Journal Entry 3/28/11

Hungary vs. Netherlands

Final Score: Netherlands 4 Hungary 0

Netherlands: 4 4 2 Hungary 4 5 1

Goalkeeper Gabor Kilary made two great saves around the 65th minute. One coming against one of the premier players in the world -- Sneijder.

Don’t have a lot to say about the Hungary national team as they were clearly overmatched by the Dutchmen. The defense was very porous and Netherlands seemed to just be a step faster throughout the whole game. My favorite player of the game was Robert Van Persie just because he clearly seems to be one of the best players on the field and always giving it his best.

Ibrahim Affelay, Rafael Van der Vaart, Dirk Kuyt, and Robin Van Persie all scored for the Netherlands.

My favorite defender to watch for the Dutch was Erik Pieters. He did a magnificent job of not letting the Hungary players get around him and get many good looks at the goal.

My favorite defender to watch for Hungary was Pal Lazar, just for the effort he seemed to always be giving. There is not much good to say about any of the defenders though as evidenced by the 4- 0 final score.

Netherlands scored by great ball movement throughout the game with none better than the pass from Gregory van der Wiel to Robert Van Persie for the fourth and final goal of the match.

Thats all !! =]

Journal Week of 3/25/10

Journal Week of 3/25/10

Game 1
1. Spain vs. Czech Republic
2. Spain= Casillas; Czech Republic= Cech
3. Spain= 4-3-3; Czech Republic= 4-4-2
4. Cech and Casillas just did average goalkeeping wise. They had some brilliant saves, but of course, both could've had a clean sheet.
5. Both teams could've played better. Spain's performance wasn't very good, they don't deserve to win unless they clean it up. Czech Republic's defender had a rubbish foul as well that caused a pointless penalty in the game. However, Spain dominated most of the game.
6. 2-1 Spain
7. Of course being a Chelsea fan, my favorite player was Petr Cech. He should've saved one of the goals, but he played well. He came up big at times.
8. I think if Spain is going to win Euro 2012, they need to pick up their game. They have all these big names and aren't doing a fabulous job as the World Cup 2010 World Champions.

Game 2
1. USA vs. Argentina
2. USA= Howard; Argentina= Romero
3. USA= 4-2-2 ; Argentina= 3-5-2
4. Howard had some really good saves. He did a decent job in goal, and as always you could tell how hard he played. However, Argentina took it to the US.
5. The US was not able to keep up with most of Argentina's attacks and moves. The US needed to up there game more, however, Argentina really didn't finish a lot of chances.
6. 1-1 Tie
7. My only favorite player would be Howard because of how hard he worked and how he directs his defense the best that he can.

March 17th Soccer Journal

Manchester United vs. Olympique Marseille

Final Score: Manchester United-2, Olypique Marseille-1

Manchester United: 4x3x3, 4x4x2 -- Not sure what formation, it looked like 4x3x3 in first half and 4x2x2 in second half but not sure.

#16 was an outside defender; a couple of the defenders got hurt and were subbed for.

Marseille- 3x5x2 in the first half and 4x3x3 in the second half

#19 and #24 were the outside defenders. I noticed that #24 was very patient in his 1v1 defending and didn't dive. He was also calm on the ball and liked to get in the offense when he could.

The two goals that were scored on Marseille was a result of terrible marking. Both goals were the same; #14 on Manchester United was virtually standing completely unmarked in front of the goal and the ball was passed to him (1st goal by Wayne Rooney and 2nd goal by Giggs) and he just placed it in an open net.

I think that Manchester United was very lucky to come out with a win. The goals they scored were easy; they were a result of bad defending by Marseille. Also, Marseille was not short of chances. They had a ton of chances (more than Manchester United it looked like) and they just could not capitalize or finish. If they would have finished on just a few of their various chances, they would have come out with a win.

My favorite player of the game was Wayne Rooney. I think he had one of his better games. He seemed like he was everywhere and he had some truly terrific passes. He kept slipping the ball through the defense and finding the open players. He was very calm on the ball and just had great skill on the ball. He played well!

