League Two Betting Review - 26 February 2006
...A late strike from Simon Hackney kept Carlisle United at the top of league Two. An own goal from Derek Holmes gave hosts Barnet the lead after 53 minutes but Michael Bridges restored parity just 20 seconds later. Hackney netted the winner for the 13/10 Cumbrians with 15 minutes remaining.
Wycombe Wanderers remained level on points with Carlisle after a 2-1 win against Oxford United. Kevin Besty after 17 minutes and veteran Tommy Mooney on the hour secured the points for the 4/6 Chairboys while Yemi Odubades goal after 72 minutes was just a consolation for the Us.
Northampton Town consolidated third place in the league with a hard-fought win over Wrexham at ...more
Soccer Systems of play, Positional Dynamics and Team Formation 4-5-1
...4-5-1
Defense;
4, defenders are usually arranged as outside left, inside left, inside right and outside right.
The most recent idea is to have them lined up in a banana shape with the middle of the curve closest to the goalkeeper and the outside defenders, the points, slightly ahead but behind the midfielders.
Some considered the flat back option but this means much more communication from the capitain of the defense usually one of the insiders.
The general idea is to have the two defenders attend to the attack coming in from their side.
This format requires a high degree of verbal communication in addition to sight and hand gestures.
With both of these options the opposite outside tucks in a little to mark the center of the field covering the goal and any incoming additional attacking opponents.
When the team has possession the defenders would then play wide to stretch out the other tea...more
Injuries & Defense
...oss to the Steelers saw an Indy team that was rusty for most of the game. Very rusty.
The Colts were out of sync most of the way in their 21-18 loss to the Steelers. Overall, having a bye week gives a team enough time, two weeks, to rest and prepare. It takes time and practice to get a team in sync because there are so many players that need to work together in unison: blocking patterns, running backs hitting the proper holes, lineman pulling, receivers running patterns, quarterbacks getting the football to them on timing routes, etc.
Think back to the final regular season game for the Denver Broncos. Denver was a 12-point dog at san Diego in a meaningless game for the Broncos. They had everything sewed up and needed...more
Bowl Handle Fails to Flush Standard
...Close but no cigar could be the post-theme of Super Bowl XL as far as a record Las Vegas Super Bowl handle is concerned.
Pittsburgh defeated Seattle 21-10 Sunday -- easily covering the spread --- the total went way under 47, Bill Cowper finally won a Lombardi and the Bus finally rolled a stop, while on top.
The $6,064,000 Question in the Land of Odds -- besides "did you win or lose?" was "Will the handle surpass last year's standard of more than $90 million?"
"I won't know until sometime monday when I see all the numbers and things come together, but it's going to be close," said Tony Paonessa, race and sports book manager at Sam's Town.
"Last year was close."
Rich Baccellieri, race an...more
