Another tough result for Madison Celtic as they fell to a narrow 2-1 defeat to local rivals Guilford. The Celts got off to a bad start in the this pre-dawn game as only ten players turned up for the kick off. By the time TomP slowly trundled to the field, ten minutes after the whistle, the Celts were 2 0 down. A great strike by Guilford for the opener and then a defensive blunder for the second set up a potential hiding for the Celts. But maybe it was Tom or maybe it was the team attitude but after those ten minutes this became a very tough and close game. Roniildo, Johnny B and Rob Bz played very well in midfield with Ruggero moving easily up and down the wings. The defense, after the opening blip, were solid as Tim got back to his best form of the season. Alex was powerful and Jodingo!! and Tom P were great on the defensive back positions. When Guilford did get through the back line Hulk was there to block. The only issue we had was the fairly insipid attack. There was only a couple of attempts on goal in the first half by the Celts. One was a fantastic whipped in cross that was met by Johnaldo's head but went wide of the goal, the other a fairly tame shot on goal. The second half was much the same as the second as Madison increasingly got more of the ball and pushed Guilford further and further back. Unfortunately there was not enough consistent pressure on the Guilfrod goal. But just as the game was edging to an end the rampaging forward runs by Johnny B and Alex were rewarded with a goal by Alex. With only a few minutes left on the clock it was too little too late although Guilford ended the game the more anxious team
MAN OF THE MATCH; Some great performances by the midfield and defense but in my humble opinion Tim won out the MOM
ROLL CALL for game vs Ridgefield
ReplyDeleteJohnaldo
Johnny B
Alex
Tano
Ruggero
I am in.
DeleteTechnically the 2nd goal came while I was playing. I was the closest to the guy who tapped in the deflected cross that came right to him and left Hulk with no chance.
But I WILL take full credit for the improvement in overall play!
lol....ok i thought you were still off the field then
DeleteSunday we have nothing to lose so I propose the following. 4-4-2 line up with one attacking center mid-ME and both forwards out wide but constantly switching from side to side with this game plan. When we have possession of the ball and we are not in their final third of the field (in their final third we go for goal-dribble, shoot, cross, etc), we play 1-2 or 3 touch soccer and you MUST pass within 3-5 seconds of having ball. Know where you are going to pass before you ask or get ball. All passes should be less then 10 yards away. Pass because you want to, not because you have to. even if you make 5 passes back and forth with same player it is ok. If you do not have a pass you can hold the ball but cannot lose it. Pass back to Alex or Tim. We build from back thru middle out to wings and back to middle. Forwards are back to goal. Worst case scenario is you dump to left or right wing open space and we all move up together. When they have ball we leave the last man with ball and when the ball is in our half we get it back NO MATTER WHAT. Possession is king. If we lose it, we all get it back hard. Let them have it on their half only. We move up and back as a team. Free kicks are only shots if less then 25 yards out- otherwise they are crosses or possession. Corner kicks are short for possession or targeted at Tim and Alex long or short but not wasted. We have to move up and push their forwards up. When they have the ball within our 40 yrd line, we have 10 men behind ball. Last game, we have nothing to lose, let's take control and do our thing. If you make a mistake, get ball back and do something positive. NO TALKING TO REFS OR OTHER PLAYERS. If someone fouls you, get up, dust yourself off and shut your mouth. DO NOT CRITICIZE YOUR TEAM MATES and do not argue with refs. Get there early and get a sweat on before game. Leave everything on field and don't leave game wishing you would hp have done something different. Just my 2 cents.
ReplyDeleteJohn B
Great post JohnB.
DeleteNo matter what we do, if we do it as a TEAM we will be successful at it!
We've had great effort from many players this season.
And support when we have made mistakes.
Much better than last season in that regard.
So if we keep that going we will win!
Good luck this Sunday boys.
ReplyDeleteI'll try to make it to cheer you on. Hopefully will make it the second half coming back from Massachusetts.
Break a leg, but not literally....
that would be great El Gato!
DeleteI will not go in details of why I missed last week game when I could have played!
ReplyDeleteAgree with John B. on several points. And I will add that I still believe we are best suited with a 4:2:3:1 formation (Dutch style). Because of many issues, but mostly fitness, we need layers on the field. This would provide a good transition game from Defense to offense, and would allow to fill that gap between the backline and midfiled so often left wide open. This formation can accomodate all of those aspects. The 2 midfielders position is the crucial part. These two have to be disciplined. Their role is to come back to the back 4 and demanding the ball from them to provide up front 3:1 with simple passes (a transitional role). But their role is also to be on a defensive mindset as well as playing in front of the backline and NOT MOVING UP IN THEIR ZONE/BOX JUST TO BE CAUGHT, but simply moving under the 3:1 at a safe distance. This is where the discipline comes into play. They have to play that role from start to the end. I see Tim and/or Alex (big guys with skills and strong on the defsnsive side) or Ron (good defensively with skills) being the perfect fit. This would leave John B and others free to play more of an offensive role in the 3:1 position (not to say that they shouldn't come back). I can already hear some that we wouldn't be able to play this formation. Totally disagree_our biggest problems game after game (apart from scoring) is our transition game and that huge gap in the midfiled because we are asking John and Ron to do everything. If you watched the US-Honduras game, Bradley and Suzi were playing exactly that 2 midfield role_moving together side to side, coming back and take the ball from the backline to provide up-front or on the wings to the left or right back, and mostly Bradley rarely moving up-front. Anyway, my long tirade.
In Sunday
Johnaldo
Johnny B
Alex
Tano
Ruggero
Fribeka
Fribeka
Deletethat could work too but i'm not sure we have the discipline to make it happen
I'm in, and will bring some beer. Any interest in a picnic to round off the first half of the season?
ReplyDeleteroniildo i think so Hulk suggested a bar bq
DeleteROLL CALL for game vs Ridgefield
ReplyDeleteJohnaldo
Johnny B
Alex
Tano
Ruggero
Fribeka
Hulk
Roniildo
Jodingo!!
TomP
new article posted
ReplyDeleteJohn B,
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of the things you said. FYI in the past, we have usually played a 4-4-2 formation unless we wanted to try something different or new once in a while...I think 4-4-2 formation works the best for our team....I think players get it but the KEY and the success is that 4-4-2 formation has to work like a spring (going back and forth).
I totally agree with 1-2 or 3 touch soccer and you MUST pass within 3-5 seconds of having ball. Know where you are going to pass before you ask or get ball. All passes should be less then 10 yards away. That's the Barcelona way of playing the game. Pass because you want to, not because you have to, even if you make 5 passes back and forth with same player and it is ok. If you do not have a pass you can hold the ball as long as you don't lose it. This is really to keep the ball and have possession and if we can do that 75% of the time, we can be successful winning the game but the key is fitness and speed.
There is one thing I disagree or may be I misunderstood what you said...you said "Let them have the ball on their half only". That's fine but when they have the ball in their own half, we have to press the ball and their defense and can't just stay back and have them to press us...
The key to winning any game is:
1. To have defense, midfield and forward to go back and forth simultaneously (this is our weakness and we usually have a big gap in the middle, our defense hangs in the back too much and our forward don't come back help the midfield). This way you always have support available to you with the ball or without the ball. Hustling without the ball and moving into space is very important.
2. Having possession of the ball most of the time (at least 70% of the time) and to do something with it when you have the ball.
3. Fitness (as a team, we are weak in this area).
Anyway that's my 2 cents...we can talk about all kinds of formations, structure and strategy....but the bottom line is that we all have to perform on the field and show it with action and not just talk