into a faster game, and they will make mistakes.
2. They are very technical, and great tacklers. On the ball, these are Eagle's strengths. They can move the ball well, and their first touch is strong. We can't dive in. Additionally, we will be successful dribbling at them, but we can't slow down our 1v1s, that plays to their strengths. A number of these players come from streetball and futsal backgrounds, so their close quarter defending is strong. Don't get caught up in the park, move the ball quickly, that will give us the advantage.
**Lake wood was most effective in transition. When they won the ball and moved it quickly up field, they were able to exploit the gaps. They dribbled into open space, and they found through balls on the ground. Being quick in transition allowed them to get behind Eagle before they could get their defense set. This was incredibly effective. Win the ball, move the ball.
3. Their CBs and deep 6 are pretty strong in the air. Of all the footage I watched, their was a glaring difference between teams that moved the ball quickly on the ground, and teams that tried to constantly go over the top. In an ariel game, the CBs sit a little deeper, and they win a lot out of the air. Additionally, the ariel game keeps their six deeper in the backfield, which is when they are strongest. Attemps over the top seem to play to their strengths.
**There seems to be one exception to this. I don't think Eagle is great at defending corners. If we are clean and clinical and our service is good - we should be able to find our way in. Additionally, possession in the middle of the park will draw their LOB into the play and leave our 7 available in behind. We need to exploit this organizational flaw, move the ball through the middle of the park and then release our wingers to goal.
4. They will pull the trigger from anywhere! These boys like to shoot! We need to close down shots and not let them in behind, which means we need to recover in the middle of the park!
As you can see here, our 9 and 6 (who is acting as a 10) both come out to press the CB as planned. Our other 6 slides to contain the midfielder at the bottom of the triangle like he should. However, our 10 never drops into the space to recover for the pressing 6 who is playing his role. This leaves a midfielder open to travel through the middle of the park.
Unfortunately, our other 6 doesn't foul to reset the play, and our strong side CB doesn't step into the gap, and as a consequence, their lefty is open to strike. This will be the exact type of space that Eagle is looking to exploit. Always scan and recover middle.
Eaglecrest Weaknesses:
From the Denver South and the Lakewood games, three weaknesses became apparent -
1. Eagle struggles under pressure. When given time, they can move the ball well, but against a well organized and hard pressing team, they will make mistakes and turn over the ball. We have to hit our marking assignments and not get baited by the CBs.
2. They are super vunerable in transition. When they are set, this is a very good Eagle team. However, when you catch them in transition (on the couter) and you move the ball up field quickly, they struggle to get set, and they sufffer for it. South exploited them badly in this regard, and Lakewood also created all of thier chances this way.
3. There is a heavy reliance on the wingers to try and create. The best way to counteract this in by keeping our outside backs up and involved in the game. If we stay elevated, they will have to cover us, and that will challenge their ability to get forward. Press hard, stay up, make them defend you.
Lastly, like Denver North, it would seem that they struggle to be dynamic in their build up. They want to play the box in the back and send the six in, but if this is taken away from them, they will struggle to create.
As you can see here, when the nine is pressing the goal keeper one direction, the six is going to want to drop in and receive the ball from the keeper. Our 10 needs to be sharp to this and close down their six immediately, forcing him back toward our nine. Additionally, when the 9 is in the middle, pressuring the keeper straight on, the 10 should shift with the six into the lanes to make up the bottom of the triangle. The position of the 10 in the press is elemental to keeping Eagle pinned back.
Remember the key elements from the weekend:
Mullen Keys to Success:
First and foremost, we need to execute a well organized press. We need to push the game to the sidelines and dig in on our marks. Then, once we force the turn over, we need to counter before they can recover beneath the ball. Additionally, we need to use our ten to eliminate the impact that their 6 can have on the game. The 10 needs to be at the base of the triangle to cut off the pass to the checking 6. This will prevent them from playing out of the back and building through their talisman.
You can see in this image that our 10 is perpendicular to the nine, creating a right angle with our 11 on the wing. The problem here is that the GV six and drop into the gap, receive the ball, turn and attack.
As noted above, the six then penetrates the press, and then initiates an attack though the lines. To prevent this scenario, our 10 needs to scan, identify the incoming 6, slide to his left to the point of the triangle and thus cut off the pass, turn, and progression. The 10 should not be vertically even with the 9 but rather tucked in to form a triangle and intercept the incoming midfielder.
Secondly, we need to do everything (except corners and some long throws) quickly. Any restart of play should happen immediately. We can't give them time to recover. Furthermore, when we create a turnover, if the high percentage counter is on, we need to take it. The quicker we are in transition, the more they will struggle. On this same note, we need to also move the ball out wide more quickly. As we saw in the GV game, when we just did the right thing from the start, we created opportunities in front of goal. It was when we hesitated and then chose to do the thing we should have done initially that GV had the chance to recover and initiate a counter.
Set pieces:
(Corners)
Rio - Fake corner. One player goes and gets the ball and acts like they are throwing it to the other player. He plays them as soon as he steps on the field and we attack. The runners have to be sharp on Rio and ready for the fake play!
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.
JV Tactical Notes:.
We have played enough 5A teams at this point in the season. We know what to expect and we have shown against Grandview (full game) and Lutheran in the second half that we can be strong mentally and play Mullen soccer to be organized in defense, create chances, and score goals. Each player brings an attitude of strength and confidence in our abilities.
Fortunately, there was a match video of Eaglecrest vs. Douglas County from earlier this season. In this match, Eaglecrest played the 4-2-4 formation, which is uncommon and is designed to attack and score goals. It does have a fundamental weakness that we need to exploit.
Eaglecrest Strengths
- 4 forwards who attack with the ball and pressure in defense.
- Experienced and capable players who are quick in their movements.
Eaglecrest Weaknesses
- Teams that play 4-2-4 formation can struggle to control the midfield.
- Douglas County created opportunities down the wings, playing balls into the corners of the final third.
- Eaglecrest gave away the ball often to DC in the midfield because DC played the same formation as Mullen (4-2-3-1).
Mullen Keys to Success
- Shape is King
- Control the midfield and we control the flow of the match.
- With the ball, outside backs (2/3s) and attacking midfielders (7/11s) get wide to the touch lines.
- Midfielders (6s / 10s) stay connected and be on option to receive passes from our back line.
- Goal Keepers - play goal kicks to the outside forwards (Dylan/Logan and Gavin/Henry and not do the middle of the field
- Play Mullen Football
- Keep the ball - play simple passes to feet and check to the ball when receiving passes.
- Be strong in defense!
- Back four must hold their shape to control their front four.
- 6s provide defensive support.
Reminders:
- No cheap goals - every player defends being in the right shape to prevent scoring chances, block shots, and win balls.
- Be ready - they will press hard to get early goals and we have to be mentally prepared for this and remain focused on our keys to success.
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