My thoughts CAK/Catholic game 3

[dins8]

First and foremost, I enjoyed this game immensely. Both teams were skilled, well-coached, and obviously deserved to get this far. There was a good crowd, as far as numbers go, but it lacked the raucous scene that you normally get at a Bearden/Farragut game. It was more of a "take me out to the ball game" atmosphere; I wondered if some of the students knew what the final score was after the game.

 

A few thoughts (actually lots of thoughts)...

 

First half: CAK dominated the first ten minutes, and I actually wondered if Catholic even belonged on the same field. CAK was exceptional at letting the ball do the work, and Catholic seemed to be running in circles. I was very impressed with CAK's forward's and midfielder's willingness to play negative to a teammate that could see the whole field and its options. #7 does this well.

 

Catholic, came out over-anxious and a bit sloppy. They ball chased, hung onto the ball too long, and took their own flanks right out of the game. I could not understand why their forwards were making the same runs as the outside midfielders; they were bringing their man to the sidelines, thus congesting the flanks and ruining any sort of service options. (They still had a tendency to do this in the second half).

 

Then something happened to CAK, or maybe Catholic finally got focused. Whatever it was, CAK stopped possessing, and somehow felt they needed to force options. I was not impressed with Pifer tonight. I felt he tried to do a little too much in the middle of the pitch, hanging onto the ball, trying to slip an over ambitious ball between two steady defenders...etc. Furthermore, he looked a bit slow to make decisions; it might have a lot to do with his mask. (This is no offense to Pifer. I have seen him play brilliant games; I just thought he was a bit off tonight).

 

Toward the end of the 1st half and for the remainder of the game, CAK's defense was very disorganized, and they could not seem to play smart soccer. Their clearances were lackadaisical, and at times dreadful, and how Catholic did not capitalize on CAK's weak clearances is beyond me. Moreover, CAK's defense tends to lose shape rather easily. #2 is an agressive and obstinate player; he slides, he chases, he stabs, and he occasionally makes a great tackle that pleases a novice fan. But his agression lurs him out of position and makes the rest of the defense vulnerable to numbers up situations. I would have again thought some of Catholic's forwards would have taken advantage of this.

 

Ultimately, I was very impressed with Catholic. It occurred to me...(yes, I was a bit slow to realize this)...that part of the reason why CAK's backs looked sloppy and hit awkward clearances was because Catholic always goes high pressure all over the field. They understand the concept of team defense--everyone defends, from the forwards to the keeper. The Catholic forwards were tireless and exceptionally fit, and that is one of the main reasons why CAK's backs looked a tad off tonight.

 

Eventually, Catholic got one of the best goals I have seen all year. A beautiful strike by Beckham which left CAK's keeper utterly defensless. Don't you love the irony in soccer? Catholic had some great chances that they should have capitalized on, and the one goal that they did get was almost an above human shot.

 

I can't remember if it was before the goal or after the goal, but Tarr finally entered the game...

 

The Tarr Factor: I will try to be delicate here, but forgive me if I sound a bit perturbed on his "ankle situation." When I arrived at the game, I saw Brandon goofing around on the sidelines, and I immediately rolled my eyes because I was under the impression that he was acting pretentious by not warming up with his team. Then a CAK parent informed me that something was wrong with his ankle. It became obvious that he was limping and perhaps out for the entire game.

 

Now, I am not doubting that this kid is hurt, and if I were in Coach G's position, I might not want to risk further injury for Brandon either. But this was a Regional Championship, and their third chance against Catholic. You would think that only a torn ACL would keep him out of this game.

 

When Tarr finally entered the game, he was completely immobile; CAK might as well have played with 10 players. But then all of a sudden Tarr received the ball, blew by his defender, missed a shot, complained to the referee, then proceeded to limp.

 

Again, I am sure Tarr is not at full speed right now, but I will be honest, one of the main reasons I came was to see him play. This is the third time that I have watched him this year. All three times he has not done a full warm-up with his team, and all three games there has been an issue as to why he would not be on his game that night.

 

I saw Tarr as a freshman, and I thought this kid was going all the way. Why is it that when freshman become uperclassmen they lose their swagger, drive etc.? Eddie Yah plays the same way too.

