Ghana 2 vs USA 1: Analysis of USA offense
FIRST HALF
125 USA gets ball 40 yds from Ghana goal, on right sideline, closest ghana player 7 yards away, he had time and space; he had player wide open, 20 yds in front of Ghana goal, he passed it straight to the goalie, even if it had gotten to the USA player who was closest to the ball, that USA player had three guys right on top of him.
143 Usa has time-- Captain Reyna, had ball in middle, 50 yds from Ghana goal, the closest Ghana guy was eight yards away, he just passed it about 8 yds to another team-mate, who ended up in a situation much worse than the situation Reyna would have been if he had just held on to the ball...the Ghana players were all heading in the direction of the guy Reyna passed to, even before the pass. Again we have the problem of what ensues, when pass recipients rather than passers are blamed for everything. Donovan is the guy who got the pass, he was put in an awkward situation, he had to trap the ball, twist, and pass in a hurry, his 20 yard chip pass to Dempsey was way off. This same pass to Dempsey could have been made by Reyna, if Reyna had held on to the ball a little longer. As it was, the unnecessary intermediate pass to to Donovan, just made everything more difficult, unnecessarily difficult.
200-210 usa has has time time and space, 45 yds from Ghana goal, near right sideline, he just lazily slowly, moved the ball forward five yds, and passed to a guy in the right sideline who was 40 yds away from the goal--and he had a teammate wide open in the middle just 25 yds in front of the Ghana goal. This is strategy? A guy with time and space passes to a guy who is nearer the sideline than he is, gains a couple of yards? His cross went in to an American who had two Ghana guys right on top of him, there was an American wide open in the middle 20 yds from the Ghana goal. The American who got the ball handled it well, headed it, but the head went right to a Ghanaian, what do you expect with such a difficult ball.
603 ghana t5raps ball and speeds down field
800-844 ghana offensive spurt
916 usa had ball time space, but Cherundulo's 20 yd pass into the middle was woefully short. On the rebound, the American right in the middle, 25 yds from the Ghana goal, with time and space, had a chance to do something interesting, he could have headed the ball, he could have thighed the ball, and then air dribbled it 5 yds or more, instead he immediately used his foot to pass it to a double covered team-mate on his left, the ball was intercepted. The pass was slow and weak, the defender knew where it was going before the passer's foot even touched the ball. This American making the pass had a team-mate right near him, in the middle, if he had attempted an air dribble of at least 5 yds, he would have had a two on two in the middle, as it was he passed to the left, further away from the middle, to an American who was double covered. This an example of the goody goody football that pleased the loud dummies, but is not really smart.
955 usa 3 gets ball time space-- Bocanegra on left side, 55 yds from Ghana goal, he was staring at a guy wide open in the middle 40 yds from the Ghana goal, I mean this guy was so open there was 15 yds of open field in front of him. But Bocanegra passed a roller to a team-mate who was near him, and who had a Ghana defender right on top of him, then Bocanegra retreated to the backfield. The American who got the ball had it stripped from him by the guy right on top of him. The Americans are playing like people who think there is something elegant about moving slowly, lazily, and making short rolling passes, but if they tie Ghana they will be out of the tourney, they need a win.
1005 ghana on offense
1120 another long overled pass by usa--Reyna's 30 yd pass up the middle overled the recipient by 5 yds, but it was a good idea.
1200 usa number 3 time space, good pass to middle mishandled-- the recipient, reached ball 10 yds in front of Ghana goal, nobody near him, it bounced right before he got it, his foot missed it completely. Again problems with bouncers. Announcer said he tried to flip it towards the right post. Why would he do that? There was nobody near him, he had time. He could have flipped it into the air and then volleyed it. These players are like hamstrung players, that is how bad their inability to go even a couple of yards air dribbling before shooting is.
1625 cross in us header slow weak straight to goalie.
1930 ghana offensive spurt
2131 ghana steals ball from #10 reyna, scores, the problem was that Reyna's team-mate Dempsey, sent a pass to Reyna that left him Reyna in a tough position; not a good idea when the pass recipient is the last line of defense. Dempsey had players wide open in the middle, his body was positioned so as to render a pass to such wide open players convenient; instead he passed a slow roller back to Reyna. Reyna could have immediately volleyed it in to team-mates wide open in the middle but he chose to trap it. The Americans are too enamored with the alleged elegance of slow lazy movements and short rolling passes.
This reyna, was all world cup in 2002.
2435 lewis crosses ball right in to other guy, us gets corner kick lewis playing left wing position...Are corner kicks really so valuable, that a guy with time and space should blast passes right in to opposing players?
2505 Landon Donovan of USA, got ball rolling towards him 30 yds from Ghana goal. He had a chance to flip the ball into the air and air dribble or ground dribble towards the middle where he could have set up a wild 3 on 3. Instead he let the ball roll in front of him and followed it; as a result the Ghana player marking him, who was behind his back and whom he could not see, had an easy steal. Not a smart idea, to let the ball roll into an area where there lurks a man marking you, whose whereabouts are unknown because your back has been turned to him. the great thing about a little air dribbling in this kind of situation, is that you can get your body and also the ball to a spot where your team-mates are. Plus it is surprising. All of this game, the USA had this problem of being tightly marked, US players not having time and space when they get the ball, thus you need the element of surprise. Wild surprising things happen on air dribbles. Anyway the USA got lucky here as the deflection off the steal went right through a Ghanaian, ane and bounced slowly to McBride of USA. McBride had a chance to get the slow bouncer up in the air move in approx the direction the ball came from, thereby catching all the defenders OFFSTRIDE, moving in the wrong direction. But like Donovan before him, he sort of let the ball roll in the direction it was rolling, turned to follow it, and wound up mightily to deliver an entirely predictable Wheaties box-top style shot, which was of course blocked. Since he let the ball continue rolling sideways, from the right to the left of the field, the Ghana defenders were able to use their momentum chasing the ball, to easily block the shot. These Americans seem to have no idea regarding how to set things up by changing the direction of the ball, so as to use the momentum of defenders against them.
2655 ghana handles long pass well
#7 defacto left wing for usa
2800 usa passes ball right into other team--Captain Reyna got the ball 50 yds from the goal, passed it right in to the defender, even though he Reyna had plenty of time and space. In these situations where players like reyna get the ball 50 yds from the opposing goalie along with plenty of time and space, it would be nice to have a player who can air dribble forward, while a teammate drops back to cover if something goes wrong. 10 yds in the air 5 on a bounce could get such a player 35 yds from the opposing goal, with a chance to set something up taking advantage of the ball being airborne, which makes it easy to produce certain kinds of passes.
