10-10-2014, 04:02 PM
thanks VG for the great analysis as usual.
I agree with you on the lack of substitutions. Something I've noticed about Ratcliffe's substitution habits: he usually substitutes quite a bit in most games, with all of our forwards and some of our mids usually getting some rest, which has the additional benefit of giving the subs more experience. But then in the few games against the very top teams, he substitutes little, as if he feels we need our best players in there. The tradeoff is that our starters get tired, especially when the games go to one or two overtimes. There are few forwards or mids who can play 90+ minutes and run consistently at the speed and over the distance that they really need to in order to be maximally effective. I suppose if he really doesn't trust our bench he has no choice. But that's what did us in in that double overtime game against North Carolina at the College Cup two years ago: Dorrance gave his forwards a rest for the last 10 minutes or so of regulation, we didn't, and when UNC's starters got back in they were just killing us with wave after wave of attacks, and we couldn't mount a response. It was just a matter of time until they scored and they did. I know UNC was deeper and Dorrance didn't think there was much drop off with his subs, but maybe Ratcliffe needs to gamble more on resting starters against the best teams?
I agree with you on the lack of substitutions. Something I've noticed about Ratcliffe's substitution habits: he usually substitutes quite a bit in most games, with all of our forwards and some of our mids usually getting some rest, which has the additional benefit of giving the subs more experience. But then in the few games against the very top teams, he substitutes little, as if he feels we need our best players in there. The tradeoff is that our starters get tired, especially when the games go to one or two overtimes. There are few forwards or mids who can play 90+ minutes and run consistently at the speed and over the distance that they really need to in order to be maximally effective. I suppose if he really doesn't trust our bench he has no choice. But that's what did us in in that double overtime game against North Carolina at the College Cup two years ago: Dorrance gave his forwards a rest for the last 10 minutes or so of regulation, we didn't, and when UNC's starters got back in they were just killing us with wave after wave of attacks, and we couldn't mount a response. It was just a matter of time until they scored and they did. I know UNC was deeper and Dorrance didn't think there was much drop off with his subs, but maybe Ratcliffe needs to gamble more on resting starters against the best teams?