Northridge, CA – Game 2 of our college season coverage involving the defending national champion Akron Zips couldn’t have come at a better time. Caleb Porter’s team gave me a clear reminder that “it can be done at the collegiate level.” Playing the game with a true possession style and having a consistent team identity no matter the result over the course of one game. In the big picture, consistency is what pays off and if anyone has been consistent in the NCAA Division 1 college game it has been Akron.
The game ended in a 0-0 draw at the end of 110 minutes of soccer. However, seeing no goals did not disappoint me on the afternoon. After seeing not one 5 pass sequence out of USD in 90 minutes and only several out of UCI over the course of an entire game Akron quickly came out knocking the ball all over the field. Numerous 10 to 15 touch sequences in the first minutes of play. I was going to witness a college soccer game where someone played a la Barcelona.
Akron 4-3-3
Gk: #24 David Meves
Def: #17 DeAndre Yedlin, #4 Bryan Gallego, #3 Chad Barson, #8 David Mayer
Holding Mid: #27 Michael Balogun
Attacking Mids: #6 Wil Trapp, #15 Scott Caldwell
Forwards: #9 Aodhan Quinn, #10 Darren Mattocks, #21 Thomas Schmitt
Cal State Fullerton 4-2-3-1
Gk: #24 Trevor Whiddon
Def: #26 Jonathan Birt, #20 Roberto Vernaschi, #4 Bobby Reiss, #15 Fermin Villalba
Holding Mids: #5 Michael Denny, #2 Oscar Medina
Attacking Trio: #12 Kevin Venegas, #9 Oscar Aguero, #14 Mario Alvarez
Forward: #29 Jesse Escalante
Akron breakdown:
The Zips are again ranked among the nation’s elite. They sit ranked number 2 below Louisville in most polls even after their national championship season. Why #2 and not at the top? Well, the national champs had 7 players picked in this years MLS draft, with 5 of them being selected in the first 8 picks. HISTORIC ACHIEVEMENT! Even then, they are predicted to make another big push for a national championship. I don’t see it happening this year, the pieces just aren’t there; but time will tell.
The Junior GK Meves has taken giant strides in the year since I’ve last seen him. He plays simple out of the back and NEVER launches the ball forward. That’s right, not once on a goal kick or in possession did he look to just lump it forward for a 50-50 ball. Most will frown on this, but the build up starts with him and his decision making and distribution looked solid. His shot stopping ability looked good. Lastly, I think he has drastically improved when tracking crosses in the air game and getting through crowds to get a fist to the ball or calmly gather it.
The back line made some rookie mistakes (3 of the 4 are freshmen) turning the ball over in dangerous areas under very little pressure. That is something they will need to work on in the big picture to make a deep post-season run. However, they are as organized as they come. The coach’s work can clearly be seen on both sides of the ball. When the Zips are in possession the spacing is a thing of beauty!!! That’s all it takes: proper spacing, communication, awareness and decision making to pass out of pressure … yes even at the collegiate level when you have robots pressuring you all over the field. Yedlin is a good presence getting forward from right back. Not Sarkodie just yet, but a good right back pro prospect. Both center backs play simple and are constantly instructing/barking out orders. That is priceless in a possession oriented game! They share what they see from the back (the entire field) to their mids and outside backs so they can make proper decisions on who to pass to and keep the ball moving fluidly. David Mayer is a weak link in the passing game as he holds the ball too long and forced the pass forward on several occasions.
The midfield trio needs some fine tuning but all 3 possess the key element in making sure the ball keeps moving and maintaining possession, AWARENESS. That’s right, they all know exactly where the pieces from both teams are on the map at all times. Constantly looking around and over their shoulder to know ahead of time where to play the next pass is crucial for any center mid. This along with the obvious technical quality needed to move the ball are the essential characteristics of a quality center mid. Balogun, ironically is a transfer from Cal State Fullerton (***another one that got away, see below). He owned the middle of the field on both sides of the ball. Defensively tackled and won every aerial battle when Fullerton would launch that ball out of the back. Offensively very soccer savy and simple. He’d play laterally and keep the ball for the Zips. The two attacking mids in the 4-3-3 were Trapp and Caldwell. Caldwell was a force in last years postseason championship run but had a difficult time with his touch on the day. Trapp has got plenty of talent but will also need some games under his belt to make the offense run more fluidly. I’m sure the trio were a bit shocked to all be man marked in the middle of the field by the Titans. A new experience for them that will help in their development in the long run.
