England Offense in 1-0 Victory over Ecuador
FIRST HALF
028 England's carrick had time space 50 yds from ecuador goal, ball bounced to him as he faced the ecuador goal, nearest ecuadorean was 10 yds away, carrick slowly dribbled forward, passed down right sideline, man offsides.
110 cole run, he tried to dribble right through 3 ecuadoreans, something even a hot dog ball hog such as myself would not attempt. The ref and the announcer thought he was fouled. It did seem that the defender #4 Delacruz, sort of pretended to be playing the ball but was playing the body. It also seemed that after Cole nudged the ball to his right, he simply ran straight forward into the defender, which makes it seem Cole himself was playing the man not the ball. If I nudged the ball to my right, and then run straight forward into the defender, I would be surprised if the defender was called for a foul.
145-200 england offense spurt-- Beckham got rolling ball approx 35 yds from Ecuador goal on left side of the field; it was rolling towards him and to his left as he faced Ecuador goal. the nearest Ecuadorean was seven yds away, he had clear sailing if he headed straight forward towards the Ecuador end line. He immediately crossed it in to a spot where there were 3 Ecuadoreans and 1 English. The Ecuadorean mis-headed the ball but Ecuador retained posession. This is a situation where I had I been in Beckham's place, would have been tempted to start an air dribblestraight forward, and then try to swerve inwards with the ball or cross in a surprising confusing cross kicking a possibly airborne ball--There was no Ecuadorean in the area of the line running from Beckham straight towards the Ecuador endline. I would have also been tempted to do some ground dribbling, dribble forward, then turn and face the defender freezing him, then beat him. I am not sure caving in to such temptations would have been worse than what Beckham did. In the general area where Beckham passed the ball there were 5 Ecuadoreans and only 4 English, The Ecuadoreans were right on top of the English where the ball went to, approx 20 yds directly in front of the Ecuador goal.
400-420 england offensive spurt, lots of short passes close to ecuador goal. Englander Beckham got ball 50 yds from Ecuador goal, ball rolled slowly towards him as he faced the Ecuador goal, nearest Ecuadorean 10 yds away. Beckham passed down the right sideline about 20 yds forward. The forward passed it back, Beckham passed short into the midddle, there was another pass short to the middle, Lampard got the ball in the middle 30 yds from the Ecuador goal. Lampard nudged it forward 10 yds to Rooney overled Rooney, good ideas but closing pass was overled.
700 ecuador does short slow forward air dribble after whistle
823 england offense -- Carrick gets ball time and space nearest Ecuadorean 10 yds away, 50 yds from Ecuador goal. He passed forward 15 yds to an Englander facing him, and facing away from the Ecuador goal. This Englander used his right foot, to pass the ball behind his back to the middle of the field, his hot-dog pass underled his fellow Englander, Ecuador got the ball. This hot dog Englander, 25 yds from the Ecuador goal and in the middle of the field, had clear sailing in front of him, in the direction of the Ecuador goal, there was a huge gap in the Ecuador line. He could have somehow gotten the ball moving towards the Ecuador through this huge gap in the Ecuador line.
900 beckham long 50 yd pass to rooney in the middle, Rooney was 20 yds from Ecuador goal. Ball was overled again by about five yards. ball bounced in front of Rooney as he chased it. Rooney was in the kind of situation I find myself in all the time when I air dribble the ball forward at a sprint in drills. Seems England has caught some kind of virus from the USA, as a result of which they overlead all their long passes by about five yards.
1025 big off chance for ecuador tenorio off crossbar--due to weird occurrences, England defender 35 yds from England goal, mis-headed the ball, the ball in a 30 foot high lob went to a spot 20 yds from the England goal where Tenorio got it with nobody near him. Tenorio instead of charging the air ball, did what I have seen a few other world cuppers do this 2006 World Cup--he slowed down as he approached the air ball so as to catch it with his foot, as opposed to speeding into it and getting it with his head or his thigh. He then grounded the ball immediately like a good little boy, dribbled about five yds in, and wound up to blast a Wheaties Box photo style shot (put that man on the cover of Wheaties!). Though he shot from 10 yds in front of the England goal, he wound up as if it was really important to blast it with all his might. This gave Ashley Cole the chance to race back slide in and deflect the ball. Tenorio here essentially had to deal with a lob that went 30 feet high in the air and 15 yards horizontally. Things look intimidatingly difficult on television, but carefully calibrating the vertical and horizontal distances involved, I realize that I easily deal with balls similar to this one Tenorio faced, when I drill sprinting forward while air dribbling the ball, because I sometimes kick the ball too high and too far while air dribbling it. When I reach such balls I am able to hit them with the head or the thigh, not just the foot, keeping the ball under control while moving forward. Plenty of World Cuppers do not seem to realize, that in such situations you can use your head to get control of the ball without the ball touching the ground, you can use your head to move forward with the ball under control--do they realize that such use of the head can be actually easier than the use of the feet which they are addicted to in such situations? Let me see now, Tenorio was EIGHT yards away from the England goalie when he touched the ball. Would I have been able to head the ball Tenorio faced FOUR yards ahead of me while maintaining forward momentum, keeping the ball off the ground and keeping it under control? Answer, yes, such would have been actually easy for me, it would have even been easy for me to nudge it forward just a couple of yards with my head while keeping it off the ground and under control. After that it would have been easy for me to continue the flight if need be or knock it over the goalie into the goal (of course sometimes I flub things that are easy for me).
1343 run by rooney--Rooney on right side approx 30 yds from Ecuador goal, chased down a ball that bounced once in front of him. The ball was chest high but he headed it inwards and towards the ground, the ball was stripped from him Ecuador retained possession. It would I think have been easy and natural for me to chest the ball forward, keeping the ball moving along in the air with my body, and then doing something, but then again I was not actually there in Rooney's shoes I am just a far off spectator. But the situation illustrates the value of being able to use the chest to move the ball forward keeping the ball in the air under control. The next step would have been to send a surprising lob pass behind my back towards the center of the field.