USA appears tightly marked any time they get into the ghana half...
2905 another long pass by usa overleads the recipient...Onyewu, fired a 45 yd pass up the middle, overled the recipient who was tightly marked and had zero team-mates but three Ghanaians right near him, by five yards, ball went to goalie.
2925 ghana gets time and space screws up
Dumb(?) announcer talks about claudio reyna making a mistake...this is exactly what I have been talking about, the dumb(?) comments, the dumb(?) assignment of blame, the recipient of the pass always being blamed...
3035 ghana screws up on offense
3125 usa gets ball on left wing #7, Lewis, he passes to the other team, this seems to be his specialty, passing to the other team...he had a bouncing ball, he could have had he the skill, ran at the ball, hit it with his head or thigh or foot, started an air dribble, I could have done this, instead he sort of lazily waited for the ball to come to him and trapped it on the ground, buy this time two Ghanaians had him buried right on the sideline, and he sent in one of his symbolic crosses into the middle straight to a Ghanaian who had no Americans near him. He reminded me of the way I would play in high school, when I was not good at dribbling on the ground or in the air and basically wanted to avoid being criticized. He could have also just passed the ball in on the first touch. These guys seem obsessed with the idea that, one two three four five six seven, all good children ground air balls that comes to them.
3212 usa penalty kick
3244 usa time in right deep corner of ghana American had time space and ball, closest Ghanaians at least ten yards away, approx 55 yards away from Ghana goal, in right corner of Ghana half. It was like an exact replay of what happened at minute 2. The American dribbled forward, lazily, slowly towards the middle of the field (put him on the cover of GQ for his elegance, dignity) then with no Ghanaian anywhere near him he passed to a guy on the sideline who was in a worse position than him. This guy who got the ball dribbled inwards ten or so yards, then flicked it forward to an American who had two Ghanians right on top of him, with no American near by to even out the situation. The ball of course was stolen by the Ghanaians, while all the dummies blamed the guy who the ball was passed to.
3259-3310 usa misplays offense Cherundulo got a ball coming right at him, mis passed by a Ghanaian. The ball bounced at his chest. The closest Ghanaian was eight yards away. Cherundulo was 45 yds from the Ghana goal on the right sideline. He used his chest to hit it towards his feet, it hit the ground, bounced off his shin towards the middle of the field, he reached it after a bounce, passed a ground pass to Beasley who was ten yards or so away towards the middle of the field. That bouncing ball was a great opportunity for a chip pass in the general area where there were two Americans 20 yds from the Ghana goal in the right middle area of the field. Beasley had two men on him passed it backwards to Reyna. Reyna had lots of time and space, the closest Ghana man was eight yards away, the ball rolled towads him as he faced the Ghana goal. If he had the skill he could have air dribbled forwards a few yards before deciding what to do next. He could have done some ground dribbling to set things up for team-mates. He immediately however passed it in to Lewis, the 25 yd pass overled Lewis (not one of the stars), the Ghanaian headed it away, Ghana retained ball possession.
3340 ghana player has time and space
3410 USA fullback sent long 45 yd pass, good pass, to American at center forward, McBride, McBride headed the ball to his right to Donovan. It was a very good pass given the circumstances, Wonovan was well led, the ball bounced in front of him. Donovan handled the situation the way I had seen Lewis handle the bouncing ball earlier in the game. Instead of charging into it as I would have been tempted to do--I would have been quite capable of flying a few yards with it before shooting--instead of charging the ball he sort of laid back, slowed down, let it bounce a second time, and then shot it off the second bounce like a drop kick. He completely missed the goal, by a wide margin even though he was ten yards away from the goal right in front of it. A problem was that his hesitation allowed the Ghanaian to get near him and pressure him. Another example of how the alternative to hot-dogging the ball a little, does not always pay off. And another example of how the World Cuppers could improve with the bouncing balls that often provide excellent opportunities.
3505 usa gets chance on right side on long pass then gets penalty kick no dice on penalty kick A US defender sent a long pass, a good 40 yd pass to Cherundolo on the right sideline. Cherundolo handled it well, his right foot caught it, then his left thigh before it hit the ground--the closest thing to flight I've seen this game--he then grounded the ball, even though at the point he hit it with the left thigh he was in position to surprise by chipping it in while it was in the air or after it bounced, or fly a little before doing something. After grounding it he dribbled straight forward, burrowing into the corner, got fouled. The US got a penalty kick but did not capitalize. I wonder, are they over-rating the advantages of being awarded a penalty kick?
3630 donovan gets corner kick
3650 ghana getting ball with time and space in us half alot more than the vice versa
3718 beasley gets ball with time and space, the ball rolled back towards him, he was at the midline point, in the center of the field, about 57 yds away from the Ghana goal. The closes Ghanaian was 20 yds away!!! Here was a great chance for Beasley, had he the skill, to start a forward aerial dribble with the ball (the team would have to be coordinated enough to have someone drop back in case something went wrong). He slowly dribbled forward on the ground to a point 40 yds in front of the Ghana goal, stopped turned around passed backwards. Yet again, as if habitually, the USA ended up passing the ball on the ground to Cherundolo on the right sideline 45 yds away from the goal. he crossed it in 25 yds towards an American with a Ghanaian right on top of him, the ball went at the Ghanaian not the American, Ghana retained possession of the ball.
3830 long pass to defacto left wing #7 Lewis of USA, he yet again displayed his apparent specialty, passing to the other team, the cross was way off.
3900 donovan gets ball time and space overleads team-mate on long pass yet again. Donovan got the ball in the Ghana half of the center circle, the closest Ghanaian was at least ten yards away, he immediately passed it towards Beasley who was 20 yds from the Ghana goal in the left center area and had two Ghanaians right on top of him, Beasley was overled by five yds, the passed ball went 25 yds, bounced, then another ten yds. A man has all kinds of time and space, good position, and that is the best they can come up with??
4035 run by dempsey on offense, it was a good run, but towards the end of it, with a man open in the middle 20 yds fron the Ghana goal, he passed up the open man and tried to continue dribbling forward, had the ball stolen.
