⚽️Lady Vols Soccer Thread
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MAD
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If I were Kirt--meaning if I was the coach of a team that had some talent, to be sure, but also clearly is not clicking as it did last year, not realizing its potential, I'd ask any professional coaches that I knew if they'd be willing to review the video from 2/3 of our recent games and tell me what they see--and what changes they might suggest.
I wonder if college coaches ever do this? I doubt it--but I certainly would try to establish a relationship with a few pros and get them to look at a couple of games and provide some feedback. I'd pay them out of my own pocket, if necessary. Why? College coaches may know a lot--but they don't know as much as the pros. Not even close. I sometimes imagine that I coach the Tennessee soccer team and that I'm a longtime friend with Pep Guardiola--the Manchester City coach and no question one of the great coaches in the game (he's also directed Barcelona and Bayern Munich). Guardiola could look at tape of the Vols playing and in one hour probably make a few suggestions that would improve our play by 30 percent. Of course no one even close to Pep's stature would do it--but there are a lot of semi-professional coaches around from whom it might be good to get some feedback. Indeed, I'd make it a point to have relationships with a couple of such coaches and arrange to get feedback on my team and its play every year. I think it could be a competitive advantage.
One thing I'd be thinking hard about is how to get Simmonds more minutes. She's playing about 30 a game and, for me, should be playing 50--60. She's got an excellent skill set and has shown she can score--and not just score, she's got a good understanding of the game. Playing Simmonds more is not alone going to solve our issues; the coaches will have to look at everything and try to figure out what is missing.
The other thing that seems obvious--to me anyway--is that we need 1 or 2 good centerbacks--players like Rain. Now, obviously, players like Rain are not easy to find--but if we're going to reach our potential, we need 1 or 2 with something close to her combination of qualities.
I thought coming into this season that we might see Hennessey at centerback. That hasn't happened; instead, she's been subbing in for Nelson and playing about 30/35 a game at wingback. Which begs the question, in my mind: If she is athletic enough to play wingback, could she not be athletic enough, quick enough, etc., to play centerback? I'm not sure if she was even tried at centerback last spring or in fall training; if not, I'd ask why not? Maybe she was and didn't cut it, I don't know. But she's always been a defender---and that is a change I certainly would have explored. Because if she could play in Katz's spot, we could move Katz back to her more natural outside back/wing role, and be a better team for it, perhaps. She's not as quick as Katz, but she's bigger and more physical. She'd probably be better suited playing in a four-back system, where she wouldn't have to cover as much ground on the outside--but Kirt has stubbornly refused to return to the formation that we played all last season. There has been almost no tinkering with personnel this season from Kirt, despite the fact that we've not been running on all cylinders, and it's rather bizarre.
I wonder if college coaches ever do this? I doubt it--but I certainly would try to establish a relationship with a few pros and get them to look at a couple of games and provide some feedback. I'd pay them out of my own pocket, if necessary. Why? College coaches may know a lot--but they don't know as much as the pros. Not even close. I sometimes imagine that I coach the Tennessee soccer team and that I'm a longtime friend with Pep Guardiola--the Manchester City coach and no question one of the great coaches in the game (he's also directed Barcelona and Bayern Munich). Guardiola could look at tape of the Vols playing and in one hour probably make a few suggestions that would improve our play by 30 percent. Of course no one even close to Pep's stature would do it--but there are a lot of semi-professional coaches around from whom it might be good to get some feedback. Indeed, I'd make it a point to have relationships with a couple of such coaches and arrange to get feedback on my team and its play every year. I think it could be a competitive advantage.
One thing I'd be thinking hard about is how to get Simmonds more minutes. She's playing about 30 a game and, for me, should be playing 50--60. She's got an excellent skill set and has shown she can score--and not just score, she's got a good understanding of the game. Playing Simmonds more is not alone going to solve our issues; the coaches will have to look at everything and try to figure out what is missing.
The other thing that seems obvious--to me anyway--is that we need 1 or 2 good centerbacks--players like Rain. Now, obviously, players like Rain are not easy to find--but if we're going to reach our potential, we need 1 or 2 with something close to her combination of qualities.