1446 england offensive play-- Carrick of England got the ball 50 yds from the Ecuador goal, in the left middle of the field, the nearest Ecuadorean was ten yds away, he had time and space. Perhaps had he the skill he could have air dribbled or ground dribbled forward while someone dropped back to cover lest something go wrong. But with no Ecuadorean still within 10 yds, he sent a low pass forward 20 yds to Rooney. Rooney displayed skill in quickly trapping the ball, getting the ball between him and the Ecuador goal, turning from facing away from the Ecuador goal to facing towards it; but when he was facing away from the Ecuador goal, there were two Englishmen five yds away from him in front of him to his right, moving towards him, who were both open for a pass, he could have easily nudged the ball to one of them, they had forward momentum, by way of contrast he himself Rooney was standing still. After he made his turn he was only able to get off a very weak shot directly at the goalie.
1520-6 ecuador mendez dribbling clinic
1610 carrick england offensive play-- Carrick approx 55 yds from Ecuador goal, got ball with time and space, he slowly ground dribbled forward until there were 2 Ecuadoreans right on top of him and one near him, and had to make a pressured pass. The pass went low, underled the man in the middle streaking at the goal, was intercepted by Ecuador. Carrick should have passed to this man in the middle right away before slowly dribbling forward ten yds. He could have gotten the ball to this man in the middle in the air or on the bounce and this man in the middle could then have chipped a pass over the Ecuadorean defender to the Englander to his right, setting up a great goal scoring opportunity.
1705-15 england offense-- Gerrard in the middle, 25 yds from the Ecuador goal, luckily found a ball rolling towards him slowly as he jogged in the direction of the Ecuador goal. There was an Ecuadorean 5 yds behind him, there were a couple of Ecuadoreans 7 yds in front of him, there was an open England man right in front of him in the middle just 30 yds from the Ecuador goal. Gerrard had a chance to immediately hit the open man in the middle with a pass. He had a chance to get the ball up in the air, while moving forward with it keeping it off the ground but close to the body. Instead he wound up to take a stereotypical Breakfast-cereal-box-photo style shot; the shot was well aimed at the corner of the goal but five feet over the crossbar.
England is playing like a well coached team, intelligent, somewhat predesigned plays, featuring short passes that serve useful purposes.
1745 Kerry of england key foul, he gets yellow card, dumb(?) announcer thinks it is not bad enough for a yellow card; Kerry's foot was chest high, hit the ecuadorean in the chest; ABC announcer sez there should have been no yellow card!!! When I say the air game is more than the head, such fouling is not what I am trying to encourage. The ball was chest high, right near the Ecuador player's chest, and Kerry jumped into the air, to kick it with his foot, and kicked the Ecuadorean right in the chest! And the Ecuadorean was standing up, not crouching, or bending over, his chest was about five feet above the ground! I felt (I am not expert in rules) Kerry should have gotten the red card, gotten ejected, and here is this ABC announcer saying that he should not have even gotten a yellow card! People who jump in the air to get their foot chest high to kick chest high balls in such situations are IMHO terrible for the game. Such high-kicking causes injuries, produces an unexciting frightened intimidated unskilled offensive game. The whole world cup I have not seen any player do such a terrible thing as Kerry did here. The Ecuador man was there near the ball first. Kerry took a running start lept and kicked at the ball when it was near the Ecuador man's chest. The foul by Kerry probably changed the way Ecuador played for the rest of the game. Looking at the fouls that have been given yellow or red cards in other games in this World Cup, failing to eject Kerry for what he did here strikes me as incredibly lenient and inconsistent.
FIFA Laws of the Game:
Cautionable Offences A player is cautioned and shown the yellow card if he commits any of the following seven offences: 1. is guilty of unsporting behaviour -- http://www.fifa.com/en/laws/Laws12_03.htm
Sending-Off Offences A player, substitute or substituted player is sent off and shown the red card if he commits any of the following seven offences: 1. is guilty of serious foul play 2. is guilty of violent conduct -- http://www.fifa.com/en/laws/Laws12_04.htm
Decision 4 A tackle, which endangers the safety of an opponent, must be sanctioned as serious foul play. -- http://www.fifa.com/en/laws/Laws12_06.htm
1921 bunch of bull---- from abc announcer regarding a penalty kick by mendez. this annoying announcer, claimed that the ball on the penalty kick, "bended" around the wall of england defenders. False. There were five england defenders in the line, and the ball went in between the one closest to the center of the field and the one next to him.
20 48 beckham led off play Beckham took a penalty kick from the left middle 35 yds from the Ecuador goal. It went to an Englander in the right outside corner of the Ecuador penalty box. The man closest to this Englander was 10 yds away. The Englander trapped it with his foot, it bounced once, he sent in a cross that was a good idea but that underled the target. The ball bounced out to Beckham in the middle of the field just 10 yds from the Ecuador goal. The Ecuador defender rushed forwards and towards the middle to block the Wheaties Box Cover shot Beckham wound up to take. It would have been simple for Beckham to, instead of shooting with his right foot, nudge the ball to his left with his right foot, moving in a direction opposite of the direction the Ecuador defender who ended up blocking the shot was moving. He would have then had nothing between him and the Ecuador goal except a fellow Englander. Instead he shot the ball right into the Ecuadorean. The way Beckham handled this situation almost left me wondering whether in certain obscure situations teams advance in the tourney based on how many shots they take on goal.
2139 england offense Gerrard on right sideline of Ecuador penalty box, chests ball, it bounces in front of him, for me it would have been easy to then kick it over the Ecuadorean catch up to it and see what happens next, this would have distracted the defenders covering my team-mates giving them a chance to get open -- he just sent in a stay-out-of-trouble-with-the-dumb-teacher cross right away, the cross was blocked, nothing came of the corner.
announcer sez joe cole thrown off on header easily because he is so small. Cole is 5 feet ten inches, not small height wise, only 152 lbs, but very fast. Now when you have a 5 foot ten inch 175 lb very fast type who can sprint while air dribbling the ball, someone like me, then you've got something.
