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SLU Soccer Week 2 Rankings


kwyjibo

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SLU has to find a way to get David G into the attacking 3rd more often. Anyone know the scoop on Manning? Is he getting close?

The other player I haven't heard from this year and I'm curious as to what the story is .... is Khalil Karl. Is he hurt or just not playing well enough. My limited memory of him from last year would be that he might be a good fit at defensive mid.

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Haven't heard anything Skip on those two recently. Funny how we had this run of solid d-mids (too many in some respects) and now we can't find one to replace Robson and allow Graydon to move forward. The coaches probably see the same thing. I just hope the Francisco that earned the right to start finally shows up and makes everyone else a believer much like the coaches obviously feel.

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Haven't heard anything Skip on those two recently. Funny how we had this run of solid d-mids (too many in some respects) and now we can't find one to replace Robson and allow Graydon to move forward. The coaches probably see the same thing. I just hope the Francisco that earned the right to start finally shows up and makes everyone else a believer much like the coaches obviously feel.

I'm not sure he can be good enough to justify taking Graydon out of attack mode. I can't help but feel even someone like Hildago at defensive mid with Graydon at attacking mid would be a better pairing than Francisco and Graydon at defensive mid.

I've really like McGinty and just have to believe he knows what he's doing. However, Graydon isn't just a guy you play as an attacking mid .... he's exceptional, so I don't really get taking him out of the position he excels at. Hell he's got a few assists already and spends most of his time in a defensive posture. When he has the ball at his feet and he's attacking he draws defenders to him opening up space for everyone else and he has the vision to find them. I think it's part of the reason Adnon has started so slowly ... watch him, he has someone sitting on him all day and there is no reason to leave him. No one to draw the defender away or get them off balance. Now Adnon needs to be more active off the ball himself, but Graydon attacking the middle of the field with the ball at his feet will help Adnon find space.

You going Saturday?

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For perspective: Indiana is on a three loss streak, Louisville lost at home, Maryland is 1-2-1, and runner up in college cup last year, Georgetown, is 2-2. Sky isn't falling. Just need to take care of things at home.

I didn't know how good the top soccer teams were. I was thinking it was like football where 1 loss is all you can have for a season.

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Left at halftime. Damn kids. : ). Love to hear about second half. Graydon was on wing but he didn't see the ball much out there. Goal was nifty build up play down wing, Roeckle was released into offensive third, sent nice cross in for Kristo to head home. Lee looked all right in CDM from my point of view.

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Also who ever ran the beer and hot dog promotion should be fired. Why have the promotion if you aren't going to put it somewhere easily seen by most people walking into Hermann? How did someone seriously think putting a small setup over on the south side of the main stand was the best spot? Idiots.

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Left at halftime. Damn kids. : ). Love to hear about second half. Graydon was on wing but he didn't see the ball much out there. Goal was nifty build up play down wing, Roeckle was released into offensive third, sent nice cross in for Kristo to head home. Lee looked all right in CDM from my point of view.

The goal was exactly why David needs to be in the middle of the field attacking. He received the ball just inside the halfway line slighty to the left of center. He turned carried the ball around a defender attacking the middle of the field. When the wide defender pinched in a bit to help stop him, he played it wide down the wing to Jon who made a nice cross to the back post 4-6 yards out and Robbie made a great leaping header.

Overall I didn't care for David playing wide. I understood what he was trying to do bringing Ray Lee in to play defensive mid leaving the choice of Francisco or David to move wide. David never really got wide and stayed pinched in most of the time clogging the middle up some.

Francisco was much better and looks to be getting more comfortable and working harder. He seems to have more confidence and is playing the ball much more positively and even took on defenders a couple of times.

I'd still like to see the Bills look to turn the ball forward quicker after a turnover. There are so many times when intercept or steal the ball and we have space to turn forward and attack but just seem to unconsciously lay the ball back. I'd also like to see them reverse field more often. There are quite a few instances where a wide defender plays the ball to the middle and we just continue it across and our opponent goes with the play. We need to look to keep the ball going but once in a while turn back and play the ball back where it came from. There's frequently space and it also slows the defenders down from rotating to the other side when you do continue the ball across.

We miss Manning as he has the ability to attack the seams from the back line. Julian was trying but he needs to keep better control of the ball.

Denver had far too many easy open looks at goal and just didn't finish well. Though we controlled probably 60% of the play, Denver created the more dangerous chances, they just didn't do anything with them along with a couple fo good saves by Nick. I left the game feeling lucky we walked away with the win.

Coach, put David back at attacking mid with instructions to push the ball agressively forward. If Francisco can't play wide then he shouldn't be on the pitch.

I'd like to see us play Jair more up top with Robbie moving Kingsley to to the wide mid position. Robbie wins almost every long ball with his head and does a great job of flicking the ball forward into space. Jair has the speed to run into some of these and create a breakaway here and there.

In the end, it's a win and I'll take it. It's not that we played poorly we didn't but we need to button up our defense we can't give up so many good chances and we need to be more agressive going forward.