Fun! (not for him!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLnR0VpEKJE&feature=player_embedded

Here is something fun for spring break (even it's almost over). Soccer is not easy always...

March 3rd Soccer Journal

Game Numero Uno

Valencia vs. Barcelona. Barcelona wins 1-0 =]

I believe Valencia was in a 4-4-2 and Barcelona was in a 4-3-3.

For these games I focused more on the center defenders instead of outside defenders. For Valencia these players were #20 Costa, and #15 Dealbert. For Barcelona-- #16 Busquets and #3 (My favorite) Pique.

Valencia's center defender (ah I forget which one) - made a great play on Messi by dropping into the goal when the goalie came out. He made a save by doing that.

Messi slightly dominated. He is unbelievable with his ball control and 1v1 moves. He is so persistent and never gave up. He was always open for the ball because he was always moving Love him!

Game Numero Dos

Manchester City vs. Aston Villa.

Man City wins 3-0

So this video wasn't the greatest because it mostly just showed highlights from the offensive thirds.. But both teams had a flat back four.. and it looked like a 4-3-3 for both but it's difficult to say...

The players in my positions were too difficult to see because the video quality was not good.

There was no unique individual play that I saw from the defenders, but as a unit the Man City defense seemed to move very well. Offensive players were marked and they maintained a good shape. Aston Villa defense got beat on a through ball. It appeared that the center defenders allowed a striker between them on a dead run and got caught on their heels.

Ball movement-- Every pass was with a purpose. Players without the ball kept wide spacing, especially with the defensive backs.

Favorite player for the game-- Couldn't see his number but one of the center defenders for Man City.. Tall and good looking? (at least from the video quality I could tell!)

this is sooooo cool.

Journal Week of 2/27/11

Game 1
1. Arsenal vs. Birmingham
2. Arsenal= Szczesny; Birmingham= Foster
3. Arsenal= 4-2-3-1; Birmingham= 4-4-2
4. Forster had quite a bit of pass backs to him from his teammates, these were good pass offs. Forster also has some really awesome saves that kept his team in the game. Also, he was communicating quite well from the way he was talking. He played well despite him not getting a shut out.
5. I thought both teams had good movement, but I feel like Birmingham showed they really wanted to win this game more than Arsenal.
6. 1-2 Birmingham
7. I think my favorite player was Foster because he has some awesome saves.
8. ESPN has an article on the Arsenal front page about Thierry Henry says that if Arsenal will take him back, he will gladly come back. I think this is interesting because he now is playing soccer in the states. It would be cool to really ask his opinion about how he really feels about United States soccer because he was the first to start a trend of retired European players to come bring more media to the MLS.

Game 2
1. Wigan vs. ManU
2. Wigan= Habsi; ManU= Van Der Sar
3. Wigan= 4-2-3-1 ; ManU= 4-4-2
4. Van Der Sar did well, he held his own. He got the shutout that he needed, and Habsi could've cleaned up his game.
5. ManU played well, but could've played more composed. They seemed to have good ball movement, but it was sloppy. However, they got the job done.
6. 4-0 ManU
7. I don't really have a favorite player because it was a sloppy game for both teams, but the better team, ManU, put the game away.

Live Games:
Chelsea vs. ManU 3/1/11 @2:45 pm
The game atmosphere was really intense. The movement was good by both teams. Chelsea really brought good offense in the first part of the game. Ramierez got a yellow card in the 12th minute for a bad tackle. In the 29th minute, Cech disappointed and Rooney scored. However, the defense did a poor job of keeping him from getting the shot off. In the 38th minute, Chelsea almost scored, but missed by desperate defense of ManU. ManU's Vidic got a yellow card right outside the 18. Luiz scored in the 54th minute to tie the game up. It was great finish. Lampard finished a PK in the 79th minute after a foul by ManU's captain Vidic. Late in injury time, Vidic, the Captain received his second yellow card to be kicked out of the game. Chelsea won the match 2 to 1. Way to get a win boys!!! It was about time! I think that Cech came up big this game for Chelsea, even though the goal he was scored on was pretty much savable, he did have some nice saves as well as Van Der Sar. It was a good game, but the refereeing was questionable on some calls. But like I said early, a win's a win, and glad my boys finally got one!

