Bruins put a greater emphasis on team unity on and off the field

What was an intramural field scrimmage sounded more like a
battlefield skirmish.

There was an intensity in the air, not to mention yelling from
every mouth of the UCLA men’s soccer team on the mid-morning
practice field.

Half of the players wore blue jerseys, the other half wore
yellow mesh covers over the top. Such a subtle alteration between
the two sides seemed to make a world of difference as they hollered
out to their fellow yellows or blues plans to defeat the
opponent.

“Here we go! Yes! Yes! Yes!Man on!Cross!”

And though the two battling sides seemed to be working so hard
against one another, in all actuality, the two teams were working
together.

The Bruins are experiencing something this season that they have
been without the past few seasons.

“Last season, I don’t think we were all on the same
page, and we didn’t all necessarily have the same common
goal,”junior midfielder Patrick Ianni said.

A world of difference can be seen this season in just one
post-practice scrimmage. Already tired from their workout and
drills, the players throw everything they have into winning what is
nothing more than an intrasquad workout. Both sides work closely
together, the constant yelling a testament to the team’s
improved communication.

Last year, on a team Ianni alluded to as being one with
outsiders and egos, the limited interaction between some players
may have been responsible for what was a disappointing end to the
season.

After winning the Pac-10 title, the Bruins went on to an early
exit in the NCAA Tournament, failing to make it to the
quarterfinals.

“What happened last year is that I think we had a lot of
strong personalities in our team, and it took us a long time to get
everyone to gel and mesh together,” coach Jorge Salcedo said.
“Internally, there were some issues that we needed to deal
with that we kept within our own group. It was nothing too major,
but you need to be very strong as a group and even more importantly
you all need to be on the same page.

“I think last year some guys more wanted to do things for
themselves than for the team.”

The team learned its lesson. Without being able to communicate
well, the players realized it is far more difficult for a team to
succeed.

“Part of it is just discipline and communicating within
the group,” Ianni said. “It’s not only when
we’re on the field and playing, but off the field, too. We
just have to keep reminding each other of our main objective at the
end of the year, and that’s to win a national
championship.”

So how does any one team with players of different skill levels,
playing philosophies, backgrounds and personalities form a single
unit working toward a common goal?

As a coach, Salcedo has relied upon repeated evaluation of where
the team is at and where it wants to be at the end of the season,
getting each player involved in the discussion, with a few more
experienced players providing a strong leadership base.

“One way is to sit down as a group and talk through what
your goals are in the preseason, beginning of the season, early
part of the season, middle of the season, etc.,” Salcedo
said. “The other thing is to have a strong leadership group
within our own group. There needs to be somewhat a level of
hierarchy where some of the older, more experienced guys that have
been around for a while and have a voice within the team can be an
extension of the coaching staff.”

Salcedo will look to four players to fill the intermediary role
between the coaches and players this season: Ianni, sophomore
defender Marvell Wynne, senior defender Jordan Harvey and senior
midfielder Ryan Valdez.

It’s a system that seems to be working nicely so far.

“Also important when trying to foster a sense of team
chemistry is encouraging camaraderie off the field, especially for
the new arrivals who have only been with the team since
mid-summer,” freshman forward Sal Zizzo said. “For
that, the returning players invite the freshmen to movies, poker
games and everywhere else.”

That kind of hospitality has helped to make the freshmen feel
right at home from the beginning.

“Right when I came here the first thing I thought was I
have to earn the respect of the players, but they take you in right
away,” Zizzo said. “We already feel like a
family.”

And though the Bruin family remains one filled with talented
players and strong personalities, don’t think egos will
remain a problem.

“There are sometimes egos (on other teams), but on a team
this good you can’t have any egos,” Zizzo said.
“Everyone is confident in each other and want each other to
perform well.”