4240 Beasley goes on run, loses ball, gets ball back, passes it in goal scored... well passed might it be significant, usa scored its only goal of the tourney not scored by other team for them, with Reyna on the bench...re my problems with Reyna, see my previous post re a USA game. They criticize "hot dogs" to death, but the same thing can happen on an air dribble run, the ball gets lost, the offense gets it back. Thing about these air dribble runs, when I do them, the ball often has ferocious backspin on it. I have gotten used to dealing with the way the backspinning ball bounces when it hits the ground, but the defenders will not be used to such bounces. Imagine a ball coming at you, hitting the ground, and bouncing straight up instead of bouncing at you.
What we are seeing, is players going on run, losing ball, getting ball back,
4450 lewis at left wing passes to the other team again...but to be fair, he was in a tough situation, it was a good pass given the situation.
4500 +200 usa fouls in penalty area, ghana gets penalty kick, ghana scores
45 +300 USA gets time and space in the Ghana half near the center line, for a while the Ghanaian nearest the ball was eight yards away, they had an opportunity to do stuff with the time and space, they ended up with just a lame pass into the middle headed away by Ghana.
SECOND HALF
Announcer ses the US does not do well when trailing at the half, they are 2-16-2 under Arena when trailing at half.
4828 Olson the reyna substitute with time and space--Olson got the ball 45 yds from the center of the Ghana goal, on the left side of the field, it was rolling back to him as he faced the Ghana goal, opportunity for aerial theatrics, the closest Ghanaian was ten yards away, he grounded the ball like a good little boy, he passed to a guy near the left sideline 45 yds from the Ghana goal, the guy he passed to crossed in a 40 yd cross, it went right at a Ghanaian who headed it away. And before this, the Americans had time and space about 50 yds from the Ghana goal.
4920 Donovan in the middle 45 yds from the Ghana goal, passes tries to lead a team-mate about ten yds in front and ten to his left on a first touch pass, pass way off target. Donovan was facing a gap in the Ghana line, he might have dribbled forward before passing, but if he did this he might get spanked by the dumb teacher.
5025 another long pass overled by usa--USA defender sent ball to man 30 yds downfield, overled him by 5 yds.
5040 usa steals ball, buries teammate in corner--Cherondolo stole the ball, immediately sent a ground pass into the right corner goal edge corner in the Ghana half to a team-mate, the team-mate was put in an impossible situation of chasing down a ball heading to the corner with two Ghana men right behind him, the announcer crowed about what a good pass it was. There is a real problem with the blaming of the pass recipients while the passers are glorified. Ghana of course got possession of the ball. Cherondolo after he admirably stole the ball, had time and space, the closest Ghanaian in front of him was ten yards away, the closest Ghana man behind him was seven yds away, but he immediately passed to a man who obviously had one man right on him, and who also obviously would have two men right on him once he chased down the ball.
5355 us chance on offense--Donovan got the ball, near the left outside corner of of the Ghana penalty box, there was a man wide open, in the exact middle of the field, 25 yds away from the Ghana goal, the Ghanaian closest to this man was eight yds away. Donovan had been looking right at this open guy was moving in his direction. There was another American wide open, on the other side of the field seven yds in front of Ghana's goal-post, who also was right in Donovan's field of vision. For some reason Donovan who had been facing the middle of the field swiveled and sent a short ground pass to "his good friend" Beasley, problem was there were three Ghanaians in between Beasley and the goal, like a wall on a penalty kick, the ball was taken from Beasley, Ghana retained possession of the ball.
5405 ghana attack
Announcers (ESPN) talk about how ball moves so much on these shots from 30-40 yds, how they are so tough on goalkeepers...let me tell you something, these 30-40 yd shots are easy when the ball is in the air when it is kicked, air balls move even more than ground balls, goalies are not used to the angles involved with air balls, air dribbling sets up these 30-40 yd shots.
5903 another long overled pass by the usa -- on a penalty kick, a pass that went 40 yds yet again overled the recipient by 5 yds.
6030 ghana offensive spurt
6150 ghana offensive spurt
6240 ghana blows great chance
6405 Olson USA gets ball with time and space, 45 yds from Ghana goal, the ball rolled back to him as he faced the Ghana goal, the nearest Ghana man in front of him was seven yards away, he simply immediately passed a bouncer to Johnson who had his back to the Ghana goal and a Ghana man behind him, the ball bounced off Johnson, then bounced off the ground near Johnson, Johnson had a great opportunity to smack the ball that was bouncing in front of him inwards as a cross coming in at a surprise angle, he had a chance if he had the skill to dribble paralell to the goal line, towards the middle, in that direction there was no Guana man for twenty yds, instead he passed backwards to Olson. Olson got the ball, did a 360 degree turn, and passed to Ghana, Ghana got possession. The USA acts as if the USA is ahead...plays ball conservatively; but they are behind, not only that, they need a win not a tie to stay in the tourney.
6500 lewis at left wing traps long air ball well, grounds ball, dribbles to goal line, crosses ball in, Mcbride of USA tries to head ball in hits goal post, this was supposed to be great according to the ESPN announcer, but Mcbride was in an almost impossible situation, had the ball not hit the outside of the goal-post, the goalie would have gotten it, it was almost an impossible situation to score in. But the announcer was ecstatic. When Lewis first got the ball and trapped it, he was facing towards the middle of the field, with a ball bouncing in front of him, a chance to start an aerial dribble run towards the middle
6630 bocanegra of USA, facing Ghana goal, 20 yds from Ghana goal, gets ball bouncing towards him, hits ball with thigh, nearest Ghana man in front of him seven yds away, hits it forward with the thigh, then with the right foot as the ball hits the ground, then shoots with the left with ball in the air. This was the kind of short aerial dribbles I have been advocating. The shot was a little too high.
6655 Onyewu misses header high
6825 ghana gets chance
7125 Johnson gets ball, these americans are tightly marked, they have no time and space when they get the ball
7205 ghana blows offensive chance
Why are they the USA getting so tightly marked, might it be that ghana does not drop back to give them time and space, because they the usa lack speed and the ability to hit a player running forward with a pass accurately?
Australia in an earlier game, was getting the ball, with time and space, 40-45 yds from the opposing goal, this has been usually happening in this game for the USA, when the USA is 55-60 yds from the opposing goal.
7450 ghana offensive chance
announcer claims penalty that resulted in ghana goal a bad call...what happened from my point of view is that the american just sort of ran into the ghana guy, pushing him out of the way, when the ball was not near him.
7805 dempsey had time and space on the right side, he had a great opportunity to cut backwards slightly and to the middle catching the Ghana defender moving against the grain, moving in the wrong direction, he immediately passed the ball in to the Ghana goalie, who did a great job of catching the ball and then holding on to it as he and the ball hit the ground.
