Photo: 215Pix
Philadelphia Union
The Union got their some other things happened. Postgame quotes.
The top level stats were virtually identical in all but one category.
Jim Curtin tried something new, pairing Sapong and Simpson together for the first time this season.
Matthew De George thinks that Jim Curtin may not be the problem.
The Union believe that their problems are small and fixable.
One of those problems was defending counters off of corner kicks. If you liked my pieces last week on advanced statistics in soccer (Part 1 + Part 2), check out this fantastic work on corner kicks that argues strongly in favor of solely short corners. Really really high quality, interesting stuff.
Amobi Okugo was happy with his return to Philadelphia.
Local
The Starting XI for BSFC in their 2-0 win over FC Cincinnati.
I can’t find a full recap, but here are highlights from the Union Academy’s 2-1 win over C.F. Monterrey in the Generation adidas Cup.
MLS
RSL ended their 12 game regular season winless streak thanks to a new coach and a Designated Player. Yup.
Ike Opara nearly retired due to injuries. Sporting KC are glad he changed his mind.
Former Union player Carlos “El Pescadito” Ruiz officially retired.
Around the globe
The CONCACAF Champions League format is changing, and figuring out who qualifies is getting more complicated.
The USMNT is now set to ramp up to their match at Estadio Azteca, scheduling a series of 3 friendlies at progressively higher altitudes leading up to it.
The USWNT is set to head to Sweden this Summer, hoping to get a little revenge.
The USWNT also took care of business against Russia.
A recap of the action in the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, and Serie A.
Corruption doesn’t pay for FIFA, who are doing some interesting accounting.
Highlight of the day
Arjen Robben cuts inside like only he can.
I’m not going to read that piece on corners but I know my success rate with corner kicks in FIFA14 is much higher when I take them short. If anyone needs me I’ll be playing that three year old game with a Union squad that has Robinho and Forlan.
There is good Steel recap here: https://phillysoccerpage.net/2017/04/10/match-report-bethlehem-steel-fc-2-fc-cincinnati-0/
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Couldn’t resist. 🙂
Thanks. 🙂 We didn’t need to link to it because we have the headline. (I know, sometimes the guys like to link to our stuff. It’s cool either way.)
Makes sense. In retrospect, I should have assumed that it was an implied “no external-to-PSP full recap.”
I personally hate the short corner. It pulls one more player out of the box and also makes it easier for the other team to put someone offsides (especially if there is a pass back to the original player who took the kick).
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What I think would be much more effective would be when defending a corner, leave one player high up near midfield so that you can counter more effectively and so that the other team has to keep a player or two back to defend that rather than having two players about 40 yards out ready to punch it back in.
A constant debate among soccer coaches, constant.
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If you man both posts, leaving a man high at midfield deprives you of a marker. If you have a dominant headwall winner to play a zone in the six box on the near post, that matters less. If not, then more.
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Another factor is the known quality of service by the expected server(s) and then comes the wind.
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And then your scouts tell you what has been working for the opposition recently.
That natives will be very restless on Friday. Well, the ones that show up…
I am guessing there were c. 300 present yesterday afternoon actually present at kickoff to watch the Steel. It may have increased some from late arrivals.
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They had not won since July 14, 2016, Bastille Day.