The forward trio is also quite young and has left me a little worried in regards to their offensive capability in the Zips quest for a repeat. The wide players Quinn and Schmitt did some good things out wide in the first half. Quinn in particular looked good running at the Titans defense and combining well with right back Yedlin creating 2 v 1 opportunites on the wing. Mattocks did not look good on the evening. He looked lost playing in the center role of the 3 man attack. His diagonal runs and mobility were fantastic when the midfielders got loose and were running at the Titan defense. However, he was disconnected with play and uninterested when the ball went wide or was being knocked around the back 5 in possession. The lack of supply due to the midfield trio being man marked affected the attack on the evening so it’ll be interesting to see Mattocks and company on Saturday night against Northridge before giving a final opinion on their lack of bite in the offensive third. I’m hoping this part of the team can improve or the Zips will not be going the distance this year at the College Cup.
Cal State Fullerton breakdown:
For the first time ever I was impressed with the Cal State Fullerton men’s soccer team. Did they play good possession soccer? NOPE, not a lick of it! But they had a plan!!! They showed they had an identity even if it was for a day. They orquestrated a nearly perfect game plan to pull off a miraculous draw (on paper) against the defending national champion.
The Titans allowed Akron to play out of the back with minimal pressure, instead choosing to sit back and pressure the 3 Akron center mids by man marking them over the course of the game. The plan was to cut off the supply to the attacking trio by eliminating the creative midfielders from the match. In doing so, the Zips made numerous mistakes in the middle of the field with errant passes leading to nearly lethal counter attacks that the Titans did not capitalize on. Yes, CSUF could have easily picked up the W on the evening had they finished their chances on the counter.
The GK Trevor Whiddon made some top class saves on the night to keep the Zips off the scoreboard. However, his ball distribution is horrific at best. The guy has horrible technique kicking the ball. And again, just launches absolutely everything forward a la americana. Akron rarely whipped in any difficult crosses so they didn’t really test that aspect of his game. I’ve seen him over the years and have not been impressed by Whiddon but what do I know? The head coach is an ex pro keeper in Bob Ammann and he must know why this kid had been the starter for several years now.
The back row doesn’t have much finesse, nor are they tactically savvy. The patented launch everything forward and bypass the midfield applies here when they are on the ball. None of them makes proper decions on the ball but that lack of clarity or instruction should come from above. Bobby Reiss is the lone member of this crew that has got a clue with and without the ball. The other 3 are horrific in 1 v 1 defending and resorted to hacking down any attempted Akron advance. Birt particularly took no prisoners and chopped away at Quinn all night long with the referees assistance in not punishing it. The Titans back row will suffer on the year. For the night, they were protected by the excellent work of their midfield cutting off the supply to Akron forwards.
The holding mid duo of Denny and Medina worked tirelessly as I have said in man marking the Akron offensive mids off the field. Playing just in front of them, Aguero worked his socks off to deny Balogun any time on the ball and also dropped deep to track the offensive mids. Aguero is clearly the best player on this Titan roster, and has been for a couple of years now. He could be so much more in a different environment but makes due with the limited touches he does get as the creative player in the midfield.
The wide attacking players Venegas and Alvarez also covered lots of ground defensively and would look to quickly break on the counters when dispossessing the Zips. Venegas has always been a great dribbler! If only the boy could make good decisions on the ball. He always seems to put his head down with blinders on and dribble, dribble, dribble. That doesn’t get it done! Not on the evening and definately not at the highest level. Sad to see because the kid had potential. Alvarez is more interested in being a foul machine than actually playing soccer. But again, that comes from above. He got himself in dangerous positions but could not finish a play to pull out an upset! Ritchie Gonzalez showed he has some game on the night. Has good technique, would touch and look for wall passes, could dribble away from pressure. We will have to keep an eye on him.
The lone striker was on an island all evening. Escalante worked tirelessly early in the contest to the point I feared he was going to have a heart attack on the field and collapse. After 2o minutes, he was running in sand and pulling a trailer. He looked world class compared to his replacement Campbell. This is a football player converted into a soccer player just running around hacking away and going unpunished. It leaves me asking myself WHY? Who would recruit such a player? Why would it be done? It’s a wonder coaches make the excuse that “we don’t have the players” to play possession when I see these types infesting the field in college soccer.
Game Recap:
I already provided the game plans in the team breakdowns.
One team intended to impose their possession game and treat the ball like gold. Good spacing, ball on the ground, getting it wide attempting to create 2 v 1’s going forward. The other one just came out to destroy! Man marking the center mids and hacking away on the evening. Fullerton commited 28 fouls (to Akrons 7) and earned all 5 yellow cards in the contest. The Titans looked to break on counter attacks and punish on set pieces and came close on numerous occasions.
