Maybe they should take a page from the UT Club Teams pre-season training. Two weeks of two a days. Morning 630 to 1030 (Fitness) Evenings 730 to 930 (touches) We did a lot of running, pure sprint work, swimming, sand work, etc.. all around the Barton Springs area. We were very sore after the first week but that goes away come week two.
The squad did two a days for quite some time (not sure about since June), as well as weight training for strength. That's about all I know. Unfortunately, I think it has less to do w/ conditioning and more to do with attitude. I saw too much walking and slow pace even in the first half.
Coach Heath has got to take his fair share of the blame. These are his players (Kyle Brown) out there and his conditioning program is not getting it done. We are playing in the evening with a strong breeze, and no one can go for 90+? I can't understand that. We have the youngest squad in the league, these guys should be able to run all damn day. A lack of skill I can understand in a young team, but not the dead legs. And that has got to fall at the feet of the coach. I'm not calling for his head, but he needs to improve in a lot of ways as well as the players.
Compared to who? - gimme a break - he's one of the best markers we have. Which admittedly is saying very little. And while he may boot the ball a fair amount of the time, this is not unlike any of the others except that it doesn't usually end up in the opponent getting a throw-in or corner. As to the team dragging around the pitch, I can't help but feel like they don't want it bad enough, that they just don't care enough. Other teams, as has been said, even northern teams, don't have a problem running around the pitch despite the heat. I think the comparison to FCD is apt.
I have seen much better distribution and marking from both David Horst and Zack Pope on the defensive side. I agree that Gareth has, in too many situations, kicked the ball clear when unnecessary giving it up to the opponent. He is good at marking players, but not as much as I'd like. However, part of me thinks that this is not a result of laziness or poor attitude, I think it's more along the lines of needing more coaching (either tutorial or boot format).
I like Horst. He was the only defender I thought looked solid last Saturday. Edit: Well reasonably so.
Just re-watched the highlights of the game. I can't believe there wasn't a card there on a Montreal player or two in that scrum. One of them clearly took a swing at Callahan. I didn't see any issue with Caugherty doing what he did. Yes, he committed a foul, but his reaction after he saw the ball on the ground was instantaneous and reasonable. Then the Montreal player shoved him into the goal, then the Montreal players ganged up on him and it actually took a bit for anyone to get there and defend him. Actually kinda pisses me off all over again.
Right or wrong, that's what happens when you slam your body into the opposing teams goalkeeper. Had it been on the other side, we would have done the same thing.
Personally I don't think Caugherty "slammed" his body into the keeper, I haven't watched the replay or anything but I remember at the time thinking that there was no way that could be considered a foul, but obviously the center ref had a different point of view. I thought he even kind of twisted in the air so as not to fully charge into the keeper, I understand that the keeper needs to be protected, but I don't think I could complain if our keeper was hit like that.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ew78ONPhQI"]YouTube - Austin Aztex FC vs. Montreal Impact - 7/25/09[/ame]
Having watched the replay supplied by S-Hoops, I stand by earlier statement. I don't think he slammed into their keeper.
Yeah. The reason I posted what I did is that I'd watched the highlights and thought it was actually a pretty fair challenge and an overreaction on the part of the Impact. At least one of their players should've been red-carded. Possibly one of ours as well. Not that it would've made any difference, being as the game was nearly done.
If he was playing the ball then why did he turn his back as he jumped? Was he trying to head in the winning goal with the back of his head? No, he was trying to avoid contact that he initiated. It's an obvious foul. Learning the rules of the game will make it more interesting to watch for you guys.
Remember that point we thought was salvaged from this game? It's gone now. And so is another one. USL deducts two points from Aztex for administrative error
Now, I'm just a dum meerikan, and my knowledge is limited to having watched from the sidelines for 14 years of youth soccer, concurrently with 5 or 6 six years of ODP, 4 years of college and a couple years of professional play, so I guess I'm just not qualified to come up with the conclusion that I did, which by the way I still think is the correct conclusion. Actually I think you can score with your back turned to the goal, my son once knocked a ball in off his butt, we said it was one his better headers ever and actually I do think that Caugherty was trying to make a play.
Roma, please accept my apologies. Someone who I trust totally looked at the replay and said that the foul call on Caugherty in the box was legit. This guy is one of the most respected coaches in the state, former professional player himself, and he said maybe this wouldn't have been called 20 years ago, but nowadays, yes it was a foul. So un grande plato de humble pie for me.
Oh, I also thought it was a foul. But I also thought in the run of the play it was legitimate for him to go after it. You never know. Sometimes the keeper misjudges. It's amazing to me how often a player can manage to get his head higher than a keeper's hands. I didn't think it was a bad foul. I thought the Montreal team had an extreme overreaction, and there were things that happened in the scrum afterward that should've been awarded with a trip to the showers.
Well, at least this kind of dumb point-deducting mistake happens the world over... http://www.theoffside.com/south-america/a-loan-ends-when-a-loan-ends-damnit.html
