10-08-2016, 07:52 PM
A few additional thoughts.
Stanford has a VERY unbalanced schedule this year, thanks to the Pac-12 schedule-making people. They played 9 matches in a row at home, and now have 6 of their last 8 matches on the road. SC was their first REALLY tough road match of the season. UCLA will be in the same league.
The Cardinal is extremely unbalanced talent-wise - their best players are in their backline and defensive midfield. I would say the five best players on the team are Sullivan, Campbell, Cook, Bauer and Davidson. So they can struggle to score against good defenses, unless Sullivan and Davidson commit forward, which opens them up to counter-attacks. Part of this is injuries to some of Stanford's best returning attacking players - Lee.
In the attack, Stanford has little breakaway speed in the middle or on the counter-attack. Meaning other teams can press forward much more comfortably than they've been able to in the past, disrupting the Cardinal's attempts at moving the ball around the back to find space in the midfield. What speed they do have is outside.
One other thing I am starting to reconsider is the drive for changing forwards into outside backs. This year, with Stephanie Amack being hurt and out all season, they've had to go with McGrady with one year of defensive experience and a rotating mess at right back (which directly lead to SC's third goal - the ball-side defense held the 18-yard box, but the offside fullback held on a Trojan attacker a good four yards further upfield from all the way across on the far edge of the area, then couldn't get into position to cover the resultant cross. Speaking as a goalie, I like a defender who knows how to defend and can help with the attack, not an attacker trying to figure out how to defend.
More after the other football,
VG
Stanford has a VERY unbalanced schedule this year, thanks to the Pac-12 schedule-making people. They played 9 matches in a row at home, and now have 6 of their last 8 matches on the road. SC was their first REALLY tough road match of the season. UCLA will be in the same league.
The Cardinal is extremely unbalanced talent-wise - their best players are in their backline and defensive midfield. I would say the five best players on the team are Sullivan, Campbell, Cook, Bauer and Davidson. So they can struggle to score against good defenses, unless Sullivan and Davidson commit forward, which opens them up to counter-attacks. Part of this is injuries to some of Stanford's best returning attacking players - Lee.
In the attack, Stanford has little breakaway speed in the middle or on the counter-attack. Meaning other teams can press forward much more comfortably than they've been able to in the past, disrupting the Cardinal's attempts at moving the ball around the back to find space in the midfield. What speed they do have is outside.
One other thing I am starting to reconsider is the drive for changing forwards into outside backs. This year, with Stephanie Amack being hurt and out all season, they've had to go with McGrady with one year of defensive experience and a rotating mess at right back (which directly lead to SC's third goal - the ball-side defense held the 18-yard box, but the offside fullback held on a Trojan attacker a good four yards further upfield from all the way across on the far edge of the area, then couldn't get into position to cover the resultant cross. Speaking as a goalie, I like a defender who knows how to defend and can help with the attack, not an attacker trying to figure out how to defend.
More after the other football,
VG