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Teams taking advantage on set pieces
In seven of nine Week 11 matches, action around restarts had an impact on result
06/01/2009 6:38 PMBy Steve Davis / Special to MLSnet.com
Week in Review: Last unbeaten falls Vote for the 2009 MLS All-Stars Vote for Goal of the Week
Kenny Cooper celebrates after scoring FC Dallas' third goal from a free kick on Sunday. (Daniel/Getty Images)
Teams taking advantage on set pieces
Week in Review: Last unbeaten falls
Blanco called to save Mexico
Segares is vital member of Costa Rica
More Headlines >Sometimes you think teams could save us all a whole bunch of time and trouble if they just played out all the restarts, shook hands, hugged it out and then went off to sign the autographs for the kiddoes.
Of course, that wouldn't be nearly as much fun for everyone. We wouldn't get all the soccer in between. Fans couldn't cheer, cheer, cheer for the home team and jeer the mean ol' visitors. And, sadly, we would find ourselves one excuse short for scarfing brats and soda pops.
But as for the bottom line, for sorting out which teams collect the points, those free kicks, corner kicks and such sometimes mean everything. And not just how teams execute the restart action, but how sides deal with them defensively. (Not to mention the whys and wherefores of conceding the free kicks, corner kicks and penalty kicks in the first place.)
We saw it all as restarts reigned in a busy Round 11, including that one other highly combustible element in the dead ball calculus: how refereeing decisions can play a weighty role, too.
In seven of nine matches, action in and around restarts had a significant impact on the result. And what results these were, as the final weekend of May was brimming with crackerjack matches. Two contests finished level and five others were nail-biters decided by single-goal margins.
The two matches that weren't very close were heavily influenced by restart goals, as both teams from Texas used free kicks and corner kicks to put a hurtin' for certain on their hapless foes.
FC Dallas provided the weekend's shocker in a "who saw that coming?" 3-0 win against previously unbeaten Chicago at Toyota Park. (Although perhaps it shouldn't have been such a surprise, considering that Denis Hamlett's men were sucked into a classic trap match, pitted against a league struggler while coming directly off an emotional, intense and physically taxing win over Chivas USA.)
Dave van den Bergh's corner kick found Jeff Cunningham. Goal. C.J. Brown couldn't deal adequately with Dax McCarty's free kick. Goal. And just like that the visitors, buoyed by two dead ball strikes, were firmly in control after 35 minutes, as a lethargic Fire limped along on a sunny Sunday.
Down in Houston the domination was even more complete as Toronto collapsed under a withering six-minute blitz. The Orange struck three times in that brief window, with two from well-taken free kicks. Brad Davis' driven ball beat TFC's frail wall, and he then combined with Stuart Holden on a nifty and well-rehearsed movement off another free kick in a dangerous spot. Holden's laser beat rookie goalkeeper Stefan Frei and the Canadians never threatened to get back in the game.
What we remember is the final product when Davis and Holden combine for such dandies. Of course, there's a lot that goes into these important, match-turning moments. It starts with giving up the restarts. Toronto is a better team these days, faster and more athletic than in previous years. But there are still deficiencies, especially along the back line, and a speedy team like Houston can expose them.
Everyone in the league knows about the men in Orange and the danger they present on free kicks and corner kicks. So Adrian Serioux was courting disaster when he took down Corey Ashe just outside the penalty area. That led to goal No. 1. Minutes earlier, Serioux had fouled Stuart Holden in a dangerous spot, and that one had nearly turned into the game's first goal.
And what was Carl Robinson thinking as he mugged Kei Kamara just beyond the 18? That was goal No. 2.
Sometimes it's the defending on restarts that needs attention. Columbus started a nice week results-wise with a win against San Jose. And the last thing the desperate Earthquakes needed was sloppiness on a Crew restart. So Frank Yallop's men were punished severely when Quincy Amarikwa was way too slow to get off the goalpost after a corner kick was cleared competently.
