Tennessee Soccer 2016 Season Thread

[armchair]

Vol SocFan: Happy to have at least ONE other person talking UT soccer. Otherwise, I would be my own echo chamber.

I agree that, overall, we do not play good enough soccer. That's a given. Even so, we should be at least 3-1 this year if not 4-0 or 3-0-1. We had 12 corner kicks against Washington, with good service on most--and did not have one good header on any of them. Wilkinson had two or three good chances--got up in the air with her height--and missed the ball on all of them. Gouner got her head on one late that almost resulted in a goal--but she never really got off the ground (went up on her toes, it appeared) and the ball hit her head rather her heading the ball aggressively.

Tori Beeler-Watson often irks me with her rather polyannaish view of the team--the other night on the Washington broadcast she described Cousins as an "explosive" offensive player (she is many things, but explosive is not one of them), and she regularly describes some player or her play as "tremendous." I know she works for UT, but c'mon. That said, like you, she was critical of UT's tendency to play the ball through the air too much against Washington. We need to keep getting better as a possession team.

It's interesting that you are always taking a harsh look at the back four and I take a harsh look at the midfield. Last year our back four wasn't very good. This year it should be better. Culhane is solid, Gouner has the potential to be very good, IMO, and Flynn can play--but those last two are still young. The other centerback has been diligent but both her and McClung are seniors--and Pensky really needs to be find someone young and talented who can take the position and make it hers for three years. There is no reason why we should have another stopgap centerback next year opposite Culhane. Pensky can recruit, there are a lot of good club centerbacks around the country--go get a couple. Or maybe he's got the idea of converting a young midfielder or forward. Don't know--but he should be developing a /young centerback /now/. Maybe he is and I'm not aware--always a possibility!

Our back four has not been under that much pressure this year. Our improved midfield has controlled play to a large extent, and so the midfield certainly is responsible for some of our attacking problems, as are the forwards. We have athletes with soccer skills--Christy, Marcano, O'Keefe, Baldwin, they all have ball skills, as do Wilkinson and Neal. (I thought Neal might be all speed and no soccer, but happy to say that's not the case, tho she's obviously still learning.) Bialczak has helped our midfield a lot with her pace--but she is new to her position, I think, and needs a bit of polish. Her technical skills don't seem great. But she's got upside--and this mostly young team that has a lot of upside IF it can play better soccer. Everybody needs to make good decisions--and you can't muff opportunities. You can't miss open headers. You can't try to shoot the ball with your right foot when you're on the left side of goal and a defender in leaning in on your right. You can't fail to lay the ball off for an incoming mid who is wide open. Kupritz is an example of an athlete whose soccer skills and awareness need improvement. Admirably intensity and toughness but I wonder if she knows how to play forward.

I still assert that we're not going to be a better scoring team until our mids start getting more involved in attack and start making plays. They've had the ball plenty. Bialczak has do more, and I think she will. They all do. Who is the one midfielder we have that manages to regularly get shots off in run of play, despite the fact that she gets limited minutes? Answer: Marcano--a player with both technical skill, pace and attacking mentality. She had a much higher SOG percentage last year than any mid--by far--playing one quarter/one third the minutes. Last year we were trailing by a goal in more than a few games--and Pensky typically kept our punchless starting mids on the field the whole game while Marcano sat. Hello! At the end of the day, you gotta put the ball in the net or help put it in the net. When we are behind in the second half, desperate for a goal, Pensky puts Marcano in the game. What--we don't want to score in the first, or score early? I can only assume she has some glaring deficiency of which I'm not aware, as why else would the coach of a team struggling to score goals keep his best attacking midfielder on the sideline for two-thirds of the game? And IMO she should be playing /with/ Bialczak, not as her replacement.


I'd be very very curious to know this: if Cousins were playing this year, which of our current midfielders would Pensky sit? Christy--who is solid? O'Keefe--who is tireless and covers the field and does figure in attack? Bialczak? Would he play both Cousins and Baldwin again (both of whom I view as strictly defensive mids)? You said in an earlier post that given a choice between athleticism and technical skill, you'd take technical skill. Not me. If you aren't nimble and pacey, your ball skills will be useless because you won't have the ball, because you can't get to loose balls and you can't challenge athletic opposing mids, who speed past you. It is easily seen. I saw that with former Vol Megan Massey the other night. A former forward, she's now a starting outside mid for Colorado. She has a good soccer mind and some skills, knows where the ball should go when she gets it--but has a pace/athleticism issue. She did not have a positive influence on Colorado's game against Missouri. You are either making plays or you aren't. Reputation is not reality.

Possession is a funny thing: When good teams are pinging the ball around and can break down a defense and score, it's a beautiful thing. But we've all seen countless games in which good possession teams spend 90 minutes futilely trying to score. UCLA played a nice possession game against texas a&M the other day--but it took until the 83 minute mark to score a goal. Missouri ran circles around a slow Colorado team the other night and had to go into OT before they could put a second ball in the net and win. I think we could be a pretty good counter-attacking team with our forwards and Bialczak in the middle--but good decisions and good soccer are required.

