At around 4:45 p.m the final whistles blew around Europe ending the final match day for the group stage of the Champions League.
Going into today most of the final positions had been set especially since half of the games for this round were played yesterday (Tuesday's Round Up). Going into today there were only three spots technically up for grabs for progression to the next round.
We already knew that PSG, FC Poto, Schalke 04, Malaga, AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Bayern Munich, Valencia, Barcelona, and Manchester United had qualified for the knockout rounds. The final three spots that were still up for grabs were in group E between Chelsea (last year's winners) and Jeventus, group G between Celtic and Benfica, and group H between CFR-Cluj and Galatasaray.
That has now all been decided with Jeventus earning a win vs Shakhtar to eliminate last year's champions Chelsea, Celtic earning a last minute win against Spartak Moscow to eliminate Benfica, and Galatasaray coming from behind to beat Braga to eliminate CFR Cluj.
This is particularly disheartening for Chelsea because the become the only team to fail to advance to the knockout stages after winning the competition the year before. Despite them completely dismantling FC Nordsjaelland 6-1, They had to hope for Juventus to lose in order for them to progress and that is something that Juventus made sure didn't happen by beating Shakhtar 1-0.
This will only heap pressure on Chelsea's new interim manager Rafael Benitez who was recently appointed after Chelsea fired Roberto Di Matteo for his "poor run of form" despite leading Chelsea to it's first ever Champions League trophy.
However, even though all of the qualifications have been set there are still a bit of surprises that will certainly raise some eyebrows. The most intriguing point is the fact that power house Real Madrid are in the second pot of teams, meaning after the December 20 match-up draw, one of the top qualifying teams will face Real Madrid.
After The Full 90 will cover the knockout stage draw as it happens so be sure to check back to see what the match ups will be.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
The Position No One Wants
This Premier League Season we have seen two super-subs come on and score crucial game winning goals for their teams.
If you don't know who I am talking about, I am referring to Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez (Manchester United) and Edin Dzeko (Manchester City). Both players have come on and bailed their teams out when it looked like they were going to drop points.
Hernandez has been doing this for three seasons since his move to United from Chivas Guadalajara, and has since become a United hero.
However this is not the position anyone would dream of playing. Every player at every level strives to be in the starting 11. No one wants to feel like they can only make a difference if they are coming of the bench.
This is certainly the case with both of these players. Dzeko has come out a few times to the media and has expressed his firm belief that he is and should be a starting player, and its tough to argue with him.
Here are his stats over his career, and as you can see, he certainly has a point. He is currently tied for his team lead in goals, yet he can't seem to get the starts that he desires.
Once you start scoring clutch goals off the bench, it's tough to shake that notion of "super-sub." In addition, being at a club like Manchester United and Manchester City, two teams that seem to stock full of strikers at the moment, its tough for anyone to get consistent time.
Unfortunately, it seems that all these two can do is continue to work hard, continue to score, and hope that they can force their managers to give them starts.
If you don't know who I am talking about, I am referring to Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez (Manchester United) and Edin Dzeko (Manchester City). Both players have come on and bailed their teams out when it looked like they were going to drop points.
Hernandez has been doing this for three seasons since his move to United from Chivas Guadalajara, and has since become a United hero.
However this is not the position anyone would dream of playing. Every player at every level strives to be in the starting 11. No one wants to feel like they can only make a difference if they are coming of the bench.
This is certainly the case with both of these players. Dzeko has come out a few times to the media and has expressed his firm belief that he is and should be a starting player, and its tough to argue with him.
Here are his stats over his career, and as you can see, he certainly has a point. He is currently tied for his team lead in goals, yet he can't seem to get the starts that he desires.
Once you start scoring clutch goals off the bench, it's tough to shake that notion of "super-sub." In addition, being at a club like Manchester United and Manchester City, two teams that seem to stock full of strikers at the moment, its tough for anyone to get consistent time.
Unfortunately, it seems that all these two can do is continue to work hard, continue to score, and hope that they can force their managers to give them starts.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
The Forgotten Team
The final whistle blows. Scenes of one team celebrating, while the other team is left in tears.
After those scenes of the the losing players emotionally leaving the field no one ever wants to focus on the team that lost. To some degree it is understandable if one feels that the only team that should get attention is the victorious one, after all they did win.
