Monday Morning Report: September 20

At Saturday's game, during which our men's squad fought to a hard-eanred 1-1 draw with a pretty decent "Sportsfriends" team, we heard a steady refrain from the sideline and from our forwards, "Back line, push up! Push up!" The thought was that, when the ball is on "their" side of the pitch, pushing up the back line would eliminate the gap between it and our midfielders.

The place to set the defensive back line is a tactical decision that should be set by the manager or the captain. Conveniently, our captains are usually on the back line itself. It is not always true that the back line should be set high and tight against the center circle.

With a high back line, our team eliminates the gap, or space between our defense and midfield, in which the opposing strikers can freely maneuver. Conversely, if one sets the defensive back line further towards one's own goal, the opponents' midfielders also has more room to wander, and if they are good, they can really pick you apart with incisive through balls to their forwards, in between our defenders.

The biggest drawback, however, of setting a high back line, is that if the opposing forwards are really speedy, they can easily beat your trap. The defenders can be burned by their speed, and sitting close to the center circle, can't recover in time if the attacker takes the ball straight to the goal. Our goalkeeper would be faced with one-on-ones constantly.

So the tactical decision of where to set the back line has much to do with our own defenders' pace, the passing skills of the opposing midfielders and how speedy our opponent's strikers are. If our defenders are faster than their strikers, it is usually smart to set a high line to take away the space in which their offense can maneuver. This was the case yesterday.

Many thanks to Justin ("The Boss") for helping out with the tactical management yesterday, despite the wrecked knee. If nothing else, the bickering on the sideline was pretty entertaining. As usual, everything I say or do seems to be wrong, and I usually listen to The Boss :) Imi had the goal which was pretty much a solo effort, and he also had a beautiful chance near the end with a header off a corner. Only a brilliant save from their keeper prevented us from taking home the "win."

We played much better than last week as a team, a unit. Everyone did a better job keeping the ball, and finding the "open man." If we concentrate more on that, and less on creating miracle goals, we'll play a methodical, effective game.

Be patient, and find the open man if you have the ball. If not, then move into open space and make the run for your teammate.

Hoping for more improvement next week. Yippee....