Let's see how we do against a good BYU team that beat Pa. State in its last game (after being shut out by Nebraska in the game before). We may not get a result against the cougars, but we need to in the games that follow.

 

[Vol Soc Fan]

Interesting discussion. The reason I focus on the back is I think that is where success in possession and success in attack starts. If you aren't good there it seems to me that you can't be good in the attack because the balls that get played forward are usually poor. Think of it this way, usually during the course of a match the backs have more touches and make more passes than the midfield or forwards, so if the backs have bad touches and make bad passes resulting in giveaways it is impossible to be good.

 

[armchair]

Are you related to one of our players, SocFan? Let me know if you are. For the record, I am not associated with anyone on the team--I'm a alum who likes soccer (I have a daughter who plays but who likes volleyball a bit more) and wants the program to succeed.

What I can't fathom is why Marcano is not playing big minutes. I'd love to hear Pensky's explanation for this. He's got a team that struggles to score goals, with a midfield that is not productive, and yet he keeps his most talented attacking player on the sidelines. That's a good way to lose games. Last year, the Vols had NOBODY who could score--and Marcano played one quarter of the minutes, if that, of the three starting mids. She comes into games and finds ways to get shots off. She had more shots than any of our mids and a 47 percent SOG. Baldwin played big minutes every game, nearly all year, and had 0 assists--nada. She had one goal--a tap in off a deflection of a corner. Cousins, supposedly the top prospect in the country, who likewise started and played huge minutes, had 1 goal and 1 assist. The kid has some qualities, strong on the ball, but wasn't even the best first-year player on our team much less in the country. Both of them have athleticism issues. O'Keefe, who runs the field well, led the group with a whopping 4 points. I don't care if you've got four little old ladies playing in the back, those are awful numbers. They were all young, granted, but there needs to be more. Marcano should have played much more---and Pensky is making the same mistake this year. Last year, we played Kentucky in the next to last SEC game. UT's chances of making the tourney were fading; the team badly needed a victory. Pensky THEN decides that Marcano should play a lot because we needed to score to win. Yea, that tends to help in every game!

I assume only one of our mids last year was playing in a holding role; even so, mids have to create and make things happen, along with outside back and forwards. I'm not sure if we've got one or two of our four mids this year in holding roles, but the same applies, no? If Cousins were playing this year, Pensky would have her playing big minutes with Baldwin and probably Bialczak and Christy--and our midfield play IMO would go /down/ a notch.

Also, the best attacks start by with mids/outside backs who win the ball in midfield and initiate quick counters before a defense gets fully back. If your mids can't mark and win balls, you are running around in your own end. I think the buildup and possession are overrated: against a well-organized team hunkered down, it is very hard to score. Counter-attacks have better odds!

Anyway, enough of my ranting. Let's hope, against the odds, for a result against a good BYU team. I hope we can show decently.

 

[armchair]

Embarrassing first-half display against BYU. To say that our back four and midfield was bad would be an understatement. Quick points:

--Pensky is paying a price for not recruiting centerbacks. We are terribly weak/slow at one of the centerback positions. An absolute howler of a pass by K. Allen to a BYU player and we give up a goal within two minutes of the start of the game. I don't know who Pensky thought was going to play opposite Culhane this year. And who is going to play opposite Culhane NEXT year, since the two stopgaps at the position this year are seniors? I've never understood why Pensky hasn't really recruited pure defenders--and he seems to have belated realized there is a problem as we've taken commitments from two future defenders in the last two weeks. That doesn't help us this year--or next, I'm afraid.

--We didn't even try to possess the ball in the first 20 minutes of the game. I had to leave the BYU telecast and go back to watching Duke v. North Carolina--we were that bad. We make two passes and then a Vol player--who often is not even pressured--just puts the ball in the air to no one in particular and BYU has the ball again.

--Christy was MIA early in the game and Baldwin did what she usually does. She's supposed to be central midfielder--but when the opposition gets the ball in midfield, she immediately turns and runs 15 yards straight back toward our box, thereby giving the opposition midfield ACRES of space in our half. She plays so deep that she is rarely IN the midfield--and then she and Allen both play way too far off the ball--so that even though they and other Vols are back, they are all practically standing in front of our keeper, giving the opposition mids and forwards all kinds of space in front of our goal to make unchallenged passes and shots. You have to get out and challenge the ball at some point before four opposition players are standing in space in front of your goal. We were unbelievably disorganized in the first 20 minutes of the game.

--our positioning generally is terrible. Defensively, we are always dropping too deep, as I mentioned. When you do this, the only way to get the ball out of your half smartly is to possess it out--but we don't do that. We make two passes and then either make a bad pass or kick it it foward in the air, back to the opponent. Bialczak makes runs up the middle of the field--but none of the other mids can get forward with her--except O'Keefe. Bialczak is playing by herself half the time, and really needs to learn how to control tempo and the ball and be more of a playmaker. She started the game by making a nice run toward the BYU box, but there was no one to whom to pass the ball. She should have either pulled the ball back and looked for help--or else just kept going and tried to get a shot off (she almost never shoots the ball). Instead, she just lost patience, as we so often do, and pushed the ball forward....to no one. Until we learn better positioning, better composure, stop dropping so deep in our half of the field and make a commitment to possession, we are going to be a bad team.

