May 17th, 2008 . 9:09 am . By: Buzz Carrick

Yo, sound the bell, schools is in sucker. You can’t touch this - MC Hammer

Good lord what a beautiful day, nice day for the Jeep, although it does leave me a bit red in the face..  I don’t often come to training on Friday because I’m usually traveling.  Plus the lineup is usually clear as day and since I don’t want to lie and I also don’t want to give everything away it’s just easier to not come on Fridays.

But since the game is on Sunday and I have this weekend off, no worries on either account.

Also out at PHP today are about 2000 kids on field trips.  They look mostly like middle school kids.  They get a tour of the stadium, watch some training, and even kick the ball around on the turf field.  A few of the teachers seem to enjoy watching training as much or more than the kids. 

News, Notes, & Observations

- I find it quite interesting after ten years of doing these kids of reports that DC United has closed their practices, apparently mainly due to Goff doing some of the kinds of things I do.  It makes me wonder tww things.  1. Interesting how different teams react to losing.  2. Would FCD every try and close practice?  I don’t think they would, and frankly I’m shocked DC can get away with it.

- Juan Toja and Adrian Serioux both do some extra stretching afterward with the trainers to focus on their own trouble spots.  Nothing serious though as both are fine and can play.

- Speaking of Toja, the last week and a half his attitude and intensity have come up in training.  Hopefully it will translate soon onto the pitch.

- Alex Fichera isn’t here anymore.  He won’t be offered a developmental.  Being a local kid FCD wants to “keep an eye on him.”  I imagine they will use him in reserve games as a guest player.  Which leaves FCD with two holes on their developmental roster, although one will get eaten up if/when Wagenfuhr returns.

- Duilio Davino looks really sharp today.  He even scored several goals on corners and crosses.

- Eric Avila is looking stronger by the day.  He dribbled through about 5 people on one run, it was a thing of beauty.  He’s been really playing well in training the last few weeks and is very close to seeing the field.  This might be the week.

- He’s not yet ready to start for the first team, but Andrew Daniels has made a leap forward in the last month.  I wouldn’t be worried to see him come off the bench when required now.  I think his push forward since Alex Yi retired has made Morrow willing to stand pat with his defense and not seek a Yi replacement.

- FCD has not offered Jamie Watson a developmental deal at this time.  Morrow said he didn’t show in training the talent level they know he has.  Morrow says they want Watson to  come back next week for another shot and is hopeful he can step it up.

- Dac McCarty should be back this weekend, but he will need two weeks out.

- Abdus Ibrahim is still out on extended leave.

Jorge Alvial

On the record all anyone will say about Jorge Alvial being dismissed is “no comment.”  I’ve tried to do some snooping around, but am not getting a whole lot of information about exactly what the problem was.  I am left with the impression there wasn’t a specific incident, just a general disconnect from both Morrow and the front office. 

About two weeks after Alvial was hired it became clear there was a disconnect in the staff somehow.  I witnessed a very animated conversation between Alvial and Morrow after training that neither would talk about at the time.  It was within a day or two after that they removed Alvial from the training ground duties to function as a scout.

I can only image that they scouting exercise must have not gone as they hoped.  Certainly there hasn’t been anyone coming in since he arrived I can point to as a Alvial find other than DouDou Toure.  Even Toure FCD had been looking at for a couple years.  I will say that every talk I had with him he seemed open and genuine with a good eye for the game. 

Sometimes things just don’t work out I suppose, personalities don’t mesh.  C’est la vie.

I’d still like to see FCD bring a native Spanish speaker with a Latin American background and connections to take a place on the staff in the Pareja mold.

Catching up with Morrow

Don’t forget the coach speak translations are a bit. I don’t speak for Morrow.

See anything in the LA team you can take advantage of?

We certainly have a few areas where we think we can use the offensive weapons  we’ve got to get after LA. We prepare the same as we do as with any other team.  We look for weaknesses in their team we think we can expose and certainly have our own ideas about how we can do that on Sunday.

Buzz’s Coach Speak Translator:  Yes, their defense sucks.

Are you going to put Toja back on the left on Sunday?

