Ahead of Friday evening's first two games of the 2006 College Cup in St. Louis, FCDallas.net sat down with FC Dallas assistant coach Marco Ferruzzi to discuss the matches and what MLS coaches and scouts will be looking for.
FCDallas.net: How would you break down Friday's two matches?
Marco Ferruzzi: First off, there are four quality teams that are playing very convincingly heading into into the final weekend. Wake Forest and Virginia have been consistently at the top of the rankings and achieving results all year while UCLA and UC Santa Barbara have been in form in tournament play, finding goals on the road against solid opponents. This weekend's matches will provide a good opportunity to evaluate MLS prospects in competitive conditions.
Each team has made an impressive run into the finals behind the performances of their impact players. Wake Forest midfielders Ryan Solle, Wells Thompson and Steven Curfman will match up against Bryan Byrne and Eric Avila of Santa Barbara. All of these players have been instrumental in recent games and will test each other's quality in this semifinal. Wake has been one of, if not the most organized team, not only in the tournament, but all season long. However, it will be interesting to see if they can match up with UCSB's physicality, especially at the back.
In the other match, UVA and UCLA will also display two talented midfields, especially on the flanks. UVA's Jonathan Villanueva and Nico Colaluca are playing positive attack-minded soccer, as is their competition in UCLA's Sal Zizzo, Jason Leopoldo and Kyle Nakazawa.
FCDallas.net: What are some of the things that MLS coaches will be looking for from players this weekend?
MF: In a general sense, teams will be looking for players that are technically sound and can handle the speed of play in MLS, players with a tactical awareness and good execution of their roles. Another important thing is to find players that are physically ready for MLS or have the potential to meet the demands of the league soon. Finally, players that have strong mental approach.
While each club will have different needs and will be closely watching different players, all players will be evaluated by these criteria. It is important for coaches to find players who will not only fit into the current team, but improve it immediately or develop within it quickly.
FCDallas.net: What are some of the things that the FC Dallas coaches will be looking for from players this weekend?
MF:
- We've scouted the teams closely and each team has impact players that have proven well in the college and youth national team ranks and are performing well right now in the most important time of the season. This gives strong indication of their quality and potential to apply it at the pro level.
- The match-ups between the teams will provide a good test in a pressure situation and will allow us to see how these players deal with this pressure and how they solve problems within the game to be effective.
- Decision-making will be important. Which players understand the moments in the game? Which players fade out of the game and which take over a game?
- Players that are well developed technically, have a strong tactical awareness, have a good physical readiness for the pro ranks, and mentally are up for the "big games"
- Which players are able to solve problems in these moments and keep their composure?
- Attack-minded players
- How players execute their assignments on set pieces.
FCDallas.net: Lastly, what are you predictions for how the games will go this weekend?
MF: I really think that the weather is going to be very hard for the two California teams to deal with. UCLA is going to have a hard time trying to play their game while Virginia will be able to better adapt to the conditions and will be able to play their style.
As big and physical as UCSB is, the weather will have less of an impact on them compared to UCLA, but I still think that Wake Forest will be able to design a win, likely getting something off a set piece.
That will set up an All-ACC final with two teams that know each other very well. They last played in the ACC Tournament with Wake advancing on penalties and I think that this will be another close game. I believe that Virginia has the better team, but Wake Forest has been good at finding a way to score crucial goals and get a win. However, I see UVA exacting a bit of revenge for their ACC Tournament defeat and winning the match and another national championship.