2320 some set pieces by england
2638 cole on left so called great move replayed lauded by ABC announcer--Joe Cole got the ball 5 yds to the left of the left outside corner of the Ecuador penalty box. It slowly bounced in his direction as he faced it. Like so many other world cuppers, instead of charging the ball, catching it with chest thigh or foot and moving forward with it, he sort of slowed down, laid back, let it come to him trapped it to the ground. Then he rolled it back with his right foot, and then pushed it to his left behind his left foot, clever move of the type you develop when you face tough real game situations alot I guess. He then crossed it in a slow roller, directly to an Ecuadorean who had no Englander near him, in an area of the field where there were 6 Ecuadorans and only 3 English. The announcer was beside himself re what a great move Cole made, I appreciate him teaching me the move, but Cole buried himself in the left corner with an Ecuadorean right on his back through this move, and the executed a lame cross into the middle. A long time ago I began to concentrate on going right at the goal, right by a defender, as opposed to going hither and thither, because I had begun to see how fruitless going hither and thither can be. The difference between me and Cole is that I would have been tempted to mount an aerial or ground forward dribble TOWARDS THE GOAL for a few yds before deciding what to do next; this would have relaxed the defensive pressure on my team-mates; Cole chose to burrow into the left corner, where he got buried.
2654-2700 england offense-- Gerrard got the ball 45 yds from the Ecuador goal on the left with time and space. Nearest Ecuadorean 6 yds away. he passed into the middle a short grounder, ran to the middle, the ball was returned to him, the closest Ecuadorean defender was now 10 yds away, so in this case something was gained by the English ground passing (the English basically invented the game, they derive actual advantage from their short ground passing, then people like Americans imitate them and indulge in short ground passing that produces no advantages or disadvantage). Yet with the closest Ecuadorian now 10 yds away Gerrard on the first touch when he got the ball back, wound up and unleashed a low bouncing pass to an England forward 20 yds in front of him who had his back to the Ecuador goal. This forward hit the ball to his left 10 yds, where an Englander Lampard caught the ball on the bounce in front of him in the midde 30 yds from the Ecuador goal, and shot a lame bouncer straight at the Ecuador goalie. Lampard was running to his right and forward on a diagonal, towering over a small thin Ecuador defender, in such a situation I would have loved to have kicked the ball that had bounced in the air to my left as I was running to my right, thereby changing direction to be moving to my left, thereby catching the Ecuadorean defenders off balance moving in the wrong direction, and thereby perhaps opening up some opportunities for my team-mates.
2810 england offense-- An easy bouncer came in the direction of an England player facing the Ecuador goal 50 yds away. Instead of charging the bouncing ball he waited for it to come to him then turned around and passed it backwards. if he had charged the bouncer and initiated an air dribble for a few yds he could have caught the defenders moving in the wrong direction, moving at him, away from the Ecuador goal, opened things up for team-mates.
2830-40 england offense-- England had the ball time and space 50 yds from Ecuador in the middle, they moved it to the right wing, Hargreave racing down the sideline with the ball, Hargreave lost the ball.
2949 ecuador offense puts ball through englands legs, england defender called for foul...
3110 cole traps long line drive pass
3334 ball taken from england
3355 england offense chance
ABC Announcer sez Beckham should leave the game, says he slows down the offense, does nothing but set pieces.
3455 beckham free kick announcer sez it went up over the wall and down, again actually it went through the wall. Problem with people falsely stating that balls are bending around walls when they are going through them, is that it leaves those who hear such falsehoods, with this sinking hopeless feeling of never being able to bend balls like the wizards, it leads to them attempting to bend balls more than balls can actually be bent, and it leads to them overvaluing the alleged ability of persons like Beckham to "bend" a ball.
3630 eng offense action
ABC announcer wants crouch in beckham out, he thinks crouch is big and strong. Actually Crouch is tall but very slim.
3705 england's ashley cole with chance kicks ball away--got it 40 yds from Ecuador goal, time and space, slowly dribbled forward 10 yds and passed in to middle, 20 yd pass intercepted by Ecuador man, who knew it was coming. The cross was not high enough, not enough of a lob trajectory. When you get the ball in the air before you pass it, when it is in the air when it is kicked, there are certain advantages.
3720 england kicks ball away
3827 rooney reverse direction dribble clinic
3910 foul on ecuador, when england players get ball they are closely marked
3934 beckham set piece ball goes nowhere
4035 rooney steals ball, then has it stolen, he overled himself on the dribble.
4148-4204 england offense efforts
4246 eng offense effort
4655 ecuador offense chance 4600 england offense gerrard passes to other team
SECOND HALF
4515 nice trap WITH chest by rooney
4540 tenorio ecuador mounts individual ground dribbling attack
4655 ecuador offense chance
4830 england offense chance, rooney overled BY 5 yds again England like USA before them, consistently overleading on passes by 5 yds.
4915 eng offense chances Hargreave 35 yds from Ecuador goal, gets ball rolling towards him on ground as he faces the Ecuador goal, immediately on first touch crosses it in to the middle, straight to an Ecuador defender, in area of field where there are 4 defenders and 3 Englishmen.
4935 england offense chance gerrard misses on pass in to middle
5015-22 eng off chance
5220-55 eng off chance Gerrard had ball time and space, 35 yds from Ecuador goal.
5300 ecuador off chance
5335 ecuador off chance
5410 ecuador off chance
5420 ecuador off chance
5555-5610 england offense effort-- Lampard did fine job of chipping the ball behind himself and to his right to Rooney, Rooney was double covered two men right on him, and overled. But to be running towards the opposing goal and have an easy ball bounce in front of me like that, that is what I like!