 

Bottom line: CAK is a good team, but Catholic was better (at least tonight). TN's playoff system made Coach Gerlach make an easy decision on whether or not to rest Tarr. CAK should pack their bags tonight, but instead, they get to rest players in the heat of the playoffs. Who knows? I probably would have done the same thing. Most other states play if you lose, you're out. I believe Mr. Tarr might have come to play tonight if the playoffs in TN were played the way they should be--winner moves on, loser ponders what might have been.

 

Isn't there another thread started on a topic similar to this? /smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /> I will let it be.

 

No offense to anyone, especially Brandon. (Hope the ankle feels better). Maybe it is just sour grapes for me since I REALLY wanted to see him play tonight.

 

Congrats to Catholic on a great win.

 

Sorry to those who have read and not been satisfied with this lenghty verbiage.

[lampost_17]

i understand that this is just the opinion but i would like to throw in my two cents. i believe that pifer played awesome. he wasnt afraid to take on the defenders, in fact i believe he wanted to. and sure he might not have scored to be successful by other peoples standards but on CAK we dont measure success with goals. and i know that you didn't necessarly mean that. so to david, you played awesome!!!!! as for number 2, he might slide alot and stab but that might be part of his style of play. just a thought. all that i really know is that he never gives up and plays with passion every single game. personally, i look up to him and the intensity with which he plays. he never gives up. even when you are down 1-0 with 10 minutes left. he truly leaves everything on the field.

i thank you for the complements about our style of play. it is always nice to hear that. catholic played an awesome game. we might have outplayed catholic for the first ten minutes as some might say, but catholic played with intensity for the whole 80 mins. as for the goal, wow!!!! that is all i can say. a truly magnificent goal. just beautiful.

good luck to catholic and the rest of their season.

thanks for reading. just my opinion

[TheBigPenquin]

First and foremost I play for Cak so obviously I'm a bit biased. I guess I'll start with Brandon Tarr..., and before I say this Dins8 I'm not trying to disrespect what you said I'm actually really impressed that you'll actually say whats on your mind. However, I do not entirely agree with what you said. This year I've gone from not knowing Brandon at all to being pretty decent friends with him, and if I've learned anything about him its that he is not the type of player to sit out in one of the biggest games of the year just because of a questionable injury. About warming up maybe he should take it more seriously, but thats our whole team myself included. It's hard to be serious and focused when you do the same thing every game for who knows how many games, it gets a bit old. Next about him always being out I think you said the only three games you've seen or something like that. He has been hurt or out a good bit, but to have every player on the oposing team know your name, and self-consciously probably want to get you out of the game. Not neccessarily hurt you, but he is such a threat many teams are honestly scared of him so he gets hacked and hammered every game. Thats the uglyness of high school soccer, and that leads to many tweaked ankles and injuries. Yeah Brandon at times could be a bit more serious in warmups, and possibly play harder, but I think we could all say that about ourselves if we are players at this level. So my only complaint is that yes judge, but judge the team as a whole, and possibly not single a player out as harshly. I do respect what you said though you have guts even though I disagree to a degree.

 

Next Catholic is a great team, possibly a little more fit than us to be honest. You said the first 10 minutes we dominated or something like that. I know as a forward when things aren't going exactly right and the balls not going in the back of the net it gets real easy to stop making the runs. So the possession was I'd say alot of our fault up top, but when you have a team like Catholic that constantly presses you whenever you get the ball and is as highly skilled as they are you tend to fall into bad habbits even more quickly. I agree what your saying in this sense. Next David Pifer everyone has off games. I, however, thought he played outstanding for a good majority of the game. It's hard playing center mid as much running as it is for a start then if your forwards/wings aren't making the runs or runs at all it tends to become even harder. I think it was mostly the people off the ball's fault instead of his in the mid. Catholic played great and had a sick shot to win the game. Thank you for your honest opinion it is greatly appreciated.