Gino Padula gathered up the loose ball and his cross found a wide-open Eric Brunner, who was unchallenged, as the bulk of San Jose's defensive force had cleared the area properly. Eddie Gaven sneaked into the back post for the equalizer, and Guillermo Barros Schelotto's game-winner ensured that the Earthquakes' mighty struggles continued until the weekend.
Speaking of struggling: Matt Pickens lost focus on a restart and it nearly allowed New York to slip back into a match that Colorado had more or less under control on Saturday. The Rapids were up 3-1 at Giants Stadium when Colorado's typically steady goalkeeper fumbled an innocuous free kick. Pickens looked alert as Juan Pablo Angel presided over the restart from about 33 yards. When Angel's shot came in soft and manageable, Pickens relaxed a bit, allowing the ball to squirt free and Danleigh Borman to pull his team within a goal.
The New York-Colorado match was one of three this weekend that included successful penalty kicks, and all were one-goal wins. So all three matches provided a good example of how refereeing decisions weigh critically in this particular restart opportunity.
Ricardo Salazar, in the middle at Giants Stadium, got a very difficult decision spot-on perfect when Red Bulls midfielder Albert Celades tripped Colorado's Omar Cummings at the very corner of the penalty area. Salazar took a second or two and even glanced over toward his nearby assistant referee before finalizing his decision, and replays validated the officials' decision.
Mehdi Ballouchy supplied what would become the winning goal, as the Red Bulls continued reeling. (New York squandered a huge opportunity in May, collecting just four of a possible 12 points from four home matches. Now, Juan Carlos Osorio's side must play six of their next seven on the road, and that's hardly a formula for righting the ship.)
Just up the coast, referee Hilario Grajeda may look at replays and regret his decision to award New England a late penalty kick. D.C. United defender Bryan Namoff appeared to make very little contact with Revs' striker Taylor Twellman, whose fall inside the penalty area provided Steve Ralston the chance for a dramatic stoppage-time game-winner.
Of course, Ralston still had to make it happen. Obviously its "advantage shooter" from the 12-yard spot, even if people do occasionally fail to convert. Unfortunately for Seattle's Freddie Ljungberg, he was the third in MLS in 2009 that failed, as he pulled his spot shot left against Columbus. (Shooters have converted 19 of 22 penalty kicks in MLS this year.)
That that wasn't Seattle's only dead ball dud, as the SigiSounders missed a huge opportunity when they failed to convert on a juicy indirect free kick from the top of the Crew six-yard box. Seattle finished level at a goal apiece on the Xbox pitch, surely disappointed with its fifth consecutive draw. So clearly, the "misses" on mouthwatering restarts are every bit as meaningful as the "makes," even if they are a lot less memorable.
TACTICAL CORNER
• Emmanuel Ekpo continues to look like a real force along Columbus' right side, with Eddie Gaven settling into his new role in front of holding midfielder Brian Carroll. Ekpo's speed, his ability on the turn and his willingness to go at defenders is giving fullbacks tons to deal with -- all part of the reason things are going better these days around Estadio Crew.
Perfect example: against San Jose late last week, Bobby Convey was tracking back frequently to assist left fullback Eric Denton, who had his hands full with Ekpo. That severely limited what Convey could manage on offense. A few nights later, Convey looked far more dangerous against Real Salt Lake, as he was the one applying the pressure.
On top of Ekpo's ability on the dribble, he's hitting a few nice balls across the field to Robbie Rogers these days, successfully and quickly changing the point the attack.
• Is anybody else surprised that New England hasn't scored off one of Darrius Barnes' ballistic throw-ins this year? For my money, he's the best in the league at it.
• Meanwhile at Gillette Stadium, if I'm Kheli Dube or Kenny Mansally, I'm not feeling too good about my place in the Revs' world. Manager Steve Nicol clearly prefers to subtract one of the league's top holding midfielders from his preferred position rather than start one of these other two strikers. Shalrie Joseph was once gain in a less familiar position Saturday as Dube and Mansally sat next to Nicol to start the match. That's not exactly what you call an endorsement.
