SLUBALLS

All our losses have been 1-0 games. We responded well to back-to-back losses to the Dukes and Dayton and opened up a can of whoop-ass the last two games. Need to keep up the momentum as we hit the A10 tourney:

Didn't realize we went down to ten men 7 minutes before end of regulation. Surprised SLU almost got out of there with a 0-0 draw. Hard to see a winning goal like that though with 8 seconds left in 1OT:

Great documentary on Netflix (maybe Prime): Take the Ball, Pass the Ball. About Pep's Barcelona. Very, very well done and many, many insightful things on that team and how they played. Watching world class teammates talk about how good Messi is makes you appreciate the talent he is/was.

https://www.collegian.psu.edu/sports/men_soccer/article_9e066824-cd0b-11ea-9fbf-f3cf9b9c8f22.html http://miragefa.com/news/full-story/Edward_Mensah,_Eric_Danquah,_and_Emmanuel_Hagan_shine_in_Montverde_Academy's_defeat_to_German_top-flight_side_Hertha_Berlin http://ocsc.ussoccerda.com/sam/teams/index.php?team=7550576&player=627075349

Wow, I really did not realize all those Americans came through there. McBride is certainly revered, to the point he has a pub at Craven named after him. Eddie Johnson....talk about someone who just did not take it to the next level although it appeared he had the tools. I remember watching him as a 17 year old at SLU when they hosted a U17 World Cup qualifying game. He stood out for sure.

Former BIlliken great, Tim Ream, plays tomorrow for a chance for promotion to EPL when Fulham takes on Brentford. Doesn't appear to be available on TV here in the States but let me know if anyone finds a way.

Agreed. Arteta clearly showed he is building on the youth with him using Nketiah and Saka, for instance. Those that don't adapt to his style will be shown the door. Love to see Smith-Rowe come back from loan and take up the attacking mid responsibility from Ozil. The back line is abysmal and embarrassment to any Arsenal fan. Bellerin and Tierney are keepers but, Luiz, Mustafi, and Kolasnic (sp) need to be shown the door. Love to get Holding back to 100% and get that one Greek centerback kid we signed playing. Hell wasn't there a veteran La Liga centerback we signed to help shore things up? I think injuries were a major impact on our goals-against this year. Heading into Sat, yea, Chelsea certainly has the edge right now. But I hope we can grab another FA trophy just to save face from failing to qualify for Champions league and Europa.

Kalish was very, very excited to pick up Weah. Topped off his 2020 class. To be sure, Weah has serious professional potential and if SLU gets two years out of him like we did with Brad Davis, then that will be fantastic. Apparently, other schools got into the hunt later with Weah but Kalish and crew had made a significant impression through their communication and consistent show of interest that SLU came out ahead in the recruiting game.

Skip, great summary as well. I caught the second half; must have missed you when I walked in. Decent group of students were there on the east side as well. The play that led to the goal was horrific for sure. Agreed on how the Fordham's players conducted themselves after the final whistle and went over to MJ to console him. Skip, one thing I am surprised you didn't mention though was just how much we saw the ball in the air instead of on the carpet. I know Becher certainly has the size to play that target-forward role, but we seemed to be lofting it way too much forward. It just disrupted the rhythm immensely and we had the skill level and speed to break down Fordham without resorting to long balls. Also, I know you mentioned Stefan Stojanovic but he has not lived up to his full-scholarship profile....so it is still about potential for sure with him. He was one people were excited about given the level of play he was exposed to and success he had scoring at that level. Hoping he can pick it up this spring and make a major impact next fall because we need an elite scorer. We need one that puts the fear of God in the backline. I like what we have coming back. Hopefully this Icelandic defender can make a more of an impact as well.

1. First goal has more to do with the two attempted slide tackles which were piss poor decision-making; stay on your feet! The defense stayed compact in the box, keeping a shot from the top difficult. Just pin-ball type situation with the low hard cross. 2. Agreed. Schulte probably feels the same way. 3. That first attempt at the clearance and failure screwed up everything and got the line off balance. Then Wilkinson steps up to and misses a tackle, leaving the goalscorer completely wide open. I think Schulte thought the defender (one who slipped and recovered to try to block the shot) had a legit chance to block the shot. But quality finishers finish period. Schulte looks as if he thinks the guy will go near post vs far given his first movement once shot is fired, maybe because of the way the defender was closing down the shooter.

Brief thoughts from last night: Possession was about 60/40 in favor of SLU. Denver had a few moments of decent possession in our half, moving the ball left to right but did not make much out of it. Shots were pretty low across the board. SLU is averaging roughly 12 and I think we ended up under 10. The front line tandem of Novaes, Becher, Klein, and Boyce were fun to watch at times, zipping the ball between each other and disrupting the backline with good runs. Although the game was close, SLU had the feel of that team where its quality would eventually come through which it did with Klein's 25 yarder. Regarding the best soccer comment, I was saying last night during the game just how SLU just seemed faster, more dynamic, higher quality, etc than the last few years. It had the feel of the early 2000s SLU soccer we remember at Hermann. Long way to go to even rightly compare this team to those, but they were playing some nice attractive soccer.

Same here. Planning to be there tomorrow.

Boy, a result (Draw or Win) out of Virginia would be tremendous. Agreed on the early goals being given up.

Good to see such a thrashing last night at Marquette. Becher got on the score sheet with a PK late and the Icelandic centerback made his way onto the field last night. Both were expected to be solid contributors to this team coming into the season but injuries delayed their participation in games. Hope this is boding well for the A10 season.