Latella: 3 Things Knights Have to Do to Win

RFH 2010, Featured Articles, HCS Boys Soccer

Thu, Nov 17, 2011

Here are the basics:

* Saturday, 4 p.m.;

* HCS vs. Ft. Ann in the state Class D semifinals;

* Middletown High School turf field;

* and if Hamilton wins, they face the winner of the Chazy vs. Alfred-Almond game to be played earlier.

Now, here's the good stuff.

We aked HCS Coach Brian Latella what three things his team has to do this weekend to be successful. Here's what he said:

1. Defensive Pressure

Without immediate pressure put on the ball, we give the opponent the opportunity to make decisions. The instant we lose possession, we have to immediately step to the ball, interestingly, this begins with our forwards. If our forwards do not play defense, our opponent can attack with their defenders, while unbalancing ours. If we can make our opponents turn the ball over in their defensive half, we can create dangerous goal-scoring opportunities.

2. Speed of Play

We cannot slow the game down and allow more defenders behind the ball by trying to dribble past multiple players. We must move the ball quickly, using 1-2 touches and having players sprinting off the ball to create space. When we are in our attacking third of the field we must increase the speed of our decisions even more. Good defensive teams make it very difficult to take more than 1-2 touches near the 18, so we must be at our best.

3. Competitiveness

We have to view every small play, every 50/50 ball, every restart, as the play that could determine the game's outcome. So, with this in mind, we have to compete for the entire 80 minutes like we want to win every one of those small plays. If the boys compete this weekend against the opposition like they have been against each other in training lately, we should create some dangerous opportunities.