5715 gerrard england 20 yd pass misses, over Rooney's head
5800-5815 england offense
5900 beckham scores on penalty kick. This is the superstar the ABC announcer wanted evicted from the game on the grounds that he had been being good for nothing but penalty kicks.
6018 ecuador offense effort
6200-6235 eng offense efforts!!
6330 eng offense chance
6430-45 eng off chance!!! Lampard intercepted a stupid pass by Ecuador, 25 yds from Ecuador goal, in middle, he had time and space, Ecuadorean nearest him 5 yds in front of him, a two on one featuring him and Rooney against this Ecuadorean. He dribbled forward right at the Ecuadorean, though Rooney was wide open on his right. He then passed it in Rooney's direction but right at an Ecuadorean. He should have passed right away, he gave the man covering Rooney the chance to catch up, Rooney had been playing well. Then Joe Cole, facing a defender, started the dance wherein one foot after the other is kicked forward and outwards missing the ball. Looks cool, but seems every time they do this they lose the ball. And Cole lost it.
6500-15 ecuador offense chance
6620-35 england offense chance gerrard pass misses again, Gerrard had the ball rolling towards him, he was facing towards the sideline he swiveled with the ball and passed it very high and wide. Seemed he failed to see a team-mate who was closer to him than the intended target was.
6655 england offense effort pass off on bouncer
6805-15 tenorio ecuador individual dribbling offensive effort
6945 england ofensive efforts, English had ball, time and space 50 yds from Ecuador goal, just passed it back and forth, the Englishman in the middle 50 yds from the Ecuador goal, was so in the clear that the nearest defender was 15 yds away. But he passed to his right, a slow roller, the pass recipient suddenly had an Ecuadorean right on top of him. What an improvement! Anyway then Carrick got the ball, right on the front penalty box line, he had a little time and space chasing down the slow roller, by the time he passed it on the first touch a defender was obstructing the pass he intended to get to the Englander in the middle, so in avoiding the defender, he overled the pass recipient. He was running forward and to his right, when he got to the ball he should have cut back to the middle catching the defender off-stride.
7030 eng on attack again -- Cole on the left wing, had 3 team-mates wide open in the middle of the field 25-30 yds from the Ecuador goal. He dribbled forward towards the end line, tried to center the ball with a defender right on him, overled everyone. He should have gotten the ball to the three open Englishmen in the middle right away and then turned himself into a target for a pass.
7200-7210 england offense-- great dribble by rooney, lampard misses on shot. Rooney chased down a ball in the left corner with an Ecuadorean right on him trapped the ball turned and put the ball through the defender's legs. It was a great job in a tough situation. Rooney's style of dribbling resembles the style of dribbling I myself developed after college, after thinking long and hard re the strategy of it. I actually wonder whether he read this web page I had up about how to dribble, guess I perhaps should not publicize the page's URL, but if you look for it hard you should be able to find it. Rooney is quick and skilled and he is one guy I do not think of as over-rated. He then made a fine pass into the middle to Lampard who was just 12 yds from the Ecuador goal. Lampard slid at the ball and shot it at the same time, it sailed about 20 feet over the crossbar. When Lampard got to the ball he should have just dribbled it to his right side, thereby catching the defender covering the situation moving in the wrong direction. He would then have had a wide open shot, on a practically empty goal, since the goalie had moved over to near his own right goal post to cover the approach of Rooney who passed to Lampard.
7300 ecuador offense effort
7342-7414 england offense efforts end with Gerrard getting the ball rolling towards him with his back to the Ecuador goal, he let it roll by him and turned to follow it, the defender got it, I saw the US make the same mistake several times.
7440-7442 interesting dribbling shooting effort by rooney -- but it was luck that the ball bounced off a defender and came back to him on his attempted pass
7514 england offense effort
7522 rooney facing ecuador goal, in middle, 30 yds from Ecuador goal, gets ball slowly rolling towards him from his right side. The defender coming in from his right was chasing the ball; he should have cut to his right, catching the defender going in the wrong direction, but he passed immediately, the defender blocked the pass.
7705-7726 ecuador offense effort
7835 ecuador offense chance
7910-15 england offense chance
7945-7800 ecuador offense
8000-8015 ecuador offense
8035 rooney theatrics! Does great job of trapping ball with back to Ecuador goal, turning with it, moving forward, then trying to cross the ball in. Quick and skilled.
8100 england offense action
8159 rooney loses tough ball
8230-8300 ecuador offense efforts
8505-8510 ecuador offense effort 8605-8615 another nice trap of line drive pass by england, ecuador offense efforts
8744-8755 eng offense effort ended by gerrard passing to the other team. Gerrard got ball coming towards him, if he had moved in the direction the ball came from when he got the ball, he would have had the defender chasing the ball offstride going in the wrong direction, but he attempted to pass immediately on the first touch.
8800-8830 ecuador offense effort
8910 eng offense chance! Lennon got the ball 35 yds from the Ecuador goal, one man between him and the goal. He dribbled forwards 15 yds as the defender retreated, then shot the ball, which was blocked by the defender. He had a man in the middle, near him, since the defenders were chasing the ball he could have caught them going in the wrong direction by passing sideways to this man in the middle.
9050-9105 england offense efforts, rooney and lennon put on mini-clinic in dribbling
CONCLUSION As a player I used to be relatively slow and unskilled. Perhaps because of this I developed an eye and a mind for tactics, which helped me to score goals and assist on goals. One of these strategies was that I would compensate for my lack of speed and skill by catching defenders moving in the wrong direction. On the other side of the coin, seems the English players have always been so fast and skilled compared to their competition, that they have failed to some extent to develop an eye and a mind for tactics such as catching the defense going in the wrong direction. It sounds paradoxical but there is something to be learned from players who lack ability and skill, such players compensate for their weaknesses with their mind.
