Across The Midwest Pitch - #4

by Matt Besler - Kansas City Wizards

Hope everyone is doing well this week as I try to catch you up on everything that’s been going on.


This past week was probably the busiest week of our season so far. After playing our first SuperLiga game against Santos last Sunday in St. Louis, we traveled out to Boston on Monday afternoon to get ready for our second SuperLiga game Wednesday night against New England. After the game Wednesday, we returned home to Kansas City on Thursday morning and started preparing for our last SuperLiga group game Sunday against Santos Laguna. I’m currently writing this on Monday afternoon as we are flying to Minneapolis to face the Minnesota Thunder in the US Open Cup on Tuesday. Four games in 10 days... it doesn’t get much tougher schedule-wise.

After our three group games in SuperLiga, we had 2 ties and 1 loss, which was not enough to advance to the semi's. This was extremely disappointing to our team because we really wanted to advance and win the tournament. It makes it even tougher when we had control of our own destiny in the last game and just needed a win/tie to advance.

Santos Laguna commentary:
We knew right from the start we had to come out with high energy and set the tone. There was a lot at stake and we wanted to make sure Santos knew it was going to be a tough game. I felt the first 20-30 minutes we played great. The pressure was excellent and we created many opportunities by forcing them to make mistakes. However, we couldn’t find that early goal we talked about getting before the game. I think if we could have scored early on, it would have changed the game completely. Instead, Santos was still very much in the game and the score at half was 0-0.

They got a goal early on in the second half, which forced us to change to a 3-4-3 formation. We were able to create a bit more chances this way, but it also left us more susceptible to the counter-attack. Santos was able to capitalize on the break about midway through the second half to make it 2-0. Claudio Lopez gave us life when he scored a great free-kick from about 25 yards away from goal... 2-1 with about 10 minutes to go.

At this point in the game, I really felt like we were going to get the second goal and advance to the next the round (all we needed was a tie). We pressed and got numbers forward which caused a lot of opportunities for us. We hit the crossbar and also had a great chance right on the goal line, but we couldn’t put one away. Santos scored their 3rd goal to put the game away with only seconds left in the game.

Getting knocked out of SuperLiga hurts a bit, but it’s something everyone must move forward from very quickly because we have an Open Cup match this week and get back into League play this weekend. I think something I learned from this tournament is that, in soccer, the differences in winning, losing, tying, advancing are so small. All it takes is a couple plays either way and it changes the entire outcome. As a team and a player, I think we must really concentrate and make sure those plays go in our favor more times than not.

Next week’s highlight:
In-depth look at what goes on during a “travel day.”

Shout Outs:
Toph and Joshua - Keep working on that Tiger Woods ’10 game. Maybe you will be able to beat me soon.

Donny and Cory - Great seeing you guys last week. Get your runs done!

JLC - Schaumburg? What the heck, that’s so far. Hope you have a good week.

Questions:
Having played against two Mexican clubs in SuperLiga, can you talk about the differences between their playing style and the average MLS teams? Is the level of quality noticeably higher, lower, or about the same? - Jesus G.

Playing styles are definitely different. The Mexican clubs were a lot more patient with the ball and looked to keep possession more. They always played short on goal kicks and their backs played around with the ball more. Technically, they are probably more skilled, but I would say the MLS teams are more physical and have more speed. Specifically, I thought the Mexican forwards were very intelligent with their movement off the ball. They were always looking for ways to create space. Overall thought, I think the level of quality is about the same, just a little different.

What would you consider your personal strength on the field and what would you say is your biggest weakness or area you’d like to most improve in? - Josh H.

Well there are a lot of areas I want to improve in such as getting a little stronger, faster, and becoming a better 1-vs.-1 defender. The two areas I am focusing on right now are my crispness in passing and my communication. It’s tough to be sharp when you’re tired, but it makes such a difference when you can complete all of your passes. Also, when you’re a young player, communicating isn’t something that comes easy. I’m working everyday to get more comfortable with this and to be able to direct my teammates on where they need to be. As for a strength, I feel that I am a smart player and I don’t let things get to me very easily. I simply play the game from one play to the next.


Kansas City Wizards defender Matt Besler returns with a new installment of 'Across The Midwest Pitch' each Tuesday on MLS Daily. If you have a question that you'd like answered in next week's segment, please send it HERE. Our sincere thanks go out to Matt for taking his time to write each week!