Match Report: Mullen vs. Cherry Creek

Mullen vs Cherry Creek

• JV @4 (Village Greens Fields - 9501 E Union Ave, Greenwood Village, CO 80111)
• JV early dismissal @2:30
• Varsity@6 (Stutler Bowl - 9300 E Union Ave, Greenwood Village, CO 80111)
• Varsity arrival time is 5pm - boots on by 5:15 and warm up @5:20.

Additionally, Senior Captains, please make sure you get all the gear out of 303 and get it to The Stutler Bowl for game time.

**Varsity: Before reading the match report, please refer to the email I sent about the ABK v Creek game.

Creek Strengths:

Creek has a strong team this year. They are athletic and fast and working with a decent attacking system.

Thematically, they are proving to be dangerous in 4 areas.

1. Their midfielders are getting wide into the lanes and sending dangerous balls into the box. This is an effective tactic (similar to how Grandview used it) because usually these midfielders can enter these lanes unmarked. They drift to the flank and take on the role of an attacking OB. However, the winger often doesn't pick them up and the midfield doesn't get wide enough to cover, and it leaves them with a great deal of time for good service. Creek was really effective in this way against ABK. 

In order to combat this tactic, our 7 and 11 need to get under and treat these wide midfielders like OBs. Additionally, our 10 needs to track wide initially to slow the pace of service as our wingers recover underneath. Doing both these things will ensure that we prevent easy distribution into the box. Remember to keep the shape instead of keeping the mark when it comes to drifting midfielders (This is the CC 6 *number 6 main method of attack.)

2. They are dangerous in front of goal. CC scores two header goals against ABK in the run of play. This is an impressive stat. We need to know they are looking of this kind of distribution and we need to shut it down. 

This has to happen in two ways: with a well organized press and blocked shots. We need to keep our shape, and we need to close down players and keep them wide while simultaneously cutting off any service into the box. Pressure is key. It'll drive them back and limit what they want to do. We can't passively defend (I.e. stand 3 yards off a player) because that will play to CC strengths.

3. They are patiently using the wings well. As you saw in the film against ABK, CC is doing well to relieve pressure by going back and then finding open players on the flanks. They are going to want to switch the ball, and the OBs are going to be involved in the attack. We need to track back and hit our shifts. Furthermore, because they want to use their depth, we have to make them pay for it. Our OBs and wingers need to get involved in the attack, especially on the counter so that we can pull CC's wide players into their own defensive half.

4. The goalie is quite talented. He's been Creek's goalie for the last couple of years, and the kid can play. Under pressure he gets a little heady though so we need to try to keep the game tight. Defend first, look to counter and find set pieces, make him make the saves. If we push him we can find some cracking points. 

Creek Weaknesses: 

This is a very strong creek team that hasn't shown a lot of weaknesses this season. However, there appear to be three areas we can try to exploit.

1. We have to be fast in transition. We need to get under and block and then release quickly. This isn't a team that we want to try to dribble through the middle of the park against. We should take the flanks at pace and play the ball to the corner. Against ABK the Creek defenders just kept kicking the ball out of bounds. This is where all the ABK opportunities came from. We have to be a little territorial and push the game.

2. Quick resets: Creek doesn't seem to organize quickly. If there is a chance for a fast throw or a quick set piece, let's take it before they have the opportunity to recover!

3. They scramble a little bit in the box. Poor clearances and organization have cost them a couple of goals this season, so on set pieces and crosses, keep fighting for opportunities - they will come.

Mullen Keys to Success: (I'm including this again so that it is committed to memory)

Our six can't get drawn out tonight, he needs to hold the shape in the middle of the park, and we need to recover through to absorb the attack.

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:

I heard a quote today from Tiger Woods, "Don't get bitter, get better."

JV Match report

Last year Mullen JV beat Creek 6-1 at Mullen and there's no video of JV games this season.  Creek are 4-0-2 this season.

Mullen Keys to Success

We have worked on two things in training

1. Pass and move - We are most successful, for example against Eaglecrest, when we pass the ball and then the player who made the pass moves into space to support the player with the ball.  We will frustrate Creek when we keep the ball and play simple passes.
   
   
2. Make runs into space - Here are two examples from this weekend's PL matches - everyone should watch them 4-5 times to see an example of what we're looking for you to do when we are attacking the final third.

• Ollie Watkins goal for Villa
• Jarrod Bowen goal for West Ham 

Expect Pressure

Creek likes to press their opponents.  We want to counter their press by passing to feet and moving into space.  We can avoid forcing the ball into pressure and go back to go forward

Play Mullen Football
Be strong the first 15 minutes to sustain their pressure.  We did a great job vs. Eaglecrest so I know we can do it.
Offensive goal: 10 runs into space behind their back line
Defensive goal: press their midfielders so they cannot turn or play passes

Reminders:

• Trust the shape, trust your teammates
• Play smart, scan before the ball comes to you