It's been said that if you put 1000 chimpanzees in a room with 1000 typewriters (or in today's parlance, word processors) and gave them enough time one of them would write the Declaration of Independence or some such famous literary work (or perhaps a viable exit strategy from Iraq). The key ingredient here is "enough time". But that pretty much holds true in a lot of theories. It became a reality and the deciding factor in Sunday's 1-1 tie between the Charleston Battery and the Miami FC.
Nearing the end of regulation time and ahead 1-0 Miami went into a comically obvious set of stall tactics that any parent attempting to get their child to come in to take a bath would immediately recognize. There were three substitutions by Miami late in the second half. On each occasion the player exiting the pitch did so with such lethargy that he appeared to be sleep walking and able to place one foot in front of the other only by sheer force of will. On one particular throw-in there were no fewer than four players who took turns walking to the ball pick it up and then wait for someone else to walk over and replace him. The referee (who is either a parent or didn't like to take baths as a child) quickly picked up on the "crawl-of-play" methods and added three minutes of stoppage time. As this extra time wound down and with Charleston clearly on the prowl for the equalizer Miami went into a bunker defense (big surprise). With ten Miami players in the defensive half it didn't take long for Charleston to be awarded a free kick. This one from about 35 yds. Out. As Charleston was quickly organizing the set piece Miami rushes a substitute to the line and frantically begins signaling the referee. At this point Zinho, Miami's captain rushes to the ball and proceeds to plant himself in front of it. So close in fact that he had the ball between his feet (If you've seen "March of the Penguins", you would have recognized the posture as that of a parent protecting the egg ) and starts pointing to the fourth official. The player being substituted out was Zinho so as Zinho casually strolls off the pitch another Miami player takes up position in front of the ball to prevent any play from continuing. The set piece failed and the ball was cleared towards the half line. As the referee passed the benches he told the fourth official that he was adding 45 seconds to stoppage time. It was during this extra stoppage that Charleston's Steven Armstrong artfully maneuvered into the six yard box and was mugged by Miami's Keeper (and former Battery player) Chris Doyle. The referee awarded a penalty kick (after a heated discussion at the net with every Miami player except for Romario, who stayed out of the argument primarily because he was back in Miami. Armstrong scored on the PK, deadlocking the match which ended shortly thereafter.
I have always been fascinated with the mercurial flow of strategy in the game of soccer. Offense becomes defense becomes offense within the blink of an eye and all 22 players have to be quick witted enough to adapt in this environment. But there is another strata of this strategy (forgive the alliteration, I just couldn't help myself) that creates the enveloping game plan. It is at this level where coaches should attempt to affect the game and not, as too many often do, by demanding specific actions from specific players. Once they cross the touch line it's the players' game. If they have to be coached on technique they're not ready to play. At some point towards the end of the match it was decided by Miami that rather than continue their successful pace of play they would attempt to speed up time by slowing the run of play. The idea has merit and has been used by all soccer teams at all levels. However, Miami foolishly decided to abandon any pretense of subtlety in the effort. Their antics were worthy of Vaudeville and equally as funny to watch. Fortunately for Charleston this played into their own game plan which was to continue to press until the final whistle, which came forty-five seconds after it was originally planned to occur.
"This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
