On Thursday afternoon, the Galaxy hosted an exclusive open training for VIPs and the media on the outside training field at Seoul World Cup stadium. After a light morning workout in the pool of the team hotel, the Galaxy returned to the field and went through their paces in front of more than 900 fans and 150 media members. Beginning with a series of shuttle runs that were broken up with two small sided 5v2 evasion games, the players then went on to a crossing and finishing drill to the delight of both the fans and media.
The session concluded with a drill that Ruud introduced in Australia as the players had 15 shots and the goalkeepers would call out have many saves they could make with the loser(s) having to do pushups. Let’s just say that Cronin and Wicks do not have any sore arms today.
Meanwhile, the defenders worked with Chris Neville on an accuracy drill with eight balls in a line nine yards out from the goal. The player would run from a designated point and then shoot, returning to the point before shooting the next ball.
Here is how the scoring worked:
Goal = 2pts
Goal off ground = 5pts
Goal in side netting – 10pts
Goal off bar or post and in = 15pts
Goal into upper 90 = 25pts
Failure to score = -25pts
In a dominating performance, Abel Xavier won all three games and even took the final single shot championship, nailing his shot off the post and in for 15 points.
3 comments:
thanks for the training round up - can you do it everyday please...
Ben
Wow! I mean - WOW!!! Finally, the gods have heard my prayers. This blog piece is the type of updates and info that I (personally) was praying to see. Pictures with stats on how the players practice, drill, scrimmage... WITH SHOTS-ON-GOAL ACCURACY TESTING!!! I'm so happy right now - I'm smiling from ear-to-ear! Does this mean that we fans won't get a great piece like this for another month or so. Wait - Don't tell me, I can't deal with that sort of let-down. The guys look like they are starting to "gel" little by little. You have made my week! Thanks.
Okay, so some tips for today/tommorow's game - her in California, it's Friday @ 9:45 am... I'm guessing it's Saturday @ 12:30'ish (Midnight) in South Korea. When the LA Galaxy played Gamba Osaka (1st Division J-League), the LA Galaxy though losing 1 - 0... were able to put good pressure on Gamba. The Japanese Soccer teams pride and determine themselves by Mastery of Very Good Soccer Technique, but - also on ENDURANCE. The players from Japan are trained to last a FULL 100 minutes on-field. In South Korean soccer, it's about SPEED & "TRICKING" your opponent into committing to style of play and on-field line-up. The South Korean players know that they do not have the strength nor the size to match up one-on-one. But what they do have is SPEED, and the usage of key players to act as the decoys. Where this becomes a problem for our LA Galaxy is our LA Galaxy DEFENSE. Our LA Galaxy DEFENSE has solid, strong, experienced players in Vanney, Abel, Celestine,and Chris. Then, our LA Galaxy also has fresh, strong, speedy talent in Sean, Julian, Troy, and Michael. The crucial, crucial goal for our LA Galaxy is to have a line-up that is solid, but FAST & RESPONSIVE!!! After the shots have been cleared away by our DEFENSE, then it has to become the collective effort from our Midfielders and Forwards to make sure the ball is kept in posession and driven quickly and decisively past the half-field line and as close to penalty box on the other side. Remember, if the FC Seoul gets posession of the ball, they will use speed to out-pace us and attack our goal keepers. I wish you guys the best of luck, fun, and experience. Be collective, improve posession and passing. Be ready to run, run, run!!!
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