Marky cracked the MLS list for Top 10 American players in the league, interesting.
Marky cracked the MLS list for Top 10 American players in the league, interesting.
Remember The Man, The Legend, The Goal 5-12-07 and All That #9 Left On The Pitch, Thanks For The Memories !!!
So we are heading to Florida.
https://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/arti...eason-florida/
https://aftn.ca/soccernomics-mls-mon...ver-whitecaps/
For those MLS nerds who like reading about salary cap and stuff. Good read, using Whitecaps as example
“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.
I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’
And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
-Eduardo Galeano
Pozuelo's comments to Buffery on Armas today. Sounds very positive.
“I think amazing. Really,” said Pozuelo, when asked what he thinks of Armas so far.
‘The ‘Maestro’, as Pozuelo is known in soccer circles, paid Armas the ultimate compliment.
“If I am a coach in the future after playing football, I think I have similar ideas like Chris,” Pozuelo said. “He has very good ideas, he has very good character and very good philosophy, so I think these two first days, he looked like an amazing coach. We will see in the future (how it goes), but the first impression has been amazing.”
When asked what has impressed him tactics-wise about Armas, Pozuelo said: “He wants to take the ball, he wants to play with the ball, he wants to attack and defend with the ball and I think this is the most important (thing to do) in football.
“And also he likes to press higher. When we lose the ball, he wants to the (retake) the ball (as fast) as possible. And this is what I like. For the attacking player, I think it will be amazing. The most important thing that I see is this: The transition in the attack defence, he likes to press higher and for me and the attackers, it will be amazing.”
Pozuelo said he will miss Vanney — the winningest coach in TFC history — but revealed that he was not surprised that Vanney opted not to return to Toronto when his contract expired at the end of the 2020 season.
Despite having to relocate to East Hartford, Conn., for home games in the final part of the 2020 campaign, the Reds finished second overall in MLS, before losing to expansion side Nashville SC in the first round of the playoffs.
“I felt something when we lost the last game, and I felt like he’s at the end,” Pozuelo said of Vanney. “Everybody knows I had a very good relationship with him because he’s a very good person, a very good coach. But now he’s not here, so we need to change the mentality. We need to change all the philosophies, because there are different coaches and we need to give the maximum. You know I have a good relationship with Vanney, we are in contact, but I think now we need to (give our attention and effort) to Chris. I only wish (Vanney) very, very good luck.”
So for those of us that are not familiar the tactical aspects of soccer, what does "press higher" mean? As in playing the defence (back 4) further up the field (away from the keeper)? How would this differ from what Vanney's approach would've been?
Are there also typical formations for this style of play? IIRC, TFC played mainly using a 4-2-3-1 formation last season?
It means that your front three players start to defend against the other team deeper in their end and that therefore the entire team is further up the field as theoretical positions require them to be compact compact front to back. A “high press” means you try to stop the other team deep in its own end vs a low block where you let them have the ball in their end and defend against them once they get into yours. Lots of hard work and running, particularly for the forwards and midfield.
Last edited by MightyDM; 02-20-2021 at 06:37 PM.
^Also leaves you more exposed on the counter, and in transition, generally.
Fun, lots of goals (for and against), high risk.
"There are some people who might have better technique than me, and some may be fitter than me, but the main thing is tactics. With most players, tactics are missing. You can divide tactics into insight, trust, and daring." - Johan Cruyff
We actually played a modified high line under Vanney, it just wasn't a press-and-recover type line. It was a slow build, then move the back line high and pin them back, and we got caught a few times with it.
I don't know if the press-and-recover type high line would be more or less dangerous. Part of the reason we got caught is we've always had at least one slow central defender, but when you're set up with space in the other team's end, any break where a person is caught out of position can lead to a ball over the top.
Maybe when the ball is under constant pressure for a recover, which we DIDN'T do, the high press is less dangerous as it's harder to outlet.
I tend to think Omar is a liability if our line is high all the time. Mavinga's going to do a lot of recovering.
Armas actually mentionned the word "block" at one point in his presser - as in "mid-field block". Not sure how that fits in.
Most teams don't press the whole 90.
What Armas is most on about is verticality & quick ball movement UP the field - if you don't get the ball in the opponent end quick, its considered a failure. Vanney was about quick ball movement from side to side looking for that opening.
Doesn't a mid-block essentially mean that you start pressing in the other teams end, but only within about ten metres their side of centre or so, as opposed to a full press which starts as soon as they have the ball? Red Bulls did the full press, as did Liverpool pre covid. Not sure who a good example of the mid block is in the Premier League or MLS though. Personally I think a full press is highly effective at the start of the game and the second half but should otherwise be used intermittently and strategically.
The goal of the press is to recover the ball quickly once you've lost it hoping to cause defenders who are less skilled to play the ball, causing turnovers in the midfield. Teams employed this against us last season pretty effectively to the annoyance of Bradley in particular. Piatti was probably our best suited player to this style (aside from injury risk). I still think we have way too many older players to try this with much success.
You need players with defensive smarts and athleticism to do a press. I get a feeling at Armas will have to go something half assed press with current TFC roster mid season.
With travel fatigue, and what looks like potentially a lot of mid week games (is TFC in the League Cup?).... I have PTSD about all the late goals TFC used to give up due to fatigue (and crappy coaching)
“Years have gone by and I’ve finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good football.
I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: ‘A pretty move, for the love of God.’
And when good football happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don’t give a damn which team or country performs it.”
-Eduardo Galeano
The best mid block team in MLS is probably PTFC they look to cause mid field turn overs and then counter.
One of the things about a press is how long do you counter press a loss of possession. We could counter press for three to five seconds, drop back into a mid block and press again. These kind of triggers and timings are what differentiates one coach and one press from another.
Remember The Man, The Legend, The Goal 5-12-07 and All That #9 Left On The Pitch, Thanks For The Memories !!!
Thanks all for your replies and thoughts to the high press.
I must say that reading what you have being posting, it's a real eye opener to understanding some more of these soccer tactics, and even providing some examples of other teams using it, and the different variations that go with "pressing". I find the tactical aspect of the game doesn't get talked about all that much, including on the league's website. I have a wonderful book called "Soccer for Dummies" lol, and there, it talks about some tactics, but probably only a small percentage of it.
Add in the fact that not every type of position is utilized by all teams, making it even more difficult to fully understand the many variations to the tactical aspects of the game!
Now, since it's being mentioned that there's lots of hard work and running especially for forwards and midfield playing a press, would this pose a problem for someone like Altidore, who may not be able to run at it for the full 90?
Btw - I also recall people here talking about the different tactical approaches that Tottenham uses.
Can someone point to me where those posts are? I'd love to read up on those again!
The high press also involves much more use of the offside trap by the backline. So it works best when you have stability in the back (players who have been together for a while). Which we do have.
"There are some people who might have better technique than me, and some may be fitter than me, but the main thing is tactics. With most players, tactics are missing. You can divide tactics into insight, trust, and daring." - Johan Cruyff
One day, might take a road trip to this stadium
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/TaylorTwellman/status/1364025113323126787
Ooo...the prices are reasonable
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/Bretjust1T/status/1364611583444402182
https://www.sportingnews.com/ca/socc...b1ne3ra7ak0rak
A piece on Marshall-Rutty that says Manchester United, Juventus, Manchester City, Porto and, Bayern are all tracking him/have eyes on him.