• Taylor Twellman did come off the bench for New England, making his first appearance of 2009 in the 29th minute Saturday. That must been a tremendous relief for several players, as they could retreat into far more comfortable roles. Joseph returned to his holding midfield domain, and Steve Ralston dropped deeper as a second forward, as opposed to playing higher in the absence of a true striker such as Twellman.
• Marvell Wynne has been a right fullback and occasionally a right-sided midfielder at Toronto. Now, he can add "right winger" to his resume as manager Chris Cummins deployed the speedy U.S. international up high in a 4-3-3. Wynne's speed is always dangerous, of course, but his first touch and lack of familiarity with the subtleties of the spot rendered him something less than effective.
• San Jose center back Jason Hernandez, who just made his third start after nearly two months of injury-related absence, seems to make San Jose's entire defense better, even if the results haven't always showed it so far.
• After about two years of flailing in efforts to assemble a competent back line -- D.C. United couldn't even settle on whether to play with three or four in the back, much less who to put back there -- manager Tom Soehn finally has found the formula thanks to Dejan Jakovic. Stationed centrally behind Bryan Namoff and Marc Burch, the young Croatian always seems composed and in charge.
• D.C. United seems to do a lot right these days, which is curious because the results are falling less than favorably. Soehn's men have four ties and a loss since knocking off Dallas on May 2. The one thing missing at the moment is quality of service from wide spots. Everything else seems to be there: tidy ball handling, passing, movement, confidence, lots of good pressure when they lose the ball and a high, tight defensive line.
• Red Bulls goalkeeper Jon Conway hasn't looked like the same guy since he stepped back in goal following that 10-game suspension. His ball handling isn't as sure and his positioning is too frequently suspect.
• Interesting choice by TFC to pull Danny Dichio from the starting 11 at Houston. It was obviously a ploy by manager Chris Cummins to keep the big fellow fresh for Tuesday's important Canada Championship match against Vancouver. But it really hurt TFC in this one, as Cummins had found a role that really suited Dichio, having him play centrally, but just a little closer to the midfield in a 4-3-3.
• In San Jose, it was a little odd that visiting Real Salt Lake seemed bent on attacking the Earthquakes' high defensive line by going over the top. The odd part wasn't the tactical choice. Rather, it was employing that plan but not starting Robbie Findley, RSL's fastest striker, as well as its leading scorer.
• Young San Jose defender Mike Zaher, making only his third career MLS start, provided a nice boost against RSL. He was good in defense and added something to the Earthquakes' attack.
• At Qwest Field, Sounders FC manager Sigi Schmid wanted a little more cover in the center of the park with do-all midfielder Osvaldo Alonso injured. So he shifted the midfield arrangement, relocating Freddie Ljungberg from the middle to the right. Ljungberg still played more or less as an attacking midfielder, but with Peter Vagenas stationed centrally in front of holding midfielder Brad Evans, the Sounders had a little more bite and balance in midfield.
• Missing six injured players, FC Dallas adjusted to unfamiliar roles by playing a makeshift 4-1-4-1 against Chicago. Dax McCarty played the holding role in front of a line of four more midfielders. Along the right, Jeff Cunningham, the league's fourth all-time leading goal scorer, made a rare midfield appearance. (One big bonus for FCD: when McCarty is on the field, his team's free kicks from the attacking third are always more dangerous.)
• Owing to that tough schedule, Chicago manager Denis Hamlett gambled that a reduced side could manage against FC Dallas. So the heart of the defense (Wilman Conde and Gonzalo Segares) and the brains of the attack (Cuauhtemoc Blanco) were given the day off. The results weren't pretty for Fire fans, who watched their team attempt just four shots (just one on goal) in the first 80 minutes.