I thought coming into this season that we might see Hennessey at centerback. That hasn't happened; instead, she's been subbing in for Nelson and playing about 30/35 a game at wingback. Which begs the question, in my mind: If she is athletic enough to play wingback, could she not be athletic enough, quick enough, etc., to play centerback? I'm not sure if she was even tried at centerback last spring or in fall training; if not, I'd ask why not? Maybe she was and didn't cut it, I don't know. But she's always been a defender---and that is a change I certainly would have explored. Because if she could play in Katz's spot, we could move Katz back to her more natural outside back/wing role, and be a better team for it, perhaps. She's not as quick as Katz, but she's bigger and more physical. She'd probably be better suited playing in a four-back system, where she wouldn't have to cover as much ground on the outside--but Kirt has stubbornly refused to return to the formation that we played all last season. There has been almost no tinkering with personnel this season from Kirt, despite the fact that we've not been running on all cylinders, and it's rather bizarre.
Aladywhovolunteer
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Just some thoughts from the South Carolina soccer game from yesterday.
South Carolina has not scored more than 1 goal against an SEC opponent in seven games prior to yesterday. Think about that. In several games they didn't even score.
I didn't see the first half of the game. I was busy reading The GoldFinch. I assure you it is better than this game turned out to be. Anyway, when I tuned in it was the second half and we were down 3-0.
The announcers informed me that Tennessee had given up three goals in a five minute stretch in the first half. The Duke game instantly came to mind. Up 2-0 after having a third goal not count. We were gliding to a victory over a top 10 team...then I n the words of Lee Corso, "Not so fast, my friend." In a few minutes our victory went up in smoke.
As I watched the second half of the South Carolina game, I was reminded of the Alabama soccer game. What I saw in our efforts to try and get back in the game was we kept pushing everyone into the scoring third. South Carolina had a lot of success of turning the ball around quickly and were kicking for distance over the top. South Carolona was quicker to 50/50 balls and players were running unmarked in the 18 to receive perfect crossing passes. Very troubling. Seemed like we realized we were beaten and tossed in the towel. Giving up six goals to a team that has been unable to score in most games was difficult to watch.
Listen, the last guy wasn't all that. He won one tournament and back to back east titles (20-21) in ten years and then bolted. So spare me the analogies of how great the Flordia State coach is. Tennessee's Coach Kirk can achieve what took the last guy 9 years to achieve by beating Vanderbilt. East Division Champions! One game for all the marbles. Let's see what we got when it matters!
South Carolina has not scored more than 1 goal against an SEC opponent in seven games prior to yesterday. Think about that. In several games they didn't even score.
I didn't see the first half of the game. I was busy reading The GoldFinch. I assure you it is better than this game turned out to be. Anyway, when I tuned in it was the second half and we were down 3-0.
The announcers informed me that Tennessee had given up three goals in a five minute stretch in the first half. The Duke game instantly came to mind. Up 2-0 after having a third goal not count. We were gliding to a victory over a top 10 team...then I n the words of Lee Corso, "Not so fast, my friend." In a few minutes our victory went up in smoke.
As I watched the second half of the South Carolina game, I was reminded of the Alabama soccer game. What I saw in our efforts to try and get back in the game was we kept pushing everyone into the scoring third. South Carolina had a lot of success of turning the ball around quickly and were kicking for distance over the top. South Carolona was quicker to 50/50 balls and players were running unmarked in the 18 to receive perfect crossing passes. Very troubling. Seemed like we realized we were beaten and tossed in the towel. Giving up six goals to a team that has been unable to score in most games was difficult to watch.
Listen, the last guy wasn't all that. He won one tournament and back to back east titles (20-21) in ten years and then bolted. So spare me the analogies of how great the Flordia State coach is. Tennessee's Coach Kirk can achieve what took the last guy 9 years to achieve by beating Vanderbilt. East Division Champions! One game for all the marbles. Let's see what we got when it matters!
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MAD
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Aladywhovolunteer
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I agree with your assessment of Pensky. It took him 7 or 8 years to get going but once he got his kids to critical mass, he left for perceived greener pastures. I'm sure he had his reasons, and I bet they may have been valid, but he's old news to me. My concern is that the new coach has taken a proven race horse and turned it into a plow horse by unnecessary tinkering with alignment and strategy. Yes, the ladies can win the East, but I fear it is unlikely against Vandy. Smart effort often bests "relaxed" talent and I think we are about to see a repeat of that lesson. I hope I'm wrong.
