I suppose- If packing it in on D (pretty much 6 back the entire match), subbing on pretty much every stoppage to disrupt flow, not attempting to mount an offensive attack is getting them ready then, yep, you got that right. Terrible game to watch. Sacred Heart pretty much played keep away the entire match. Coaching staff played it safe. Would have gotten ugly had HHS extended.

 

I will take these comments at face value and put a different spin on it....

 

HHS coaches seemed to have put together a pretty good game plan for their matchup with SH, it kept the score close and gave his squad what might have been their best chance at victory. Although the Lady Birds fell to the top ranked team in the state by a single goal, they might have learned some things that will help them in the post season and who knows, maybe next time those two shots might find the back of the net.

I suppose- If packing it in on D (pretty much a minimum of 6 back the entire match, even when no pressure), subbing on pretty much every stoppage to disrupt flow, not attempting to mount an offensive attack is getting them ready then, yep, you got that right. Terrible game to watch. Sacred Heart pretty much played keep away the entire match. Coaching staff played it safe. Would have gotten ugly had HHS extended.

 

So you would have preferred a 5-0 or more game and have them extend the field and attack more? Sure it may not have been the most beautiful game to watch, but a 1-0 game is always within reach. You know how this game works, at any moment an over-matched team can snatch victory or a draw from the jaws of certain defeat. If they are down 5-0 in the 2nd half, that would be painful to watch, in my opinion. What formation do the Birds run, by the way? It seems to me that 6 back is not that unusual if you are running a 4-3-3, 4-4-2 or even 3-4-3. Play to your strength and based on the strengths of your opponent.

Yellow card makes a very good point. If you are playing a team that has more talent, then the game plan has to change. What good does it do to try and open it up and get smoked 7 to 1. I take my chances being down 1 to 0 against the best team in the state with under 10 minutes to go, and see if I can generate some offense to tie it up and send it to OT, or a shoot out. Some times you cannot play your regular game due to the opponent.

So were there really only 2 shots on goal or not?

Yellow card makes a very good point. If you are playing a team that has more talent, then the game plan has to change. What good does it do to try and open it up and get smoked 7 to 1. I take my chances being down 1 to 0 against the best team in the state with under 10 minutes to go, and see if I can generate some offense to tie it up and send it to OT, or a shoot out. Some times you cannot play your regular game due to the opponent.

 

Of course you're right, but Jeez, it's a lot harder to grind an axe on a 1-0 loss than it would have been on a 5-0 or 7-1 loss.

So were there really only 2 shots on goal or not?

 

For a guy who "could care less" you sure care a lot.

So were there really only 2 shots on goal or not?

 

Who knows... I guess no one, myself included, thought it was relevant enough to find out.

It is interesting that two of the top four girls teams in that state (Assumption and Owensboro Catholic) have 50% of their roster comprised of freshmen and sophomores. NDA comes in at 48%. The current top team in the state (Sacred Heart) has a roster comprised of 38% and HHS has 39% freshmen and sophomores.

 

This naturally follows from development of the game on the girls' side (I posit). The average speed of play (technical and tactical) and the number of girls who can play at that level has been steadily increasing. Whereas in the past it may have been an advantage to put a bigger bodied Senior on the field over a smaller if more skilled underclassman, many teams now can attack as a team and defend collectively so that they get more mileage out of playing the best soccer players and not just the best or biggest athletes. It will be interesting to see if this really is a trend going forward.

I suppose- If packing it in on D (pretty much a minimum of 6 back the entire match, even when no pressure), subbing on pretty much every stoppage to disrupt flow, not attempting to mount an offensive attack is getting them ready then, yep, you got that right. Terrible game to watch. Sacred Heart pretty much played keep away the entire match. Coaching staff played it safe. Would have gotten ugly had HHS extended.

 

It was more like 8 back entire match w/one of the fast players up front being only player across midfield and chasing 3-4 SH players from one side of field to the other side while rest of team stayed back across midfield. Credit coach for keeping them in the game (I do not agree with a lot he does, but this was a good adjustment), he was just hoping to get to PK's to try to win; did not have them ready at the whistle in second half though. what happen to rule if you do not show up for practice that you sit out the game, how do you let player play in game when not there to learn new formation. The subbing pattern or lack of pattern is nothing new, that is what he did last year, this year and will continue.

For a guy who "could care less" you sure care a lot.

 

Just asking questions to keep the conversation moving. I will start addressing the boys situation later.

Just asking questions to keep the conversation moving. I will start addressing the boys situation later.

 

Surprised no one has yet! It could make for some good conversation from what I have been hearing.

Birdie Tweet I would agree with your comment regarding players should be at practice to play. However, I have been in and seen situations where there are very good reasons why they may not have practiced and that is only appropriate for the coach and/or player, players parent to know. In some of these instances you don't further 'punish' the player by benching them. But that also gets dicey as you may look inconsistent when another player misses for no reason and you bench them. That's a tough one sometimes.

 

As far as being ready for 2nd half, I do put that on the coaches as well but man if you can figure that out coaches would pay you a lot of money for the remedy. See UK football. LOL There still kids so we don't see even the pro's to show the level of consistency that we would like.

Not a soccer expert but winning this game means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things so why not open it up and play the game and see how your team reacts and plays so come regional time you can deal with an NDA or NCC better. In my worthless opinion playing defense the entire game and not attacking from what I'm reading doesn't help you much. Who cares if you get beat 5 - 0. That's why you schedule these good teams is to learn and get better not just survive to keep the score close. I wasn't there so maybe they didn't have a choice but to play defense the whole game.

SH scored on a PK after a questionable call.

SH scored on a PK after a questionable call.

 

Not question about it a player got beat badly and then compounded the problem by tackling the girl from behind in the box!