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TU men's soccer

We should already have a Cup appearance last year. Call me spoiled but West Virginia doesn’t know futbol. Burning couches yes.
 
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My only concern is going to be who takes over the left fullback spot after Chase Bromstedt graduated. TU's fullback play last year was dynamic (sort of like when you think about Liverpool with Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold or the US with Jedi and Dest). I can see Mitchell Cashion moving to the left side and someone else taking up the right (maybe Will Edwards who Tom has used in that spot some last year). I've heard the big Dutch CB is going to slot in nicely next to Fazio in the back and almost everyone else is back in the MF and up top. This team will go as far as Henry Sach carries them. Everything in attack begins with him. TU will also need to stay patient as teams are simply going to put 10 behind the ball and hope they can find a counter. TU's possession and passing is simply too good to try and press them in the back and you saw teams adjust as the season went on last year. WVa was very passive and looked to counter. This passivity frustrated TU and they started forcing passes into spaces that weren't really there.

BTW, I'm pretty impressed at the new beat writer actually writing about something other than football or basketball and before the team goes on an unprecedented run and highly ranked nationally. I think as he is allowed to grow into the beat we'll see more of the solid reporting and insight into TU athletics as we did when Eric Bailey was on the beat.
 
Tonight's game at Marquette will be on Flosports which is apparently a subscription channel that shows a lot of Big East stuff. The women's game against Okie State will be on espn+
 
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My only concern is going to be who takes over the left fullback spot after Chase Bromstedt graduated. TU's fullback play last year was dynamic (sort of like when you think about Liverpool with Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold or the US with Jedi and Dest). I can see Mitchell Cashion moving to the left side and someone else taking up the right (maybe Will Edwards who Tom has used in that spot some last year). I've heard the big Dutch CB is going to slot in nicely next to Fazio in the back and almost everyone else is back in the MF and up top. This team will go as far as Henry Sach carries them. Everything in attack begins with him. TU will also need to stay patient as teams are simply going to put 10 behind the ball and hope they can find a counter. TU's possession and passing is simply too good to try and press them in the back and you saw teams adjust as the season went on last year. WVa was very passive and looked to counter. This passivity frustrated TU and they started forcing passes into spaces that weren't really there.

BTW, I'm pretty impressed at the new beat writer actually writing about something other than football or basketball and before the team goes on an unprecedented run and highly ranked nationally. I think as he is allowed to grow into the beat we'll see more of the solid reporting and insight into TU athletics as we did when Eric Bailey was on the beat.
Glad to see that this extremely young pup might have some abilities, and not just be a cheap hire.(Although I'm sure he is a cheap hire.)
 
Tonight's game at Marquette will be on Flosports which is apparently a subscription channel that shows a lot of Big East stuff. The women's game against Okie State will be on espn+
I actually have a FloSports subscription that I had for the DCI season this summer and haven't gotten around to canceling it yet.
 
I just glanced at his promo image, and thought he looked high school age, like the last guy. Guess I need to put on my old age reading glasses and look at him with longer discernment. 😜
I would be surprised if he is any younger than late 30s. But I'm a terrible judge of age.
 
I would be surprised if he is any younger than late 30s. But I'm a terrible judge of age.
Because it was the Tulsa World, I just looked at a tiny non profile pic of him on my phone & made an ass-umption. Looking at him in that profile shot of him kissing the trophy on my desktop, all you have to do is look at the side burns to know he's way beyond a young pup.
 
TU beats Marquette 4-2. Marquette was game though and came out pressing TU hard which I think caught TU off guard. Alex Lopez was superb as an 11th player and relief valve from the GK spot. The Marquette announcer was somewhat clueless about his abilities with the ball at his feet as he kept mentioning how Lopez was really taking unnecessary risks with the ball. Wes Bottenburg got the start at the right center back spot. He's a 6'3" FR. He's a good player but it was pretty apparent he was caught off guard by the speed of the game. He had a couple of really costly turnovers and was too easily dispossessed a couple of times. I'm sure that will get cleaned up.

TU's attack was dynamic. Will Edwards, Protzek, and Meinhard had some really nice combo play up the right side. Also, Mitchell Cashion is no longer an anonymous or unknown player. Marquette wanted no part of him 1 v 1 and frequently backed off him making his left footed crosses easier. Fazio was dominant in this game. 1 of Marquette's goals came off a PK from a clumsy challenge. I thought the contact and foul was actually just outside the top of the box and the Marquette player tumbled into the box after contact. D1 college soccer really needs VAR. Almost every school has some sort of streaming and video capability now...they should all have to set it up and have it for their home games. Truly make it about correcting a clear and obvious error and none of that he's a finger nail offside after you draw millimeter width CAD lines to determine it.