However, after IMS's semi-final loss to Loyola, the amount of emotions and thoughts simultaneously occurring is the most intense and real aspect of the end of a playoff game.
So many questions arising in players' heads you could almost feel them thinking, as I looked into their eyes in the locker room. Questions like, "could I have done more?", "How could I have made that play differently?" and "Is this really it?" were all being processed at the same time.
All of this was clearly mentally and emotionally draining and tensions begin to rise causing two players to have a confrontation that had to be settled down by other players and myself intervening.
I looked around the room and I could see several people crying and yet I could draw absolutely no emotions what so ever. I must admit that at one point I tried to force a tear or two just to feel something. However, I could muster nothing, I was emotionally shocked. The only time I can remember having a similar emotion is when one of my close friends from high school suddenly died.
This emotional blankness allowed me to focus on other people in the room. Two of our players pouring out tears, others just sitting in their lockers looking absolutely dejected. Coaches who sacrificed so, much now fighting back tears.
Slowly players began to exit the locker room, until one group remained. I will never forget the senior member of that small group, face blank, and his eyes moving ever so slightly as he was working out the questions arising in his head.
You could see him starting to work out, in his head whether or not this was the end of his competitive playing career. A question that must be worked out by every player at some point in their final year. For some, the decision is made easy for them because they know whether or not they can make it at the next level, and they adjust accordingly. Yet for this senior it was not that simple.
While I observed you think about what must be going through each player's mind. I thought about how hard they worked in preseason up until this point; the sacrifices they made.
As the last of the players left the locker room, I remembered what one of my two closest friends said to me after he was denied the national college boxing championship, "The worst thing is that no one knows how much harder I worked than everyone else this year. No one realizes how hard I worked myself to win that belt and they took it from me and no one cares." I finally understood exactly how he felt.
Below are the seniors from this years team. Where ever you end up, I
thank you for the tremendous impact you have had and will continue to
have on my coaching career
After those scenes of the the losing players emotionally leaving the field no one ever wants to focus on the team that lost. To some degree it is understandable if one feels that the only team that should get attention is the victorious one, after all they did win.
However, after IMS's semi-final loss to Loyola, the amount of emotions and thoughts simultaneously occurring is the most intense and real aspect of the end of a playoff game.
So many questions arising in players' heads you could almost feel them thinking, as I looked into their eyes in the locker room. Questions like, "could I have done more?", "How could I have made that play differently?" and "Is this really it?" were all being processed at the same time.
All of this was clearly mentally and emotionally draining and tensions begin to rise causing two players to have a confrontation that had to be settled down by other players and myself intervening.
I looked around the room and I could see several people crying and yet I could draw absolutely no emotions what so ever. I must admit that at one point I tried to force a tear or two just to feel something. However, I could muster nothing, I was emotionally shocked. The only time I can remember having a similar emotion is when one of my close friends from high school suddenly died.
This emotional blankness allowed me to focus on other people in the room. Two of our players pouring out tears, others just sitting in their lockers looking absolutely dejected. Coaches who sacrificed so, much now fighting back tears.
Slowly players began to exit the locker room, until one group remained. I will never forget the senior member of that small group, face blank, and his eyes moving ever so slightly as he was working out the questions arising in his head.
You could see him starting to work out, in his head whether or not this was the end of his competitive playing career. A question that must be worked out by every player at some point in their final year. For some, the decision is made easy for them because they know whether or not they can make it at the next level, and they adjust accordingly. Yet for this senior it was not that simple.
While I observed you think about what must be going through each player's mind. I thought about how hard they worked in preseason up until this point; the sacrifices they made.
As the last of the players left the locker room, I remembered what one of my two closest friends said to me after he was denied the national college boxing championship, "The worst thing is that no one knows how much harder I worked than everyone else this year. No one realizes how hard I worked myself to win that belt and they took it from me and no one cares." I finally understood exactly how he felt.
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| Mike Jordan (MJ) |
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| Robbie Krohmer (Robbo/Diesel) |
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| Doug Stephens (Dougie Fresh) |
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| Alvaro Torrecilla (Torre/Al) |
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| Ansger Otto (Otto) |
The Knock Out Blow
Readers, you know what a disappointing season it has been for IMS. We started off the season with such high expectations, despite a challenging schedule, only to face a tough reality as the year progressed.
