July 4th, 2008 . 11:46 am . By: Buzz Carrick

NOT A G*****N THING’S been working for us. Like this g*****n suit doesn’t work for me… and this stinking tie… and this godd*mned shirt. IT DOESN’T WORK FOR ME. YOU KNOW HOW TO PLAY WINNING HARD-NOSED FOOTBALL? YOU PLAY FOOTBALL LIKE ED GENERRO PLAYED FOOTBALL. A guy who gave his life for this football team. He was a 140-pound halfback, and HE PLAYED LIKE A G*****N WILDMAN! NO! LIKE A G*****N RAMPAGING BEAST! And that’s the way you got to do it! YOU GO OUT THERE! YOU TEAR THEIR F*****G HEADS OFF, AND YOU S**T DOWN THEIR NECKS! Let us pray. – Coach Rig

Lovely day today, it’s not to hot this early in the morning. Schellas had the equipment guys start putting up tents for the players to site under from time to time. We media have of course stolen them for our own use when we are standing around watching in the heat. Schellas will just have to deal. Boo Yeah!

Representatives from River Plate are in town and touring Pizza Hut Park with Hitchcock. Word is they are in the later stages of a possible club partnerships with FC Dallas. No matter what else you think of Hitchcock you have to give him credit for these terrific clb partnerships. River Plate would be an outstanding one for sure.

News, Notes, and Observations

- Dax McCarty is still bothered by the back, but Schellas says he will “dress” for the KC game, which means he’ll be on the bench.

- Bobby Rhine is out a couple of weeks. He’s on crutches with the left ankle problem.

- Arturo Alvarez has a tight upper thigh. Today he works with the trainer on the side. Schellas said it’s a shame AA is hurt because he gives the club a strong “presence” on the left.

- Jorge “Zarco” Rodriguez stopped by training again. He drops by about once a month of so and has for years. He’s a guy I would love to see get an assistant coach or Juniors coach job here sooner rather than later. Great reputation, classy guy, works hard, connection to club history, intelligent players… he has the makings of a good coach I think.

- Really outstanding form from Adrian Serioux today. I think he’s ecstatic about being a midfielder again. He also said his time with Canada was terrific.

- Robbie C’deBaca is still here. Club is trying to get a reserve game next Wednesday (PDL?, NTSAA?) so they can evaluate him.

- Ray Burse is in town instead of re-joining Portland as we had been told would happen. He worked extra on coming out for crosses with the GK coach afterward.

- Schellas says Saragosa is “getting close” on his green card. Which would be of benefit for both him and the club.

- Ricchetti was pulled out of training on Wednesday but looked quite fine training with the team today. He wants to play (Schellas named his an example of a guy wanting to play hurt) Friday, but perhaps a day off might help him.

Catching up with Schellas Hyndman

As usual the translations are a bit, I don’t speak for Hyndman.

Is Alvarez going to be able to play?

I think what I have to do is set up some kind of consistency in my training with the players and injured players. What we need to do is if a player is injured, they need to rehab and get better instead of trying to push themselves in training and extending the injury or maybe even making it worse. But there’s also a trust factor. The trust factor is yes, you’re injured. You’re not out here training, so you’re injured. And then, there’s the competition factor. If I can’t count on you 100%, then what can I count on you, 80%? Maybe we have another player who can give 90. My mentality is that I want to play the best players, the most experienced players every game. I realize that sometimes they need a break and sometimes, they might not be at full strength and now I’ve got to give another player their opportunity.

Buzz’s Coach Speak Translator: No.
Is there a difference between being hurt and injured?

Yes, of course. For me, hurt is just pain like I’ve got a blister, I’m hurt. If I’m injured, I cannot perform my best no matter how hard I try and all I’m doing is making my injury worse. Hurt is a mental thing and you’ve got to get over it. It now comes to the point that you’ve got to decide on your priorities. Can I play with pain or am I going to give up my playing time? If you’re injured, we don’t want you out there.

Buzz’s Coach Speak Translator: Mental toughness is not just a buzz word around here.