Speaking of Duke and North Carolina, Duke put on a possession/midfield display in the first half against UNC. Watch it if you can. They were brilliant--lots of movement, quick one and two-touch passes, pacey forwards, ball on a string. One of the most impressive displays I've seen--and yet they didn't score. Outshot UNC 13-0 or 13-1. The UNC goalie made some good plays and some good saves, and duke hit a post and the crossbar. Duke totally bossed the game but UNC kept it together on the defensive end and managed a result they did not deserve. Game ended 0-0. Almost impossible to believe that arkansas beat the blue devils. Duke has a got a center mid, plays for the Canadian national team, who was/is amazingly good.

 

[armchair]

After a dismal performance against BYU, the Vols came back to beat American University in D.C. 3-0. American is not good--they play in a small-school conference and haven't won a game; still, the victory should give UT a little jolt of confidence going into SEC play, which starts on Friday. A. Bialczak had a beautiful header off a corner for one goal, and Wilkinson and Neal teamed up nicely for our last goal. They have potential to be a nice pair of forwards for us this year. O'Keefe, who has been active and playing well, got our other goal off a set piece. We've got a handful of players from Va., northern Va. and Maryland, so it was nice that their families got to see them play in Washington.

The Vols first two SEC games, against alabama and then missouri, are at home, and then we play georgia on the road. We need to win all three games if we expect to do well in the SEC this year and have any chance of making the NCAA. Have to win these games. The first game is massive--we need it for confidence and it should be winnable. Missouri could be the toughest of the first three conference games--they've got some speed up front. Georgia, based on its early results, does not seem terribly good. The Vols need to take advantage of the first part of the schedule.

 

[Vol Soc Fan]

Didn't see the games this past weekend so can't comment on the games against BYU or American. I do want to go back to make one more point on why I think being good starts in the back. In soccer formations the formation shifts whether you're in possession or not in possession. For example, in a 4-3-3 when teams are in possession and attempting to attack the formation often shifts into a 2-1-4-3 which gets numbers up with the wide backs getting in the attack, 2 mids pushing forward, and so on, and the attack really starts from the center backs that widen and the 6 mid who must be great on the ball and great passer to get the ball forward in the attack without losing possession. If there is a breakdown in the back or the 6 mid the formation is unable to shift to the 2-1-4-3 and possession is normally lost. The center backs bypass the 6 mid or all the mids and numbers never get up with the mids and wide backs getting into the attack. Then a team loses shape and appears to chase the game.

Two big games this weekend. Get the wins and build some momentum.

 

[armchair]

After an even first half with few chances, florida dominated the second half but needed an OT goal to defeat kentucky 2-1. Florida had a lot of quality chances in the second half--S. Jordan had three or four herself--but the Kentucky keeper (a freshman) stood on her head and made several excellent, goal-saving stops. Florida finally scored with 7 minutes to go when a shot that was otherwise going 4 feet wide hit Jordan's shoulder and went in the goal. Kentucky got a corner with just over a minute remaining, florida couldn't clear the ball and kentucky knocked it in to tie the game. I think it was Kentucky's only chance of the second half. In the second OT, with florida on the front foot, Jordan got the ball in the box, slotted it to an open teammate and she put it in the net to win the game for the gators.

I was impressed by Kentucky's positioning and defense in the first half--they are solidly coached--but the wildcats faded and, like a lot of teams against florida, were on the back foot the second half and, were it not for their freshman goalie could have easily given up three or so goals.

You've got to play forward and stay forward against florida. If you can't do that you are sunk as they bring 8 players into your end, make it very hard for you to get the ball out of your end, and then play in your end for long stretches. You've got to compete with them consistently in the middle of the field--put some pressure on their back four, which is not as good as last year's, and not just for a half.

But let's not worry about florida now. Big game tomorrow for the Vols. Need to take it to, and beat, bama.

 

[armchair]

Pensky has problems. 34 minutes into our first SEC game and we are down 0-3 to alabama, hardly one of the conference powers. What a disaster! bama has scored 3 goals on 4 shots--all by a player who had 0 goals coming into this game. We have had 6 shots--but only 1 of them even on frame. Pensky has not shown me he can coach--at all. And how do you recruit two straight classes and not have 1 proven defender in either class? Wow--that's all I can say at this point.

Did I say 0-3? It's 0-4 at half. If you don't put the ball on frame, it will never go in the net. If you don't challenge the ball, you given opponents room to put the ball on net. That has obviously one of our many problems.

 

[Vol Soc Fan]

Very bad result but I thought the first 15 minutes were the best the team has played this year. Much better in possession and got numbers in the attack. Had some quality chances just didn't finish. Get one of the early finishes and perhaps a different game.

I thought the team panicked after giving up the first goal and stopped trying to possess the ball and get numbers forward and it was a disaster after that.