@2006 David Virgil Hobbs
028 England's carrick had time space 50 yds from ecuador goal, ball bounced to him as he faced the ecuador goal, nearest ecuadorean was 10 yds away, carrick slowly dribbled forward, passed down right sideline, man offsides.
110 cole run, he tried to dribble right through 3 ecuadoreans, something even a hot dog ball hog such as myself would not attempt. The ref and the announcer thought he was fouled. It did seem that the defender #4 Delacruz, sort of pretended to be playing the ball but was playing the body. It also seemed that after Cole nudged the ball to his right, he simply ran straight forward into the defender, which makes it seem Cole himself was playing the man not the ball. If I nudged the ball to my right, and then run straight forward into the defender, I would be surprised if the defender was called for a foul.
145-200 england offense spurt-- Beckham got rolling ball approx 35 yds from Ecuador goal on left side of the field; it was rolling towards him and to his left as he faced Ecuador goal. the nearest Ecuadorean was seven yds away, he had clear sailing if he headed straight forward towards the Ecuador end line. He immediately crossed it in to a spot where there were 3 Ecuadoreans and 1 English. The Ecuadorean mis-headed the ball but Ecuador retained posession. This is a situation where I had I been in Beckham's place, would have been tempted to start an air dribblestraight forward, and then try to swerve inwards with the ball or cross in a surprising confusing cross kicking a possibly airborne ball--There was no Ecuadorean in the area of the line running from Beckham straight towards the Ecuador endline. I would have also been tempted to do some ground dribbling, dribble forward, then turn and face the defender freezing him, then beat him. I am not sure caving in to such temptations would have been worse than what Beckham did. In the general area where Beckham passed the ball there were 5 Ecuadoreans and only 4 English, The Ecuadoreans were right on top of the English where the ball went to, approx 20 yds directly in front of the Ecuador goal.
400-420 england offensive spurt, lots of short passes close to ecuador goal. Englander Beckham got ball 50 yds from Ecuador goal, ball rolled slowly towards him as he faced the Ecuador goal, nearest Ecuadorean 10 yds away. Beckham passed down the right sideline about 20 yds forward. The forward passed it back, Beckham passed short into the midddle, there was another pass short to the middle, Lampard got the ball in the middle 30 yds from the Ecuador goal. Lampard nudged it forward 10 yds to Rooney overled Rooney, good ideas but closing pass was overled.
700 ecuador does short slow forward air dribble after whistle
823 england offense -- Carrick gets ball time and space nearest Ecuadorean 10 yds away, 50 yds from Ecuador goal. He passed forward 15 yds to an Englander facing him, and facing away from the Ecuador goal. This Englander used his right foot, to pass the ball behind his back to the middle of the field, his hot-dog pass underled his fellow Englander, Ecuador got the ball. This hot dog Englander, 25 yds from the Ecuador goal and in the middle of the field, had clear sailing in front of him, in the direction of the Ecuador goal, there was a huge gap in the Ecuador line. He could have somehow gotten the ball moving towards the Ecuador through this huge gap in the Ecuador line.
900 beckham long 50 yd pass to rooney in the middle, Rooney was 20 yds from Ecuador goal. Ball was overled again by about five yards. ball bounced in front of Rooney as he chased it. Rooney was in the kind of situation I find myself in all the time when I air dribble the ball forward at a sprint in drills. Seems England has caught some kind of virus from the USA, as a result of which they overlead all their long passes by about five yards.
1025 big off chance for ecuador tenorio off crossbar--due to weird occurrences, England defender 35 yds from England goal, mis-headed the ball, the ball in a 30 foot high lob went to a spot 20 yds from the England goal where Tenorio got it with nobody near him. Tenorio instead of charging the air ball, did what I have seen a few other world cuppers do this 2006 World Cup--he slowed down as he approached the air ball so as to catch it with his foot, as opposed to speeding into it and getting it with his head or his thigh. He then grounded the ball immediately like a good little boy, dribbled about five yds in, and wound up to blast a Wheaties Box photo style shot (put that man on the cover of Wheaties!). Though he shot from 10 yds in front of the England goal, he wound up as if it was really important to blast it with all his might. This gave Ashley Cole the chance to race back slide in and deflect the ball. Tenorio here essentially had to deal with a lob that went 30 feet high in the air and 15 yards horizontally. Things look intimidatingly difficult on television, but carefully calibrating the vertical and horizontal distances involved, I realize that I easily deal with balls similar to this one Tenorio faced, when I drill sprinting forward while air dribbling the ball, because I sometimes kick the ball too high and too far while air dribbling it. When I reach such balls I am able to hit them with the head or the thigh, not just the foot, keeping the ball under control while moving forward. Plenty of World Cuppers do not seem to realize, that in such situations you can use your head to get control of the ball without the ball touching the ground, you can use your head to move forward with the ball under control--do they realize that such use of the head can be actually easier than the use of the feet which they are addicted to in such situations? Let me see now, Tenorio was EIGHT yards away from the England goalie when he touched the ball. Would I have been able to head the ball Tenorio faced FOUR yards ahead of me while maintaining forward momentum, keeping the ball off the ground and keeping it under control? Answer, yes, such would have been actually easy for me, it would have even been easy for me to nudge it forward just a couple of yards with my head while keeping it off the ground and under control. After that it would have been easy for me to continue the flight if need be or knock it over the goalie into the goal (of course sometimes I flub things that are easy for me).
1343 run by rooney--Rooney on right side approx 30 yds from Ecuador goal, chased down a ball that bounced once in front of him. The ball was chest high but he headed it inwards and towards the ground, the ball was stripped from him Ecuador retained possession. It would I think have been easy and natural for me to chest the ball forward, keeping the ball moving along in the air with my body, and then doing something, but then again I was not actually there in Rooney's shoes I am just a far off spectator. But the situation illustrates the value of being able to use the chest to move the ball forward keeping the ball in the air under control. The next step would have been to send a surprising lob pass behind my back towards the center of the field.