7950 convey of USA attempts run, had chance with bouncing ball to get ball in the air, at least he did a good job of ground dribbling inwards and forwards by a couple of defenders, at least he made the attempt instead of being a goodie goodie, the end result was a fruitless penalty kick...again the ball bounced off the defender and back to the dribbler who got a lucky(?) break.
8130 ghana offensive spurt
8154 convey gets ball with time and space sends in a cross that misses everything. Convey, had a chance to catch the defenders moving in the wrong direction, by cutting inwards and also maybe slightly backwards, he ignored two open men right in the middle, who were 20 yds from the Ghana goal and had nobody near them. The Ghanaians closest to these wide open players were ten yds away, and Convey ignored them, instead sending in a stereotypical Wheaties box cross that missed by alot.
8335 convey gets ball time and space, crosses ball in, this was supposed to be a "great ball in" according to the ESPN announcer, but it just put the guy getting it in an impossible situation...there are these situations where it is technically possible for a tightly marked man to head the ball in roughly the same direction it was going when it came to him, and get the ball into the goal, but, realistically, how often can such situations be converted into goals??? When Convey got the ball the nearest Ghana man was ten yards away. He had clear sailing on a path towards the middle of the field for 35 yds. He got the ball on a bounce and could have started an air dribble or a ground dribble towards the middle of the field. He pleased the dumb(?) announcer but I doubt he made the best choice.
8540 convey with bouncer, sails it over net again--convey got the ball, in the middle of the field 25 yds from the Ghana goal, it came towards him, a slow easy to handle air ball, with skillhe could have kept it in the air and moved forwards on the air dribble a few yards like our hero Bocanegra before him, but he shot right away, the ball sailed way over the crossbar slowly. Having watched Convey I doubt he has the shooting skill to knock in that kind of ball. But hey in the eyes of the stupids, he handled it well because there do exist all these players who can fire hard accurate shots on such balls.
8710 usa overleads on long pass yet again. This is an obvious weakness with the usa, this overleading on long passes, it is incredible, that the usa has not recognized this weakness and worked on it. The defender sent a 45 yd pass that overled the recipient by 4 yds again, it was like watching an instant replay.
8910- usa blows offensive opportunity--the American, in the middle of the field, 45 yds from the Ghana goal, got a bouncing ball right in front of him, moving the same direction as him, on the sprint. I handle balls just like this, on the sprint, all the time in practice (it is real hard doing world class practice never being complimented but that's another story), except the balls I handle are more difficult than bouncing balls, because I sprint the 15 yds keeping the ball off the ground, never touching the ground, but keeping it under control. The American, tamely tipped the ball forward five yds in a straight line, knee high, to the Ghana defender. It bounced off the Ghana defender and another Ghana defender cleared it.
8923 Donovan of USA dribbled inwards from the right side of the field. He was on the line between the right outside corner of the Ghana penalty box and the Ghana goal, about 4 yds closer to the goal than the right outside corner of the Ghana penalty box. The defender to his left was moving to his left, he had a huge gap, in the area around this line leading from him to the goal; the defender to his left had his left foot in front of his right, completely off balance; Donovan had a great chance to dribble towards the goal and shoot, he was not moving too fast he could have easily changed direction, but instead he just slowed down as he continued to move towards the middle of the field, and sent a short rolling pass backwards, to Olson, Olson was in an impossible situation with three Ghanaians like a wall on a penalty shot right in front of him, Olson's momentum carried him right towads them, Ghana got the ball. Donovan's play here would please a dumb teacher cracking down on "ball-hogs" but what Donovan did was not in actuality wise.
8935 ghana blows off opp
9006 American, I think it ws #9 Johnson, gets slow air ball moving towards him as he faces the Ghana goal, the Ghana man nearest him was twelve yds away! He had a chance to do all kinds of things (need I repeat myself?) but he like a goodie goodie trying to impress the dumb teacher, dutifully immediately grounded the ball, rolled it forwards five yds, crossed the ball in 15 yds to a well marked team-mate Dempsey, overled the team-mate Dempsey, put the team-mate Dempsey in an impossible situation, Dempsey handled it well, retained possession passed the ball backwards which was the best any man could do under the circumstances. The man he passed it to, Beasley, was in the clear in the left middle of the field, the Ghana man closest to him was seven yds away. He Beasley passed it to a team-mate, the team-mate passed it back to Beasley, this wall passing did not improve the situation one bit, the end result of the wall pass was just Beasley who started the wall pass being in a worse position than before the wall pass with defenders getting closer to him and having time to set up--goody goody please the dummies stuf again. Beasley then crossed the ball in to McBride. There was an American in the middle of the field 20 yds from the Ghana goal prior to the Beasley cross in to the middle, who could have been wide open for a pass with the closest Ghanaian 7 yds away, but this guy unaccountably jogged towards the Ghanaians as a result of which he was not open any more but covered. Beasley's cross underled McBride, McBride headed it backwards. to Olson. Olson was right in the middle of the field, just 10 yds from the Ghana goal. There was a man right in front of Olson, but to his left and to his right there was no Ghana man for ten yds. The ball came slowly in Olson's direction as he faced the Ghana goal. Olson just shot immediately, right into the Ghana man right in front of him. Again a classic example of a situation where moving a couple of yds while air dribbling could have improved things, but what Olson chose to do was the goodie goodie, look good in the eyes of dummies, Wheaties Box Photo shot right off the volley, right into the man directly in front of him. Ghana got possession of the ball out in the clear off the rebound off the block.
9205 Donovan of USA got a ball on one bounce head high in the right wing area. He headed the ball eight yds forward past a Ghana defender. He caught up to the ball after it bounced once. But by that time a Ghana man was there to clear the ball as he overled himself. But at least Donovan had the right idea, I was pleased by what he did. Instead of being a goody goody, passing immediately, grounding the ball, he moved forward on the aerial dribble, problem was that he overled himself. In drills I sometimes sprint 20 yds at almost top speed touching the ball only with my head, keeping the ball under control, when I do this I often touch the ball every five yds or so, and the ball never touches the ground. So I know that it would be possible for say a Donovan to head it forward catch it on a bounce keep it under control.
9420 johnson of usa blows pass, he had time and space
CONCLUSION: There are three or four mistakes that the USA keeps making over and over and over again. Thus wisely targetted practice and training, could kill a few birds with one stone, so to speak.