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MAD
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It is strange that we have played so poorly at home this season.
We played a good 60 minutes (give or take) against Duke before imploding and giving that game away--and even so Duke ended up
with more shots and more SOG than we had. Loss.
We played well against SMU--had something like 20 shots and 11 SOG, but could only score one goal, and we gave up a lot of shots and SOG, and that game resulted in a tie.
We've had two embarrassing home losses--to bama and south carolina--easily our two worst performances in years.
We played decently--but only that--against Missouri, winning that game 2-0--but Missouri had nearly as many shots and SOG as we did.
We played fairly well against LSU but could not put the ball in the net--no goals and a tie.
That's been the sum of most of our home games save for the non-conference games against demonstrably weak opponents.
To come out and play (and lose) the way we did against south carolina is inexplicable.
It's been a weird season. We were solidly in 2nd place in the overall conference standings before the south carolina game, trailing only a bama team that has had an absolutely unbelievable season, and had gotten results in 6 straight conference games--5 wins and a tie. We were showing the potential that everyone thought we had before the season, except for the fact that, despite solid play, we struggled mightily to score for several weeks--an issue that has been a growing concern. And then we crashed and burned against the gamecocks. And now we've got a good Vandy team coming in on Thursday. I give us no more than a 50 percent chance of beating Vandy. If we don't get back into 2nd place and earn a first-round bye in the SEC tournament, then there is no way we'll repeat as tourney champs because we'd have to win 3 games in one week to do so--which is doable but exhausting and creates injury risks. That is why the SEC needs to reduce the number of teams in the tournament. On the one hand we've seen the NCAA eliminate overtime games to reduce the wear and tear on players who are playing 2 games a week, and on the other you've got the SEC with a tournament in which at least 2 teams will have to play 3 games in one week--and there could be overtimes. And they'll be playing on a field that by the 3rd round will not be in great shape.
I'd like to think that we can still get it together and make a run in the SEC and a run in the NCAA--but it's starting to look problematic. It's been rather a struggle all year. We haven't scored a first-half goal in a month; the last first-half goal we scored was against winless (in the SEC) Kentucky on Sept. 25. Kirt blasted the team's weak mentality in the SC game--said we were too meek in both boxes. That's probably true, but it's certainly not the only issue. We're not going to get a good NCAA seed--it could be around 7 or so--which means we /might/ get one home game, maybe, and even that is likely to be against a formidable opponent. Or we could even start the NCAA on the road. Pensky, were he coaching this team still, would have at least made some changes in formation or personnel to try and improve our play. Kirk as done almost nothing--same formation, some starting 11 all year, with the exception of the bama game when he started two new wingbacks (one a true freshman), and that did not work. Otherwise, it's been status quo from start to finish. Let's see if we can salvage something from the near-debacle of our home schedule on Thursday, but we're going to have figure out how to score more than 1 second-half goal to do it.
We played a good 60 minutes (give or take) against Duke before imploding and giving that game away--and even so Duke ended up
with more shots and more SOG than we had. Loss.
We played well against SMU--had something like 20 shots and 11 SOG, but could only score one goal, and we gave up a lot of shots and SOG, and that game resulted in a tie.
We've had two embarrassing home losses--to bama and south carolina--easily our two worst performances in years.
We played decently--but only that--against Missouri, winning that game 2-0--but Missouri had nearly as many shots and SOG as we did.
We played fairly well against LSU but could not put the ball in the net--no goals and a tie.
That's been the sum of most of our home games save for the non-conference games against demonstrably weak opponents.
To come out and play (and lose) the way we did against south carolina is inexplicable.
