Team Profiles of the League's Top Four (Cup Championship) Teams

Parks permits only go for 10 weeks at a time, and so the semi-finals and finals are on the same night. But this poses an interesting challenge: teams that are fit and well-drilled succeed on such nights.

Because we only know which teams will be facing each other for the semis, it doesn't make too much sense to write match previews for this Sunday. So instead, we've fashioned some team profiles, which in a certain way serve some of the same purposes as the previews. You can find out a bit about the teams you're likely to face. And maybe you'll find out something you didn't know about your own team, and that can't hurt.

TEAM PROFILE: FC HEADERS

Background

Since FC Headers formed for the first time (from a collection of free agents put together at random by another league) in Fall/Winter 2007, the team has gone on to make the finals 9 times and to come away with 6 titles. A team of 'famous' players around the NYC soccer system, they're known for performing big against other big teams but also for struggling more often than you'd expect against teams without winning records.

In approximately 100 games, FC Headers has won approximately 85, tied about five and lost only around 10. This is probably the winningest record in NYC Coed football history.

How They Qualified

Mike R. (the FCH captain since day one) has brought about an increasing steeliness in this side that has resulted in an almost seamless qualification for the cup championship. There were no upsets en route. However, their record wasn't flawless. They lost the penultimate game against CBB and tied the Scousers.

FC Headers were not spectacular like Spain in the lead up to the World Cup, but certainly FCH's consistency and strength can be compared to Chelsea at club level.

FC Headers finished the season with the best defensive record and the second best offense.

Strengths

Tactics. Fitness. Depth (players can slot in at almost any position and succeed; every player has points). They possess the league's top two goal scorers (and they've the second best offense overall). They have the league's best defense.

Depsite such an attacking threat, which sometimes even sees a defender at the opposition goal mouth, this is not a team that will get caught on the counter-attack very often. Nor is this a team that fails to make their pressure pay when they are on the front foot. They get the best out of their best, which is why they are always a threat. And who are their best? You could say that's no. 1 all the way through to no. 7.

Weaknesses

If this team has a weakness, it's a lack of communication. With the exception of one particular defender, you hardly hear boo from this team (but you will hear from a few more if you're a referee). But FCH hardly needs to say anthing. They play almost telepathically. Passes are sometimes made blind, with the knowledge that someone will be there in the open space to receive them. But with a little more talk, the team could make even fewer errors and win even more titles.

Player(s) to Watch

Fernando C. (Argentina)

While the Headers is not a team built around any one player, it wouldn't be a mistake to build a team - even one that possesses so much depth of talent as FCH - around a player of this calibre.

Fernando C. creates space for himself and his teammates. He doesn't look for the first opportunity to shoot but for the best one (whether it's for him or for someone else). And so you'll see that most of his goals don't come from cracking shots from far out. Instead, the shots he makes, or the ones he creates for others, are such that the keeper is usually already beaten before the shot's been taken. That is, they're passes into open nets, right at the goal mouth.

Fernando C. has wracked up the most goals and the most assists of anyone this season, clearing the second in scoring by a round ten points. He also isn't remiss in his defensive duties. He pressures defenders well and you'll even see him, like Wayne Rooney, at the top of his own goal box.

Off the Pitch

This is my old team, and I can assure you that their on-the-pitch reputation for not being the most friendly couldn't belie more the true nature of each and every one of them off the pitch. And it looks like you'll have to take my word for it (for now) because we don't know where this team has been going after games. 

TEAM PROFILE: SCOUSERS

Background
The Scousers are one of the most recently formed teams in the WSP. A small core of them played together on the hibernating Team Santos (of NYCoedSoccer fame). But this core (plus a few more) goes back a bit further: to McCarren Park's freelancers football pick-up group, which has been running every Tuesday and Thursday for about one and a half years. But this is their first season together in organized football.

How They Qualified
The Scousers finished fourth overall but have a record on offense and defense that suggests the team should have finished higher.
They've scored more than any other team, and they've the second best defensive record. But they faltered a touch in games 2 and 3. Since then, they've been a force to reckon with.

Strengths
Lightning fast counter-attacks are the Scousers' speciality. They've depth to rival FCH. They're fit and fast. Their midfielders backtrack, and the defenders will join forwards to threaten the opposite goal. They are one of only two teams where every player has a point.

Weaknesses
Scousers can struggle when facing teams that just sit back and defend. But when on form, they're passing game is sharp and quick enough to get through such teams. They've also been seen to be a bit overconfident, which causes them to be less crisp and to take too many chances when a simpler game of higher percentage passes is on offer.

Player(s) to Watch

Neil C. (England)
Neil C., the Scousers captain, is an all-round player whose control of the ball is his forte. He's as likely to have a go himself as to look for the immediate pass. You can try to second guess him if you want. But you'll often be left standing there with the play having passed you by. He's one player you don't want to take chances with by stabbing at the ball.

Neil C. missed a few games in the middle of the season and so doesn't appear high in the scoring charts. While he's not a selfish player, he tends to go for the net himself when he's in close range.

Caroline C. (USA)
Fifth in scoring and she didn't play in all the games. Not only that, she's playing perhaps too soon after ACL surgery and so isn't likely moving at full capacity. We wonder what she would have done if fully fit and if having played the full season.