You want me to give away my lineup already?  We haven’t made that decision yet.

Buzz’s Coach Speak Translator:  No.

You mixed teams up in training this week, looking to change it up for LA?

We like to mix it up in training.  The focus has been to have a real good intensity this week in training.  We’re challenging everybody to play to their potential which we don’t think we’ve done in the last few games.  I think we’re certainly a lot better than I think we’ve shown.  We’ve challenged the guys to do that this week and that’s why we mixed it up in training.  I think everybody on the team as well should feel like their are fighting for spots when things aren’t going well and that’s been the focus of the week.

Buzz’s Coach Speak Translator:  Every spot is up for grabs this week, expect some changes.

Your formation has caught some teams off guard forcing mid game shifts, is that part of the plan or just coincidence?

I don’t think we change all that much, we just made one little adjustment up top.  We’re finding now that teams are changing their formations and some of their personnel to try and cope with what we got.  Salt Lake certainly did that as well going to three at the back to try and match up us all over the field.    We gotta keep doing what we do.  We always look at the opposition and if we think it’s worthwhile to make one of two little adjustments or tweaks and get guys playing in different areas of the field that can help us get at the opposition we’ll continue to do that.

Buzz’s Coach Speak Translator:  I’m a freaking genius.  They can’t handle us.

Training

After the usual warm up stretching and jogging, today mostly consisted of one big scrimmage game.  It wasn’t a game for tactical education or planning for LA.  It was just a extended session of play to push the players a bit and have some fun.  Morrow talked about execution, sharpness, and possession from what I could hear.  10 v 10 with Chase Wileman playing both ways in midfield.  As you will see the team was divided evenly to balanced play.

Green:
Ricardinho Oduro
Alvarez Toja Rocha Avila
Daniels Davino Dello-Russo
Sala

White:
Thompson Cooper
Wallace Ricchetti Saragosa Rhine
Serioux Pitchkolan Moor
Lambo

Of interest to me was Alvarez on the left and Toja back in the middle, Cooper paired with Thompson, Rocha back central, and Avila on the right.  The later is something I have not seen very often if at all.

Training finished with some team shooting and crossing that included top of the box combinations and wide outlets.  Most of it was run one touch to emphasize quick decision and sharp touch.

Lineup Prediction

Looks like Toja is back central, not just because of today, but let’s be honest he wasn’t wonderful wide against RSL.  Do you want him going man to man against Beckham?  Ok me neither.  So Alvarez or Wallace?  I’m inclined to say let Wallace harass the crap out of Becks.  Get in his pocket and stay there.  Deny him the ball.   So Alvarez up top with Cooper, or wide left?  Thompson with Cooper is the obvious choice if not Alvarez. Avila has been playing great, is this the game the put him in and move Rocha back central?  The defense has been great, I’m not touching that part.

So I’ll make two predictions.  A “what the heck out on a limb” interesting one, and a conservative “don’t fix what ain’t broke” one.

Out on a Limb

It ain’t Broke

Which would you pick?

One thing I will say about Morrow, when the team’s not playing well he can and will make changes.  So don’t bet against the first one.

Thought of the Day

It will be interesting to me to see if LA tries to do what teams have been successful against Dallas with of late, and that’s deny them space and possession in midfield.  By doing so you disrupt the FCD rhythm and take them out of their game.  It also forces an over reliance on play over the top by the Red Stripes making them a bit one dimensional when they don’t have blistering pace anyway.

Of late, as I asked of Morrow, teams are beginning to play Dallas to stop what Dallas is doing.  It’s a good sign as it means that teams give up their own thing in worry about who Dallas is playing.  That’s the sign of a above average talent team.  It’s also why we are seeing so many ties for FCD I think, because teams are just looking to stop the Hoops.  I really like the “we do what we do, just try and stop us” mentality.  DC United has had that for years.

Getting back to LA, frankly I’m not sure outside of Beckham is LA has the midfield talent to try it.  They may be better off just getting on with their business and trying to outscore Dallas. 

Which means it could be a fun one to watch.

Categories: Practice Observations.

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