No doubt this team and season are at a crossroad. I'd like to see the team take the positive from how they played the first 15 minutes and build on that.

 

[armchair]

Hard questions need to be asked about Pensky after tonight's ugly loss to alabama. This embarrassing performance comes one week after BYU embarrassed us in Utah. Even bad teams rarely get embarrassed on the scoreboard in soccer. They get outplayed, sometimes badly, but they don't give up 5 goals twice in one week. We gave up 5 goals tonight to an Alabama program that was one of the worst teams in the SEC last year--and was picked to finish 13th this year! Oh, my. A bama midfielder who had not scored all year had a hat trick against us. To say that this game doesn't bode well for the rest of what is already a bad year (coming off a bad year last year) would be an understatement.

What's discouraging is that, on paper, we are more athletic and better than last year's team. But since we were not good at all last year, being somewhat better clearly isn't good enough.

I've tried to be optimistic about the program: Kelley left the program bereft of talent, and Pensky has shown himself to be a good recruiter, though a large number of the rated prospects he's brought in have proved not to be that good/athletic and have left the program, causing depth issues, and in the last two recruiting classes he apparently neglected to recruit one good centerback, which was really dumb and left the team with problems at one of the key positions on a soccer team. Not good. We've now got a forward playing one of the two centerback positions, and while she's been OK, it's a weakness. We've had some bad luck with injuries--especially last year--but this year, with some key players back, we seemed poised to make some noise--at least in the SEC. Nope.

Pensky said after tonight's debacle that the responsibility starts with the coaches. That is most definitely true. He talks about what he's "building" at UT, and there are signs that we could be a talented team. Tonight, he even said that "we are a good team." No, coach, you are not good. A good team doesn't leave the ball unmarked within shooting distance of our goal three times in the first half--and all three of the shots went in our net. UT defenders did not do their job.

This is Pensky's 5th year, and while the talent level is rising, the coach cannot seem to get results. The foundation is still shaky. The soccer is not good enough and we lose--regularly. When we play well we struggle to score--we had 12 corner kicks and dominated the second half against Washington and yet lost the game, 0-1! (When our players are left unmarked within shooting distance of goal, we either make a bad pass or, if we shoot, we miss the net!) When we play not so well or badly, our opponent DOES score. We have a habit of not challenging the ball--which is Soccer 101. Does Alabama have more talent than we do? I can't really say, but I doubt it. But their players, like others we face, make plays on both ends of the field--and ours don't. They had 5 shots in the first half tonight--and scored four goals. That's unheard of! We got one goal for the game--and even that came on a rebound after Baldwin missed a penalty kick. They are whelping balls into the goal from 25 yards out: we miss headers in front of net (regularly) and can't make a penalty kick. We're NOT good.

Maybe it's time to ditch those ugly checkerboard jerseys and at least try to change the mojo. Get another design. We're not making the NCAA this year--that's a near certainty--and we'll be lucky to make the SEC tourney. We'll have to get about 30 percent better in the next week. This looked like a game we could put in the win column. Down the road, we'll be playing good teams on the road. The bottom line is that it's not coming together, and it's got hard to be optimistic. The players aren't doing the job, but the buck ultimately stops with the coach.

 

[BMvol27]

I don't know a lot about soccer, but it looks to me like it may be time for Pensky to go.

 

[armchair]

With today's win over (mighty?) Middle Tennessee, we've got four wins over small schools with fairly modest programs and four losses to bigger, more respectable teams. Pensky played a lot of people today, started different people, gave our reserves quite a bit of playing time, and seemed to go back to the 4-3-3 formation. We scored three goals, which is good for us, though frankly the Middle Tennessee keeper seemed way out of position--way out of her goal area-- on all three. We had a lot of shots--22 or 23, I think--but most of them were not on frame, which is an ongoing problem for the Vols. You gotta get the freakin' ball on net if you expect it to go in. We are either taking shots that have little chance to begin with or we simply aren't striking the ball well--probably a bit of both.

Pensky said after the match that the team played with more intensity and focus today, suggesting that there were some effort issues at times in the alabama debacle. He sounded a little like Warlick does after a poor performance by the basketball team; she is always blaming poor games on insufficient effort or heart when the real problem is that her team simply doesn't play good basketball. I think the same holds true with our soccer team: We usually play hard; the problem is that we don't play enough good soccer, and that is a function of coaching--player selection, formation, tactics, positioning, communication, motivation, the whole nine yards.

It will be interesting to see who starts, at what position, against Missouri. I'd like to be optimistic but the abysmal performance against bama really illustrated serious problems: despite playing what is mostly a defensive formation, we don't defend very well, and we struggle to score as well--all despite the fact that we've certainly got more athletes and potentially good players on the field than we've had since Pensky arrived. That's not to say that we don't have player weaknesses; we do. But every team has its weaknesses. The question is, can you play to your strengths sufficiently to get results. So far, under Pensky the answer has been no. The talent level is going up, but we're still awaiting to see the soccer skill level go up, too. Until that happens, we will struggle.