It's been a weird season. We were solidly in 2nd place in the overall conference standings before the south carolina game, trailing only a bama team that has had an absolutely unbelievable season, and had gotten results in 6 straight conference games--5 wins and a tie. We were showing the potential that everyone thought we had before the season, except for the fact that, despite solid play, we struggled mightily to score for several weeks--an issue that has been a growing concern. And then we crashed and burned against the gamecocks. And now we've got a good Vandy team coming in on Thursday. I give us no more than a 50 percent chance of beating Vandy. If we don't get back into 2nd place and earn a first-round bye in the SEC tournament, then there is no way we'll repeat as tourney champs because we'd have to win 3 games in one week to do so--which is doable but exhausting and creates injury risks. That is why the SEC needs to reduce the number of teams in the tournament. On the one hand we've seen the NCAA eliminate overtime games to reduce the wear and tear on players who are playing 2 games a week, and on the other you've got the SEC with a tournament in which at least 2 teams will have to play 3 games in one week--and there could be overtimes. And they'll be playing on a field that by the 3rd round will not be in great shape.
I'd like to think that we can still get it together and make a run in the SEC and a run in the NCAA--but it's starting to look problematic. It's been rather a struggle all year. We haven't scored a first-half goal in a month; the last first-half goal we scored was against winless (in the SEC) Kentucky on Sept. 25. Kirt blasted the team's weak mentality in the SC game--said we were too meek in both boxes. That's probably true, but it's certainly not the only issue. We're not going to get a good NCAA seed--it could be around 7 or so--which means we /might/ get one home game, maybe, and even that is likely to be against a formidable opponent. Or we could even start the NCAA on the road. Pensky, were he coaching this team still, would have at least made some changes in formation or personnel to try and improve our play. Kirk as done almost nothing--same formation, some starting 11 all year, with the exception of the bama game when he started two new wingbacks (one a true freshman), and that did not work. Otherwise, it's been status quo from start to finish. Let's see if we can salvage something from the near-debacle of our home schedule on Thursday, but we're going to have figure out how to score more than 1 second-half goal to do it.
MAD
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MATCH CENTRAL: #21 UT vs. Vanderbilt
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- No. 21 Tennessee will close out the regular season at home, hosting Vanderbilt on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on SEC Network.
Fifth-year seniors Abbey Burdette, Mackenzie George and Hannah Zaluski and senior Lindsey Romig will be recognized prior to the match. The Senior Day ceremony will begin at 6:10 p.m. ET.
Tennessee would claim its third straight SEC East title with a win Thursday if South Carolina draws or loses against Missouri.
The Lady Vols (10-4-2, 6-2-1 SEC) enter the matchup on the heels of a tough 6-1 loss to then-No.21 South Carolina on Sunday. Redshirt-junior Giselle Washington was the goal-scorer for UT, recording her first goal of the season in the 74th minute. Romig played all 90 minutes in goal, logging four saves.
Vanderbilt (11-2-3, 5-2-2 SEC) defeated Mississippi State 2-1 in Nashville in its last outing.
UT is 10-17-4 all-time against the Commodores and holds a record of 5-7-1 when playing at home.
UP NEXT: The Lady Vols will head to the SEC Tournament in Pensacola, Fla. Their first match will be on Tuesday with time and opponent to be determined.
SCOUTING VANDY: Vanderbilt finshed the 2021 season at second in the SEC East Division with an 8-8-3 overall record and a 5-4-1 mark in conference matches. They return 19 players from that squad.
CLAUDIA IN CONFERENCE: Claudia Dipasupil has tallied five assists and three goals on the season. Four assists and all three goals have come in SEC games. She has scored those three goals on just six shots, five of which were on frame, for a shot percentage of .500 and a shot-on-goal percentage of .833 in conference matches. She currently leads UT in total points in SEC play with 10.
ROAD WARRIORS: With the win over Auburn, Tennessee completed its SEC away schedule with a perfect 5-0 record while only giving up two goals. Tennessee has gone undefeated on the road in SEC play twice previously in 2003 and 2018, but this marks the first time a UT team has won all away games in conference action.
EFFICIENCY ON THE WING: Dipasupil ranks fourth on the team in points (11) despite ranking 11th on the squad in minutes played (703). Among the four Lady Vols with double-digit points on the season, she is the only one who has attempted fewer than 30 shots, having taken just seven on the year.
CREATING CHANCES: The Lady Vols rank 16th nationally in shots per game (18.25) and shots on goal per game (8.56) and 10th in corner kicks per game (7.38).