@2006 David Virgil Hobbs
125 USA gets ball 40 yds from Ghana goal, on right sideline, closest ghana player 7 yards away, he had time and space; he had player wide open, 20 yds in front of Ghana goal, he passed it straight to the goalie, even if it had gotten to the USA player who was closest to the ball, that USA player had three guys right on top of him.
143 Usa has time-- Captain Reyna, had ball in middle, 50 yds from Ghana goal, the closest Ghana guy was eight yards away, he just passed it about 8 yds to another team-mate, who ended up in a situation much worse than the situation Reyna would have been if he had just held on to the ball...the Ghana players were all heading in the direction of the guy Reyna passed to, even before the pass. Again we have the problem of what ensues, when pass recipients rather than passers are blamed for everything. Donovan is the guy who got the pass, he was put in an awkward situation, he had to trap the ball, twist, and pass in a hurry, his 20 yard chip pass to Dempsey was way off. This same pass to Dempsey could have been made by Reyna, if Reyna had held on to the ball a little longer. As it was, the unnecessary intermediate pass to to Donovan, just made everything more difficult, unnecessarily difficult.
200-210 usa has has time time and space, 45 yds from Ghana goal, near right sideline, he just lazily slowly, moved the ball forward five yds, and passed to a guy in the right sideline who was 40 yds away from the goal--and he had a teammate wide open in the middle just 25 yds in front of the Ghana goal. This is strategy? A guy with time and space passes to a guy who is nearer the sideline than he is, gains a couple of yards? His cross went in to an American who had two Ghana guys right on top of him, there was an American wide open in the middle 20 yds from the Ghana goal. The American who got the ball handled it well, headed it, but the head went right to a Ghanaian, what do you expect with such a difficult ball.
603 ghana t5raps ball and speeds down field
800-844 ghana offensive spurt
916 usa had ball time space, but Cherundulo's 20 yd pass into the middle was woefully short. On the rebound, the American right in the middle, 25 yds from the Ghana goal, with time and space, had a chance to do something interesting, he could have headed the ball, he could have thighed the ball, and then air dribbled it 5 yds or more, instead he immediately used his foot to pass it to a double covered team-mate on his left, the ball was intercepted. The pass was slow and weak, the defender knew where it was going before the passer's foot even touched the ball. This American making the pass had a team-mate right near him, in the middle, if he had attempted an air dribble of at least 5 yds, he would have had a two on two in the middle, as it was he passed to the left, further away from the middle, to an American who was double covered. This an example of the goody goody football that pleased the loud dummies, but is not really smart.
955 usa 3 gets ball time space-- Bocanegra on left side, 55 yds from Ghana goal, he was staring at a guy wide open in the middle 40 yds from the Ghana goal, I mean this guy was so open there was 15 yds of open field in front of him. But Bocanegra passed a roller to a team-mate who was near him, and who had a Ghana defender right on top of him, then Bocanegra retreated to the backfield. The American who got the ball had it stripped from him by the guy right on top of him. The Americans are playing like people who think there is something elegant about moving slowly, lazily, and making short rolling passes, but if they tie Ghana they will be out of the tourney, they need a win.
1005 ghana on offense
1120 another long overled pass by usa--Reyna's 30 yd pass up the middle overled the recipient by 5 yds, but it was a good idea.
1200 usa number 3 time space, good pass to middle mishandled-- the recipient, reached ball 10 yds in front of Ghana goal, nobody near him, it bounced right before he got it, his foot missed it completely. Again problems with bouncers. Announcer said he tried to flip it towards the right post. Why would he do that? There was nobody near him, he had time. He could have flipped it into the air and then volleyed it. These players are like hamstrung players, that is how bad their inability to go even a couple of yards air dribbling before shooting is.
1625 cross in us header slow weak straight to goalie.
1930 ghana offensive spurt
2131 ghana steals ball from #10 reyna, scores, the problem was that Reyna's team-mate Dempsey, sent a pass to Reyna that left him Reyna in a tough position; not a good idea when the pass recipient is the last line of defense. Dempsey had players wide open in the middle, his body was positioned so as to render a pass to such wide open players convenient; instead he passed a slow roller back to Reyna. Reyna could have immediately volleyed it in to team-mates wide open in the middle but he chose to trap it. The Americans are too enamored with the alleged elegance of slow lazy movements and short rolling passes.
This reyna, was all world cup in 2002.
2435 lewis crosses ball right in to other guy, us gets corner kick lewis playing left wing position...Are corner kicks really so valuable, that a guy with time and space should blast passes right in to opposing players?
2505 Landon Donovan of USA, got ball rolling towards him 30 yds from Ghana goal. He had a chance to flip the ball into the air and air dribble or ground dribble towards the middle where he could have set up a wild 3 on 3. Instead he let the ball roll in front of him and followed it; as a result the Ghana player marking him, who was behind his back and whom he could not see, had an easy steal. Not a smart idea, to let the ball roll into an area where there lurks a man marking you, whose whereabouts are unknown because your back has been turned to him. the great thing about a little air dribbling in this kind of situation, is that you can get your body and also the ball to a spot where your team-mates are. Plus it is surprising. All of this game, the USA had this problem of being tightly marked, US players not having time and space when they get the ball, thus you need the element of surprise. Wild surprising things happen on air dribbles. Anyway the USA got lucky here as the deflection off the steal went right through a Ghanaian, ane and bounced slowly to McBride of USA. McBride had a chance to get the slow bouncer up in the air move in approx the direction the ball came from, thereby catching all the defenders OFFSTRIDE, moving in the wrong direction. But like Donovan before him, he sort of let the ball roll in the direction it was rolling, turned to follow it, and wound up mightily to deliver an entirely predictable Wheaties box-top style shot, which was of course blocked. Since he let the ball continue rolling sideways, from the right to the left of the field, the Ghana defenders were able to use their momentum chasing the ball, to easily block the shot. These Americans seem to have no idea regarding how to set things up by changing the direction of the ball, so as to use the momentum of defenders against them.
2655 ghana handles long pass well
#7 defacto left wing for usa
2800 usa passes ball right into other team--Captain Reyna got the ball 50 yds from the goal, passed it right in to the defender, even though he Reyna had plenty of time and space. In these situations where players like reyna get the ball 50 yds from the opposing goalie along with plenty of time and space, it would be nice to have a player who can air dribble forward, while a teammate drops back to cover if something goes wrong. 10 yds in the air 5 on a bounce could get such a player 35 yds from the opposing goal, with a chance to set something up taking advantage of the ball being airborne, which makes it easy to produce certain kinds of passes.
