When I was a kid, about the time I watched the inimitable Toby Charles call matches from Germany and Mario Machado preach the word from English matches, one chapter of a book I read broke down defense and why goals are scored.
I wish I could remember the name of the book. Because in terms of creating a greater depth of knowledge, nothing I’ve heard or read has ever been more instructive.
There are five basic errors—five reasons goals are conceded, if you will—and examples fall out of every MLS weekend. As you look over relevant examples from Week 10, remember this: We could spend volumes analyzing each of these five defensive issues. But here is a basic outline, at least.
1. Failure to pressure the man with the ball: Brian McBride’s goal against Dallas last week should have been ruled offside. But that doesn’t excuse Dallas’ inability to apply even token pressure on the server, Justin Mapp. He had enough time to write a treatise on the Top Kill method or a treatment for Sex in the City 3. He certainly had ample time to trap, turn, take a bonus touch, get his head up and calmly pick out McBride.
Shalrie Joseph’s pass to Marko Perovic on Saturday at Gillette was a masterstroke, easily the weekend’s best set-up. But the Red Bull midfield needs a talking-to for its negligence. Three Red Bulls are nearby, but none challenges Joseph enough to disrupt his ability to spot the run and fashion the pinpoint pass.
2. Failure to mark off the ball: Juan Pablo Angel’s poacher’s delight in the same match demonstrates this danger. Pat Phelan, pulling emergency duty as a Revolution center back, simply isn’t close enough to Angel as Danleigh Borman’s cross drops just inside the six-yard box.
There should probably be a sub-set on this one: failure to track runners. It’s more or less the same thing. But whereas poor marking is often to blame for a goal like Angel’s, poor communication and/or unkempt defensive shape can be at fault when runners break free.
We saw that in the US tune-up match, as right back Jonathan Spector motored forward. One of the center backs, or perhaps a central midfielder, needed to recognize the moment and re-position himself to provide cover.
As we talked about last week, the Galaxy are particularly adept at exploiting these juicy opportunities and shooting into neglected gaps. They did it last week against Dallas and once again this week for a vital goal against Columbus in a contest of conference leaders.
3. Set piece plays: In a fluid game, free kicks, corner kicks and such provide opportunities for pre-arranged runs, while dead ball artists take their sweet time in placing shots or services. All that’s a bit obvious, so I’ll take it a step further: Fouling in the first place is a contributing factor, too. (So is giving away corner kicks needlessly.)
In Houston’s match with Philadelphia, the Dynamo struck twice on precision Brad Davis set piece services. Davis’ ability to deposit those balls into troublesome areas has long helped make Houston a real bugger on free kicks and corner kicks.
Less obvious was Philadelphia’s inability in handling young Dynamo midfielder Danny Cruz, which led to both free kicks. Cruz was fouled once by Cristian Arrieta and once by Stefani Miglioranzi in the Union defensive third. (Both players got yellow cards for upending Cruz, in fact.) So, sometimes actual “defending” as opposed to “fouling” is the way to go.
4. Failure to properly clear/giveaways: Toronto’s Chad Barrett is doing something this year to quash his reputation as the game’s top bungler of chances near goal. He has hit some dandies—though No. 4 over the weekend was an absolute gift.
Center back Jason Hernandez had a chance to aggressively deal with Stefan Frei’s long ball for Toronto. But Hernandez was too tentative, and he probably could have used more information from goalkeeper Joe Cannon. But that didn’t happen and Barrett seized the day, setting the visitors on course for three big points.
In another example, Los Angeles’ insurance goal came after Chris Klein stripped possession from a weary Andy Iro, raced forward and fed rookie Tristan Bowan.
5. Goalkeeper error: David Ferreira’s goal for Dallas against Chicago shows how these maladies frequently intersect.
Typically reliable Fire defender Wilman Conde made a hash of a long ball from a Dallas fullback (failure to properly control). So Ferreira was in on goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra, although C.J. Brown did have a chance to intercept.
When Brown was beaten on the dribble, Ferreira had all the time he needed (lack of pressure on the ball) to aim past Dykstra—which is where we find the third gaffe. Many times “goalkeeper error” means a failure to properly handle a shot or a cross. In this case, the goalkeeper’s positioning was faulty. Dykstra was at least one step too close to the near post. Ferreira saw way too much of the far post and he made good on the gift.
Just so no one thinks this is a completely cynical look at things, let’s get this on the record: Almost every goal involves some degree of skill, some level of accomplishment for the attacking team. Whether it’s the tackle that gains a telling possession, a spin out of pressure along the way or the finish, somebody usually did something right to punish the transgression.
So goals are never solely a product of defensive blunder and breakdown. Still, next time you see a ball in the back of the net, try to spot the slip. See if you can file the goal in one of the five folders. Most likely, you’ll be able to put into more than one.