1446 england offensive play-- Carrick of England got the ball 50 yds from the Ecuador goal, in the left middle of the field, the nearest Ecuadorean was ten yds away, he had time and space. Perhaps had he the skill he could have air dribbled or ground dribbled forward while someone dropped back to cover lest something go wrong. But with no Ecuadorean still within 10 yds, he sent a low pass forward 20 yds to Rooney. Rooney displayed skill in quickly trapping the ball, getting the ball between him and the Ecuador goal, turning from facing away from the Ecuador goal to facing towards it; but when he was facing away from the Ecuador goal, there were two Englishmen five yds away from him in front of him to his right, moving towards him, who were both open for a pass, he could have easily nudged the ball to one of them, they had forward momentum, by way of contrast he himself Rooney was standing still. After he made his turn he was only able to get off a very weak shot directly at the goalie.
1520-6 ecuador mendez dribbling clinic
1610 carrick england offensive play-- Carrick approx 55 yds from Ecuador goal, got ball with time and space, he slowly ground dribbled forward until there were 2 Ecuadoreans right on top of him and one near him, and had to make a pressured pass. The pass went low, underled the man in the middle streaking at the goal, was intercepted by Ecuador. Carrick should have passed to this man in the middle right away before slowly dribbling forward ten yds. He could have gotten the ball to this man in the middle in the air or on the bounce and this man in the middle could then have chipped a pass over the Ecuadorean defender to the Englander to his right, setting up a great goal scoring opportunity.
1705-15 england offense-- Gerrard in the middle, 25 yds from the Ecuador goal, luckily found a ball rolling towards him slowly as he jogged in the direction of the Ecuador goal. There was an Ecuadorean 5 yds behind him, there were a couple of Ecuadoreans 7 yds in front of him, there was an open England man right in front of him in the middle just 30 yds from the Ecuador goal. Gerrard had a chance to immediately hit the open man in the middle with a pass. He had a chance to get the ball up in the air, while moving forward with it keeping it off the ground but close to the body. Instead he wound up to take a stereotypical Breakfast-cereal-box-photo style shot; the shot was well aimed at the corner of the goal but five feet over the crossbar.
England is playing like a well coached team, intelligent, somewhat predesigned plays, featuring short passes that serve useful purposes.
1745 Kerry of england key foul, he gets yellow card, dumb(?) announcer thinks it is not bad enough for a yellow card; Kerry's foot was chest high, hit the ecuadorean in the chest; ABC announcer sez there should have been no yellow card!!! When I say the air game is more than the head, such fouling is not what I am trying to encourage. The ball was chest high, right near the Ecuador player's chest, and Kerry jumped into the air, to kick it with his foot, and kicked the Ecuadorean right in the chest! And the Ecuadorean was standing up, not crouching, or bending over, his chest was about five feet above the ground! I felt (I am not expert in rules) Kerry should have gotten the red card, gotten ejected, and here is this ABC announcer saying that he should not have even gotten a yellow card! People who jump in the air to get their foot chest high to kick chest high balls in such situations are IMHO terrible for the game. Such high-kicking causes injuries, produces an unexciting frightened intimidated unskilled offensive game. The whole world cup I have not seen any player do such a terrible thing as Kerry did here. The Ecuador man was there near the ball first. Kerry took a running start lept and kicked at the ball when it was near the Ecuador man's chest. The foul by Kerry probably changed the way Ecuador played for the rest of the game. Looking at the fouls that have been given yellow or red cards in other games in this World Cup, failing to eject Kerry for what he did here strikes me as incredibly lenient and inconsistent.
FIFA Laws of the Game:
Cautionable Offences A player is cautioned and shown the yellow card if he commits any of the following seven offences: 1. is guilty of unsporting behaviour -- http://www.fifa.com/en/laws/Laws12_03.htm
Sending-Off Offences A player, substitute or substituted player is sent off and shown the red card if he commits any of the following seven offences: 1. is guilty of serious foul play 2. is guilty of violent conduct -- http://www.fifa.com/en/laws/Laws12_04.htm
Decision 4 A tackle, which endangers the safety of an opponent, must be sanctioned as serious foul play. -- http://www.fifa.com/en/laws/Laws12_06.htm
1921 bunch of bull---- from abc announcer regarding a penalty kick by mendez. this annoying announcer, claimed that the ball on the penalty kick, "bended" around the wall of england defenders. False. There were five england defenders in the line, and the ball went in between the one closest to the center of the field and the one next to him.
20 48 beckham led off play Beckham took a penalty kick from the left middle 35 yds from the Ecuador goal. It went to an Englander in the right outside corner of the Ecuador penalty box. The man closest to this Englander was 10 yds away. The Englander trapped it with his foot, it bounced once, he sent in a cross that was a good idea but that underled the target. The ball bounced out to Beckham in the middle of the field just 10 yds from the Ecuador goal. The Ecuador defender rushed forwards and towards the middle to block the Wheaties Box Cover shot Beckham wound up to take. It would have been simple for Beckham to, instead of shooting with his right foot, nudge the ball to his left with his right foot, moving in a direction opposite of the direction the Ecuador defender who ended up blocking the shot was moving. He would have then had nothing between him and the Ecuador goal except a fellow Englander. Instead he shot the ball right into the Ecuadorean. The way Beckham handled this situation almost left me wondering whether in certain obscure situations teams advance in the tourney based on how many shots they take on goal.
2139 england offense Gerrard on right sideline of Ecuador penalty box, chests ball, it bounces in front of him, for me it would have been easy to then kick it over the Ecuadorean catch up to it and see what happens next, this would have distracted the defenders covering my team-mates giving them a chance to get open -- he just sent in a stay-out-of-trouble-with-the-dumb-teacher cross right away, the cross was blocked, nothing came of the corner.
announcer sez joe cole thrown off on header easily because he is so small. Cole is 5 feet ten inches, not small height wise, only 152 lbs, but very fast. Now when you have a 5 foot ten inch 175 lb very fast type who can sprint while air dribbling the ball, someone like me, then you've got something.
