Playing without injured striker Martin Palermo and not playing in the dominate fashion that they had enjoyed under Alfio Basile, Boca still have found a way to keep apace of the trailing pack. Going into Round 14 of Futbol Argentino, Boca has regained the top spot on 29 pts. with still a game in hand on River Plate and Estudiantes, who both sit just one point beneath Boca level on 28 pts.

The jury, however, is still out on Boca manager, La Volpe as Boca have stammered in the transition period between coaches, but they seem to have turned the corner and regained some of their confidence. Their convincing performance against Argentinos Juniors gave the faithful at La Bombonera some ease of mind as well as some breathing room for La Volpe, who is finding that the pressure of managing the Mexican National team is nothing in comparison to managing the fabled Buenos Aires club.

In the 1st half, Boca’s Juan Krupoviesa was denied a goal as Argentinos’ keeper did well to deny the defender’s well placed free-kick; however, Krupoviesa was not to be denied in the 41st min. as he crashed in with a header at the back post to take Boca into half-time with a goal cushion.

Boca continued to apply the pressure in the 2nd half and fellow defender, Daniel Diaz, was unlucky not to add to the score-line for Boca as his rasping right-footed free-kick was denied by the post.

Boca were rewarded in the 74th min., however, as striker Palencio turned provider, playing a neat ball across the goal for the on rushing Mauro Boselli to push home into the empty net. Argentinos Juniors fought back with a goal in the 86th min. to cut the lead in half at the end.    
    
Though Boca defeated Argentinos Juniors at the weekend and tied Racing Club in their make-up fixture on Wednesday, it was the inability of River Plate to not pull out a victory this past Sunday that placed Boca back in the driver’s seat. River Plate faced a tougher opponent in Independiente, but the story was not that exciting as they played out to a scoreless draw.

Estudiantes kept apace of the two usual suspects as they defeated Nueva Chicago. Striker Mariano Pavone put Estudiantes in the lead in the 18th min. with a pile driver of a left foot that he blasted upper 90 from just outside the 18. Nueva Chicago then provided a gift in the form of the own goal before Higuain the elder finished off a goal to cut the lead. Pavone then missed a spot kick at the end of the game, but Diego Simeone’s men walked away with all 3 pts.

This Sunday the pressure cooker is on as the race is so tight between the three. Boca face Arsenal in a tough match as Arsenal has played themselves into contention this season, sitting in 4th place on 25 pts. Estudiantes and River don’t have it any easier though as Veron and Co. play Velez Sarsfield while Gallardo and Co. play San Lorenzo.

Can you smell it? Something is in the air, and it has nothing to do with the Premiership. A good Mongoose must trust his senses and follow where his instincts tell him.

This weekend, with opportunities to watch ball from all corners of the earth, I choose to watch the Bundesliga. German Football is not just for Nazis, it has flare without the pizzazz.

The league is built on hard nosed football, but light skill is respected and overwhelms those who believe that blitzkriegs are the only way.

Big match ups in the Bundesliga this weekend are Werder Bremen vs. Energie Cottbus. That pits the number 1 team vs. number 6, but please don’t discount Cottbus because of their position. They have already appeared on Savage Strikes a few times this year, so they have a potent arsenal of guns. Speaking of Savage Strikes, Werder has made a few appearances also, and if my hunch is correct Miroslav Klose and friends will be gunning to make another appearance.

For the second big Budesliga bash, it will be Number 2 Bayern Munich vs. Number 3 Shalke 04. A terrifying match up on the books, and hopefully Bayern will be scared all the way home, but probably not, these guys put the G in German, so a high powered arms race will ensue.
 
The funny thing about this massive collision is that the Shalke fans are taking a stand and boycotting cheering for their team for the first 19 min. and 4 sec. This is due to their being kicked out of both the German Cup and the Uefa Cup in its early stages. So, for Bayern they have the first 20 min. to abuse Shalke with no reclamation from their opponent’s supporters.