 

[Vol Soc Fan]

Biggest positive from the MTSU game was Neal at center back. Biggest negative was three players leaving the game with injuries. Can't afford to lose bodies. Hopefully none of the injuries are serious.

How does this team win games the rest of the season? Play direct, send long balls forward and hope someone can make a play and get a goal. Play the 10 best athletes, with the best athletes in the back line and load up numbers behind the ball to try to keep the other team from scoring. Be disciplined to stay compact defensively. Don't get stretched. Do not take risks. Defend, defend, defend and fight to keep opponent from scoring by being junkyard dogs. In second halves shorten the game and keep legs fresh with constant subs. Cut the second half by 20-25 minutes with constant subs using the reentry rule.

 

[armchair]

The best thing Pensky could do for his teams is teach them to play better soccer.

I did not know that Neal played some centerback--that is surprising. I hope none of the injuries was serious. We've had enough injury issues in recent years.

I'm curious to know who Pensky had penciled in to play centerback next to Culhane this year. Was it Jennings, who hurt her knee in the summer and is out all year? You can't be thin or weak at centerback or you've got problems--and I think Pensky neglected to recruit this position a bit.

Beyond that, I think, defensively, we are missing the physicality that Santorio and Cousins brought to the field, and Ferguson was a diligent and responsible defender as well. Santorio wasn't great with the ball, at all, but she was big and could move pretty well. This is a physical sport: she and Culhane, who is more agile, made a nice pair--not a great pair, but a pretty good pair. Cousins didn't show much in attack but she can lean on people and win the ball--a great quality.(I think her best role is a holding or central mid playing behind Bialczak. You don't want to have a player like Bialczak having to track back to your box all the time, as she often does now because of our defensive issues: you need strong holding mids who can get the ball and then get it ahead to her and let her get in the attack from a more forward position. This is one of our problems.

I looked back at last year's scores and we did a respectable job of stifling our opponents. We did not give up a lot of goals--until really the last game against SC when we had injury problems and Pensky foolishly moved Ferguson to midfield and we gave up four goals. Our problem last year was our attack was TERRIBLE.

This year we ARE putting our best athletes on the field. That is why I was fairly optimistic coming into the season. But we're still struggling in attack and our defense now is leaky. Gouner is an excellent athlete--she can fly--and Flynn is pretty athletic too: I think athletically they are definitely an upgrade at outside back--but they've not really made tangible difference--which is true of many of our players. Haven't been involved much in attack. Both are still young, and both still have upside.

Not sure what to make of the midfield. I liked that Pensky has been playing four sted of three, and certainly with Bialczak's athleticism and Christy back there was reason for optimism. Bialczak seems slowly to be getting more involved in attack, and has been working hard to get her head on the ball on corner kicks---but we need more scoring/playmaking from her. She has a lot of potential, IMO. O'Keefe does good things and covers the field. I sense that we need Christy and Baldwin to be better/stronger as holding mids, which seems to be their role. I'm not sure either one is physical enough. When you are playing with two holding mids in front of a back four, you should not be giving up open looks to opposing players around our box.

Pensky DOES play direct, does he not? That has always seemed his style. Problem is, it doesn't work against quality opponents. You play balls forward in the air and they get picked off. It's not like our opponents are going to be lax with Wilkinson--she will be closely marked in every game. We look decent in attack when we are playing weak opponents; when we play decent opponents/good teams, we can't score. If we'd only given up 2 goals to bama instead of five, we'd have still lost! We did not get a goal in run of play. We lost or tied four games last year that we absolutely should have won because we scored either 0 or 1 goal. We lost two early games this year for the same reason--no goals. We have enough talent to win SEC games--other teams have their weaknesses and their issues-- but Pensky hasn't found the keys.

 

[Vol Soc Fan]

At times they try to possess but they revert to their comfort level which is playing direct. My point is rather than trying to possess just go all in playing direct and the tactics of that style. When they try to do both they get out of formation, get stretched, and get punished. I'd just keep numbers behind the ball, be compact defensively, and see if you can steal a goal. This group isn't good enough to keep the ball so rather than keep trying to have the group do something they can't do, just try to be the best direct team possible. We know if they try to possess against good teams they will get pounded. They may not win going 100% direct but at this point it is probably the only chance to win games.

 

[armchair]

I agree with you, SocFan. I thought this year with a fortified midfield and more overall talent we'd play more possession football--and it seems that at times we have tried and at times (Washington game?) we've had a little success---but, yea, we aren't good enough at keeping the ball and we probably have been caught with numbers forward. If, for example, you've got an athlete with pace like Gouner at outside back, you want her going forward and getting involved--and yet it feels like she and Flynn haven't had much impact. Perhaps it's because our forwards always want to go at defenders and make a play, and that's fine sometimes but forwards on good possession teams will bring the ball back, get the outside backs and mids involved, and show patience. We don't play like that--and I think it's a problem. If Kupritz gets the ball deep, our possession will end in five seconds--one way or another. Same with Wilkinson--she will try to make a play, but chances are possession will end very soon after she gets it. Bialczak and O'Keefe are sporadically involved.