Our final nail in the coffin was hammered in by Loyola, in the MAAC semi-finals, when we were defeated 1-0. A set play goal that was controversial to say the least.
During the MAAC regular season it seemed that our tough schedule was paying dividends. We had finished 5-2, lower than we expected, but with our goal of winning the MAAC still intact heading into the playoffs.
Maybe it was the fact that we had to travel on Wednesday morning, for a game that was taking place on Thursday at 9 p.m., and only being an hour and a half away. The fact that we had so much time to kill on that Thursday just didn't seem right.
Or maybe it was just the fact that this game had a higher importance than all the other games this season. Either way it was hard to get a feel for the team, as I usually have been able to do heading into a game.
The match's start time did end up being pushed back a half hour because the playoff game before us was deadlocked and went to overtime, only to be decided within 15 seconds a quick sudden death goal.
Warm up seemed as normal as ever, and I tried not to read into to many things (something I have learned to do as the season went on). This is what we have been preparing for all year and now was the time for us to prove it.
In the opening 15 minutes we were a little unsettled and Loyola looked to get a foothold on the game, and they would have taken the lead if not for some great last stitch defending by us and some real poor finishing from them.
On two occasions their number 9 was wide open during set-plays. A warning for us as the game continued to progress.
As the rest of the first half played out we began to settle down a bit and by the end of the half each team could come away feeling they deserved to be leading. Chances that should have been taken by both sides went begging and a 0-0 score line seemed a proper reflection of the first half.
The second half started with us clearly on the front foot. We began to posses the ball more as we like to do and the game seemed to be going more in our favor this half. We seemed to have addressed the problem of their number 9 getting open on set plays, we just had to put the ball in the back of the net.
As the second half wore on the teams began to even out and a back and forth started to occur. One team would create a chance on one end only for the other team to respond.
Then with about 20 minutes left to go in the game, Loyola were awarded with a very soft free-kick. The ref calling a foul on something he had let go all game. To make matters worse after we had cleared the initial free-kick the ref inexplicably called for a re-take. All of this confusion, led to one moment of a lapse of concentration, and once again their number 9 was open only this time he didn't miss.
Though we were all filled with rage about the whole situation, we had to push on. We pinned them into their own half, causing them to take on attack after attack, we just couldn't finish.
There was one moment, with about eight minutes left, where we had about five attempts in a row on goal, that were either saved by their goalie or blocked by their defenders. Though you would never admit it at the time, when we didn't score at that moment, we had sealed our fate.
Our final push didn't produce a goal, and when the final whistle blew and it was all over. A sense of shock set in and it felt like the game had unjustly been taken from us. All one could do is just shake their head and know that this game should have been ours. (Injustica).
Our final nail in the coffin was hammered in by Loyola, in the MAAC semi-finals, when we were defeated 1-0. A set play goal that was controversial to say the least.
During the MAAC regular season it seemed that our tough schedule was paying dividends. We had finished 5-2, lower than we expected, but with our goal of winning the MAAC still intact heading into the playoffs.
Maybe it was the fact that we had to travel on Wednesday morning, for a game that was taking place on Thursday at 9 p.m., and only being an hour and a half away. The fact that we had so much time to kill on that Thursday just didn't seem right.
Or maybe it was just the fact that this game had a higher importance than all the other games this season. Either way it was hard to get a feel for the team, as I usually have been able to do heading into a game.
The match's start time did end up being pushed back a half hour because the playoff game before us was deadlocked and went to overtime, only to be decided within 15 seconds a quick sudden death goal.
Warm up seemed as normal as ever, and I tried not to read into to many things (something I have learned to do as the season went on). This is what we have been preparing for all year and now was the time for us to prove it.
In the opening 15 minutes we were a little unsettled and Loyola looked to get a foothold on the game, and they would have taken the lead if not for some great last stitch defending by us and some real poor finishing from them.
On two occasions their number 9 was wide open during set-plays. A warning for us as the game continued to progress.
As the rest of the first half played out we began to settle down a bit and by the end of the half each team could come away feeling they deserved to be leading. Chances that should have been taken by both sides went begging and a 0-0 score line seemed a proper reflection of the first half.
The second half started with us clearly on the front foot. We began to posses the ball more as we like to do and the game seemed to be going more in our favor this half. We seemed to have addressed the problem of their number 9 getting open on set plays, we just had to put the ball in the back of the net.