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Agreed on Francisco. He looked more lively and played some nice balls for guys going forward. Looked much better.

13th in Collegesoccernews poll.

http://collegesoccernews.com/index.php/polls/csn-top-30-poll/473-college-soccer-news-top-30-national-poll-week-ending-9-15-2013:

Creighton lost to William and Mary away in double overtime. Connecticut lost 1-0 at home to Bradley. We have UCONN this week away and Creighton comes to Hermann in a couple weeks.

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More comments on REam:

"Tim Ream, playing in front of the back four, did a manful job, slipping through some superb passes to jangle Leeds’ nerves."

"Tim Ream started his second league match thus far this season and once again began playing in midfield. The American looked comfortable on the ball again in a defensive role. He made two important tackles on the day, with only Jay Spearing making more in that regard (with three). Ream also made the second-most clearances out of any player on the field and had a good day passing the ball (not bad, not spectacular). Ream could have been man of the match had his temper not got the best of him. In the match's dying embers, with Bolton badly needing the ball, Ream got frustrated at Leeds forward, Noel Hunt, and pushed him, giving United a free kick when the Trotters were desperately pushing for the equalizer."

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Agreed on Francisco. He looked more lively and played some nice balls for guys going forward. Looked much better.

Unfortunately, I missed much of the first half and part of the second. It is interesting though as Francisco played his fewest minutes to date after getting subbed out early in the second. He was replaced by Pavisic who was solid. Certainly not a drop in play from Fran.

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Whew, glad to see he can play defensive mid as the US is generally lacking in players at that position.

Honestly though, Jones and Beckerman won't be a part of the next WC cycle. He could find a way in.

Also, as we've seen from Klinsmann, he's willing to play guys in different positions than where they suit up for their clubs. An in-form Ream could merit a call-up, and once in camp, Klinsy could realize that Ream can play at LB or CB for the national team (ie Evans and Cameron).

I may be dreaming, but it could happen.

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Unfortunately, I missed much of the first half and part of the second. It is interesting though as Francisco played his fewest minutes to date after getting subbed out early in the second. He was replaced by Pavisic who was solid. Certainly not a drop in play from Fran.

Meant to ask about Pavisic. Did he play attacking mid or drop back to defend the lead? He's the one guy on the roster that may be the perfect replacement for Robson allowing Graydon to move forward. Probably needs some time to acclimate to the speed of the D1 game.

Previous

Tabbed the Mid-West Athletic Conference (MWAC) co-Freshman of the Year and NJCAA All-Region 24 Defensive Player of the Year following his one season at Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield, Ill ... prepped at Pleasant Plains High School in Illinois where he earned All-Conference and All-Sectional honors for the Cardinals ... prior to arriving in the United States, played for six years in the Red Star Academy in Serbia, one of the most renowned clubs in the world.

Mike McGinty on Pavisic

"Filip is an excellent defender and a quality addition to our recruiting class. His passing ability and soccer IQ make him a perfect fit for our style of play. He has a year of college experience and grew up playing at Red Star one of the best clubs in the world. He will compete for playing time right away and makes our team much stronger.”

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Meant to ask about Pavisic. Did he play attacking mid or drop back to defend the lead? He's the one guy on the roster that may be the perfect replacement for Robson allowing Graydon to move forward. Probably needs some time to acclimate to the speed of the D1 game.

Previous

Tabbed the Mid-West Athletic Conference (MWAC) co-Freshman of the Year and NJCAA All-Region 24 Defensive Player of the Year following his one season at Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield, Ill ... prepped at Pleasant Plains High School in Illinois where he earned All-Conference and All-Sectional honors for the Cardinals ... prior to arriving in the United States, played for six years in the Red Star Academy in Serbia, one of the most renowned clubs in the world.

Mike McGinty on Pavisic

"Filip is an excellent defender and a quality addition to our recruiting class. His passing ability and soccer IQ make him a perfect fit for our style of play. He has a year of college experience and grew up playing at Red Star one of the best clubs in the world. He will compete for playing time right away and makes our team much stronger.”

My impression was that he was very active and physical on the plus side. He also seemed to be comfortable and have a clue with the ball at his feet. He's a big guy with a thick body for a soccer player. On the down side he seemed a bit slow footed. In a way he reminded me of Adnon in that if you get in a 30 yard race he's fast but like Adnon he just didn't appear quick. However, it wasn't that long of a look and I could easily have gotten the wrong impression.

Hard to tell if he was meant to be attacking or dropping back. He didn't really go forward but didn't drop back either.

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My impression was that he was very active and physical on the plus side. He also seemed to be comfortable and have a clue with the ball at his feet. He's a big guy with a thick body for a soccer player. On the down side he seemed a bit slow footed.

He did seem a bit slow footed, but in all honesty, that description seemed to fit every last Billiken in the second half.

I think we'll need to give him a couple of games. Unfortunately, UConn charges for streaming video.

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