[dins8]

QUOTE(lampost_17 @ May 17 2007 - 09:47 PM) 826461661[/snapback]i understand that this is just the opinion but i would like to throw in my two cents. i believe that pifer played awesome. he wasnt afraid to take on the defenders, in fact i believe he wanted to. and sure he might not have scored to be successful by other peoples standards but on CAK we dont measure success with goals. and i know that you didn't necessarly mean that. so to david, you played awesome!!!!! as for number 2, he might slide alot and stab but that might be part of his style of play. just a thought. all that i really know is that he never gives up and plays with passion every single game. personally, i look up to him and the intensity with which he plays. he never gives up. even when you are down 1-0 with 10 minutes left. he truly leaves everything on the field.

i thank you for the complements about our style of play. it is always nice to hear that. catholic played an awesome game. we might have outplayed catholic for the first ten minutes as some might say, but catholic played with intensity for the whole 80 mins. as for the goal, wow!!!! that is all i can say. a truly magnificent goal. just beautiful.

good luck to catholic and the rest of their season.

thanks for reading. just my opinion

 

 

lampost,

 

Classy post...I am sure mine didn't come across as classy as yours. You are right, David is an outstanding player; I just thought he tried to force things tonight. Maybe he is given the creative greenlight from his coach; all coaches want players to take chances in the offensive third.

 

As for #2, he truly is a tenacious player with an outstanding work ethic. I didn't mean to deride him for his style of play. I just thought he work rate caused him to get out of position at times. No joke, I would LOVE to have someone like him on my team. He has the attitude that every coach wants. Good luck to CAK, and furthermore, it is always great to see a young person (I'm assuming you are a player) who can talk maturely about a game.

[TheBigPenquin]

wow sorry to copy lampost_17 in alot of what you said I didn't see your post my bad.

[lampost_17]

if anyone is wondering, i do play for CAK so i might seem biased. as for tarr, (i forgot it in my previous post) i agree with thebigpenguin. who would seriously want to sit out one of the biggest games and a fierce ( i can't spell so sorry for anything mis-spelled) rivalry between two schools less than 2 miles apart? i know there are some guys on our bench with season ending injuries who would give anything to play in this game. again thanks for the compliments and critism. no team ever got better without being told where someone saw a fault.

[dins8]

QUOTE(TheBigPenquin @ May 17 2007 - 09:55 PM) 826461674[/snapback]First and foremost I play for Cak so obviously I'm a bit biased. I guess I'll start with Brandon Tarr..., and before I say this Dins8 I'm not trying to disrespect what you said I'm actually really impressed that you'll actually say whats on your mind. However, I do not entirely agree with what you said. This year I've gone from not knowing Brandon at all to being pretty decent friends with him, and if I've learned anything about him its that he is not the type of player to sit out in one of the biggest games of the year just because of a questionable injury. About warming up maybe he should take it more seriously, but thats our whole team myself included. It's hard to be serious and focused when you do the same thing every game for who knows how many games, it gets a bit old. Next about him always being out I think you said the only three games you've seen or something like that. He has been hurt or out a good bit, but to have every player on the oposing team know your name, and self-consciously probably want to get you out of the game. Not neccessarily hurt you, but he is such a threat many teams are honestly scared of him so he gets hacked and hammered every game. Thats the uglyness of high school soccer, and that leads to many tweaked ankles and injuries. Yeah Brandon at times could be a bit more serious in warmups, and possibly play harder, but I think we could all say that about ourselves if we are players at this level. So my only complaint is that yes judge, but judge the team as a whole, and possibly not single a player out as harshly. I do respect what you said though you have guts even though I disagree to a degree.

 

Next Catholic is a great team, possibly a little more fit than us to be honest. You said the first 10 minutes we dominated or something like that. I know as a forward when things aren't going exactly right and the balls not going in the back of the net it gets real easy to stop making the runs. So the possession was I'd say alot of our fault up top, but when you have a team like Catholic that constantly presses you whenever you get the ball and is as highly skilled as they are you tend to fall into bad habbits even more quickly. I agree what your saying in this sense. Next David Pifer everyone has off games. I, however, thought he played outstanding for a good majority of the game. It's hard playing center mid as much running as it is for a start then if your forwards/wings aren't making the runs or runs at all it tends to become even harder. I think it was mostly the people off the ball's fault instead of his in the mid. Catholic played great and had a sick shot to win the game. Thank you for your honest opinion it is greatly appreciated.

 

 

Penguin,

 

Classy post from you as well. This seems to be a pattern with the CAK team. You make an excellent point about Brandon being targeted. High profile players do tend to lose their cool and get injured more than the rest.

