Appleton North Report

Cheese Athletics Staff
August 30, 2008
Appleton North Scouting Report



Appleton North at Muskego (Tournament final, 80 minute game)

Offensive Positives
• Very quick counter attacks. Shot just wide of the post in the 1st minute.
• Michael Brooks (#23) is very fundamentally sound. Head is up during most of North's attack. Rarely forces the ball.
• Width is good, could be better but they are utilizing the wings much more than the other teams in this tournament.
• Fast break to Ken Pisaniello (#16), runs out of room on the end line, pulls the ball back to Kendall Vosters (#9) who is immediately fouled. Pisaniello puts together well formulated attacks, despite not being the most skilled player on the North squad.
• Ryan Carey (#3) is very active off the ball with good, if not great feet. Moves after every pass as a decoy or in preparation for another ball. He plays sideline to sideline the entire time he is in. Tremendous work ethic, he is very tenacious on defense. Carey is a substitute and only played about half of the game. This may be because he is a freshman but I would expect to see his minutes increase as the season goes on.
• Mark Stewart (#15) is a very compact and physical player. He has a good work ethic and puts most of his shots on frame to the far post.
• North is not a team that will "wow" you with individual play. In fact, there were two teams that I saw that had more skill than North but neither of the teams actually play better than North. Each player knows their roll and rarely do you see anyone trying to do too much with the ball.
• Tremendous speed on top. I suggest you do an offside trap or keep a sweeper very deep throughout the game.
• Counted eight through balls that turned into one on ones with Muskego's keeper. At one point North was 2 for 3 on these plays but started missing them badly as the game progressed.

Offensive Negatives
• Forward can become stationary. This may be because it was their 3rd game in two days but it could be cause for concern if it continues.
• The midfielders like to send all of their through balls straight ahead. There is rarely an instance where they pass a 10 yard diagonal ball behind Muskego's defense. Most through balls are coming from 20 to 30 yards. Against Muskego's weak defense this worked but once the quality of play is increased, one could expect them to struggle with through balls.
• Finishing. The game should have been out of reach by the 50th minute; instead they let Muskego hang around and almost lost it in the end.
• The defenders tend to clear the ball when there are still open passes to be made. It is certainly the safe play but sometimes there is hardly any pressure and the defenders send the ball 30 yards out of play.

Defensive Positives
• Full back Jens Hauser (#21) does a good job of showing in the flats for his sweeper when they hold possession. Most defenders at this level will allow the forward to cut off their passing lane and do nothing about it.
• Full back Adam Hermsen (#4) is very patient in allowing plays to develop. He draws the forwards close before he releases the ball. Very impressive for a freshman.
• North is one of the best teams in the state in terms of defending in numbers. Very rarely will they be counter attacked in a numbers down situation. Great coaching.
• The outside defenders are not great tacklers or superb athletes. What they do well is hold their man in front of them allowing their defense to settle in and/or wait for a double team. It was quite a task considering Muskego's offensive talent. I was very impressed with the patience of the North defenders.
• Very strong keeper play. I believe it was Jake Bergmann but I could not make out his number. He is stout with good hands and vocal when coming off of his line. He could do a better job organizing his defense when the opposition is possessing in front of his net.

Defensive Negatives
• Contained a 6 vs 3 advantage in the 50th minute only to give up a goal when they evened the odds.
• North had a false sense of security with the 3 and then 2 goal lead and put their heads down after the first goal was surrendered. Once the second goal was scored, just one minute later, North began to panic. It took North another 10 minutes to slow down the pace of the game.
• The marking becomes very loose when Muskego held the ball in the attacking third. It seemed North was allowing shots from everywhere for about a twenty minute span.

Set Pieces
• 18 yards out, right side of the field – Brooks plays a hip high ball as an in-swinger on his left foot to an on running teammate. Cleared by Muskego
• Corner Kick – Brooks sends an in swinger from the right side to the top of the penalty area. Wild shot by a midfielder, hits the post where Carey nearly finishes.


Goals
• Appleton Goal – 9th Minute – Michael Smongeski (#2) dribbles past last defender, is now one on one with the keeper, passes to Jeremie Suave (#18 ), who may have been in an offside position, for the easy put goal from 6 yards out.
• Appleton Goal – 24th Minute – Michael Brooks (#23) is sent on a through ball from 30 yards away. With the ball at his feet he pulls away from each of the Muskego defenders and slots the ball into the right side netting for an easy goal.
• Appleton Goal - 33rd Minute – Goal was scored off a simple possession and a onetime shot from 20 yards out. I could not make out the number of who scored.
• Muskego Goal – 52nd Minute – Ksobiech gives a quick ball to Jacob Pope (#5) who buries the shot from 20 yards out just inside of the far post.
• Muskego Goal – 53rd Minute – Pope steals the ball and finishes quickly from the top of the 18 yard area.


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