How wily Ben Olsen stole a 1-0 win

By Steve Long – Soccer, like many team sports, is a game of movement, flexibility, deception, and execution. To perform well, a team must have strength and skill, but the very best have the ability to multiply their talents with a bit of guile. An unbalanced opponent is easier to defeat.

DC United Coach Ben Olsen rarely speaks of the wily portion of his approach to soccer. His interviews are filled with references to pluck and effort. His team plays less with style and more with discipline and focus. However, the latter two are prone to fail as players tire late in games.

Olsen’s emphasis on those characteristics took a long time to place his team at a slight advantage in the latter stages of a game, gradually changing United from a team that would lose leads late to one that has recently been winning late.

The lack of offensive style and punch has been exacerbated by the temporary loss of three of his top strikers. The return of Luis Silva has reduced that number to two and provided the exclamation point to DC’s latest triumph.

Silva complements the current strikers well with a style which is that of a withdrawn forward in contrast to the power style of Chris Pontius and the flash of Jairo Arrieta. In particular, he adds a very accurate and deadly free kick.

Olsen realized this and accordingly gave him the task of shooting from set pieces. The gem that won the game in Orlando showed the value of power with accuracy, but showed even more the value added by just the right touch of guile.

The time-honored custom of bending a shot around or over a wall is predictable, but the actions in and around the wall can offer a more direct route to the back of the net. One can take note of the tendency of a particular opponent’s players to jump as the ball is kicked and place the shot under their feet. The US Men’s National Team has suffered just such an embarrassment in the past.

Another tactic is to place a player in the wall and push an opponent just enough to create an opening through which to score. In Orlando, Olsen took that tactic to a slightly different level. His man in the wall pressured his counterpart and suddenly relaxed that pressure just before the shot came. The Orlando defender, pressing back, slipped to the side and Silva neatly placed his shot through the space thus vacated.

There are variations to this, such as standing directly in front of the wall and leaping to one side just as the shot is taken directly at you. Surprisingly often the person behind you will echo your movement and open a space for the shot.

On other occasions, a player at the edge of the wall can offer a deflection target or screen the goalkeeper’s view until the shot appears just as he moves out of the way. Opponents are sometimes aware of these dangers to them and the alert ones will add a body or assign a player in the wall to track and counter these moves.

That’s what happened in Orlando. The defender thought he was correct in holding his position, but the sudden release of pressure put him just enough off balance and out of position to hand Silva the space he needed.

The basic lesson is that a wise team reads an opponent’s tendencies and takes advantage of them at strategic times. Olsen may talk a tough game and have his players play that way, but he coaches a clever one.