This is my favorite :) goalies.. i expect this!

I'm sure a bunch of you have seen this.. but I still think it's the coolest thing ever! Against ENGLAND too! =]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkYmmV7Oa-U&feature=related

Skill To Be Jealous Of

Check out this keeper from UNC Asheville, Lassi Hurskaine, doing some crazy tricks. He basically can place the ball wherever he wants.

JOURNAL 2/25/11

Journal 2/25/11:

1. Inter Milan vs. Bayern Munchen

2. Inter Milan:Stankovic Dejan

Bayern Munchen: Schweinsteiger

3. Inter Milan: 4-4-2

Bayern Munchen: 3-5-2

4. Around the 62 minute schweinsteiger dribble towards goal then shot right outside the 18… something I need to work on so it was nice to see an example of it.

5. Eto’o had great movement and dribbling up top, creating scoring opportunities, but no finishing any for Inter.

6. 1-0 Bayern Munchen

7. Philipp Lahm: he did really good attacking out of the back and was almost like an outside mid. He had a few individual chances to score himself.

8. 2011 Algarve Cup Venues Finalized (ussoccer.com)

The US has travel to Portugal for the Algarve Cup, which they have won 7 times. Their first game is March 2^nd. This is interesting to me because the US women’s team is in a big tournament playing against the other best women in the world. It will be interesting to see if the USA can remain on top or if there are better players and teams out there now.

Bonus 1:

UEFA Champions League Game: Chelsea vs. FC Kobenhavn (2/22/11)

Chelsea scored in the 17^th minute by Anekle #39. It was a good goal but was defended poor. Anekle had another chance in the 31^st minute but missed. The first half ended 1-0 Chelsea. The second half Anekle scored again almost the same way he scored the first goal. Chelsea ends up winning the 2-0.

Bonus 2:

UEFA Champions League Game: Manchester United vs. Marseille (2/23/11)

The possession was pretty even in the first half, but Marseille was in United’s half more. The first half was pretty boring. One thing I did notice was Man. U. moved up the field with possession section by section. This is what we have worked on some in practice lately. The first half of this game was a good example of what this looked like. On thing that could have made for a better example of section-by-section possession is if they would have scored after the build up or had a good finishing opportunity.

Journal Entry Week of 2/20/11

Game 1
1. Inter Milan vs. Bayern Munchen
2. Inter= Ceaser; Bayern= Kraft
3. Inter= 4-3-2-1; Bayern= 4-5-1
4. Kraft did incredible. He made save after save, and did very well in goal. His preformance this game was excellent.
5. It was an awesome game, there was good movements by both teams. Bayern just happened to put one away and move the ball around more.
6. 1-0 Bayern
7. I think my favorite player would be Kraft because of how well he played. There wasn't a second he wasn't making a save then right back up for the next shot.
8. As a person who kind of likes Bayern Munich, it's really awesome to hear that after this big win they are back into the top 10 in the World Power Rankings. That's a big shake-up for the rankings, but exciting too. This team has a lot of world class players.

Game 2
1. Arsenal vs. Stoke City
2. Arsenal= Szczesny; Stoke City= Begovic
3. Arsenal= 4-3-2-1; Stoke= 4-4-2
4. Begovic did terrible. He got scored on near post, which is the goalkeeper's number one place to not get scored on. He could have saved that goal easily too. However, Szczesny did quite well and posted the shut-out. Begovic seemed to be a little flustered and was not very controlled throughout the game.
5. Arsenal definitely had the better movement compared to Stoke City. They moved the ball around well and passed precisely.
6. 1-0 Arsenal
7. Arsenal's Squillaci has to be my favorite man of the match because he put away a goal, even if it was a goalkeeper's mistake.
8. Arsenal's Captain, Fabregas will not be able to play again Birmingham in the Carling Cup final. I'm curios as to see if this makes a difference in Arsenal's play for the final match.