As the second half wore on the teams began to even out and a back and forth started to occur. One team would create a chance on one end only for the other team to respond.
Then with about 20 minutes left to go in the game, Loyola were awarded with a very soft free-kick. The ref calling a foul on something he had let go all game. To make matters worse after we had cleared the initial free-kick the ref inexplicably called for a re-take. All of this confusion, led to one moment of a lapse of concentration, and once again their number 9 was open only this time he didn't miss.
Though we were all filled with rage about the whole situation, we had to push on. We pinned them into their own half, causing them to take on attack after attack, we just couldn't finish.
There was one moment, with about eight minutes left, where we had about five attempts in a row on goal, that were either saved by their goalie or blocked by their defenders. Though you would never admit it at the time, when we didn't score at that moment, we had sealed our fate.
Our final push didn't produce a goal, and when the final whistle blew and it was all over. A sense of shock set in and it felt like the game had unjustly been taken from us. All one could do is just shake their head and know that this game should have been ours. (Injustica).
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Statement Win
First off I'd like to apologize to my readers for the lack of stories
this past week. I was dealing with some personal issues and I have had
to take a mini break from my posts. None the less I am back and I look
forward to continuing this blog.
Here is a post I meant to publish a couple of weeks ago. I will also post this week's post soon.
This weekend (10/6) IMS made a huge statement to the rest of the conference by defeating Fairfield 4-2.
Coming in to the game we had another roller coaster week that involved us defeating Monmouth, only to lose the following Wednesday to WVU (I talked about this stretch in a previous post). This time, however, the team had acted as if it had a new lease on life. Practice had a different atmosphere surrounding it.
After the WVU loss assistant coach Marcos Monteagudo stated, "Obviously I care about this loss but, we are heading into MAAC play now, where we are 0-0. Our season is just beginning."
This really stuck with the players. you could tell that they had become more focused on the task at hand. All of the set backs we endured had now been put in the past. The main goal of this season had now come to the table.
Coming into the season Fairfield was voted by the rest of the conference to finish 1st in the conference, one of the few preseason accolades we weren't given going into this season. Something that I believe will prove to be a blessing in disguise.
Us not being picked to win the conference not only made us feel under appreciated in our own conference but, it also reminded us that we should have won the MAAC tournament last year. It added fuel to the inner fire that we believe this year we are going to win this trophy and end the notion that Iona always chokes at the finish line.
Going into that Fairfield game the team was focused and looked ready to make a statement. Even conceding an early goal didn't shake the team as it had in previous games this year. The team bounced right back and scored two goals to lead at halftime.
Our halftime message was to remain focused and that we did. Two goals scored less than a minute a part in the second half made the statement that Iona is in the fact that the team that most thought we were coming into the year.
We now must remain focused and continue to make the statement that IMS is the best team in the conference and that this is the year we will shake that notion of always coming up short.
Here is a post I meant to publish a couple of weeks ago. I will also post this week's post soon.
This weekend (10/6) IMS made a huge statement to the rest of the conference by defeating Fairfield 4-2.
Coming in to the game we had another roller coaster week that involved us defeating Monmouth, only to lose the following Wednesday to WVU (I talked about this stretch in a previous post). This time, however, the team had acted as if it had a new lease on life. Practice had a different atmosphere surrounding it.
After the WVU loss assistant coach Marcos Monteagudo stated, "Obviously I care about this loss but, we are heading into MAAC play now, where we are 0-0. Our season is just beginning."
This really stuck with the players. you could tell that they had become more focused on the task at hand. All of the set backs we endured had now been put in the past. The main goal of this season had now come to the table.
Coming into the season Fairfield was voted by the rest of the conference to finish 1st in the conference, one of the few preseason accolades we weren't given going into this season. Something that I believe will prove to be a blessing in disguise.
Us not being picked to win the conference not only made us feel under appreciated in our own conference but, it also reminded us that we should have won the MAAC tournament last year. It added fuel to the inner fire that we believe this year we are going to win this trophy and end the notion that Iona always chokes at the finish line.
Going into that Fairfield game the team was focused and looked ready to make a statement. Even conceding an early goal didn't shake the team as it had in previous games this year. The team bounced right back and scored two goals to lead at halftime.
Our halftime message was to remain focused and that we did. Two goals scored less than a minute a part in the second half made the statement that Iona is in the fact that the team that most thought we were coming into the year.
