Scoring does not have to be pretty

It’s a great strategy, if you play for Barcelona or previous editions of the Spain national team. The “tika-taka” style — one that favors possession and the ability to pass the ball around the field dozens of times without losing it — that those teams have employed over the years has trickled down to the youth levels. There the focus is turning to one-touch passes and moving east and west across the field, in the hopes of getting the defense to chase, which in turn is supposed to open up passing lanes as the offense builds toward a shot on goal.

On the flip side is the “attacking” brand of soccer, a strategy that relies on long balls from the back and midfield, with the hope a team’s striker can beat the defense to the ball.

For whatever reason, the attacking style is frowned upon as not being “attractive.” The general thinking is, less skilled teams simply boot the ball and chase.

The problem is, most high school players simply do not possess the ability, team-wide, to employ a strategy of connecting on several passes in a row. Many high schoolers do have the skill to attempt such a strategy, but with the reliance on 10 other players to be able to do the same thing, that’s asking a lot.

Really, the best strategy should be a combination of the two styles. Yes, one- and two-touch passing is extremely important in the game of soccer. But so is actively trying to score and when most soccer critics point out the lack of scoring in the game, why anyone would criticize how a team goes about getting goals is beyond me.

Personally, I prefer the straight-forward approach. I was watching some of the Barcelona-Tottehnham Champions League Tuesday afternoon. While the Hotspurs had a lot more riding on the outcome than Barca did, Tottenham certainly was the aggressor, not wasting a lot of time messing around with the ball in the midfield and sending long passes to the flanks, which resulted in several dangerous chances for the English side. Tottenham eventually found the equalizing goal about five minutes from time and advanced to the next round, as did Barcelona.

If the whole point of the game is to score goals, why does it matter how it happens?

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The Menlo College women’s wrestling team earned its first-ever No. 1 national ranking as the Oaks ascended to the top spot in the latest NAIA coaches’ poll.

It is the first No. 1 ranking — men or women — for the Oaks.

Menlo was ranked just ahead of No. 2 Wayland Baptist-Texas, with the Oaks holding a seven-point advantage.

The Oaks have six wrestlers ranked No. 1 in their weight class: Alleida Martinez (freshman, 109 pounds), Gracie Figueroa (freshman, 116), Solin Piercy (junior, 136), Angela Peralta (sophomore, 143), Iman Kazem (senior, 155) and Precious Bell (junior, 170).

Hiba Salem, a senior out of South San Francisco High School, is ranked No. 3 at 101. Lizette Young, a junior who spent two years at City College of San Francisco and who was Westmoor’s wrestling team during her high school career, is ranked 15th at 130.

Of the 31 members of the Menlo women’s roster, 19 are ranked in the top-20, nationally, in their respective weight classes.

Menlo’s men team is ranked No. 10 in the nation in the NAIA poll and have seven wrestlers ranked in the top-20 individually. Anthony Orozco, who is a two-time All-American, has the highest ranking, No. 2, at 184.

Nathan Mollat can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: 344-5200 ext. 117.