If we're going to play direct, or counter-attack, then our holding mids and others need to move the ball forward when they get it. We have players who always want to pass the ball back and reorganize, which is safe but allows the opponent to slip back and an opportunity has been lost. Playing direct and being more conservative might help against some teams---it has kept us in games but not really helped us WIN games. Ultimately, it's hard beat anybody good if you are not a solid possession team. Against good teams we will drop very deep and end up playing on our back foot for 70 minutes. We'll see what tonight brings. The team needs more /cohesion/.

On another note, I saw K. Cousins and our Under 20 National Team play South Korea last night in a little warmup tournament prior to the U20 World Cup. Our U20 team doesn't seem as good or dynamic as our National Team or our U17 team. Japan beat our U20s 0-5 in the spring, and last night's game ended 0-0. The U.S. squad played very patiently--ponderously, really--tried to work the wings, but didn't have much success against a fairly organized S. Korea team that seemed solid but not great. S. Korea actually had more quality chances than we did.

Cousins played the full 90, which surprised me as I don't think she'd been starting earlier in the year, and she played OK. She is smart, her positioning is good, she plays the right passes most of the time, but except for a few moments didn't really have the impact on the game that you want from a center mid. She did have the only decent strike the U.S. had in the first half--a shot from distance that went wide. But she wasn't involved in our play enough--a point the TV analyst made twice (she wasn't being critical--just making the point). There were stretches when she was fairly anonymous. When she got the ball in midfield, she'd invariably lay it off toward the wing for a streaking winger--except sometimes they weren't streaking. There's no getting round the fact that she has athletic limitations--but great to see her out there representing the Vols and will be great to have her back next year. They play again on Sunday night, against Britain, and I think the game will be streamed on the U.S. national teams site.

 

[armchair]

What a starting lineup against Missouri. Simmons, Flynn and Gouner to the bench, Marcano and Neal--two of our most talented offensive players--on defense! Good grief. A three man midfield of Baldwin, O'Keefe and Christy? If we score a goal in run of play, I will be amazed. Maybe we can nip one goal. Crazy lineup. I can't imagine playing Marcano on defense--she's probably never played defense. That cannot be smart. Bialczak is back to forward, where she was ineffective last year because the midfield could never get her the ball in a decent position. It's generally advisable to tweak a lineup, not turn it completely on its head. Pensky seemingly in desperation mode.

 

[armchair]

Is Brian Pensky congratulating himself on the lineup changes he made tonight that helped the Vols to win a game they DESPERATELY needed to win--or kicking himself for not making smarter personnel decisions earlier? One example: You can't win soccer games unless you have a /good/ group of centerbacks--it's not a position where one can be caught short-handed. And yet he WAS caught short-handed this year, partly, perhaps, because of one injury--but mostly because he went /at least/ two years without recruiting a centerback and thus went into the season very thin at a key position. He was forced into playing stopgap players in the position this year, and that's never a good thing.

To bolster the centerback situation, he took forward Maya Neal--/talented/ forward Maya Neal--and put her at centerback last game (for a half) and tonight. The difference was dramatic as Neal looked and played the part--she was great tonight. She anticipated Missouri passes and used her speed to cover ground and break up threatening downfield passes to speedy Missouri wingers; she got around Missouri forwards in our box and intercepted balls meant for them; she poked balls away with her feet--and, importantly, she was physical. She is tough-minded--and boy, do the Vols need talent combined with tough-mindedness and smarts. Putting her at centerback improves this team by 15 percent. The move hurt us at forward, but the first thing the Vols had to do to get better was to play better defense, and that regard she was huge.

A lot of players played well tonight against a Missouri team that has talent and speed but was missing three starters tonight--a break for us. O'Keefe, in midfield, has become a very good and effective soccer player--she was good. Bialczak played her tail off as she always does; she made a nice cross that assisted on a goal and just missed a goal herself on a nice strike off a corner that hit the crossbar--she was good. Wilkinson was good; Morrow was very solid and helped a lot a left back--getting back in the lineup; and both Christy and Vignola--two midfielders!--scored goals. I've been saying it because it's true: if your midfielders are not getting to the box and getting shots and scoring goals, then you as a team probably aren't scoring many goals--and this has been a long-running Vol problem.

Besides moving Neal to centerback, the best move Pensky made was playing D. Marcano for 90 minutes. Pensky should have been playing Marcano 90 minutes a game LAST YEAR--and 90 minutes a game THIS YEAR. Why he hasn't, only he can answer--but not playing her more has been decidedly UNWISE, to be polite about it. Marcano played right outside back tonight, in place of Gouner. That is NOT her best position--Marcano really should be playing center midfield in Baldwin's spot--but she was exceptionally strong tonight. She was arguably our best player in the first 30 minutes of the game--all over the field, winning balls, being physical, using her technical skills, solid in defense. She is a good soccer player. Gouner got some time tonight--up front. She is athletic and speedy, but maybe needs to improve her balls skills, movement and strength/toughness.