We now must remain focused and continue to make the statement that IMS is the best team in the conference and that this is the year we will shake that notion of always coming up short.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Jimmy Bullard Retires
It is with great regret that After The Full 90 has learned that Jimmy Bullard has announced his retirement from professional soccer.
It may not be the biggest news today in the soccer world but for me it's quite sad. Jimmy Bullard is one of the funniest players to have played the game. He truly enjoyed playing the game he loved.
Here is a video of some of his hilarious moments both on and off the pitch.
We wish him the best and hope he is successful in whatever he decides to be involved with now.
It may not be the biggest news today in the soccer world but for me it's quite sad. Jimmy Bullard is one of the funniest players to have played the game. He truly enjoyed playing the game he loved.
Here is a video of some of his hilarious moments both on and off the pitch.
We wish him the best and hope he is successful in whatever he decides to be involved with now.
Responding Under Pressure
I am not going to fool you guys. Though I intend on this being a non-biased soccer blog I do support one team more than any other, and that team is Manchester United. I do intend to have other contributors so that when I do begin my match day reports it's not all red devils related.
However the subject of this post does take place at Old Trafford but the subject isn't Sir Alex, Wayne Rooney or the rest of the team, but rather André Villas Boas (or AVB for short) the coach of Tottenham, who played United this weekend.
AVB responded to the pressure that has always seemed to mount upon him ever since he arrived in EPL last year, when he became the coach of Chelsea FC, after his extremely successful stint with FC Porto in Portugal. Two days ago he ended Tottenham's 23 year win-less streak against United with a 3-2 victory over the red devils.
The young Portuguese manager seems to have had pressure placed on him from the moment he arrived in England. Some of which was understandably placed on him, because of his age and the size of the club he was taking the reins of, but there is a substantial amount of pressure place on him through the media that is clearly placed on him to stir up controversy, and it clearly ruffled his feathers last year and led to his eventual sacking by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.
When he replaced Harry Redknapp as the Tottenham manager this summer many opinions we thrown around as to whether he was the right man to lead this club to the success it seems have been on the verge of achieving for quite some time now.
A slow start to the season, especially some last minute defensive lapses, had only added to his ever growing pressure. In addition, during the transfer deadline, Tottenham purchased a world class goal keeper and France National team captain Hugo Lloris. This created a bit of a goalie controversy when AVB announced that 41 year old American Brad Friedel would remain the team's starting goal keeper.
Many 'reports' were published about Lloris' displeasure with not being the number one goalie and even former French goal keeper to criticize Tottenham's decision to keep Friedel as their starting goal keeper.
However it seems that this time around AVB is more comfortable in dealing with the pressure thrown his way by the British media, most recently on the Lloris topic heading into his teams big game against United.
His ability to lead his team and come out with an attacking approach against Manchester United, at Old Trafford none the less, was amazing. Bringing the left back (Vertonghen) up into the attack with the ever-dangerous Gareth Bale worked wonders right off the bat with an eight minute goal for Vertonghen. United were looked shocked and slow to react to such an aggressive early approach, and Tottenham scored another before halftime, this time by way of Gareth Bale.
Though United responded in the second half, with both teams producing and exciting opening 15 minutes, with three goals scored in that span (2 by united, 1 by Tottenham). Tottenham hung on to win, despite being absolutely pinned in there own half for the final 25 minutes.
The team was clearly working as a unit, and though United did hit the post twice, Tottenham stood strong and their coach made the right adjustments to the team to give them the belief that they could pull off that victory. You could see how much it meant to AVB to be able to finally respond to the pressure place on him with a huge victory.
As stated in previous posts in this blog it is my dream/mission to become an elite professional coach in this sport, and examples of young managers, like AVB, rising above the pressure placed on them is not only a pleasure to see but also a learning experience for me that I hope to emulate, even if the lesson I learn comes against my club.
However the subject of this post does take place at Old Trafford but the subject isn't Sir Alex, Wayne Rooney or the rest of the team, but rather André Villas Boas (or AVB for short) the coach of Tottenham, who played United this weekend.
AVB responded to the pressure that has always seemed to mount upon him ever since he arrived in EPL last year, when he became the coach of Chelsea FC, after his extremely successful stint with FC Porto in Portugal. Two days ago he ended Tottenham's 23 year win-less streak against United with a 3-2 victory over the red devils.