Conclusions:
It is remarkable how Caleb Porter’s team continues to have their team identity intact no matter how many players move on to the professional ranks season after season. They monopolize the ball and keep possession. NO EXCUSES!!! It’s not a lucky or cyclical thing when it comes to having the players or not. Some argue his recruting classes are top notch. Good for him! He gets out and works and brings players in that fit the mold. He knows what he wants in his team and brings in players to execute that. Believe me, HE DOES NOT HAVE THE BEST PLAYERS on this roster. Yet, they are still playing the same way and are consistent.
As for Fullerton, it is a “veteran group” this year with a lineup composed almost entirely of juniors and seniors. They have the potential and pieces to play a good brand of soccer and I’m hoping to see that during Big West play this season. You can tell there was some work on set piece offense and defense during the course of the game and that’s always a plus in modern day soccer when games are won and lost on set pieces. Again, kudos to the Titans for having a plan and executing it to perfection in attaining a huge result against the Zips.
I left Northridge last night with a smile on my face after seeing a 0-0 college soccer game. The reason? Caleb Porter’s team … the best show in American Soccer at any level. Looking forward to seeing them again on Saturday night under the lights in a packed house against host Cal State Northridge.
*** Another one that got away. Michael Balogun joins the club of top class talent that was once at Cal State Fullerton and transferred out. In recent years, true quality players Michael Farfan (UNC), Gabriel Farfan (both on Philidelphia Union now), and Jose “choco” Gomez (Creighton University) left the Titan program.
ok, great, but what we really need is a review of the Costa Rica game. Great step forward for the US team, or trainwreck?
Still to early to tell, but I think there are good signs. Jacques’ post on the game follows my thoughts almost to a T.
Brian, is there any way you can announce or provide a link to any Akron game with a live stream? I went on the Akron and CalState site and it doesn’t look like the game will be streamed tonight, I always enjoy watching Akron play but really only get to see them twice a year in college cup when it’s televised unfortunately. It really is a great thing how clear the identity is with Porter, he really values the right things in a soccer player and understands what a quality player truly is. As for the US game last night against Costa Rica I still think that was a step in the right direction. Finally we played a center midfield with some quality in Donovan and Torres and that is far more important than the result of a friendly. Things are still going to get sharper and more finely tuned and some players will work their way in and out of the team but it seems like Klinsmann has a clear plan of trying to play an attacking game that values skill over athleticism. I thought the first 30-35 minutes last night was better than anything we saw in 5 years with Bradley, yes it died down and we looked flat the rest of the game and ended up losing but I am still optimistic so far, this is a long process and we finally seem to have a guy in charge who actually has a clue!! Not the results we’d want from the first 2 games with Klinsmann in charge but we are FINALLY moving in the right direction and playing the way a national team should play rather than a college or MLS team.
Kevin,
I will look into it. Will reply with a link or post if Akron is live streaming their games this season. Lots of programs are doing so this season so we shall see when they get a home fixture soon.
Brian, thanks for the descriptive summary. I’m sorry I couldn’t see the game– I’ve spent the weekend at the NHB Cup tournament where, to paraphrase Charles Dickens, I saw the best of soccer (here, anyway) and the worst of soccer (ever present).
Particularly noteworthy were two of your observations, the first that you gave credit to the Fullerton team for having a strategy, though it wasn’t particularly sophisticated. The second, that you pointed out that Akron doesn’t have the best players (less, I infer, the best athletes), yet they still get results. Thanks for pointing that out.
Like I mentioned earlier– I hope Caleb Porter becomes inundated with resumes from quality prospects wanting to be recruited by this guy. Perhaps that will be the “tipping point” that pushes the whole system towards the proverbial light. After this weekend, I can’t imagine it coming from parents or youth coaches.
Alberto,
Could you expand a little on what you think can happen if quality prospects inundate Porter’s inbox (something that’s likely already a truth)? I recall your last comment contained the same sentiment.
I just don’t see it having much influence since college coaching jobs aren’t on the line.
You sound a bit bitter about your past with Fullerton. Sad days that a blogger past plays a role in the way he sees a squad and writes about them. Deal with your own failures.
Jack,
Quite the contrary! I call it like I see it! I liked what I saw in Fullerton vs Akron. A game plan. I’m going to go watch them against a normal side and see how they approach that game. I’m sure it’ll be quite different then the defensive approach against the defending national champs. The team has the capability of finishing 2nd in the Big West this season. That’s saying a lot after lots of years of underachieving.