TRACKING THOMAS: Jaida Thomas has scored goals in four of the last seven games, moving her season total to an SEC-leading 12 goals and her career total to 37 to pull within six goals of tying Kylee Rossi at No. 1 all time in career goals scored at UT. She has tallied three game-winning goals this season and 11 during her career to tie Hannah Wilkinson and Kayla Lockaby for fourth-most in program history. Caroline Brown holds the program record of 15.
TENNESSEE ON TOP: The Lady Vols were picked to finish first in the SEC as voted on by the conference's 14 head coaches. UT is coming off a 2021 campaign in which it won a program-best 20 games, clinching an SEC Tournament Championship and going 20-3 en route to the NCAA Round of 16.
There is little chance he would have come to Tennessee unless White was willing to offer him in excess of $400K--which I think is at least double what Kirt is making. If you're not willing to pay the coach what he's worth, it's pointless to contact his agent--and White seemed intent on making a quick and easy hire that wouldn't cost him too much. We know how those kind of hires tend to work out. You only pursue the best coach in the college game if you're serious about going after him, and I doubt White even considered it. I don't think White considered any coach outside of our athletic department.
Always sad to see the seniors say goodbye. That is a good group, above, and all have made significant contributions to the program.
George was a real find, coming from California as a transfer, has been a huge asset even though I wouldn't call her a conventional forward. I think we'll see her playing professionally somewhere--but IMO she will may have to become a midfielder.
Romig has a good chance of playing professionally, with her size and athleticism. I'm not sure she's been the leader in the back of the defense that you'd like to have--what we had with Shae Yanez, who has a real take-charge personality in goal and was constantly barking instructions and encouragement to our defenders and the team generally (and who is now playing just one level below England's top pro level, and playing well). Romig has always seemed quieter and less vocal. In any case, she's got the physical qualities and skills to be a good pro and I hope it happens for her. Who to replace her? Well see, but I'm optimistic about freshman keeper Reisz, based on the tape I've seen. I think she could become quite good.
Zaluski and Dipasupil have done a good job for us on the left. Dipasupil is our free-kick specialist and has excelled in the role for a few years---and scored more than a few goals. Zaluski transferred in from George Washington has been an asset---very active and a smart player, gets to the right places on the pitch. Glad we got her last year. Both of them were instrumental in our big '21 season.
Burdette--wow: It's hard to overstate how important she's been as our defensive mid. Just has all the qualities that great defensive mids have--athletic, tough, physical, reads the game well, big motor--has often played 90 minutes. A warrior. She will be hard to replace. I hope the coaches have given that some thought--but coming into this year I had hoped the coaches had given some thought/effort to finding a strong/good centerback to replace French--and they didn't. Their solution was to move one of our best wingers/outside backs to centerback--and I think that was a dumb and short-sighted move. If you don't have what you need on your team, then hit the transfer portal. They didn't do it. You gotta think ahead or you're going to get caught with less than ideal personnel the next year. At this time G. Washington seems likely to be slot into Burdette's spot--and let's just say that's /not/ going to be like for like. Think ahead.
Here's hoping this group can go out with a win tomorrow night. They deserve it and we need it.
I see where we got a '24 commitment from this player, Kameran Bluette, who plays for an ECNL club in St. Louis. She's a forward who plays outside and uses speed and quickness to beat defenders and get balls into the box. Not very big, on the thin side. Didn't see anything on her tape that made me sit up and say, 'wow,' frankly. Doesn't appear to be a scorer. But it's early in her development. Speed is always a good thing--but you need some size to play effectively in the SEC, which is a physical conference, and forwards need to be able to score. This has been a problem for us this year--not enough good shooting and not enough scoring. Alabama is scoring 4 goals a game because they've got four players who can find a little space around the box and put GOOD shots on goal. A lot of our shooting this year simply hasn't been good enough, which is why--obviously--we've struggled to score goals.
VAN win East: Win -or- D+SCAR L/DKirt starting Huff at the left wingback position instead of Dipasupil and has put Stayart at Huff's attacking midfield position.
Interesting. Not sure of the thinking behind these changes, though my guess is the coaches seem to be trying to jump-start the attack. It strengthens
our left side. Staying with the 3-back formation....
Interesting. Not sure of the thinking behind these changes, though my guess is the coaches seem to be trying to jump-start the attack. It strengthens
our left side. Staying with the 3-back formation....
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