TU does have to clean some things up. They were not as crisp passing the ball as we saw last year and there were times they were forcing the attack and things got ragged. Defensively, I felt like there was way too much space between the MFs and the backline giving Marquette space to build and spread the backline out. Bottenburg will need to get up to speed quickly on understanding what Fazio is doing and where he should be covering in relation to that.

Overall, good first match against D1 competition. Sunday vs Wisconsin.
 
It doesn't look like Henry-Scott played last night. Is he hurt?
 
Wasn’t able to catch the game. Thx. Am curious if we play the diamond this year with the personnel we’ve got.
 
Wasn’t able to catch the game. Thx. Am curious if we play the diamond this year with the personnel we’ve got.
I didn't pay that close to the MF formation but it still looked like a 4-3-3 but it is possible we played a Diamond with Sach at the 6 and Protzek at the 10 with Taka and Jeffus playing wide. But with the way Jeffus and Protzek were routinely wide in attack with Meinhard, Schweienert, and #8, it looked more 4-3-3 to me
 
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No contest due to weather
Yeah I just saw abn by the contest. I assuming that means it was abandoned. So I wonder if we are going to take the loss? Or is it going to be like we never played as far as record and stats. That is a decision left up to us correct?
 
No contest due to weather
Seriously? That's generous for TU. I couldn't watch but tried to follow the stats and the 1st half seemed incredibly even but apparently the start of the 2nd half was rough. TU is going to need to figure out their back line, specifically getting #3 in sync with Fazio and making sure Sach remains connected to them. That was a weak point I saw on Thursday.

BTW, #9 New Hampshire just lost to Boston U (Go Terriers! BC sucks) 1-0. Talk about a game...UNH had 75% of the possession and they recorded something like 30 shots and yet got countered and BU MFer hit a wicked strike the GK couldn't get to.
 
Yeah I just saw abn by the contest. I assuming that means it was abandoned. So I wonder if we are going to take the loss? Or is it going to be like we never played as far as record and stats. That is a decision left up to us correct?
Never happened I guess. Don’t know.
 
So that non-game yesterday allows Tom and his staff to ID and address the issues they say in week 1, noticeably the lack of communication and understanding between the 2 CBs. TU was routinely getting gashed through the middle. I'm going to lean in the direction that they need to spend some add'l time in the film room with Bottenburg who is the newcomer in the back. I think there is also a need for them to remind Sach to hang back just a bit as there seemed to be a larger than usual gap between the MF line and the backline and that creates problems. TU's attack is so dynamic with quality players that they should be able to leave an extra MF back to help defend that space and not lose out on attack and chances. I have confidence they'll get it cleaned up and yesterday's (non) game is good to help get those things fixed.
 
So that non-game yesterday allows Tom and his staff to ID and address the issues they say in week 1, noticeably the lack of communication and understanding between the 2 CBs. TU was routinely getting gashed through the middle. I'm going to lean in the direction that they need to spend some add'l time in the film room with Bottenburg who is the newcomer in the back. I think there is also a need for them to remind Sach to hang back just a bit as there seemed to be a larger than usual gap between the MF line and the backline and that creates problems. TU's attack is so dynamic with quality players that they should be able to leave an extra MF back to help defend that space and not lose out on attack and chances. I have confidence they'll get it cleaned up and yesterday's (non) game is good to help get those things fixed.
I think it will be fine. It looked to me that they were trying to bring Sach to press a little higher and try to pressure an early goal. Scoring early on the road against a Big Ten team is always a good idea. Punch them in the nose and then defend the rest of the game. I wouldn't think that will be a week to week tactic. Agree they need to tidy in the back. This game and Kentucky will be the best they will see until SMU. Should be fine. Im more curious about any broad changes in formation/strategy/identity. It doesn't look that way so far, but others see more than I see.
 
I think it will be fine. It looked to me that they were trying to bring Sach to press a little higher and try to pressure an early goal. Scoring early on the road against a Big Ten team is always a good idea. Punch them in the nose and then defend the rest of the game. I wouldn't think that will be a week to week tactic. Agree they need to tidy in the back. This game and Kentucky will be the best they will see until SMU. Should be fine. Im more curious about any broad changes in formation/strategy/identity. It doesn't look that way so far, but others see more than I see.
I haven't seen much, if any change in the formation and the attack using the outside fullbacks to be a focus in coming up with the ball and then getting the ball central in the attacking 3rd. The attack hasn't been the problem.

