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!