The young Portuguese manager seems to have had pressure placed on him from the moment he arrived in England. Some of which was understandably placed on him, because of his age and the size of the club he was taking the reins of, but there is a substantial amount of pressure place on him through the media that is clearly placed on him to stir up controversy, and it clearly ruffled his feathers last year and led to his eventual sacking by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.
When he replaced Harry Redknapp as the Tottenham manager this summer many opinions we thrown around as to whether he was the right man to lead this club to the success it seems have been on the verge of achieving for quite some time now.
A slow start to the season, especially some last minute defensive lapses, had only added to his ever growing pressure. In addition, during the transfer deadline, Tottenham purchased a world class goal keeper and France National team captain Hugo Lloris. This created a bit of a goalie controversy when AVB announced that 41 year old American Brad Friedel would remain the team's starting goal keeper.
Many 'reports' were published about Lloris' displeasure with not being the number one goalie and even former French goal keeper to criticize Tottenham's decision to keep Friedel as their starting goal keeper.
However it seems that this time around AVB is more comfortable in dealing with the pressure thrown his way by the British media, most recently on the Lloris topic heading into his teams big game against United.
His ability to lead his team and come out with an attacking approach against Manchester United, at Old Trafford none the less, was amazing. Bringing the left back (Vertonghen) up into the attack with the ever-dangerous Gareth Bale worked wonders right off the bat with an eight minute goal for Vertonghen. United were looked shocked and slow to react to such an aggressive early approach, and Tottenham scored another before halftime, this time by way of Gareth Bale.
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| AVB responds to the pressure |
Though United responded in the second half, with both teams producing and exciting opening 15 minutes, with three goals scored in that span (2 by united, 1 by Tottenham). Tottenham hung on to win, despite being absolutely pinned in there own half for the final 25 minutes.
The team was clearly working as a unit, and though United did hit the post twice, Tottenham stood strong and their coach made the right adjustments to the team to give them the belief that they could pull off that victory. You could see how much it meant to AVB to be able to finally respond to the pressure place on him with a huge victory.
As stated in previous posts in this blog it is my dream/mission to become an elite professional coach in this sport, and examples of young managers, like AVB, rising above the pressure placed on them is not only a pleasure to see but also a learning experience for me that I hope to emulate, even if the lesson I learn comes against my club.
One Step Forward Two Steps Back
The last week has been a roller coaster experience for IMS (Iona Men's Soccer). We started off this weekend with a convincing 3-1 victory against Monmouth, who were ranked 25th in the nation at the time, Only to fall to 16th ranked West Virginia University 3-1.
Going into the game against Monmouth it was hard to find a clear indication of the team's moral, something that had become more prevalent within the team as the loosing streak continued. There were still the usual moral/confidence boosters who would speak up at the end of practices, however, going into the game against Monmouth it was unclear to me how the team felt as a whole.
Maybe it was a silent confidence that I couldn't pick up, but whatever it was, it was the right mentality. For the first time the team wasn't shaken after conceding the opening goal. The mind set of, "here we go again" never arose. Instead we broke down the team and adjusted our tactics to absolutely exploit their weaknesses, especially with weak-side diagonal long balls that were the source of two of our three goals.
After the game moral was clearly high. You could feel as if this was the step we needed to finally get out of our slump. The rest of the weekend, and days leading up to the game against WVU, we seemed to get a bit of the confidence that hadn't showed itself since pre-season.
Unfortunately, the game against WVU didn't go as planned. The game started out well for us, especially after we took the lead after just 11 minutes with a goal from Ansger Otto. Our game plan of switching the point of attack was working brilliantly against their high pressure system. However, as this team has become all too familiar with this year, a lapse in defensive concentration lead to WVU tying up the score at 1-1.
Their tying goal came from a set-piece and our marking was just inexcusable. After the initial header sent the ball to the far side of the box, IMS players just left their marks assuming the ball would be cleared. Thus leaving three (yes THREE) WVU players completely wide open within the six yard box. All it took was one sloppy centering pass to come across goal and, in almost complete synchronization, the three unmarked players began their striking motion, and one of them buried it into the net.