2320 some set pieces by england
2638 cole on left so called great move replayed lauded by ABC announcer--Joe Cole got the ball 5 yds to the left of the left outside corner of the Ecuador penalty box. It slowly bounced in his direction as he faced it. Like so many other world cuppers, instead of charging the ball, catching it with chest thigh or foot and moving forward with it, he sort of slowed down, laid back, let it come to him trapped it to the ground. Then he rolled it back with his right foot, and then pushed it to his left behind his left foot, clever move of the type you develop when you face tough real game situations alot I guess. He then crossed it in a slow roller, directly to an Ecuadorean who had no Englander near him, in an area of the field where there were 6 Ecuadorans and only 3 English. The announcer was beside himself re what a great move Cole made, I appreciate him teaching me the move, but Cole buried himself in the left corner with an Ecuadorean right on his back through this move, and the executed a lame cross into the middle. A long time ago I began to concentrate on going right at the goal, right by a defender, as opposed to going hither and thither, because I had begun to see how fruitless going hither and thither can be. The difference between me and Cole is that I would have been tempted to mount an aerial or ground forward dribble TOWARDS THE GOAL for a few yds before deciding what to do next; this would have relaxed the defensive pressure on my team-mates; Cole chose to burrow into the left corner, where he got buried.
2654-2700 england offense-- Gerrard got the ball 45 yds from the Ecuador goal on the left with time and space. Nearest Ecuadorean 6 yds away. he passed into the middle a short grounder, ran to the middle, the ball was returned to him, the closest Ecuadorean defender was now 10 yds away, so in this case something was gained by the English ground passing (the English basically invented the game, they derive actual advantage from their short ground passing, then people like Americans imitate them and indulge in short ground passing that produces no advantages or disadvantage). Yet with the closest Ecuadorian now 10 yds away Gerrard on the first touch when he got the ball back, wound up and unleashed a low bouncing pass to an England forward 20 yds in front of him who had his back to the Ecuador goal. This forward hit the ball to his left 10 yds, where an Englander Lampard caught the ball on the bounce in front of him in the midde 30 yds from the Ecuador goal, and shot a lame bouncer straight at the Ecuador goalie. Lampard was running to his right and forward on a diagonal, towering over a small thin Ecuador defender, in such a situation I would have loved to have kicked the ball that had bounced in the air to my left as I was running to my right, thereby changing direction to be moving to my left, thereby catching the Ecuadorean defenders off balance moving in the wrong direction, and thereby perhaps opening up some opportunities for my team-mates.
2810 england offense-- An easy bouncer came in the direction of an England player facing the Ecuador goal 50 yds away. Instead of charging the bouncing ball he waited for it to come to him then turned around and passed it backwards. if he had charged the bouncer and initiated an air dribble for a few yds he could have caught the defenders moving in the wrong direction, moving at him, away from the Ecuador goal, opened things up for team-mates.
2830-40 england offense-- England had the ball time and space 50 yds from Ecuador in the middle, they moved it to the right wing, Hargreave racing down the sideline with the ball, Hargreave lost the ball.
2949 ecuador offense puts ball through englands legs, england defender called for foul...
3110 cole traps long line drive pass
3334 ball taken from england
3355 england offense chance
ABC Announcer sez Beckham should leave the game, says he slows down the offense, does nothing but set pieces.
3455 beckham free kick announcer sez it went up over the wall and down, again actually it went through the wall. Problem with people falsely stating that balls are bending around walls when they are going through them, is that it leaves those who hear such falsehoods, with this sinking hopeless feeling of never being able to bend balls like the wizards, it leads to them attempting to bend balls more than balls can actually be bent, and it leads to them overvaluing the alleged ability of persons like Beckham to "bend" a ball.
3630 eng offense action
ABC announcer wants crouch in beckham out, he thinks crouch is big and strong. Actually Crouch is tall but very slim.
3705 england's ashley cole with chance kicks ball away--got it 40 yds from Ecuador goal, time and space, slowly dribbled forward 10 yds and passed in to middle, 20 yd pass intercepted by Ecuador man, who knew it was coming. The cross was not high enough, not enough of a lob trajectory. When you get the ball in the air before you pass it, when it is in the air when it is kicked, there are certain advantages.
3720 england kicks ball away
3827 rooney reverse direction dribble clinic
3910 foul on ecuador, when england players get ball they are closely marked
3934 beckham set piece ball goes nowhere
4035 rooney steals ball, then has it stolen, he overled himself on the dribble.
4148-4204 england offense efforts
4246 eng offense effort
4655 ecuador offense chance 4600 england offense gerrard passes to other team
SECOND HALF
4515 nice trap WITH chest by rooney
4540 tenorio ecuador mounts individual ground dribbling attack
4655 ecuador offense chance
4830 england offense chance, rooney overled BY 5 yds again England like USA before them, consistently overleading on passes by 5 yds.
4915 eng offense chances Hargreave 35 yds from Ecuador goal, gets ball rolling towards him on ground as he faces the Ecuador goal, immediately on first touch crosses it in to the middle, straight to an Ecuador defender, in area of field where there are 4 defenders and 3 Englishmen.
4935 england offense chance gerrard misses on pass in to middle
5015-22 eng off chance
5220-55 eng off chance Gerrard had ball time and space, 35 yds from Ecuador goal.
5300 ecuador off chance
5335 ecuador off chance
5410 ecuador off chance
5420 ecuador off chance
5555-5610 england offense effort-- Lampard did fine job of chipping the ball behind himself and to his right to Rooney, Rooney was double covered two men right on him, and overled. But to be running towards the opposing goal and have an easy ball bounce in front of me like that, that is what I like!
