Greensburg C.C. boys soccer gets creative with offensive attack

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Wednesday, September 6, 2023 | 3:11 PM

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With an appreciation for possession-style soccer, Ryan Kanner is simplifying the offense in his first season as Greensburg Central Catholic’s boys coach.

The scheme he has implemented is not original. In fact, one of the top professional teams in the world uses it.

Futbol Club Barcelona employs its “Tiki-Taka” brand — coined by the Spanish media — wherein frequent passing allows for extended possessions and higher-quality shots.

“It’s a littler simpler than what they’re used to,” said Kanner, a former assistant at Ambridge and Kiski Area. “We want to move and play fast, but we want to do so with short passes. Ping it around like Barcelona.”

The last few years, GCC had dynamic goal scorers, from Carlo Denis to Mason Fabean and Kyler Miller.

Denis graduated in June as GCC’s all-time leading scorer with 145 goals.

But with those players gone, GCC is looking to create offense differently.

Kanner did not want to hit the players with an avalanche of information when he took over for Rob Fabean, the team’s coach for the last two years.

He feels loosening the ropes will allow the team to better optimize its talents.

“There is a lot of movement off the ball,” Kanner said. “We’re looking for the most efficient way to get the ball up the field. We’re trying to get everyone on the same page.”

GCC played Mt. Pleasant to a 0-0 draw in its opening scrimmage. After that result, Kanner announced his three captains would be senior James Brewer (midfield/defense) and juniors Jackson Vacanti (MF) and Gavin Rigby (MF/D).

A 1-2 start followed, with losses to Bentworth (6-1) and Mercyhurst Prep (5-1). GCC opened with a 3-2 win over Beth-Center.

“I don’t think it’s so much the style of play as it is the speed of play that has changed,” Vacanti said. “We need to be patient and allow the boys to gain some experience and confidence. One of our big goals this year is making quick combinations in the midfield to be creative and create scoring opportunities.”

GCC also brings back junior 6-foot-3 goalkeeper Isaac House, sophomore midfielder Grant Brewer and junior defender Jake Reitler.

With a varsity roster of 18 players, GCC will not field a junior varsity team.

That means they have barely enough for intrasquad action.

When they do go a few-on-a-few more, Kanner wants each player to get two touches on a possession.

That is the type of precision he wants in games.

“We’ll see how it goes each game,” he said. “We might be able to have balance in our attack. We have some talented guys.”

Kanner likened his situation and team to, interestingly enough, the 2002 Oakland Athletics, the motivation for the 2011 film “Moneyball” starring Brad Pitt.

“(The A’s) lost a lot of star power to free agency and trades, and because of that, they weren’t expected to do well heading into the season,” Kanner said. “But the players they did bring in, even if they weren’t well known at the time, bought into the system they were trying to put in place. That’s similar to how this team is coming into the year. We lost a lot of very talented players to graduation. But even though these players are young and people might be expecting us to have a down year, we’re trying to create buy-in to a style of play that can be both simple and effective.”

Vacanti said the team is focused on remaining a WPIAL title contender.

“If there is one thing I know, everyone on this team has been working and improving every practice,” he said. “The boys I have played with the last few years taught me to do whatever it takes to win, and I’ll be sure we keep that tradition alive at GCC.”

Communication is another integral element in Kanner’s game plan.

“One thing in the first few practices, I noticed the boys weren’t talking much. I don’t want that. I want them to be loose and talk smack in drills. We tried some icebreaker-type things. I went around and had them ask me honesty questions.

“I want them to be able to talk to me when I ask, ‘What do you see out there?’ ”

Another thing fans will notice about Kanner is that he does not argue with referees.

Why?

“I used to be one,” he said. “It’s not a good idea to get on their bad side early, because they are going to make more calls. They are having a hard enough time getting people to ref. Have some respect for the ones we have.”

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Greensburg C.C.