Steve Davis is a freelance writer who has covered Major League Soccer since its inception. Steve can be reached at BigTexSoccer@yahoo.com. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20090601&content_id=5090060&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp
Supporter Comments Email
Teams taking advantage on set pieces
In seven of nine Week 11 matches, action around restarts had an impact on result
06/01/2009 6:38 PMBy Steve Davis / Special to MLSnet.com
Week in Review: Last unbeaten falls Vote for the 2009 MLS All-Stars Vote for Goal of the Week
Kenny Cooper celebrates after scoring FC Dallas' third goal from a free kick on Sunday. (Daniel/Getty Images)
Teams taking advantage on set pieces
Week in Review: Last unbeaten falls
Blanco called to save Mexico
Segares is vital member of Costa Rica
More Headlines >Sometimes you think teams could save us all a whole bunch of time and trouble if they just played out all the restarts, shook hands, hugged it out and then went off to sign the autographs for the kiddoes.
Of course, that wouldn't be nearly as much fun for everyone. We wouldn't get all the soccer in between. Fans couldn't cheer, cheer, cheer for the home team and jeer the mean ol' visitors. And, sadly, we would find ourselves one excuse short for scarfing brats and soda pops.
But as for the bottom line, for sorting out which teams collect the points, those free kicks, corner kicks and such sometimes mean everything. And not just how teams execute the restart action, but how sides deal with them defensively. (Not to mention the whys and wherefores of conceding the free kicks, corner kicks and penalty kicks in the first place.)
We saw it all as restarts reigned in a busy Round 11, including that one other highly combustible element in the dead ball calculus: how refereeing decisions can play a weighty role, too.
In seven of nine matches, action in and around restarts had a significant impact on the result. And what results these were, as the final weekend of May was brimming with crackerjack matches. Two contests finished level and five others were nail-biters decided by single-goal margins.
The two matches that weren't very close were heavily influenced by restart goals, as both teams from Texas used free kicks and corner kicks to put a hurtin' for certain on their hapless foes.
FC Dallas provided the weekend's shocker in a "who saw that coming?" 3-0 win against previously unbeaten Chicago at Toyota Park. (Although perhaps it shouldn't have been such a surprise, considering that Denis Hamlett's men were sucked into a classic trap match, pitted against a league struggler while coming directly off an emotional, intense and physically taxing win over Chivas USA.)
Dave van den Bergh's corner kick found Jeff Cunningham. Goal. C.J. Brown couldn't deal adequately with Dax McCarty's free kick. Goal. And just like that the visitors, buoyed by two dead ball strikes, were firmly in control after 35 minutes, as a lethargic Fire limped along on a sunny Sunday.
Down in Houston the domination was even more complete as Toronto collapsed under a withering six-minute blitz. The Orange struck three times in that brief window, with two from well-taken free kicks. Brad Davis' driven ball beat TFC's frail wall, and he then combined with Stuart Holden on a nifty and well-rehearsed movement off another free kick in a dangerous spot. Holden's laser beat rookie goalkeeper Stefan Frei and the Canadians never threatened to get back in the game.
What we remember is the final product when Davis and Holden combine for such dandies. Of course, there's a lot that goes into these important, match-turning moments. It starts with giving up the restarts. Toronto is a better team these days, faster and more athletic than in previous years. But there are still deficiencies, especially along the back line, and a speedy team like Houston can expose them.
Everyone in the league knows about the men in Orange and the danger they present on free kicks and corner kicks. So Adrian Serioux was courting disaster when he took down Corey Ashe just outside the penalty area. That led to goal No. 1. Minutes earlier, Serioux had fouled Stuart Holden in a dangerous spot, and that one had nearly turned into the game's first goal.
And what was Carl Robinson thinking as he mugged Kei Kamara just beyond the 18? That was goal No. 2.
Sometimes it's the defending on restarts that needs attention. Columbus started a nice week results-wise with a win against San Jose. And the last thing the desperate Earthquakes needed was sloppiness on a Crew restart. So Frank Yallop's men were punished severely when Quincy Amarikwa was way too slow to get off the goalpost after a corner kick was cleared competently.