USA appears tightly marked any time they get into the ghana half...
2905 another long pass by usa overleads the recipient...Onyewu, fired a 45 yd pass up the middle, overled the recipient who was tightly marked and had zero team-mates but three Ghanaians right near him, by five yards, ball went to goalie.
2925 ghana gets time and space screws up
Dumb(?) announcer talks about claudio reyna making a mistake...this is exactly what I have been talking about, the dumb(?) comments, the dumb(?) assignment of blame, the recipient of the pass always being blamed...
3035 ghana screws up on offense
3125 usa gets ball on left wing #7, Lewis, he passes to the other team, this seems to be his specialty, passing to the other team...he had a bouncing ball, he could have had he the skill, ran at the ball, hit it with his head or thigh or foot, started an air dribble, I could have done this, instead he sort of lazily waited for the ball to come to him and trapped it on the ground, buy this time two Ghanaians had him buried right on the sideline, and he sent in one of his symbolic crosses into the middle straight to a Ghanaian who had no Americans near him. He reminded me of the way I would play in high school, when I was not good at dribbling on the ground or in the air and basically wanted to avoid being criticized. He could have also just passed the ball in on the first touch. These guys seem obsessed with the idea that, one two three four five six seven, all good children ground air balls that comes to them.
3212 usa penalty kick
3244 usa time in right deep corner of ghana American had time space and ball, closest Ghanaians at least ten yards away, approx 55 yards away from Ghana goal, in right corner of Ghana half. It was like an exact replay of what happened at minute 2. The American dribbled forward, lazily, slowly towards the middle of the field (put him on the cover of GQ for his elegance, dignity) then with no Ghanaian anywhere near him he passed to a guy on the sideline who was in a worse position than him. This guy who got the ball dribbled inwards ten or so yards, then flicked it forward to an American who had two Ghanians right on top of him, with no American near by to even out the situation. The ball of course was stolen by the Ghanaians, while all the dummies blamed the guy who the ball was passed to.
3259-3310 usa misplays offense Cherundulo got a ball coming right at him, mis passed by a Ghanaian. The ball bounced at his chest. The closest Ghanaian was eight yards away. Cherundulo was 45 yds from the Ghana goal on the right sideline. He used his chest to hit it towards his feet, it hit the ground, bounced off his shin towards the middle of the field, he reached it after a bounce, passed a ground pass to Beasley who was ten yards or so away towards the middle of the field. That bouncing ball was a great opportunity for a chip pass in the general area where there were two Americans 20 yds from the Ghana goal in the right middle area of the field. Beasley had two men on him passed it backwards to Reyna. Reyna had lots of time and space, the closest Ghana man was eight yards away, the ball rolled towads him as he faced the Ghana goal. If he had the skill he could have air dribbled forwards a few yards before deciding what to do next. He could have done some ground dribbling to set things up for team-mates. He immediately however passed it in to Lewis, the 25 yd pass overled Lewis (not one of the stars), the Ghanaian headed it away, Ghana retained ball possession.
3340 ghana player has time and space
3410 USA fullback sent long 45 yd pass, good pass, to American at center forward, McBride, McBride headed the ball to his right to Donovan. It was a very good pass given the circumstances, Wonovan was well led, the ball bounced in front of him. Donovan handled the situation the way I had seen Lewis handle the bouncing ball earlier in the game. Instead of charging into it as I would have been tempted to do--I would have been quite capable of flying a few yards with it before shooting--instead of charging the ball he sort of laid back, slowed down, let it bounce a second time, and then shot it off the second bounce like a drop kick. He completely missed the goal, by a wide margin even though he was ten yards away from the goal right in front of it. A problem was that his hesitation allowed the Ghanaian to get near him and pressure him. Another example of how the alternative to hot-dogging the ball a little, does not always pay off. And another example of how the World Cuppers could improve with the bouncing balls that often provide excellent opportunities.
3505 usa gets chance on right side on long pass then gets penalty kick no dice on penalty kick A US defender sent a long pass, a good 40 yd pass to Cherundolo on the right sideline. Cherundolo handled it well, his right foot caught it, then his left thigh before it hit the ground--the closest thing to flight I've seen this game--he then grounded the ball, even though at the point he hit it with the left thigh he was in position to surprise by chipping it in while it was in the air or after it bounced, or fly a little before doing something. After grounding it he dribbled straight forward, burrowing into the corner, got fouled. The US got a penalty kick but did not capitalize. I wonder, are they over-rating the advantages of being awarded a penalty kick?
3630 donovan gets corner kick
3650 ghana getting ball with time and space in us half alot more than the vice versa
3718 beasley gets ball with time and space, the ball rolled back towards him, he was at the midline point, in the center of the field, about 57 yds away from the Ghana goal. The closes Ghanaian was 20 yds away!!! Here was a great chance for Beasley, had he the skill, to start a forward aerial dribble with the ball (the team would have to be coordinated enough to have someone drop back in case something went wrong). He slowly dribbled forward on the ground to a point 40 yds in front of the Ghana goal, stopped turned around passed backwards. Yet again, as if habitually, the USA ended up passing the ball on the ground to Cherundolo on the right sideline 45 yds away from the goal. he crossed it in 25 yds towards an American with a Ghanaian right on top of him, the ball went at the Ghanaian not the American, Ghana retained possession of the ball.
3830 long pass to defacto left wing #7 Lewis of USA, he yet again displayed his apparent specialty, passing to the other team, the cross was way off.
3900 donovan gets ball time and space overleads team-mate on long pass yet again. Donovan got the ball in the Ghana half of the center circle, the closest Ghanaian was at least ten yards away, he immediately passed it towards Beasley who was 20 yds from the Ghana goal in the left center area and had two Ghanaians right on top of him, Beasley was overled by five yds, the passed ball went 25 yds, bounced, then another ten yds. A man has all kinds of time and space, good position, and that is the best they can come up with??
4035 run by dempsey on offense, it was a good run, but towards the end of it, with a man open in the middle 20 yds fron the Ghana goal, he passed up the open man and tried to continue dribbling forward, had the ball stolen.