SMU is picked to finish 5th in the AAC this season. UCF was 2nd and then I think a couple of the Sun Belt teams coming into the AAC were 3rd and 4th (maybe FIU and Charlotte). I haven't looked at SMU's roster but I feel they were SR heavy last year. Looking at their roster they've got some good talent returning but they lost their oompa loompa 10 who really created problems for everyone and the big Erling Haaland wannabe striker. Their GK is back but I wasn't impressed with him at all...bad hands and feet. They do have a 6'4" FR from Mustang who is a stud GK, but they also brought in a 6'7" JR transfer. If they get better GK'ing they could be a problem but I think they will be bringing in a bunch of guys who only played spot minutes last year. Also, their roster looks like they went shopping at an IKEA and bought 1 of everything in the Scandinavian soccer player dept.
 
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That is always a tough game. And weather of course may play a role.
 
That is always a tough game. And weather of course may play a role.
I have no doubt. My point was there are a couple of other games that will be just as difficult in conference this year. I really don't include UCF in there since they can't seem to ever beat us in any sport right now. :rofl: . The AAC will actually have some depth this year vs last year where it was TU, UCF, and everyone else (SMU really tanked after they lost the 1st regular season match in 2 OT to us last year). Here's hoping TU can really make significant strides in the back before the next game.
 
BTW, TU's next game is a home game vs UMKC (I think they just go by KC now) who's HC is former TU All American and Hermann Trophy runner up Ryan Pore. 7pm. Followed by a Monday home game vs ORU (Labor Day).
 
@TU_BLA , @HuffyCane will this make it a little bit more difficult to get ranked until we do something against some of the better teams on our schedule? I assume those voting will be influenced by us being down 3-0 before the game was declared a no contest.

Maybe they aren't supposed to look at unfinished games, but I have serious doubts whether they hold to that principle, at least across the board with all voters?
 
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@TU_BLA , @HuffyCane will this make it a little bit more difficult to get ranked until we do something against some of the better teams on our schedule? I assume those voting will be influenced by us being down 3-0 before the game was & declared a no contest.

Maybe they aren't supposed to look at unfinished games, but I have serious doubts whether they hold to that principle, at least across the board with all voters?
I think it would be hard to ignore. Mac is one of the longest tenured coaches in any FBS sport. Voters know the product. It will be fine. Beat KY, UCF and SMU and it won’t matter. Lose to two of those three and it won’t matter. Just be glad it happened early in the season.
 
I think it would be hard to ignore. Mac is one of the longest tenured coaches in any FBS sport. Voters know the product. It will be fine. Beat KY, UCF and SMU and it won’t matter. Lose to two of those three and it won’t matter. Just be glad it happened early in the season.
Ditto. I'm sure we'll drop a few spots but it's early. Where it won't hurt us is the RPI except now we don't get the points for playing a B1G team. Need big wins this week vs UMKC and ORU. SMU was hammering ORU 4-0 when I stopped following the match. If I'm Tom I'm focusing on defensive shape, communication, and movement this week in preparation. Those were the glaring OMG points that should be emphasized after last weekend's games. I'd emphasize a goal of not conceding any goals this weekend and keeping clean sheets regardless of whether or not TU scores 2 or 8 goals in those games.
 
Despite "not losing" and maintaining a 1-0 record in the season, TU fell to #16 in the rankings (ncaa.com). It's fine.
Kentucky is #6 and Creighton is right behind at #7 (not sure we play them this year). Charlotte comes in at #12.
 
Despite "not losing" and maintaining a 1-0 record in the season, TU fell to #16 in the rankings (ncaa.com). It's fine.
Kentucky is #6 and Creighton is right behind at #7 (not sure we play them this year). Charlotte comes in at #12.
Probably fortunate that was the extent of the drop in ranking.
 
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Latter.

Tired. Long day. The leak on the football board about practice has me pissed off and typing quickly.
I edit before during and after on my posts. I would like my posts to be read 30 min after I post them. They will make better sense, have less run on sentences, and will be much more eloquently put.
 
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I edit before during and after on my posts. I would like my posts to be read 30 min after I post them. They will make better sense, have less run on sentences, and be much more eloquently put.
Sometimes it’s just easier to pour two fingers and spill the brain (but not the whiskey).
 
Didn't Tom spend his freshman year at Wisconsin before transferring to TU?
 
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