Sorry for the imprecision: I was thinking of a player- or demand-driven (“pull”) solution to the Lousy Football problem (or “Clusterfuck soccer”, as BillR puts it, much better). This may be more effective than an organizational-driven (“push”) solution. If you accept that players are the “consumers” that college programs want to attract, then their preferences should, to some extent, shape the offering of the producers– the college soccer programs. You are right– college jobs are not on the line, because college coaches are largely unaccountable to the institutions that pay them. That’s why the recruits, I think, are the strongest potential accountability mechanism to keep the coaches on the right track. If the coaches systematically stop getting the players they want to recruit most, that might change their thinking.
I am also assuming that college-bound soccer players of quality will figure out the whole quality soccer thing well before coaches, us parents, administrators, and Alexi Lalas all will. Hence, when the ranks of the enlightened recruits swell, they will begin to seek out those coaches and programs that teach and play the attractive, possession-oriented football that can help the be better footballers and ultimately win more games. In other words, they will assert their market power.
There are more than a few potential problems with this notion, but mostly, I have faith in the up and coming youth players. The bigger problem I see is one of communication, or “market signaling”, if you will, to eliminate the information asymmetry and simple lack of information in the market. We need a mechanism for getting the most information out to both buyers and sellers, thus making this market more efficient. A specific example of what this could be is a survey of the top 100 youth soccer prospects for what Universities they would like to play for, what attributes they look for, etc. would send efficient signals to the Universities. And conversely, surveys of the various college soccer programs where they are evaluated by playing system, training, coaching characteristics, etc. would be helpful to the recruits.
In general, the soccer players in this country and their parents need much more information on what their options are. Why does everyone in the US who has ambitions to play professionally now want to go to La Masia? Because that is all they know. They don’t know that, for example, in the greater Barcelona area alone, there are probably 10-20 other football schools that could put their kid on the same track to success, and it would be a lot easier than getting picked up by Barca.
If you are German, or French, or Spanish, etc., and your kid has football potential, you know or can easily find out what are your local options for him to train– which school has what system, training philosophy, etc. Here, getting that information is not so easy, at any level. The information gathering on college soccer that I see here in the States seems very ad hoc to me, and there is great reliance on word-0f-mouth.
My point is that, after you generate the demand for the right solution, you still have to address the problems of imperfect information and information asymmetry in this marketplace.
guaranteed whiddon can kick the ball better then you
haha……define kick better than me? it’s not a distance kicking contest. His technique is not great. But again, I’m not the best at judging the intangibles that make a great keeper. His distribution is not the best, but then again, not too many keepers worldwide are great with their feet.
Since we are getting called out here, we may have to set up an accuracy “kicking” challenge and video it and post it on here. Any takers to this challenge?
set the video up lets see something
Whats your soccer background to have any opinion worthy enough to be writen out for the public to read. Thanks for wasting 5 minutes of my life. Trevor whiddon will be playing pro next year and you will be watching him on tv from your little hovle from akron during your worthless life working at ampm since your writing skills wont take you anywhere in life you d.c.
Joe Blow,
Sorry you’re so bitter about my article. I didn’t put a gun to your head and force you to read. You can agree or disagree with my opinion. No problems!!!
I sure hope Whiddon does play pro! That would be a great accomplishment for him. Again, as I said in the article, what do i know about judging a keeper’s talent. I noted his distribution and game understanding are not the best. But his coach is in a better position and obviously sees something in him to have him as their guy over the years. If the game plan is for a gk to just kick the ball forward then he is okay for that team.
His shot stopping was superb on the evening and hopefully that gets him to the next level.
What is the background you have with CSUF? Tony Plush wants to know!
Backround with CSUF is I attended school there in 1998 then moved to South America after a semester……live down the street too! Gary is currently a professor there.
Am hoping the Titans get back to the old days when they were serious contenders. They have all the tools needed to do so. Now it’s about attaining results on the field. NO EXCUSES!
Background*…I heard you tried to make the squad?
Yeah you can say that…..was there for a few days. Was mentally weak and didn’t handle some negativity towards my game from head coach (Al Mistri) at the time. It goes down as one of my regrets in life and have passed it on to my players so they don’t commit the same mistake. Being mentally strong and being able to handle yourself and respect the coach NO MATTER WHAT!
still undefeated
whats good
I like it big homie! Nothing better than quieting the critics! However, besides the Akron game where I gave the Titans props for getting a good result they have played nobody.
