End of season review

Harry Redknapp wrote:
That's one of the places that the game broke down against Stanford. Not enough time for our players to get control out of defense so the ball came back quickly and the Pilots never got forward momentum. It takes defenders who can not only win the ball and stop the other team, but do so in a way that allows them to emerge with the ball under control and to play it out to a team mate and not just whack it downfield.

I think that having Elli and Michelle O back there will change that dimension of the game against tough teams.

Thanks for that explanation, Harry. These kinds of posts really help me understand soccer at a deeper level. Plus, I like talk of improving the team for when we play really tough, elite teams like Stanford.

Well done, Harry, especially the part about defenders having the confidence to hold the ball and work it up the field, rather than just blasting a long ball forward, usually to the other team. I think that is a combination of lack of confidence in one's skills and being tired, so that it becomes worse as the game progresses. That certainly happened against Stanford. Our possession game didn't look like our Pilots most of the time, especially in the defensive part of the field.

The national team was driving me nuts at the World Cup two summers ago, long ball after long ball, not even trying to possess the ball out of the defensive end. It was better at the Olympics last year, but I think they still do it too much.

I was watching an English Premier League game last night. Both teams generally used short quick passes to get the ball put of their defensive end. It was fun to watch - complete confidence with the ball at their feet, even in or near their own box. They controlled the ball in their back third better than most teams do on the middle third.

There is no reason this can't be done, if you have good players. You are almost always in a numbers-up situation in the defensive third.

The word is "confidence" when you try to control the ball out of the back rather than blast it up the pitch. Confidence might be there in abundance if you're up against a weaker team, but can be no where to be found against an equal or better team who are quick to the ball.

In my playing days, I remember a keeper yelling "Don't pussyfoot around!" when the defender's tried to get to fancy with the ball under pressure. He just wanted them to clear it up the field out of immediate danger.

I wasn't able to see the Stanford game but from what I've heard, it sounds like we may have lost our "confidence" against the Cardinal, especially in the 2nd half.

Yes, Pappy, I think we lost our confidence in the final 30 or so minutes of the game. We looked pooped, but a great, speedy team will do that to you.

They just took over and pounded the life right out of us. Only Kelsey's brilliance kept us from being humiliated.

It didn't even look like the Pilots to me. It looked like Stanford was the Pilots. It was eerily similiar to the loss to UCLA in the Quarterfinals a year ago. Except last year's team had Steph, Wozzie and a veteran defense.

This year's team, had the Amigas been playing, I am very confident would have beaten Stanford. But I don't want to go down that road with the sour grapes and all.

100% of my Pilots soccer energy is now focused on the 2009 season. (Except for an occasional post like this, of course.)

Really, there is no shame for a young team to come up one goal short on the road in the final 8. Any list of elite teams still must include the Pilots.

Don't forget also we had two great looks that just missed which could have been game changers pooped or not.