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If you are going to build a team, then build a team to survive in the heat of winning a championship, as you can all see there was only one goal scored in play in the quarters across four games. Where are all the offense and attacking theory guys now, where is all the pretty ball now, pretty ball and big scoring is for friendlies and for early rounds of competition, there is no place for pretty ball in the pantheon of winners, especially when penalty kicks ends the deadlock.
In hard core competition there is no scoring, defense protects your team and keeps you in the game all the way to penalties, then it is a fighting chance even for the team that had zero shots and 30% possession, we almost saw that with Holland versus CR, Holland dominated the game totally and CR was dangerous on counterattacks till the final whistle and had a great chance to win via penalties.
You don't win by not scoring goals but you definitely lose by conceding goals and you are always in with a chance to score a KO via counterattack if the score is tied.
What is it about defense first that is so hard to understand, we see this with every tournament when the sledding gets tough, one lapse in concentration, one opportunity and boom you have conceded a goal, it is critical to play defense in a way that the opponent in the final third has no space to turn and move with ease and if you are to get beaten it must be a brilliant shot outside the 18, it is unacceptable to have an opponent dribbling in the box and making guys whiff, like we saw with the first USA goal with Ghana, one second of sloppy defending and Ghana cedes a goal and the game to the US.
Defense starts and ends with the midfield control of the heart of the game, excellent defense and pressing creates havoc for opposing teams. England could not compete in this competition as they ceded midfield to the opponent and chose to play defensive mids that had no business playing that position especially the combination of Henderson and Gerrard who are best known for attacking and not defending, talk about brilliant planning you put in the defensive mid combination that gave up fifty goals and lost Liverpool the EPL title, what were they thinking???
The four goals ceded by England were like daggers with quick combinations through the heard of midfield with little or no opposition, ceding space to the attackers thus enabling the speed of the attack.
How do we build a team upon the rock of defense, we start with the formation of 4-5-1 or 3-6-1 both easily adapted to a 4-3-3 if the opposition is inferior or tired or starts breaking down mentally. The game is to shutdown the mids, shutdown the attack, force the attack to the wings and with speedy backs create opportunities for fast breaks and counterattacks. Stack the middle always with two defensive mids that are strong and good tacklers, ball hawks and interceptors by nature, are also good passers and good ball handlers those are the skills needed for that position.
All the important games means tough opposition therefore we must have patient players who can concentrate for long periods of time are super fit and play team ball, yes sounds like Germany doesn't it, well we can do that, we must find the players with these mental skills they are out there and those things can be easily discovered with a little work.
So let's start building that team, we have a few great competitions over the next two years, let's see if we can build a team that is almost impossible to score upon as that is the only way we can move forward. the team must play shutdown defense to survive the hex, draws away and wins at home.
In hard core competition there is no scoring, defense protects your team and keeps you in the game all the way to penalties, then it is a fighting chance even for the team that had zero shots and 30% possession, we almost saw that with Holland versus CR, Holland dominated the game totally and CR was dangerous on counterattacks till the final whistle and had a great chance to win via penalties.
You don't win by not scoring goals but you definitely lose by conceding goals and you are always in with a chance to score a KO via counterattack if the score is tied.
What is it about defense first that is so hard to understand, we see this with every tournament when the sledding gets tough, one lapse in concentration, one opportunity and boom you have conceded a goal, it is critical to play defense in a way that the opponent in the final third has no space to turn and move with ease and if you are to get beaten it must be a brilliant shot outside the 18, it is unacceptable to have an opponent dribbling in the box and making guys whiff, like we saw with the first USA goal with Ghana, one second of sloppy defending and Ghana cedes a goal and the game to the US.
Defense starts and ends with the midfield control of the heart of the game, excellent defense and pressing creates havoc for opposing teams. England could not compete in this competition as they ceded midfield to the opponent and chose to play defensive mids that had no business playing that position especially the combination of Henderson and Gerrard who are best known for attacking and not defending, talk about brilliant planning you put in the defensive mid combination that gave up fifty goals and lost Liverpool the EPL title, what were they thinking???
The four goals ceded by England were like daggers with quick combinations through the heard of midfield with little or no opposition, ceding space to the attackers thus enabling the speed of the attack.
How do we build a team upon the rock of defense, we start with the formation of 4-5-1 or 3-6-1 both easily adapted to a 4-3-3 if the opposition is inferior or tired or starts breaking down mentally. The game is to shutdown the mids, shutdown the attack, force the attack to the wings and with speedy backs create opportunities for fast breaks and counterattacks. Stack the middle always with two defensive mids that are strong and good tacklers, ball hawks and interceptors by nature, are also good passers and good ball handlers those are the skills needed for that position.
All the important games means tough opposition therefore we must have patient players who can concentrate for long periods of time are super fit and play team ball, yes sounds like Germany doesn't it, well we can do that, we must find the players with these mental skills they are out there and those things can be easily discovered with a little work.
So let's start building that team, we have a few great competitions over the next two years, let's see if we can build a team that is almost impossible to score upon as that is the only way we can move forward. the team must play shutdown defense to survive the hex, draws away and wins at home.
Paul Marin -19 is one thing, 20 is a whole other matter. It gets even worse if they win the UCL. *groan*. 
05/18/2011.MU fans naah cough, but all a unuh a vomit?-Lazie 1/11/2015
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