Next road trip out east offers an easy W against American, and a complicated game vs Mason they should also win. If the Titans can remain undefeated by the time the take on UCI and USCB I’ll be very impressed. Denver, Bakersfield, and CSUN are all respectable opponents. I want to see how Fullerton plays those games against similar opposition.
Please come back and post after those 3 games….i’ll be happy to eat crow.
Caleb Porter can’t ever be a National Team coach until he coaches on the pro level. Let him manage Red Bull New York next year if he is so great. Hell, he can let Marquez and Henry install the Barca system.
Martin Rennie > Caleb Porter. You probably never heard of him since your scope is only college, but he is taking over Vancouver. He is from the UK and is one of the top young coaches in this country and has a great eye for talent. That is your future USMNT coach
Also keep an eye on Jesse Marsch with Montreal. More good young “pro” coaches are coming into MLS rather than the old retreads from college. If we can only get rid of Sigi, Bruce, and their ilk. More like Ben Olson and Jason Kreis please.
Steve-You had a busy morning here! I feel little left out–looks like you chose not to wax vitriolic on any of my contributions–so I figured I’d address some of your main points.
1. On development academies: Institutional capacity is meaningless unless staff is in place with the skill and understanding to develop players the most effective way. Look at England. They have a long-standing development academies throughout the country with a sport/soccer obsessed culture to support them. Yet English academies have failed to produce a top level national team despite having the most financially successful domestic league. While I understand it may be changing, English academies seem to remain stuck on implementing outdated and ineffective philosophies and playing styles.
If the philosophy and techniques that are being taught are no good, the players produced aren’t going to be able to compete with the best in the world. If the level of education and coaching in the MLS academies is 30 years behind the best soccer institutions in the world, why would we blindly support them and expect them to produce the best?
2. On players choosing European/South American Options over MLS: Highly skilled American players that are college aged or younger who wish to pursue a career that will allow them to play soccer at the highest level face a tough choice. Aside from the pure economic considerations, sticking with the MLS route is a considerable risk career wise, especially if a player doesn’t have blatantly obvious physical size or speed. MLS decision makers have historically undervalued technically outstanding players with less obvious physical attributes. Many have drifted in and out of the league or been cut after 1 or 2 seasons (Hercules Gomez comes to mind). If you’re a player and you recognize that this is the case, are you going to roll the dice on the theory that coaches/executives in MLS are going to completely change their playing philosophy or be replaced by people that appreciate your skill set? Or, if you’ve got the skill/network to find opportunities abroad in systems that do value your playing style, does it make more sense to seek those opportunities?
The case of Giuseppe Rossi comes to mind. He chose to not only play abroad but to play for the Italian national team despite being raised in New Jersey. He catches a lot of hell for those decisions (particularly the national team decision) but looking at it from a career standpoint for him given his playing style and the timing of his international debut (going Pro/debuting internationally during the Bradley Era), it makes a lot of sense.
3. On Caleb Porter: Your comments relating to Caleb Porter and the site’s focus on the College game suggest that you didn’t take a lot of time to read the body of work posted on 3four3. I don’t want to speak for Gary or Brian, but my own excitement related to Caleb Porter is born out of seeing the Akron teams he has coached play the most attractive and consistent level of soccer I’ve ever witnessed from a U.S. based team. The fact that he has been able to keep Akron’s style of play consistent from last season to the current one is remarkable given the amount of turnover in the team due to the number of players who were drafted by MLS. Porter’s end product speaks for itself. It can’t be faked and it is what he should be judged on. From the looks of it, Porter had offers to join at least one MLS team and he chose not to go.
I agree that young coaches in the MLS is primarily a good thing for the league. I must confess that I haven’t observed any Carolina Railhawks games (Rennie’s last team) so I have no means to judge his Coaching end product, but I have some questions relating to the claim that “Porter can’t ever be national team coach until he coaches on the next level.” What are the reasons to support this claim? Would this type of thinking have precluded Pep Guardiola from becoming Barcelona’s coach? What about Juergen Klinsmann becoming Germany’s coach without any coaching experience? That seemed to work out ok didn’t it? What if MLS is not the “next level” or the level of Porter’s teams surpasses the level of MLS? Perhaps the bureaucracy/structure of MLS would stifle Porter’s ability to field teams at the level he prefers? Would this dissuade him from moving into an MLS head coaching position?
@jacques, couldn’t agree more man, ol’ boy steve had me a lil pissed off yesterday, great points tho, great points especially about England they got more $, prestige, and facilities but are way behind the curve in development…