Gino Padula gathered up the loose ball and his cross found a wide-open Eric Brunner, who was unchallenged, as the bulk of San Jose's defensive force had cleared the area properly. Eddie Gaven sneaked into the back post for the equalizer, and Guillermo Barros Schelotto's game-winner ensured that the Earthquakes' mighty struggles continued until the weekend.
Speaking of struggling: Matt Pickens lost focus on a restart and it nearly allowed New York to slip back into a match that Colorado had more or less under control on Saturday. The Rapids were up 3-1 at Giants Stadium when Colorado's typically steady goalkeeper fumbled an innocuous free kick. Pickens looked alert as Juan Pablo Angel presided over the restart from about 33 yards. When Angel's shot came in soft and manageable, Pickens relaxed a bit, allowing the ball to squirt free and Danleigh Borman to pull his team within a goal.
The New York-Colorado match was one of three this weekend that included successful penalty kicks, and all were one-goal wins. So all three matches provided a good example of how refereeing decisions weigh critically in this particular restart opportunity.
Ricardo Salazar, in the middle at Giants Stadium, got a very difficult decision spot-on perfect when Red Bulls midfielder Albert Celades tripped Colorado's Omar Cummings at the very corner of the penalty area. Salazar took a second or two and even glanced over toward his nearby assistant referee before finalizing his decision, and replays validated the officials' decision.
Mehdi Ballouchy supplied what would become the winning goal, as the Red Bulls continued reeling. (New York squandered a huge opportunity in May, collecting just four of a possible 12 points from four home matches. Now, Juan Carlos Osorio's side must play six of their next seven on the road, and that's hardly a formula for righting the ship.)
Just up the coast, referee Hilario Grajeda may look at replays and regret his decision to award New England a late penalty kick. D.C. United defender Bryan Namoff appeared to make very little contact with Revs' striker Taylor Twellman, whose fall inside the penalty area provided Steve Ralston the chance for a dramatic stoppage-time game-winner.
Of course, Ralston still had to make it happen. Obviously its "advantage shooter" from the 12-yard spot, even if people do occasionally fail to convert. Unfortunately for Seattle's Freddie Ljungberg, he was the third in MLS in 2009 that failed, as he pulled his spot shot left against Columbus. (Shooters have converted 19 of 22 penalty kicks in MLS this year.)
That that wasn't Seattle's only dead ball dud, as the SigiSounders missed a huge opportunity when they failed to convert on a juicy indirect free kick from the top of the Crew six-yard box. Seattle finished level at a goal apiece on the Xbox pitch, surely disappointed with its fifth consecutive draw. So clearly, the "misses" on mouthwatering restarts are every bit as meaningful as the "makes," even if they are a lot less memorable.
TACTICAL CORNER
• Emmanuel Ekpo continues to look like a real force along Columbus' right side, with Eddie Gaven settling into his new role in front of holding midfielder Brian Carroll. Ekpo's speed, his ability on the turn and his willingness to go at defenders is giving fullbacks tons to deal with -- all part of the reason things are going better these days around Estadio Crew.
Perfect example: against San Jose late last week, Bobby Convey was tracking back frequently to assist left fullback Eric Denton, who had his hands full with Ekpo. That severely limited what Convey could manage on offense. A few nights later, Convey looked far more dangerous against Real Salt Lake, as he was the one applying the pressure.
On top of Ekpo's ability on the dribble, he's hitting a few nice balls across the field to Robbie Rogers these days, successfully and quickly changing the point the attack.
• Is anybody else surprised that New England hasn't scored off one of Darrius Barnes' ballistic throw-ins this year? For my money, he's the best in the league at it.
• Meanwhile at Gillette Stadium, if I'm Kheli Dube or Kenny Mansally, I'm not feeling too good about my place in the Revs' world. Manager Steve Nicol clearly prefers to subtract one of the league's top holding midfielders from his preferred position rather than start one of these other two strikers. Shalrie Joseph was once gain in a less familiar position Saturday as Dube and Mansally sat next to Nicol to start the match. That's not exactly what you call an endorsement.
