MSA Football

[MSA Football @MSAFootball_]

Tune in to the 2024 @L1OMens Cup Final between @RoversFC_L1O & @VaughanSoccerCL. Kickoff 8:30pm!

https://t.co/5pWWKvsKY3

[Aaron Nielsen @ENBSports]

Tajon Buchanan, Alistair Johnston, Ismael Kone and a number of other #CanMNT players were all covered by @MSAFootball_ in hindsight if we invested in analysis and video scouting at Canada youth five years ago or even more today we be earning a lot of the transfer money ourselves

[Ilya Orlov @ilyao88]

Pressing, transitions and goals in Canada!

After the hiring of @jessemarsch this week by @CanadaSoccerEN , there has been lots of talk about pressing and transitions in the football community. This is THE style of play that we have used for the last 5 years with @Alliance_UtdFC in @L1OMens and will give you some insight in how this can look.

We went away from the 'possession' based 1-4-3-3 that everyone has been using as the 'best way' to develop players and win games. Many say this is the 'right way' of playing. However, we use the players' abilities and inabilities as the starting point and based on players produced in Canada, within our youth system, this is the way we think will get us the best results and help our players get to the next level. You need to understand youth development in our country to understand what is and what is not being taught to young players. This is not a negative outlook, it is just looking at the reality.

Many mistake this style of play as just non-stop pressing and chaos. Yes, these two aspects are important but it is a much more deliberate and planned way of playing that is used to predict where the opposition will play the ball, where the ball can be dictated and what areas the opposition leave open for transitions when they attack.

In 2019, I was introduced to Ernst Tanner former Academy Director of Red Bull Salzburg and current Philadelphia Union Sporting Director that has led the club to being one of the top clubs in MLS and arguably the best academies in North America the last few years. Both organisations are known for their pressing and fast transitions in addition to producing top players. He became a mentor to me and gave me insights and education on this style of play. He has changed the way I look at football.

Every season we try to recruit players that can play this style that I will describe below and we do not waiver in the way we played. Every game since 2019 @Alliance_UtdFC have played either in a 1-4-2-2-2 or a 1-4-4-2 midfield diamond....every game. We have no secrets in how we play. We focus on defending, pressing, forcing teams into mistakes and transition football.

It is important to understand that we do not care how much possession we have and we actually want the opposition to have the ball most of the time. Stats in football show that only when a team has the ball 70% or more in a match their is a correlation to winning. Anything less is not correlated to winning in a certain match. In addition, 80% of goals are scored under 5 passes or less and under 10 seconds when regaining possession. We follow the trend!

So, here are some important points based on the video:

a)
Pressing higher up the pitch when possible. All 11 players are committed to the team intention (principles) and if anybody is not committed and does not contribute to this style of play, they do not play. There is no leeway on this. Either you are in 100% in or you are not. All it takes is one player to not commit and the plan will not work. If we do not win the ball on the high press, everyone is to drop behind the ball as fast as possible to restart the press closer to our goal.

b)
Based on the opponent's scouting we press certain players and decide if will press closer to the sideline and 'pin' the player to the sideline or we dictate the passes and dribbles centrally and 'surround' the player to win the ball in central positions. We also decide if we will sometimes drop lower for the opposition to advance so we can play behind them when winning the ball. This is done if we scout that the opposition centre-backs are slower than our two strikers. This means we will 'outrun' them in the space they leave behind.

c)
When winning the ball we want to exploit space behind their backline as the priority which means that a player(s) need to be passing options behind the backline and preferably centrally which is closer to the goal, players winning the ball has to look to play the ball to the player furthest up the pitch. Possession is not a priority but scoring goals as fast as possible is.

d)
When winning the ball we stay as central as possible with passes and dribbling. We use the width of the penalty area (44 yards) as the preferable dimension when transitioning. We want to stay within this width. The wider the team plays the ball, the more time the opposition has to block the middle. PLAY AS VERTICALLY AS POSSIBLE! The emphasis is to get the ball to the two strikers and play 1v1 against the CBs.