4240 Beasley goes on run, loses ball, gets ball back, passes it in goal scored... well passed might it be significant, usa scored its only goal of the tourney not scored by other team for them, with Reyna on the bench...re my problems with Reyna, see my previous post re a USA game. They criticize "hot dogs" to death, but the same thing can happen on an air dribble run, the ball gets lost, the offense gets it back. Thing about these air dribble runs, when I do them, the ball often has ferocious backspin on it. I have gotten used to dealing with the way the backspinning ball bounces when it hits the ground, but the defenders will not be used to such bounces. Imagine a ball coming at you, hitting the ground, and bouncing straight up instead of bouncing at you.
What we are seeing, is players going on run, losing ball, getting ball back,
4450 lewis at left wing passes to the other team again...but to be fair, he was in a tough situation, it was a good pass given the situation.
4500 +200 usa fouls in penalty area, ghana gets penalty kick, ghana scores
45 +300 USA gets time and space in the Ghana half near the center line, for a while the Ghanaian nearest the ball was eight yards away, they had an opportunity to do stuff with the time and space, they ended up with just a lame pass into the middle headed away by Ghana.
SECOND HALF
Announcer ses the US does not do well when trailing at the half, they are 2-16-2 under Arena when trailing at half.
4828 Olson the reyna substitute with time and space--Olson got the ball 45 yds from the center of the Ghana goal, on the left side of the field, it was rolling back to him as he faced the Ghana goal, opportunity for aerial theatrics, the closest Ghanaian was ten yards away, he grounded the ball like a good little boy, he passed to a guy near the left sideline 45 yds from the Ghana goal, the guy he passed to crossed in a 40 yd cross, it went right at a Ghanaian who headed it away. And before this, the Americans had time and space about 50 yds from the Ghana goal.
4920 Donovan in the middle 45 yds from the Ghana goal, passes tries to lead a team-mate about ten yds in front and ten to his left on a first touch pass, pass way off target. Donovan was facing a gap in the Ghana line, he might have dribbled forward before passing, but if he did this he might get spanked by the dumb teacher.
5025 another long pass overled by usa--USA defender sent ball to man 30 yds downfield, overled him by 5 yds.
5040 usa steals ball, buries teammate in corner--Cherondolo stole the ball, immediately sent a ground pass into the right corner goal edge corner in the Ghana half to a team-mate, the team-mate was put in an impossible situation of chasing down a ball heading to the corner with two Ghana men right behind him, the announcer crowed about what a good pass it was. There is a real problem with the blaming of the pass recipients while the passers are glorified. Ghana of course got possession of the ball. Cherondolo after he admirably stole the ball, had time and space, the closest Ghanaian in front of him was ten yards away, the closest Ghana man behind him was seven yds away, but he immediately passed to a man who obviously had one man right on him, and who also obviously would have two men right on him once he chased down the ball.
5355 us chance on offense--Donovan got the ball, near the left outside corner of of the Ghana penalty box, there was a man wide open, in the exact middle of the field, 25 yds away from the Ghana goal, the Ghanaian closest to this man was eight yds away. Donovan had been looking right at this open guy was moving in his direction. There was another American wide open, on the other side of the field seven yds in front of Ghana's goal-post, who also was right in Donovan's field of vision. For some reason Donovan who had been facing the middle of the field swiveled and sent a short ground pass to "his good friend" Beasley, problem was there were three Ghanaians in between Beasley and the goal, like a wall on a penalty kick, the ball was taken from Beasley, Ghana retained possession of the ball.
5405 ghana attack
Announcers (ESPN) talk about how ball moves so much on these shots from 30-40 yds, how they are so tough on goalkeepers...let me tell you something, these 30-40 yd shots are easy when the ball is in the air when it is kicked, air balls move even more than ground balls, goalies are not used to the angles involved with air balls, air dribbling sets up these 30-40 yd shots.
5903 another long overled pass by the usa -- on a penalty kick, a pass that went 40 yds yet again overled the recipient by 5 yds.
6030 ghana offensive spurt
6150 ghana offensive spurt
6240 ghana blows great chance
6405 Olson USA gets ball with time and space, 45 yds from Ghana goal, the ball rolled back to him as he faced the Ghana goal, the nearest Ghana man in front of him was seven yards away, he simply immediately passed a bouncer to Johnson who had his back to the Ghana goal and a Ghana man behind him, the ball bounced off Johnson, then bounced off the ground near Johnson, Johnson had a great opportunity to smack the ball that was bouncing in front of him inwards as a cross coming in at a surprise angle, he had a chance if he had the skill to dribble paralell to the goal line, towards the middle, in that direction there was no Guana man for twenty yds, instead he passed backwards to Olson. Olson got the ball, did a 360 degree turn, and passed to Ghana, Ghana got possession. The USA acts as if the USA is ahead...plays ball conservatively; but they are behind, not only that, they need a win not a tie to stay in the tourney.
6500 lewis at left wing traps long air ball well, grounds ball, dribbles to goal line, crosses ball in, Mcbride of USA tries to head ball in hits goal post, this was supposed to be great according to the ESPN announcer, but Mcbride was in an almost impossible situation, had the ball not hit the outside of the goal-post, the goalie would have gotten it, it was almost an impossible situation to score in. But the announcer was ecstatic. When Lewis first got the ball and trapped it, he was facing towards the middle of the field, with a ball bouncing in front of him, a chance to start an aerial dribble run towards the middle
6630 bocanegra of USA, facing Ghana goal, 20 yds from Ghana goal, gets ball bouncing towards him, hits ball with thigh, nearest Ghana man in front of him seven yds away, hits it forward with the thigh, then with the right foot as the ball hits the ground, then shoots with the left with ball in the air. This was the kind of short aerial dribbles I have been advocating. The shot was a little too high.
6655 Onyewu misses header high
6825 ghana gets chance
7125 Johnson gets ball, these americans are tightly marked, they have no time and space when they get the ball
7205 ghana blows offensive chance
Why are they the USA getting so tightly marked, might it be that ghana does not drop back to give them time and space, because they the usa lack speed and the ability to hit a player running forward with a pass accurately?
Australia in an earlier game, was getting the ball, with time and space, 40-45 yds from the opposing goal, this has been usually happening in this game for the USA, when the USA is 55-60 yds from the opposing goal.
7450 ghana offensive chance
announcer claims penalty that resulted in ghana goal a bad call...what happened from my point of view is that the american just sort of ran into the ghana guy, pushing him out of the way, when the ball was not near him.
7805 dempsey had time and space on the right side, he had a great opportunity to cut backwards slightly and to the middle catching the Ghana defender moving against the grain, moving in the wrong direction, he immediately passed the ball in to the Ghana goalie, who did a great job of catching the ball and then holding on to it as he and the ball hit the ground.
