SLUBALLS

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.

With 5000+ at the game, I was hoping there would be more intel on the game overall. Any impressions of the players from anyone at the game? Anyone headed over to SIUE on the 13th?

Brief random comments from the game: Starters were (back to front): Schulte Keller, Niece, Wilkinson Schieffer Huels, Boyce, Novaes Klein, Brunch (sp), Viox Wisconsin was getting votes in the polls heading into this preseason game SLU dominated possession for most of the game. Probably 60-40 at minimum. Moved the ball well. Built from the back. Had some early forays into the box with couple clean looks at goal. Our goal was pretty. Quick build up form halfline saw Novaes get ball on right-hand side of box, he took the defender inside, and hammered a curling shot to far post. Beauty. SLU played physical and closed down quickly when ball was lost SLU's on-the-ball quality looked sharp Used mix of over-the-top balls and quick combinations in the attack. FInal third of play was ok. Schulte came up with a massive, unbelievable save. Ball literally had to have been on the line but he somehow got a hand to hit to lift up and out. I thought it was a sure goal. Shot production was lower than last year. Wisconsin came into the game a bit more when we had subs come on but they did not overwhelm the new guys. Keller and Schulte stood out in terms of the freshman out there. Icelandic defender has bum ankle right now. Becher (striker out of Holy Cross) also has foot problem.

I concur. This is a very solid, competitive class that Kalish is bringing in. Good mix of transfers, STL kids, talent , potential immediate impact on the field and high level of experience, including national team experience. I also like the fact that we are still competing with some top soccer schools as you can see from the list of other schools the recruits were looking at. It doesn't mean they were offered by those schools but many of the kids were aiming for top tier programs.

Well it seems we ended as this year has been defined. Tons of offense, inability to finish more, another OT and giving up a goal on a deadball situation. But looking forward to seeing what Kalish can put together next year as he has certainly improved the play this year. Two players he brought in made a definitive impact with Klein and Boyce; Klein should be up for freshman of the year for the A10. We will miss Hein more than anyone but also Brown up top. Musts for next year: finishers.

Same here. Good to see we held our own against such a good team. Klein is having a great year. Our offense did dry up a bit in the last three games with one goal in total. In terms of the lack of finishing, 10% of our total shots have come from Matteo Kidd. Shots-on-goal is good but his ability to put it in the back of the net has been atrocious. He also has zero assists which boggles my mind given he plays in central midfield. Our defense has let in too many goals this year from spot kicks. The same happened at Denver. I have updated the goals against tally below: Opponents goals: Notre Dame: Freekick Memphis: 2 quick counters Marquette: Freekick SMU: Freekick Tulsa: No goal given up Central Ark: Penalty kick SIUE: Corner kick Dayton: Crossed to a shot; Rebound shot Rhode Island: 2 turnover/transition goals; one freekick (header) LaSalle: one shot; one corner kick Bonnies: PK VCU: No goals Duquesne: No goals Denver: PK and free kick Opponents have scored 10 goals off spot kicks. 7 in the run of play.