You getting what you want out of Alvarez?

It’s gonna take some time. There are some truth’s to soccer, and one of the truths is you gotta play two ways as a soccer player. You gotta play offensively and you gotta play defensively. At lot of skillful player they lack that defensive playing, cause they think their value offensively is so much greater. I thought our game against Chivas we were doing that. Blake in the back, Andre I was really impressed with how me he was doing that. So I think [Alvarez] is responding, time will tell.

Buzz’s Coach Speak Translator: Mental toughness is not just a buzz word around here.

You get a feel for what Rocha’s best spot is?

I think he’s a central midfielder and I think he could do a great job with that. Probably more in the attacking spot, but we got Juan Toja who is kinda coming into his own. But I’m impressed with Andre’s determination and his ability to come back into the defending third when necessary.

Buzz’s Coach Speak Translator: The a-mid spot, but we got someone there.

Is Avila giving you a selection headache?

You know what, I think you are absolutely right. He’s helping other players. When he came on the field he helped Juan, he made Juan better. He attacked, he got to the base line twice in the second half, something I haven’t seen this team do, get to the base line. The only people who get to the base line are strikers trying to sneak a ball before it goes out of bounds when we knock those long balls all the time. Also in rewarding him, what a great opportunity to show the whole team ‘if you do what I ask you to do I’m going to play you. ‘I don’t care if you’re making $14,000 or $100,000. If you do what I ask you to I’m gonna play you.’ So I think it’s dropped conformation to the guys, you know new coach, new set of eyes, a breath of fresh air, I get my chance, and Eric’s taken advantage of it. I think he’s going to be a good player for us.

Buzz’s Coach Speak Translator: Avila’s starting.

Training

Today was what I know call a typical pre-game day for Schellas. Warmup and jogging then the shooting gallery drill (5v5), which takes about an hour all total.

Blue: Toja, Ricardino, Daniels, Avila, Wagner, Moor, Cooper, Wallace, Shea, McCarty, Wadsworth
Gray: Pitchkolan, Serioux, Saragosa, Oduro, C’deBaca, Ricchetti, Davino, Thompson, Dello-Russo, Rocha

Nothing to see in those pairings, that’s basically young versus old.

After that was work on corners and free kicks. Schellas implemented patters and organization that he wants the team to use in these two situations. Up till now they were using the old ones.

After that the players I would gather are starters quit the field and the younger non-starters did some extra offensive rotation and attacking drills. And Cooper of course joined in but that’s cause he’s mental, not cause he’s a non-starter. Here’s the list of players for the extra drill.

Lambo, McCarty, Cooper, Wadsworth, Oduro, Wallace, Avila, Shea, Ricardinho, Pitchkolan, C’deBaca, Dello-Russo, Daniels.

Lineup Prediction

Because Thompson scored twice and because he wasn’t included in the extra drills I am betting he gets the start. Toja is the a-mid as Schellas said he is starting to “come into his own.” No McCarty starting so Rocha stays wide right. With Alvarez hurt I am betting on a experienced player out there like Saragosa or Serioux over a kid like Brek Shea. Wagner stays in the back line as Serioux is now a midfielder again it appears. Ricchtti may be out to rest, so Avila get’s his spot.

Thought of the Day

Speaking of which I thought Saragosa had one of his best game in a while in the USOC. When they put in Avila to go forward, Saragosa was left as the sole holding mid and he actually improved his play. I think taking away the responsibility of getting forward and combining with other players helped him tremendously. Since he needed to go side to side and cover the entire middle his mind and effort were diverted to that single task. By focusing on the one thing he does best, playing defense and creating havoc in the middle, he was more comfortable and a better player. Saragosa was more than up for it and it’s why a player like that is still around in this league.

Combine that with Avila starting and maybe get something like this? It’s till a 3-5-2. It would have the linking mid in Avila and the high a-mid in Toja just like the latter half of the USOC game rather than putting Avila wide left, which might be the more conservative answer.

What the heck, why not try something a little different?

Categories: Practice Observations.

7 Comments

Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI

Leave a comment