5715 gerrard england 20 yd pass misses, over Rooney's head
5800-5815 england offense
5900 beckham scores on penalty kick. This is the superstar the ABC announcer wanted evicted from the game on the grounds that he had been being good for nothing but penalty kicks.
6018 ecuador offense effort
6200-6235 eng offense efforts!!
6330 eng offense chance
6430-45 eng off chance!!! Lampard intercepted a stupid pass by Ecuador, 25 yds from Ecuador goal, in middle, he had time and space, Ecuadorean nearest him 5 yds in front of him, a two on one featuring him and Rooney against this Ecuadorean. He dribbled forward right at the Ecuadorean, though Rooney was wide open on his right. He then passed it in Rooney's direction but right at an Ecuadorean. He should have passed right away, he gave the man covering Rooney the chance to catch up, Rooney had been playing well. Then Joe Cole, facing a defender, started the dance wherein one foot after the other is kicked forward and outwards missing the ball. Looks cool, but seems every time they do this they lose the ball. And Cole lost it.
6500-15 ecuador offense chance
6620-35 england offense chance gerrard pass misses again, Gerrard had the ball rolling towards him, he was facing towards the sideline he swiveled with the ball and passed it very high and wide. Seemed he failed to see a team-mate who was closer to him than the intended target was.
6655 england offense effort pass off on bouncer
6805-15 tenorio ecuador individual dribbling offensive effort
6945 england ofensive efforts, English had ball, time and space 50 yds from Ecuador goal, just passed it back and forth, the Englishman in the middle 50 yds from the Ecuador goal, was so in the clear that the nearest defender was 15 yds away. But he passed to his right, a slow roller, the pass recipient suddenly had an Ecuadorean right on top of him. What an improvement! Anyway then Carrick got the ball, right on the front penalty box line, he had a little time and space chasing down the slow roller, by the time he passed it on the first touch a defender was obstructing the pass he intended to get to the Englander in the middle, so in avoiding the defender, he overled the pass recipient. He was running forward and to his right, when he got to the ball he should have cut back to the middle catching the defender off-stride.
7030 eng on attack again -- Cole on the left wing, had 3 team-mates wide open in the middle of the field 25-30 yds from the Ecuador goal. He dribbled forward towards the end line, tried to center the ball with a defender right on him, overled everyone. He should have gotten the ball to the three open Englishmen in the middle right away and then turned himself into a target for a pass.
7200-7210 england offense-- great dribble by rooney, lampard misses on shot. Rooney chased down a ball in the left corner with an Ecuadorean right on him trapped the ball turned and put the ball through the defender's legs. It was a great job in a tough situation. Rooney's style of dribbling resembles the style of dribbling I myself developed after college, after thinking long and hard re the strategy of it. I actually wonder whether he read this web page I had up about how to dribble, guess I perhaps should not publicize the page's URL, but if you look for it hard you should be able to find it. Rooney is quick and skilled and he is one guy I do not think of as over-rated. He then made a fine pass into the middle to Lampard who was just 12 yds from the Ecuador goal. Lampard slid at the ball and shot it at the same time, it sailed about 20 feet over the crossbar. When Lampard got to the ball he should have just dribbled it to his right side, thereby catching the defender covering the situation moving in the wrong direction. He would then have had a wide open shot, on a practically empty goal, since the goalie had moved over to near his own right goal post to cover the approach of Rooney who passed to Lampard.
7300 ecuador offense effort
7342-7414 england offense efforts end with Gerrard getting the ball rolling towards him with his back to the Ecuador goal, he let it roll by him and turned to follow it, the defender got it, I saw the US make the same mistake several times.
7440-7442 interesting dribbling shooting effort by rooney -- but it was luck that the ball bounced off a defender and came back to him on his attempted pass
7514 england offense effort
7522 rooney facing ecuador goal, in middle, 30 yds from Ecuador goal, gets ball slowly rolling towards him from his right side. The defender coming in from his right was chasing the ball; he should have cut to his right, catching the defender going in the wrong direction, but he passed immediately, the defender blocked the pass.
7705-7726 ecuador offense effort
7835 ecuador offense chance
7910-15 england offense chance
7945-7800 ecuador offense
8000-8015 ecuador offense
8035 rooney theatrics! Does great job of trapping ball with back to Ecuador goal, turning with it, moving forward, then trying to cross the ball in. Quick and skilled.
8100 england offense action
8159 rooney loses tough ball
8230-8300 ecuador offense efforts
8505-8510 ecuador offense effort 8605-8615 another nice trap of line drive pass by england, ecuador offense efforts
8744-8755 eng offense effort ended by gerrard passing to the other team. Gerrard got ball coming towards him, if he had moved in the direction the ball came from when he got the ball, he would have had the defender chasing the ball offstride going in the wrong direction, but he attempted to pass immediately on the first touch.
8800-8830 ecuador offense effort
8910 eng offense chance! Lennon got the ball 35 yds from the Ecuador goal, one man between him and the goal. He dribbled forwards 15 yds as the defender retreated, then shot the ball, which was blocked by the defender. He had a man in the middle, near him, since the defenders were chasing the ball he could have caught them going in the wrong direction by passing sideways to this man in the middle.
9050-9105 england offense efforts, rooney and lennon put on mini-clinic in dribbling
CONCLUSION As a player I used to be relatively slow and unskilled. Perhaps because of this I developed an eye and a mind for tactics, which helped me to score goals and assist on goals. One of these strategies was that I would compensate for my lack of speed and skill by catching defenders moving in the wrong direction. On the other side of the coin, seems the English players have always been so fast and skilled compared to their competition, that they have failed to some extent to develop an eye and a mind for tactics such as catching the defense going in the wrong direction. It sounds paradoxical but there is something to be learned from players who lack ability and skill, such players compensate for their weaknesses with their mind.
@2006 David Virgil Hobbs
posted by David Virgil at 4:18 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home