e)
We know that most youth players grow up playing against a 1-4-3-3 which means there is one central striker meaning the centre-backs one back press and one can cover. Against 2 strikers this is not possible and many centre-backs do not have the ability to play 1v1 with space behind them. They are not taught the cues to step and press or drop to protect space behind them. They are never taught at youth level. We exploit this deficiency.

e)
All 11 players must get up the pitch to close the spaces if we lose the ball from our attacking transition so the opposition cannot transition against us and we can counter-press.

f)
A goal is the best outcome based on the objective of attacking but at the minimum we want to get a shot on goal from a transition.

This is a quick overview of a different way of playing football that Canada will see with the Men's National Team.

[MSA Football @MSAFootball_]

Summer 2017. A glimpse into the amazing talent of Tajon Buchanan @SigmaFC @L1OMens @Inter

[MSA Football @MSAFootball_]

Thank you, Dino, for all the hard work and passion you put into the success of League1! Best of luck in your work with CSA⚽️🇨🇦

[Dino Rossi @DinoDRossi]

I've got some news to share.

[MSA Football @MSAFootball_]

Les plus beaux buts de la 9e journée de la division masculine de
@Ligue1QC https://t.co/orvtddQcFu

[MSA Football @MSAFootball_]

Les plus beaux buts de la 9e journée de la division féminine de
@Ligue1QC https://t.co/JD35LKgLmJ

[MSA Football @MSAFootball_]

Faits saillants du match de la semaine division masculine @Ligue1QC https://t.co/XypUXiXhoC

[MSA Football @MSAFootball_]

Faits saillants du match de la semaine division féminine @Ligue1QC https://t.co/LoCrGGxSkf

[MSA Football @MSAFootball_]

Les plus beaux buts de la 8e journée de la division masculine de @Ligue1QC

https://t.co/N2MGFrRTGa

[MSA Football @MSAFootball_]

Les plus beaux buts de la 8e journée de la division féminine de @Ligue1QC!

https://t.co/1LvfI8Ws1W

[MSA Football @MSAFootball_]

Les plus beaux buts de la 7e journée de la division féminine de @Ligue1QC

The best goals from Matchday 7 in @Ligue1QC Women's division

https://t.co/azLOKq2LyM

[MSA Football @MSAFootball_]

Les plus beaux buts de la 7e journée de la division masculine de @Ligue1QC

The best goals from Matchday 7 in @Ligue1QC Men's Division

https://t.co/ayofhHb0bN

[MSA Football @MSAFootball_]

@SoccerQuebec, @OSUsoccer, @FCLaval2021, @AcademieCFM, @Royal_Beauport, @CSMROGriffons, @ASBlainville

[MSA Football @MSAFootball_]

Here are the very best goals throughout the month of May in @Ligue1QC Men's Division 🎯

https://t.co/X4GGHpmJU7

[MSA Football @MSAFootball_]

League1 Ontario Men's Division - Best Goals of April https://t.co/iFC19bu9qX

[OneSoccer @onesoccer]

HISTORY, MADE ✅

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗜𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗟𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗕𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗔𝗕𝗬, 𝗕𝗖 🇨🇦 ✨
– A new Canadian Championship legend 📚

#L1BC outfit @TSSRovers become the 1st semi-pro team to defeat a pro team (#MLS or #CanPL) in #CanChamp action 🇨🇦 🏆

#WeAreRovers

[Sigma FC @SigmaFC]

Congratulations to Costa Smyrniotis on being named Executive Vice President of @CPLsoccer

The @CPLsoccer is in good hands and Costa will push the league even further. 👏

[MSA Football @MSAFootball_]

Day 1 of the @FTFCanada__ x @VaughanSoccerCL Spring Showdown

Best of luck to all teams participating 🇨🇦⚽️

[Halifax Wanderers FC @HFXWanderersFC]

⚓️ Rampy in the XI 🔥💙

#TogetherFromAways #COYW