MSoc - Printable Version
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RE: MSoc - BostonCard - 08-26-2021
Stanford falls 3-1 to SMU.
BC
RE: MSoc - StanfordMatt - 08-26-2021
(08-18-2021, 12:56 PM)DenverCard Wrote: One of the players who left was their top-notch goalie, Andrew Thomas -- now with the Seattle Sounders -- which is of course concerning, but they have highly regarded recruits to take his place.
If this is the case and it's multiple highly regarded goalie recruits, we're going to need another one to step up because I don't see us winning anything with the one in net tonight. All three goals surrendered fall squarely on him (one was a PK but the PK was awarded as a result of his own reckless and unnecessary tackle in the box). Very poor positional awareness on the other two goals allowed.
As for the field players, they started off strong and got an early goal but looked flat for most of the match.
RE: MSoc - DenverCard - 08-26-2021
I may have rushed to judgment (in a positive way) in my earlier post about the team. Tonight, Stanford looked good for about the first twenty minutes of the game, but once SMU tied it up, they were the better team for the remainder of the game. But to avoid a rebound rush to judgment in the other direction, I have to believe that playing in the heat of Dallas after traveling put the team at a disadvantage relative to a team used to those conditions playing at home.
My biggest concern, based on the last two games (exhibition against Santa Clara and today's opener v. SMU), involves the offense. Stanford doesn't seem to know what to do with the ball from 35 yards in. Will Richmond will often break down his defender with a burst to the end line and then, after a few of those runs, softens up his defender for going toward the middle, but otherwise -- pfft. Good chances have been few and far between over the past two games. And I don't know if Bouda is comfortable on the wing, as I think he played more in the middle during his freshman year. Or his teammates can't find him. Whatever the cause, he is not getting nearly enough touches of the ball.
Come to think of it, the defense also displayed some uncharacteristic breakdowns, whereby SMU had players open in space that created good scoring opportunities. And the right fullback, Aprahamian, was fully beaten a couple of times by the man he was defending.
I am not so condemning of the goal keeper as you are, Matt. I think he may not have seen the player he tripped, as he did not go after the ball with any urgency. (Of course, that's not a ringing endorsement of him.) He then stopped the PK, only to be very unlucky that the rebound went right to the head of the shooter.
On the goal scored 15 seconds after the penalty kick (ugh!), I believe the Stanford keeper was too far up the field as he expected to support the all-out push for a tying goal with just 12 minutes left. Completely gutting to have your team be the victim of a goal like that, but massive credit to the SMU player who noticed he was too far out of the goal and blasted a 50+ yard bomb to the back of the net. It was a heck of a shot.
Coach Gunn is going to have some tough decisions about playing time moving forward. The conditions today made it necessary to play substitutes for longer than usual, and in my eyes, the second team midfield has a lot going for it. Carlo Agostinelli tends to be spark off the bench; Aiden Weaver, though not physically imposing, is skillful with the ball; and Will Reilly is a highly touted freshman who has already played 35 games in the USL (the next level down from MLS, where many recent graduates of successful Stanford teams have played). The second team midfield seems to be more of an offensive threat, whereas the first team midfield are physically bigger and appear to be much more reliable defenders.
On the positive side, the header goal on a corner kick scored by Noah Adnan was really nice. He looked just like Keegan Hughes on that header, who himself is quite a threat, so they've got at least two strong weapons on set plays.
I recall one of the national championship years started out very inauspiciously. In an interview after game number five or six that season, coming following streak of tie games, Coach Gunn spoke desperately, "We've gotta starting winning some games." And then the team went on a long win streak. So I have faith that he can diagnose the problems and find remedies.
RE: MSoc - PVTree - 09-06-2021
Stanford holds on to beat UCSB 2-1 today.
RE: MSoc - BACardinal - 09-07-2021
How does the team drop all the way from #8 to #25 after one loss?
RE: MSoc - PVTree - 09-08-2021
Unless it was a 54-0 loss to the Little Sisters of the Poor, it seems ridiculous to drop that far down after 1 loss.
RE: MSoc - BobK - 09-08-2021
https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/soccer-men/d1/united-soccer-coaches
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RE: MSoc - DenverCard - 09-08-2021
Although unrelated to the rankings, there was an ominous development late in the game against UCSB two nights ago. Zach Ryan, last year's leading scorer and Pac-12 player of the year, injured his shoulder. He fell, but it looked to me like something went awry as he was being held by his defender just before he fell. He was in a lot of pain lying on the ground after whatever happened. The sequence of events looked to me like he might have dislocated his shoulder, but there was no point that the trainer appeared to reduce it, and by the time he was upright, he looked to be in much less pain. The shoulder was immobilized with a tight wrap, under which was affixed a bag of ice, and he was on the sidelines when the game ended. Looking for prognostic indicators in what I observed, but it's ambiguity city.
The team seems really deep in midfielders and defenders, but only four forwards (for three positions) have played much this year, one of whom is of course Ryan. And another of the four is a high energy guy who puts pressure on the opposing defenders, but appears a bit lacking in ball skills (and in confidence when he possess the ball). On a couple of occasions in the game, he had the ball in a position in which he should have attacked the defender to make him commit, but instead, he gave the ball to a teammate too early. So the loss of Ryan would be doubly difficult -- he's one of Stanford's two big threats to score (along with Ousseni Bouda), and it appears that there is a significant fall-off in moving down the depth chart.