Caroline C. hits the net as accurately and crisply as any of the top four scorers. But her main strength, like Captain Neil, is ball control. Try to take the ball off her too quickly and you'll think you've stepped into a fun house. And more often than not you'll find that the joke was on you.

Off The Pitch
The Scousers have done more than their fair share of raising money at Berry Park. When we hit the $100 mark the other week, we estimated that the Scousers were responsible for about 60% of the pot. They're also known to move on to other establishments until the wee hours.

As irksome as some of them can be on the pitch, you'll find them about as opposite to that as possible after the final whistle. They're an affable bunch. If they don't happen to invite you (because they're too busy having a good time to have noticed you), you should join their table after your next match.

TEAM PROFILE: CHICO'S BAIL BONDS

Background
This is another veteran squad, whose core has been playing together since 2006. Not as successful over the long haul as their rival FC Headers, CBB could be considered the Netherlands of NYC recreational football. But unlike the Dutch, CBB have recently lived up to their potential - by winning a cup championship in the winter of 2009/2010, and just the other week they came away with the WSP Spring 2010 League title.

How They Qualified
It was a bit of a bumpy road to begin with, losing their first game, narrowly winning their second and tying their third. But once settled in to the season, Chico's found their form and never looked back. Each game saw them build on many of their below strengths. And in the end, they came away with the league title (despite not being first or second in scoring or in goals against).

Strengths
Patience. Resolve. Depth. Determination. Communication. Most players have registered a point. They possess the league's number 3 and 4 goal scorers.

Though not first in scoring or in goals against, CBB probably finished first in ball possession. The team plays to both sides of the pitch more than any other team. And players pass mostly in the direction that they are facing.

The team patiently but persistently presses into the opposition half, taking the best of the chances on offer. High percentage passes are ones players look to make. That said, players will have a go. And they've the skills to get around many a defender.

Weaknesses
Despite a good qualifying campaign and a league title, CBB's defence is perhaps a bit of a concern (letting in 2 goals per game on average - leaving them roughly tied for third with two other teams).

Fitness could also be a concern. Do they have the lungs and legs to succeed over two games in one night? Clearly, some individual players are well fit. But as a team, we don't rank them as fit as either FC Headers or the Scousers.

Player(s) to Watch
 
Jimmy H. (USA)

Jimmy H. finished third in league scoring (and just one point behind second place Chris P. of FCH). There are few players who can hold the ball so close to his foot with his first touch as Jimmy H. A fair comparison on this point (and others we don't have the space to go into) would be to Arsenal striker, Van Persie.

Jimmy H. is also an unselfish player, assisting almost as much as he puts the ball into the net. And like the other unusually defensive-minded top scorers in WSP, he's all over the pitch, doing what you'd like all players to do: attacking and defending equally as well.

Off The Pitch
We don't know where Chico's Bail Bonds goes after matches, with exception to their illustrious Scottish keeper who is partly responsible for some of the Scousers' contribution to after-match fund raising. He's quick to buy rounds and just as quick to encourage us all to stick around longer, with the last round usually on him.

TEAM PROFILE: BADGERS FC

Background

The Badgers are another veteran squad in the final four. They formed in 2007 but have several fresh faces this season. They've never had the success of FCH or CBB, but said new blood could be just what they needed this time around.

How They Qualified

Badgers' road to qualification was the bumpiest of the final four. A win was followed by loss. But a loss was followed by a win. It wasn't until the final two matches of the season that they put together their first back to back victories. BCF should be confident going into finals night, having finished just two points off first place.

Strengths

Captain Melissa F. likes to speak about the group, the collective, the team. She doesn't like individualism. And that's perhaps why cohesion is the most important Badgers FC virtue. And then there's the main characteristic of the animal from which the team takes its name: ferocious in attack. The team has the the 4th and 5th ranked goal scorers. But several others have also scored. And they'll need to do so on Cup Finals night because the above two scorers will be absent.

Weaknesses

There is nothing palatably wrong with the Badgers' defense, except perhaps that they've not dedicated the same few people to play in the defensive positions until quite late in the season. And so there may not be an issue of consistency and performance now. BFC conceded very few goals in the last two games. Thus, the relatively high goals against average amongst the final four teams should perhaps not be considered too seriously by the other three cup teams.

Player(s) to Watch

Sebastien Z. (Poland)

Possessing one of the hardest and most accurate shots in the league, Sebastien Z. is one for keepers and defenders to watch no matter where he is on the pitch. The absence of the two Davids (4th and 5th in league scoring) will mean that SZ will likely be shifted up to forward from his usual midfield role. Hopefully this doesn't mean he'll try to keep possession for himself while he's up there, but that he'll play a pass and go game, with players hitting him for quick release shots in close.

Off The Pitch

The same two BFC members were present, with a rotating third, each and every Sunday night at Berry Park. And so while the Scousers have produced more total donations, these two have proporionately outdone them.

And the above two BFC players are also film makers who are just starting a documentary on WSP as the league develops to be the first international charity soccer league in the world. So, you'll be seeing plenty of them off the pitch in coming months.

 * * *

Thanks for taking the time to read the profiles. We're looking very forward to the matches this Sunday and hope to see players out there from the other four teams (at the game and at the celebration afterwards at Berry Park).