Pensky reduced Baldwin's minutes, and that was seemed prudent, IMO. Baldwin simply is not an effective midfielder. She was ineffective last year, and nothing has changed this year. She does not do enough to justify all the minutes she's been getting--especially when you're leaving a player like Marcano (or Vignola) on the bench. She does not get to enough balls, she's not physical enough--and she does not challenge the ball enough--all things that a holding midfielder must do to be effective. Personnel decisions win and lose matches, frankly, and UT has lost too many games lately.

Kupritz replaced Neal at forward, and she was her usual hard-charging self. Pensky ought to add to his gains by working to polish her game--which hasn't changed much, I'm afraid, in going on three years. She does good things--she almost had a beautiful scoring strike with her left foot early in the game--but she BADLY needs to learn some patience and make use of her teammates. Wilkinson showed patience tonight, getting the ball deep and crossing to Vols in the box--and that is how we scored our first goal. Kupritz needs to do the same. Every time she gets the ball, she wants to dribble through four defenders on the way to goal--that is her MO. You gotta know when it's good to go at a defender and when you should start a dribble but maybe pull the ball back and help to possess the ball and work with your teammates to create a quality chance. Her speed, her toughness, her intensity--all good, but you gotta know when to throttle back and play smart soccer.

Lastly, Pensky played freshman S. Yanez at keeper in the first half. She performed well. She played confidently and made good, quick decisions about coming out to get the ball. She and Simmons, who played the second half, both played well.

On the whole, the Vols must keep working to become a better possession team. The team continues to make a lot of bad decisions with the ball--a lot of bad passes because of a lack of composure. You can't give the ball away as cheaply was we so frequently do. It's all about being poised instead of panicky.

But this is a moment for high-fives. This was a good team win, everybody did their part, and let's hope we can keep it going with an away win over Georgia. We need it.

 

[armchair]

A couple of other quick notes tonight. Southeast Missouri State, which beat us 0-1 to start the season, lost its first game tonight--to Kentucky. The wildcats beat them 3-2. SE Missouri hasn't played a tough schedule, but I think we can say that they are a pretty good soccer team. In an exhibition to start the season, they played Vandy to a nil-nil tie. That was a good result for them, and they proved tonight they are no pushover. They have a lot of quickness defensively.

Also, Alabama lost to Stamford tonight, 1-0. Not StaNford, of California, but StaMFord, little private school in Alabama. I think it shows that Alabama isn't quite the juggernaut that they seemed playing the Vols. But then we may have known that already. We'll see...

 

[Vol Soc Fan]

Completely agree about the upgrade to back line provided by Neal. Morrow also a big difference in keeping shape. Vols basically played the type of game I thought they needed to play to try to get a result. Ugly direct soccer. Missouri really didn't have a quality chance all night other than what they had on corners. I thought UT had more bite to their play last night and it was their best result of the year, but in terms of soccer quality it was an awful display by both teams. Neither team connected passes and they smashed balls all over the place, but give the Vols big credit for dictating how the game was played. They figured out how to best try to get a result and they got it.

Not sure how to evaluate this game as it relates to going forward on the schedule because according to the SEC network game announcers Missouri was without 4 starters, but it was great to get the first SEC win. Go to Georgia and get the 3rd win in a row.

 

[armchair]

It's interesting that Pensky moved a forward to centerback. I had the idea a week or so ago that Kupritz should be moved to centerback, since she's got speed, size, toughness and isn't exactly the most effective forward in collegiate soccer. But Neal is the better choice: she's got quicker feet and even more speed, and her game is a bit more refined. Kuptritz, working in and around our box, would be giving away penalty kicks, what with her habit of banging into opponents. She's rash--she clearly /enjoys/ giving opponents a knock or three while she's on the pitch. She is cautioned pretty much every game--risky behavior for a centerback. (I do wish the coaches would teach her some patience, as it's almost pointless to have an outside back come up and try to play with her.)

I have to think that Neal will be playing centerback the rest of the year--she's a game and half into the new position and already seems valuable in the role. The Vols need every advantage we can find. The question becomes, what about next year? I'd be shocked if she wanted to stay at centerback next year, mainly because she'd be our best forward! That would be a tough sell for Pensky. If she moves back to forward, we've got the centerback problem again--and would really need to find two new centerbacks as Culhane will be a senior next year. Gotta think ahead.

I just saw where Arkansas beat florida tonight. Are you kidding me? The razorbacks were not good last year--and suddenly this year they've beaten duke and florida? It is hard playing at arkansas and (mississippi state)--something about going to nowheresville.)

 

[armchair]

Watched a bit of SEC soccer today as I wanted to get a glimpse at a few teams. While the conference doesn't have any exceptional, first-tier teams, save for maybe florida, most of the squads seem well-coached, which we've seen the last couple of years, at least.