Live Games
Chelsea vs. FC Copenhagen @ 2:45
Overall, the game was an easy win for Chelsea, which I think they needed. In the 17th minute, Anelka put a goal away, which was much needed as well. He has been needing some confidence, and did well on the breakaway against Copenhagen's goalkeeper. Much did not happen in the match, Chelsea had many opportunities to score like Skylar said in her report, but they also controlled the game really well. It was in a way, a good confidence booster for the team since they are playing poorly these days. Also, there was a second goal also scored by Anelka. He played well this game. Good solid win for Chelsea.

Journal Number 2 woohoo

Journal Number 2 woohoo

GAME #1

1.Arsenal vs. Stroke City

2. Ars= Wilshere Stroke City= Rory Delap

3. Ars= 4-3-3 Stroke City= 4-4-2

4. Wilshere had an awesome game once again... he has fast feet and he makes great runs as well as defends really well.

5. I felt like the ball movement was pretty fast during this game and it got kind of physical. I thought that Arsenal outplayed Stroke City majorly.

6. 1-0 Arsenal

7. Squillaci because he scored the goal!!! And Bendtner got the assist!

GAME #2

1. Manchester United vs. Olympique Marseille

2. ManU= Fletcher OM= Kabore

3. ManU= 4-3-3 OM= 4-3-3

4. Anderson did a great job controlling the ball in the middle and he created a lot of opportunities... hes a smart player!

5. This game was okay. There were a lot of chances on both sides both there were no results so it was kind of annoying. I thought Man U did better overall, but i could be bias...

6. 0-0

7. Nani was my favorite player of this game because he gave Man U a lot of opportunities and took a lot of chances... yet he couldn't get a result but he played really aggressive and i like him!

Journal Feb 22/11

Chelsea vs. FC Copenhagen

Final Score: Chelsea- 2, FC Copenhagen- 0

Chelsea and Copenhagen both played in a 4-4-2 formation. I believe playing in a 4-4-2 was new for Chelsea, but I think it worked out for them because it gave them more room to spread out and move the ball. Chelsea definitely dominated but had a few breakdowns. They should have scored more than they did because they had a lot of chances but were struggling to finish. Torres had a few chances that he needed to capitalize on. However, he had some good passes to Anelka, who ended up scoring both goals for Chelsea.

As for Copenhagen, all that really stuck out to me was that they were struggling on defense. They looked like they were playing way too flat and had very bad coverage. They were not supporting each other very well and were not always winning their 1v1 duals, as seen by the first goal that was scored.

The right outside back for Copenhagen is #2 Zdenek Pospech.

The right outside back for Chelsea is #17 Jose Bosingwa

All I noticed about the outside backs were that they like to get into the attack a lot. However for Copenhagen, I constantly noticed the center back, #25 getting into the attack almost as much as the outside back.

That's all I really noticed!

Sky

Make The Difference

Here's a quote that is always inspiring:

"You can stop at enough and go no further, satisfied with being just another name on the team sheet. Or you could be their worst nightmare. The one who can turn a game in an instant. Who gladly takes the penalty in the 90th minute. Who not only bleeds for his team, but bleeds into them. The one who sees the pass that no one else sees, makes the tackle that turns desperate defense into decisive attack. Who turns doubt into belief. A bus ride home spent in silence, into one spent in deafening celebration. Be the one they worry about days before kickoff. Be the one they want injured in the warm-up. Who blurs the line between hate and respect. Who can never be stopped, only feared. Make your mark on each and every game. Today. Tomorrow. In training. Next Saturday. Make the difference."

Journal 2/18/11 !!!

GAME #1

1.Arsenal vs. Barcelona

2. Ars= Wilshere Barc= Xavi

3. Ars= 4-5-1 Barc= 4-3-3

4. Wilshere had an awesome game... i need to learn to make smart runs like he does...he always seems to be in the right place at the right time!!