 

I am honestly more mad at the TN playoff system. I believe that Brandon would have played tonight, had it been winner take all. And, again, I probably would have made the same decision as your coach. I really was just dying to see his A game, and I thought this would be the game to get it at.

 

Good luck in the next round. Who do you have?

[ah20]

Penguin, lampost, i'm impressed with you two. You guys are awesome guys and i've enjoyed seeing you two grow over the years. I'm proud of you for keeping your posts classy and defending your teammates. Dins8, I think I speak for everyone when I say thanks for your opinions and points about the game. Both CAK and Catholic are great teams, but very, very far from perfect and still have a ton of stuff they can improve on. It's awesome to have an "outsider" (someone not on our team) who can give insight into and critique our play so we can see aspects of our own game that we are lacking in and need to work on. And I love how you keep your posts unbiased and classy. I'd still like to know who you are though.... maybe you can reveal it after the season ends?

[lampost_17]

dins8 thank you so much for that. it makes me thankful that people are willing to give compliments and not just recieve them. your post was classily said. i might have disagreed a little but two people are bound to have different opinions. you could have purly bashed them but you said it in a way that did not degrade on the person. so thanks alot and i look forward to hearing your opinion on other games because i know that you wont bash players but you will state your opinion. thanks again

[lampost_17]

QUOTE(ah20 @ May 17 2007 - 10:09 PM) 826461702[/snapback]Penguin, lampost, i'm impressed with you two. You guys are awesome guys and i've enjoyed seeing you two grow over the years. I'm proud of you for keeping your posts classy and defending your teammates. Dins8, I think I speak for everyone when I say thanks for your opinions and points about the game. Both CAK and Catholic are great teams, but very, very far from perfect and still have a ton of stuff they can improve on. It's awesome to have an "outsider" (someone not on our team) who can give insight into and critique our play so we can see aspects of our own game that we are lacking in and need to work on. And I love how you keep your posts unbiased and classy. I'd still like to know who you are though.... maybe you can reveal it after the season ends?

 

thanks, just so everyone knows, the penguin and i were typing our first posts at the same time so that is why it might seem like they sound alike.

thanks ah20. your a true friend and will be missed next year

[reaction]

Everyone seems to make pretty good points in this thread. I drove up from Chattanooga to see this game. Ran into a few older people I use to play club with too which was pretty cool. I'm kinda like dins, I wanted to see Tarr too. The whole game I knew it was a matter of time before he would atleast try and play. And ofcoarse I finally saw him lacing up and joggin on the sidelines, but you could tell that he was not 100%. The 1 run he made at goal did come out of no where and was impressive. Both teams are very good. Both defenses played well. That shot was a rocket, nothing the goalie could do, any goalie at that. I thought the Pifer kid had a decent game. Like someone said he was taking people on, even though he did not have that many chances on goals, he was trying to get the offense going. He didn't look like the fastest kid on the field, but he got the job done. Catholics team speed is pretty impressive. That was one of the first things I noticed about them. I also liked the play of #2 for CAK (I think sweeper maybe?) He was a scrapper. Yes his intense play may have got him out of position at times, but you can do that when you have 2 or 3 other defenders that you can count on to back you up. Good luck to both of these teams in sectionals. I think they will move on to Murfreesboro with no problem. There is potential to be a round 4 but that is far down the road. I saw Notre Dame play the other night and they are playing great soccer right now and could challenge. CCS must be peaking now too since they beat Notre Dame tonight in OT.

 

P.S, BigG you make me feel tall....hahaha

[TheBigPenquin]

QUOTE(dins8 @ May 17 2007 - 10:06 PM) 826461699[/snapback]Penguin,

 

Classy post from you as well. This seems to be a pattern with the CAK team. You make an excellent point about Brandon being targeted. High profile players do tend to lose their cool and get injured more than the rest.

 

I am honestly more mad at the TN playoff system. I believe that Brandon would have played tonight, had it been winner take all. And, again, I probably would have made the same decision as your coach. I really was just dying to see his A game, and I thought this would be the game to get it at.

 

Good luck in the next round. Who do you have?

 

yes thanks again for all you said, and to answer your question we have elizabethton who beat pigeon forge. Long bus ride, but sounds like it could be a good game.