This should make the ensuing 70 minutes a heart pounding affair. Hopefully the Munich fans will be silenced in the end with a scorching strike from Lincoln and his band.  

No matter what game your mouth waters for if you don’t have GolTV, you are out of luck! So pick up the channel, or drop your thoughts of seeing the Germans in their finest hour.

Meditations from Mongoose

Click Here to Listen to this Week’s Episode

1. Champions League Rematch: Barca vs. Chelsea & Group Favorites

2. Copa America

3. The MLS Playoffs  

To read Nov. 03, 2006 Edition, Click here

To learn more about Aerobic Soccer Training, Click here

Savages don’t forget this weekend will host both the Eastern and Western Conference Finals. On Sunday all will be determined about which teams will battle it out for the 2007 MLS Cup. DC United will face the New England Revolution (4 pm ET) at RFK Stadium for the Eastern title while the Western title will go to either the Houston Dynamo or the Colorado Rapids (5 pm ET at Robertson Stadium).

In the West, Houston finally did away with Chivas USA, who had jumped out to a 2-1 advantage from the 1st leg. In the 2nd leg at home, Houston took advantage of the expulsion of star-striker Palencia and powered home two goals to win 3-2 on aggregate. In the other match, 4th seed Colorado pulled off the unthinkable as they defeated top seed FC Dallas in PKs. Two Goals from Niko Presley on the road helped Colorado overcome the odds while Maestroane finished off the game-ending spot kick.

On the East Coast, DC United continued their mastery over the Eastern Conference as well as the Red Bulls and defeated Arena’s men 2-1 on aggregate though the second game was level on one goal. Not much separated the teams in the second match between New England Revolution and the Chicago Fire as PKs where need to see the Revolution through to the Conference Final.

Chalk up your Champions Savages! The Finals are just a week away!

I recently purchased the DVD Aerobic Soccer Training and tried it with my team. As a soccer coach, I recognized that my players needed to perform skills at the highest speed possible, and I saw that Aerobic Soccer Training was a fresh and innovative ball control workout that would help all my players to develop better skills.

Set to pulsating music, Aerobic Soccer Training, or AST pushes players to display sound ball control under extreme fatigue. The music is a very good distraction, helping many players focus on the rapid, multiple and very fine touches essential to the workout.

This DVD is broken up into Basic and Advanced Level workouts, so I believe players who have good balance as early as 8 years old can jump on board and be on their way to total ball and body mastery more sooner than later. All my oldest players needed were 10 minutes to begin to understand the standards of a good soccer player to feel the pulse in their legs and to really begin to understand the standards of a good soccer player.

This training method makes training players, to become more composed, controlled and fluid when working with the ball, easier. My players are no different then thousands of other youth players in the way that they must understand how to control the ball, and themselves, at the same time, to truly enjoy the game of soccer. AST has helped my players find that joy and balance quickly.

Getting players to be comfortable at performing skills with confidence and pace is exactly what most all coaches want.

Aerobic Soccer Training is more then just an excellent training tool for the focused player; it is also an interventional tool in that it also challenges the distracted, bored, under-skilled, or reluctant player. Its philosophy is to build every player’s skill base of rhythm, foot skills, work rate and confidence in soccer.

This brings players skills up to moving at a quick tempo immediately. From this platform, my players’ ball skills developed faster while our practices have become more proactive and purposeful, as players build off the individual confidence developed through the AST session, helping bring more positive results to the group dynamic.

Coaches, looking for a fun and focused warm up routine at the beginning of practice? AST is it! Your players may be a little skeptical at the start, but after a minute or two everyone gets the pulse. They realize that this is a fun way to develop a lighter touch and a keener instinct to their game.

Mike Saif
Director
USSF A License
World Class Coaching LLC

Top Three Goals of the Week:
1. a left footed nasty from Peru
2. a Bicycle from the Mud-Pits of Uruguay 
3. another Stanka-Crack from Inter Milan
Click here to see them in action

To learn more about 6 Minute Soccer Skills, Click here