7950 convey of USA attempts run, had chance with bouncing ball to get ball in the air, at least he did a good job of ground dribbling inwards and forwards by a couple of defenders, at least he made the attempt instead of being a goodie goodie, the end result was a fruitless penalty kick...again the ball bounced off the defender and back to the dribbler who got a lucky(?) break.
8130 ghana offensive spurt
8154 convey gets ball with time and space sends in a cross that misses everything. Convey, had a chance to catch the defenders moving in the wrong direction, by cutting inwards and also maybe slightly backwards, he ignored two open men right in the middle, who were 20 yds from the Ghana goal and had nobody near them. The Ghanaians closest to these wide open players were ten yds away, and Convey ignored them, instead sending in a stereotypical Wheaties box cross that missed by alot.
8335 convey gets ball time and space, crosses ball in, this was supposed to be a "great ball in" according to the ESPN announcer, but it just put the guy getting it in an impossible situation...there are these situations where it is technically possible for a tightly marked man to head the ball in roughly the same direction it was going when it came to him, and get the ball into the goal, but, realistically, how often can such situations be converted into goals??? When Convey got the ball the nearest Ghana man was ten yards away. He had clear sailing on a path towards the middle of the field for 35 yds. He got the ball on a bounce and could have started an air dribble or a ground dribble towards the middle of the field. He pleased the dumb(?) announcer but I doubt he made the best choice.
8540 convey with bouncer, sails it over net again--convey got the ball, in the middle of the field 25 yds from the Ghana goal, it came towards him, a slow easy to handle air ball, with skillhe could have kept it in the air and moved forwards on the air dribble a few yards like our hero Bocanegra before him, but he shot right away, the ball sailed way over the crossbar slowly. Having watched Convey I doubt he has the shooting skill to knock in that kind of ball. But hey in the eyes of the stupids, he handled it well because there do exist all these players who can fire hard accurate shots on such balls.
8710 usa overleads on long pass yet again. This is an obvious weakness with the usa, this overleading on long passes, it is incredible, that the usa has not recognized this weakness and worked on it. The defender sent a 45 yd pass that overled the recipient by 4 yds again, it was like watching an instant replay.
8910- usa blows offensive opportunity--the American, in the middle of the field, 45 yds from the Ghana goal, got a bouncing ball right in front of him, moving the same direction as him, on the sprint. I handle balls just like this, on the sprint, all the time in practice (it is real hard doing world class practice never being complimented but that's another story), except the balls I handle are more difficult than bouncing balls, because I sprint the 15 yds keeping the ball off the ground, never touching the ground, but keeping it under control. The American, tamely tipped the ball forward five yds in a straight line, knee high, to the Ghana defender. It bounced off the Ghana defender and another Ghana defender cleared it.
8923 Donovan of USA dribbled inwards from the right side of the field. He was on the line between the right outside corner of the Ghana penalty box and the Ghana goal, about 4 yds closer to the goal than the right outside corner of the Ghana penalty box. The defender to his left was moving to his left, he had a huge gap, in the area around this line leading from him to the goal; the defender to his left had his left foot in front of his right, completely off balance; Donovan had a great chance to dribble towards the goal and shoot, he was not moving too fast he could have easily changed direction, but instead he just slowed down as he continued to move towards the middle of the field, and sent a short rolling pass backwards, to Olson, Olson was in an impossible situation with three Ghanaians like a wall on a penalty shot right in front of him, Olson's momentum carried him right towads them, Ghana got the ball. Donovan's play here would please a dumb teacher cracking down on "ball-hogs" but what Donovan did was not in actuality wise.
8935 ghana blows off opp
9006 American, I think it ws #9 Johnson, gets slow air ball moving towards him as he faces the Ghana goal, the Ghana man nearest him was twelve yds away! He had a chance to do all kinds of things (need I repeat myself?) but he like a goodie goodie trying to impress the dumb teacher, dutifully immediately grounded the ball, rolled it forwards five yds, crossed the ball in 15 yds to a well marked team-mate Dempsey, overled the team-mate Dempsey, put the team-mate Dempsey in an impossible situation, Dempsey handled it well, retained possession passed the ball backwards which was the best any man could do under the circumstances. The man he passed it to, Beasley, was in the clear in the left middle of the field, the Ghana man closest to him was seven yds away. He Beasley passed it to a team-mate, the team-mate passed it back to Beasley, this wall passing did not improve the situation one bit, the end result of the wall pass was just Beasley who started the wall pass being in a worse position than before the wall pass with defenders getting closer to him and having time to set up--goody goody please the dummies stuf again. Beasley then crossed the ball in to McBride. There was an American in the middle of the field 20 yds from the Ghana goal prior to the Beasley cross in to the middle, who could have been wide open for a pass with the closest Ghanaian 7 yds away, but this guy unaccountably jogged towards the Ghanaians as a result of which he was not open any more but covered. Beasley's cross underled McBride, McBride headed it backwards. to Olson. Olson was right in the middle of the field, just 10 yds from the Ghana goal. There was a man right in front of Olson, but to his left and to his right there was no Ghana man for ten yds. The ball came slowly in Olson's direction as he faced the Ghana goal. Olson just shot immediately, right into the Ghana man right in front of him. Again a classic example of a situation where moving a couple of yds while air dribbling could have improved things, but what Olson chose to do was the goodie goodie, look good in the eyes of dummies, Wheaties Box Photo shot right off the volley, right into the man directly in front of him. Ghana got possession of the ball out in the clear off the rebound off the block.
9205 Donovan of USA got a ball on one bounce head high in the right wing area. He headed the ball eight yds forward past a Ghana defender. He caught up to the ball after it bounced once. But by that time a Ghana man was there to clear the ball as he overled himself. But at least Donovan had the right idea, I was pleased by what he did. Instead of being a goody goody, passing immediately, grounding the ball, he moved forward on the aerial dribble, problem was that he overled himself. In drills I sometimes sprint 20 yds at almost top speed touching the ball only with my head, keeping the ball under control, when I do this I often touch the ball every five yds or so, and the ball never touches the ground. So I know that it would be possible for say a Donovan to head it forward catch it on a bounce keep it under control.
9420 johnson of usa blows pass, he had time and space
CONCLUSION: There are three or four mistakes that the USA keeps making over and over and over again. Thus wisely targetted practice and training, could kill a few birds with one stone, so to speak.
@2006 David Virgil Hobbs
posted by David Virgil at 1:31 AM
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