Watching from above it was difficult to see how the team was reacting. Part of felt there was no reason to worry. We had gone down against Monmouth and responded brilliantly. Yet, there was something missing this time and I couldn't quite place it. The momentum was clearly beginning to shift, and as a coach, moments like this can cause you fighting between over analyzing a situation and fearing that too many changes (or changes at all) will make the situation worse.
The sides went into halftime all square and the run of play was still pretty even, despite WVU getting back into the game with their goal and hitting the post at the end of the half. Coach Barboto gave his halftime speech and told the team to concentrate on our game plan and to not fall victim to another lapse in defensive judgement.
The second half began pretty even, but another defensive hesitation led to us conceding a second goal 15 minutes into the half. This ultimately led us to try and force the issue, which led to our back four being exposed on too many occasions, and they ultimately scored their third goal to put final nail in the coffin for us.
Watching it all self-implode in the second half never gets easier. It's something that I know all too well from this season. Just like in everyday life, bad habits that we have gotten ourselves into don't just simply go away, you have to concentrate on not committing them, as oppose to, ignoring them and hoping that not thinking about them will reduce your chances of committing them again.
After the game we circled up and spoke about how despite this tough non-conference schedule we need to take the positives from it, learn from our mistakes and prepare for conference play, which begins this Saturday against our top rival for the title; Fairfield. We wanted to challenge ourselves with this tough schedule so that we could be prepared for anything that the MAAC (our conference) throws at us.
It is now time to see if this program is ready to take the next step and fulfill our potential. We have been waiting since our conference tournament loss in November to respond, and what better way to do so than by making a statement against the conference favorite in the first game of conference play.
Going into the game against Monmouth it was hard to find a clear indication of the team's moral, something that had become more prevalent within the team as the loosing streak continued. There were still the usual moral/confidence boosters who would speak up at the end of practices, however, going into the game against Monmouth it was unclear to me how the team felt as a whole.
Maybe it was a silent confidence that I couldn't pick up, but whatever it was, it was the right mentality. For the first time the team wasn't shaken after conceding the opening goal. The mind set of, "here we go again" never arose. Instead we broke down the team and adjusted our tactics to absolutely exploit their weaknesses, especially with weak-side diagonal long balls that were the source of two of our three goals.
After the game moral was clearly high. You could feel as if this was the step we needed to finally get out of our slump. The rest of the weekend, and days leading up to the game against WVU, we seemed to get a bit of the confidence that hadn't showed itself since pre-season.
Unfortunately, the game against WVU didn't go as planned. The game started out well for us, especially after we took the lead after just 11 minutes with a goal from Ansger Otto. Our game plan of switching the point of attack was working brilliantly against their high pressure system. However, as this team has become all too familiar with this year, a lapse in defensive concentration lead to WVU tying up the score at 1-1.
Their tying goal came from a set-piece and our marking was just inexcusable. After the initial header sent the ball to the far side of the box, IMS players just left their marks assuming the ball would be cleared. Thus leaving three (yes THREE) WVU players completely wide open within the six yard box. All it took was one sloppy centering pass to come across goal and, in almost complete synchronization, the three unmarked players began their striking motion, and one of them buried it into the net.
Watching from above it was difficult to see how the team was reacting. Part of felt there was no reason to worry. We had gone down against Monmouth and responded brilliantly. Yet, there was something missing this time and I couldn't quite place it. The momentum was clearly beginning to shift, and as a coach, moments like this can cause you fighting between over analyzing a situation and fearing that too many changes (or changes at all) will make the situation worse.
The sides went into halftime all square and the run of play was still pretty even, despite WVU getting back into the game with their goal and hitting the post at the end of the half. Coach Barboto gave his halftime speech and told the team to concentrate on our game plan and to not fall victim to another lapse in defensive judgement.
The second half began pretty even, but another defensive hesitation led to us conceding a second goal 15 minutes into the half. This ultimately led us to try and force the issue, which led to our back four being exposed on too many occasions, and they ultimately scored their third goal to put final nail in the coffin for us.
Watching it all self-implode in the second half never gets easier. It's something that I know all too well from this season. Just like in everyday life, bad habits that we have gotten ourselves into don't just simply go away, you have to concentrate on not committing them, as oppose to, ignoring them and hoping that not thinking about them will reduce your chances of committing them again.
