Spread The Word

A excerpt from a recent Wall Street Journal article:

 But players and coaches say the game is still largely an exercise in chaos. Soccer has been played in pretty much the same form for close to 150 years. It is now at a point where every responsible way of deploying 11 players has been exhausted. 

Juanma Lillo, a former coach in Spain's La Liga, is seen as a soccer swami for pioneering the 4-2-3-1 formation that has been used by six of the 16 teams at the Euro. He says the whole notion of formations is "overvalued" in a sport that still basically boils down to 22 players chasing a ball across the field. "I would like to demystify this," Lillo said. "The formation is only the first snapshot. After that, the players are always on the move because the ball is on the move, so the formation no longer exists. In any case, [a team's] style of play is related to an idea, not to a geographic positioning on the pitch." 

Alexi Lalas, the former U.S. international who played in Italy's Serie A, supposedly the most sophisticated league in the world, said that formations are a suggestion for spacing, but little more than that. Once the match starts, teams take a quick glance at how their opponent is lined up and adjust, but give little thought to the numbers after that. Formations give players an idea of how they might want to view themselves on the field, but they're never a decisive factor in the game.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304782404577490652688623764.html

Finding A Way To Watch Soccer

There is no question that watching soccer is a fairly fun and easy way to improve one's own game. Even 15 minutes spent watching the way a professional forward breaks down a tough defense can lead to a goal or two against the less rigorous defenses we play against in the Midwest Conference. Of course, the World Cup is a worldwide phenomena and it is really easy to spend time watching games when the soccer world is chock full of Cup-craziness. This summer is obviously not a World Cup year but that doesn't mean there's is a dearth of viewing opportunities.

 First of all, there is always MLS. Heading to a Chicago Fire game or catching your local team whether live or on tv is obviously the easiest option for many of us. And you can eat stadium food while you're there! Mmmm, hot dogs.

 This summer though we have two large tournaments that will air in the United States. The opening rounds of the European Championships have begun and are being aired on ESPN. This tourney is World Cup style with the top two teams from Groups A-D advance to a single elimination format. The Championship game is being played on July 8 I believe.

 Later in the summer the London Olympics will begin. The men's tournament here is basically an under-23 tourney, with each team granted a couple of waivers for older players to join the young squad. So if you want to see David Beckham run around with some 20 year olds, this might be your shot. The women's side, however, is basically wide open, so you will see the full-strength national teams on the field.

All the American stars besides Ali Krieger, who is rehabbing an ACL, are currently scheduled to play. Hope Solo, Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, et al should be back on the field and hoping to avenge their World Cup loss with a Gold Medal victory. Watch. Watch. Watch. And watch some more. It is impossible not to learn from watching the best players in the world give their all on the pitch for weeks at a time.