5. I felt like the ball movement was pretty fast during this game and there were a lot of good runs off of the ball

6. 2-1 Arsenal

7. Van Persie because he scored the first goal and set the tone for the game!!

GAME #2

1. Manchester United vs. Manchester City

2. ManU= Anderson Man City= Barry

3. ManU= 4-3-3 Man City= 4-3-3

4. Anderson did a great job controlling the ball in the middle and he created a lot of opportunities... hes a smart player!

5. This game was exciting... the ref got tackled... which is kinda funny. There were many scoring oppurtunities for both teams and there was a lot of attack going on... Rooneys goal!!

6. 2-1 Man U

7. Rooney, just because of this goal... amazing!!

Rooney's goal : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1K7am5WnAQ

Journal Entry Week of 2/13/11

Game 1
1. AC Milan vs. Tottenham
2. AC Milan= Christian Abbitati; Tottenham= Gomes
3. AC Milan= 4-3-3; Tottenham=4-4-2
4. From watchin the highlights, Abbitati had an incredible save. The shot was going to go upper 90. Overall from the highlights, Gomes played a solid game sealing the game's shutout for the Hotspurs, but Abbitati kept AC Milan in the game.
5. AC Milan and Tottenham both had good movement, but the Hotspurs seemed to control the game for the most part. AC wasn't playing as well as they should have.
6. 1-0 Tottenham
7. From the highlights, Abbitati's upper 90 save was pretty incredible; however, Gomes did seal the shut out and that was a good, solid win for Tottenham.
8. I think an interesting topic dealing with this game is AC Milan's captaingennaro Gattuso was charged with gross unsporting conduct. He will suffer a lengthy ban that has yet to be decided by UEFA, but he headbutted Tottenham's coach, Joe Jordan. You can go to http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/881629/gennaro-gattuso-charged-with-gross-unsporting-conduct?cc=5901 if you would like to read more on it. It's pretty sad that a captain was so disrespectful and acted out of control because of his anger from losing.

Game 2
1. Arsenal vs. Barcelona
2. Arsenal= Szczesny; Barcelona= Victor Valdes
3. Arsenal= 4-2-3-1; Barcelona= 4-3-3
4. Valdes had an excellent save in the first 8 minutes. Valdes did well but of course, didn't get the full shutout sadly. However, both keepers played well, but Valdes was under a lot of pressure with Arsenal down his throat.
5. Barcelona had some good movement but Arsenal seemed really goal hungry. They were eager to score and nothing was going to stand in their way. They had many opportunities to finish, they should have scored more.
6. 2-1 Arsenal
7. I think I would have to pick Valdes as my favorite player because some of the saves he made in this game were world class saves, and I was very impressed and admired that, despite the score.
8. This was a big win for Arsenal, they claimed a good comeback in the final minutes of the game which was impressive, and you could tell that they really wanted this win against a great team.

Games Watched:
Chelsea vs. Fullham (February 14, 2011 @ 3pm)
Of course being a Chelsea fan, I was disappointed in Chelsea's performance, but I can always count on Cech to make a great save when needed. In the 93rd minute, he stopped Fullham's and U.S. National Team Striker, Clint Dempsey's Penalty Kick to keep Chelsea from losing the game. Torres missed many chances to score. Ancelotti decided to take out Drogba when nothing was being done alongside Torres. Overall, Chelsea had the most control of the game and should have finished a lot of goals, but they failed. They are a disappointment right now and should be playing better, but like I said before, at least I can count on Cech to keep the boys in the game. The game resulted in a 0-0 draw.

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"Blue is the colour, football is the game
We're all together, and winning is our aim
So cheer us on through the sun and rain
'Cause Chelsea, Chelsea is our name!"

Shall we make a team blog?

Well this is just an example of something we can do but i can always make it look cool.... you just post like this and you can put links and stuff on here if you want to share videos!