After the game we circled up and spoke about how despite this tough non-conference schedule we need to take the positives from it, learn from our mistakes and prepare for conference play, which begins this Saturday against our top rival for the title; Fairfield. We wanted to challenge ourselves with this tough schedule so that we could be prepared for anything that the MAAC (our conference) throws at us.
It is now time to see if this program is ready to take the next step and fulfill our potential. We have been waiting since our conference tournament loss in November to respond, and what better way to do so than by making a statement against the conference favorite in the first game of conference play.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Getting Through The Slump: A Learning Experience
One of the great privileges I've been granted while attending Iona College is being a part of the men's soccer team. I serve as the team's manager, while I am also given assistant coaching responsibilities. This allows me to gain valuable experience that is vital to me in regards to my dream of becoming an elite soccer coach. My unique position within the team allows me to be treated as a player by the players on the team, and as a coach by the coaches. It allows me to draw from two perspectives simultaneously as we (the team) went through pre-season and now as we play out our season.
Building from our 15 win season last year our program gained national attention this year. High expectations were placed on the team and individual players as we were placed on national watch lists, and because of our difficult non-conference schedule we faced heading into this season. Needless to say, heading into the regular season, the team's confidence was high.
We won our first game of the season 1-0 against Adelphi University, and though it was closer than most people expected, we got off on the right foot. Unfortunately, the team has yet to win a game since. Problems that we had chose to ignore or banked on correcting themselves as the season progressed proved to be more serious than expected. Injuries, especially to our back line, have taken a larger toll than expected. In addition, troubled relationships between certain players have become a stumbling block that has only added, in this case, a literal sense of insult to injury.
There is no doubt that this team is talented enough to turn this season around, and that is where the challenge lies. The talent that this team possesses can be placed up with the best college programs in the country. The problem is that when you or your team finds itself in a slump Murphy's law (anything that can go wrong, will go wrong) seems to fester itself in every area within the team. The already thin defense continues to get banged up, missed chances continue to rear its ugly head and unlucky moments continue to occur at the worst time possible during a game.
The one thing I am certainly learning, in terms of coaching experience, is that in situations like this there is never a quick fix. You just have to preach to the players to continue to work hard and try to keep a positive mentality. The toughest aspect about this entire situation is that there is nothing you can simply change to get the team back on track. I am realizing that as a coach you and your players have to continue to believe that you are going to snap the bad streak you are on and that's the only way you can break out of a slump. You have to keep working hard and trying to improve, while staying positive even when the results aren't going your way.
Heading into the season I had a vastly different picture of how I was going to learn essential aspects necessary for me to become the elite soccer coach. However, It seems like this rough patch may be a blessing in disguise, not only for my personal goals, but also for this team.
Building from our 15 win season last year our program gained national attention this year. High expectations were placed on the team and individual players as we were placed on national watch lists, and because of our difficult non-conference schedule we faced heading into this season. Needless to say, heading into the regular season, the team's confidence was high.
We won our first game of the season 1-0 against Adelphi University, and though it was closer than most people expected, we got off on the right foot. Unfortunately, the team has yet to win a game since. Problems that we had chose to ignore or banked on correcting themselves as the season progressed proved to be more serious than expected. Injuries, especially to our back line, have taken a larger toll than expected. In addition, troubled relationships between certain players have become a stumbling block that has only added, in this case, a literal sense of insult to injury.
There is no doubt that this team is talented enough to turn this season around, and that is where the challenge lies. The talent that this team possesses can be placed up with the best college programs in the country. The problem is that when you or your team finds itself in a slump Murphy's law (anything that can go wrong, will go wrong) seems to fester itself in every area within the team. The already thin defense continues to get banged up, missed chances continue to rear its ugly head and unlucky moments continue to occur at the worst time possible during a game.
The one thing I am certainly learning, in terms of coaching experience, is that in situations like this there is never a quick fix. You just have to preach to the players to continue to work hard and try to keep a positive mentality. The toughest aspect about this entire situation is that there is nothing you can simply change to get the team back on track. I am realizing that as a coach you and your players have to continue to believe that you are going to snap the bad streak you are on and that's the only way you can break out of a slump. You have to keep working hard and trying to improve, while staying positive even when the results aren't going your way.
Heading into the season I had a vastly different picture of how I was going to learn essential aspects necessary for me to become the elite soccer coach. However, It seems like this rough patch may be a blessing in disguise, not only for my personal goals, but also for this team.
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