Kentucky and bama played to a 1-1 tie today in Lexington. Kentucky was much the better team in possession, should have scored at least three goals and won--but their finishing was absolutely terrible and they almost lost a game controlled from start to finish. The wildcats had a whopping 28 shots but only 6 on frame. They had at least 6 really good chances and wildly missed the net. In OT a Kentucky player got a centering pass about 8 yards from goal, with the bama keeper out of position, and sent her shot six feet over the net. It was almost comical. Bama, meanwhile, is an opportunistic team that does get the ball on frame--11 SOG out of 18 shots. That's good--and that's how they whipped us. They are more athletic than last year--and pretty direct and dangerous in counter-attack, which seems to be their game. bama was called for a handball in the box at the 85th minute, and Kentucky converted the penalty; otherwise, bama would have stolen the win. At one point the Kentucky coach commented to the SEC broadcasters on how "slow" his team was playing, though they looked considerably better and more cohesive than I've seen UT look in a few years! Telling, perhaps?

Vandy vs. Miss. State: Miss. State scored 2 minutes into the game, but Vandy is a good, well-coached possession team, and then dominated the rest of the game. Still, it took a goal in the second OT for the commodores to it, 2-1. Vandy doesn't look to have a lot of attacking talent, but they pass the ball well.

Auburn vs. South Carolina: South Carolina plays good team defense and seems mostly to try and counter with McCaskill--the burly, speedy forward who spent all night charging down the right flank. That was pretty much SC's attack--they really didn't do anything but whomp the ball downfield and hope the beefy forward could outmuscle a defender. She scored a great goal with a running header off a perfect deep ball in 1H and that's all SC needed to win it, 1-0. Auburn completely controlled the second half, and has some players who combine pretty deftly in attack, but they couldn't generate many quality chances against a gamecock team that was sitting back. As always in soccer, it's usually a small number of opportunities that are missed or converted that decide games.

 

[Vol Soc Fan]

Watched the U20 match against Brazil. Not good. The USA goalie struggled and the team lacked patience in the attacking third. I would prefer the team play a 4-3-3 and get the outside backs up in the attack, as well as get much more sophisticated in the runs that are made up top.

I like the center backs and I think the mids could play a pinched triangle in the midfield and keep the ball but it seems USA is committed to the formation they played, even though they didn't score a goal in any of the 3 matches.

One relevant thing that USA does that UT doesn't is roll the ball out from the goalie. One of the things that kills UT in the goalie constantly punts the ball rather than playing the ball to a back. It kills shape and more often than not gives the ball away.

 

[armchair]

Hey, man: Yea, I saw a good part of all three USA U20 games as I was curious about Cousins and team. The team's back line is talented--and apparently deep. The three goals given up--1 to England, 2 to Brazil--were all pretty cheap (the keeper arguably botched both goals against Brazil).

You'll not be surprised to hear that I thought the midfield was a problem--they simply were not influential in any of the games. They did not keep the ball in the attacking half very well, and there simply wasn't any real presence in the middle of the field--reminded me of UT last year! Maybe it was the formation or maybe they just weren't effective: I was surprised at how little the center mids were on the ball in all three games. Part of it seems to be that the USA likes to play up the flanks, part of it might be that the middle of the field seemed fairly clogged in the S.Korea and Brazil games, and part of it may be that the center mids were somewhat out of their depth physically/athletically, especially against Brazil. None of the mids, outside or inside, or outside backs did much: very few runs, not much combination play; it was left to the forwards to make things happen. We had a few moments, but hardly tested the opposing keepers at all.

I thought Brazil was a bit dirty--a lot of heavy forearms to the backs of our players, consistently, and to her credit the official called a /lot/ of fouls on them, but we did absolutely nothing with our set pieces. I assume Pugh will play a lot more in the World Cup, which of course should help. Maybe they'll change tactics per your suggestion. When you are 18/19 and playing good international teams, your limits will be tested. The coach, French, gets a lot of criticism on a soccer board I frequent--but they criticize Ellis a lot, too, and she's done well all in all. It seems like player availability/section are a bit more problematic with U20 than U17, say, as there are college issues and some have opted not to play for the NT.

Back to the Vols: Georgia is a must win! I said that before the bama game--and now georgia is doubly important if we hope to make the SEC tourney. Playing strong defense and taking your chances--so key.

 

[Vol Soc Fan]

I think the USA would be much better in a 4-3-3 formation with a pinched midfield and transition into a 2-5-3 when they possess the ball and attack. The USA back line is good and I like Ogle and Cousins as mids that can keep the ball. A big problem in how they play now is the outside backs do not get into the attack and there is poor movement in the attack. There are no penetrating diagonal runs by forwards and because of the 4-4-2 with wide mids I think things get clogged up. I'd also like to see more urgency to win the ball back. The only game I watched was the Brazil game and I guess the USA used the backup goalie. She had a poor showing on many fronts.

One thing that stuck out to me as a positive is how the USA goalie always rolled the ball out to a back to get counter attacks started and it enable the team to get into their shape. Tennessee never does that and even in the 40% of the time they get possession when the UT goalie punts the ball out, the Vols are in horrible shape when the possession occurs. It stymies the attack, enhances the lack of patience, and leads to more dump and chase long balls.

Big game tomorrow for the Vols. Need 3 points in Georgia and then roll the dice in Florida.