• Taylor Twellman did come off the bench for New England, making his first appearance of 2009 in the 29th minute Saturday. That must been a tremendous relief for several players, as they could retreat into far more comfortable roles. Joseph returned to his holding midfield domain, and Steve Ralston dropped deeper as a second forward, as opposed to playing higher in the absence of a true striker such as Twellman.
• Marvell Wynne has been a right fullback and occasionally a right-sided midfielder at Toronto. Now, he can add "right winger" to his resume as manager Chris Cummins deployed the speedy U.S. international up high in a 4-3-3. Wynne's speed is always dangerous, of course, but his first touch and lack of familiarity with the subtleties of the spot rendered him something less than effective.
• San Jose center back Jason Hernandez, who just made his third start after nearly two months of injury-related absence, seems to make San Jose's entire defense better, even if the results haven't always showed it so far.
• After about two years of flailing in efforts to assemble a competent back line -- D.C. United couldn't even settle on whether to play with three or four in the back, much less who to put back there -- manager Tom Soehn finally has found the formula thanks to Dejan Jakovic. Stationed centrally behind Bryan Namoff and Marc Burch, the young Croatian always seems composed and in charge.
• D.C. United seems to do a lot right these days, which is curious because the results are falling less than favorably. Soehn's men have four ties and a loss since knocking off Dallas on May 2. The one thing missing at the moment is quality of service from wide spots. Everything else seems to be there: tidy ball handling, passing, movement, confidence, lots of good pressure when they lose the ball and a high, tight defensive line.
• Red Bulls goalkeeper Jon Conway hasn't looked like the same guy since he stepped back in goal following that 10-game suspension. His ball handling isn't as sure and his positioning is too frequently suspect.
• Interesting choice by TFC to pull Danny Dichio from the starting 11 at Houston. It was obviously a ploy by manager Chris Cummins to keep the big fellow fresh for Tuesday's important Canada Championship match against Vancouver. But it really hurt TFC in this one, as Cummins had found a role that really suited Dichio, having him play centrally, but just a little closer to the midfield in a 4-3-3.
• In San Jose, it was a little odd that visiting Real Salt Lake seemed bent on attacking the Earthquakes' high defensive line by going over the top. The odd part wasn't the tactical choice. Rather, it was employing that plan but not starting Robbie Findley, RSL's fastest striker, as well as its leading scorer.
• Young San Jose defender Mike Zaher, making only his third career MLS start, provided a nice boost against RSL. He was good in defense and added something to the Earthquakes' attack.
• At Qwest Field, Sounders FC manager Sigi Schmid wanted a little more cover in the center of the park with do-all midfielder Osvaldo Alonso injured. So he shifted the midfield arrangement, relocating Freddie Ljungberg from the middle to the right. Ljungberg still played more or less as an attacking midfielder, but with Peter Vagenas stationed centrally in front of holding midfielder Brad Evans, the Sounders had a little more bite and balance in midfield.
• Missing six injured players, FC Dallas adjusted to unfamiliar roles by playing a makeshift 4-1-4-1 against Chicago. Dax McCarty played the holding role in front of a line of four more midfielders. Along the right, Jeff Cunningham, the league's fourth all-time leading goal scorer, made a rare midfield appearance. (One big bonus for FCD: when McCarty is on the field, his team's free kicks from the attacking third are always more dangerous.)
• Owing to that tough schedule, Chicago manager Denis Hamlett gambled that a reduced side could manage against FC Dallas. So the heart of the defense (Wilman Conde and Gonzalo Segares) and the brains of the attack (Cuauhtemoc Blanco) were given the day off. The results weren't pretty for Fire fans, who watched their team attempt just four shots (just one on goal) in the first 80 minutes.
Steve Davis is a freelance writer who has covered Major League Soccer since its inception. Steve can be reached at BigTexSoccer@yahoo.com. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20090601&content_id=5090060&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp