Soccer Game tonight

[slufanskip]

I thought the game was played pretty evenly. The difference in the result was the 2 big saves by the Indiana keep in the 2nd half. I also felt Indiana should have had a penalty shot in the 1st half when I believe it was Manning just physically knocked the Hoosier to off the ball. Indiana seemed to go down easy pretty often and got up constantly whining about calls, but this play he was hit hard and imo it should have been a foul, though most people around me disagreed and felt he flopped again.

Some other random thoughts

On Indy's first goal Lee relaxed while tracking a ball near the corner and got out hustled to the ball allowing the guy to send in the cross that was hit in. You just can't take a few seconds off in that situation. I don't think he thought the Indy player was coming after the ball as it was clearly Lee to run down. Manning was also closer than the Indy player, but probably thought Lee had it. In the end the IU player out hustled them both, won the ball and made the cross. To beat good teams those moments can't happen.

Robbie Kristo has to do whatever it takes to play 90 minutes a game. He's clearly the most skilled player on the team with the ball at his feet or coming to him. In fact he was the most skilled player on the pitch. He has size, skill, and vision. If he doesn't end his career at SLU as one of the 2 or 3 best forwards in the lst 20 years at SLU it will be unfulfilled potential. He has the size and strength of a great target forward and the skill and vision of a center mid. However, he must learn that there is a game going on around him even when he doesn't have the ball or it isn't on the way to him. He should be a star, we will see.

Only 1 game against a very good team and the 1st real game of his college career, but I didn't see anything from Graydon to get excited about. In this game he was weak on the ball, got stripped a few times while trying to take on a defender 1v1, and didn't really move the ball exceptionallly well.

SLU needs to figure out you can play the ball through the middle of the field occasionally, not everything has to be down the wing.

Why when Adnan came in did we not bring it Nick M or Hildago? are they hurt? We moved Bryce back to midfield. He has no ability to hold or distribute the ball from there. He has speed down the flank, that's it. Nick or Hildago would have helped us possess the ball and have better offensive possession when trying to come back down a goal.

Too much indicisiveness on the back line. They are young, but they need to communicate better. Too many balls left free and no one seems sure who's it is. I'd suspect this will change quickly. It had better

Also why when Adnan came in did Robbie move over and play more wide? It looked like we were trying to play the ball at Adnan and have Robbie working off of him. Just my opinion, but that is backwards.

Lastly, does our 1st look always have to be back? There are so many times when a mid wins a ball or receives a pass with more than enough time to turn up field and we consistently drop it off. Better comunication should help, but I see it as a mentality that needs to change. Opportunities to break a guy through on a diagonal run with a ball played on the ground are hard to come by, but they are almost impossible to come by if you don't turn and see the field.

Overall, a game that could have ended us up, tied, or as it did with them up. Not poorly played, but if we are going to break through and become a top tier team we need a result from games like this.

[Pistol]

Sounds like a real barnburner.

[WUH]

One of the more enjoyable games of the last few years.

I hope you all do not mind me mentioning here that the women are 2-1-1 (with the exhibition). The loss was to Ole Miss on the road. After a terrible season last year, fans can see the new coach on display againt a ranked Marquette after the men play Drake tomorrow.

[bbtds]

IU coach Todd Yeagley's take on the game.

[Box and Won]

Are the hens raised humanely?

They most certainly are. And did I mention that our hens have hyphenated last names?

[MB73]

How did our mens Olympic soccer team do? I kept watching and did not see them. Can Courtside give me a recap?

[billikenfan05]

How did our mens Olympic soccer team do? I kept watching and did not see them. Can Courtside give me a recap?

Yes, because that is what this thread is about: Olympic Soccer.

[SLUBALLS]

U23 did not qualify. Lost their chance in very last game prior to Olympics on a late goal.

[billikenfan05]

U23 did not qualify. Lost their chance in very last game prior to Olympics on a late goal.

He knows that. He's being a ******.

[kwyjibo]

IU coach Todd Yeagley's take on the game.

You are obviously new here as your posted actually included the result of the game. A rookie mistake that I always make.

[slufanskip]

You are obviously new here as your posted actually included the result of the game. A rookie mistake that I always make.

are you refering to my posts that don't include results? If so point taken. Do I normally do that?

[slufanskip]

Is this better

SLU 1

Drake 0

SLU dominated most of play and missed on some very good chances. No Lee or Sweet. Lee left the Indy game injured, not sure why on Sweet.

Kristo and Adnon together up top will be tough to stop. They played for a bit in this game and Kristo assisted on the goal by Adnon. The downside is neither is very active without the ball, so you lose a lot of defense up top.

This game also had another instance of lack of hustle hurting. Kristo tracked a ball that looked to be clearly the keepers, but his hustle made it a 50/50 ball and he caused the ball to roll directly across the penalty spot with the keeper out of place. The freshman forward Jair Minors (who is quick and looks to be dangerous off the ball but seems to need to have better touch) didn't hustle and follow the play. If he had he would have easily just pushed the ball into an empty net.

Minors also had a 1 on 1 breakaway that he didn't finish and and another where he was pressured from a defender that he put across the goal mouth but wasn't finished.

During the two games two freshman stood out to me. They looked like they belonged on the field at this level not freshman playing their 1st couple of games, both defenders Marco Heskamp from GE and Tyler David from Minn.

Don't remember seeing Briggs in either game, anyone know what's up? He was very good last year. Anthony Manning also looked like he's continuing his good play from last year. My only thought is he uses his hands a lot, but somehow doesn't seem to get called for it. I'll be surprised if this doesn't change as his career progresses.

[kwyjibo]

are you refering to my posts that don't include results? If so point taken. Do I normally do that?

I was not referring to you specifically but it has been going on for many years from nearly all the soccer regulars. I very much appreciate the reports and perspective but I have always found it a bit odd that results are often not mentioned (the only time we discussed it before was in the context of an exhibition maybe two years ago and the "score does not matter" was the defense). It is something I just find amusing now.

I am glad the Bills beat Drake.

[MusicCityBilliken]

One of the more enjoyable games of the last few years.

I hope you all do not mind me mentioning here that the women are 2-1-1 (with the exhibition). The loss was to Ole Miss on the road. After a terrible season last year, fans can see the new coach on display againt a ranked Marquette after the men play Drake tomorrow.

I caught that game down in Oxford and I thought they looked pretty good. The Billiken ladies held the 1-0 lead and was not till the end that Ole Miss scored 2 goals.

Thought I be the only Billiken fan in the stands but to my surprise plenty showed. Recall seeing the Bills Basketball team in the past play East Carolina, UAB and So Miss and being the only one.

BTW, this was my first SLU Ladies Soccer game in maybe 6-7 years and that was in Charlotte.

I think they may a pretty good season.

[slufanskip]

I was not referring to you specifically but it has been going on for many years from nearly all the soccer regulars. I very much appreciate the reports and perspective but I have always found it a bit odd that results are often not mentioned (the only time we discussed it before was in the context of an exhibition maybe two years ago and the "score does not matter" was the defense). It is something I just find amusing now. I am glad the Bills beat Drake.

It probably is me. I don't think I even realized I was doing it. Omitting the most important bit of data ... duh. I will correct that mistake in the future. If I don't ... call me out.

I know I never said the score of an exhibition didn't matter. It's not a real game, but I believe winning always matters.

[kwyjibo]

A bit off-topic (Vedad Ibisevic) but in case you "missed" this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1SgtSWytPs

[WUH]

I think they may a pretty good season.

Thanks for the report. I decided not to stick around for the game yesterday with the threat of severe weather looming. The game was cancelled due to lightning before the half.

As for the men, I agree wholeheartedly with the earlier comment about the freshmen Heskamp and David.

[WUH]

I meant to add: I think Donte showed real potential too.

[SLUBALLS]

Skip,

You mean "I can only loft the ball forward" Briggs? I didn't think he showed the necessary quality we need or have with Manning and Tyler (?) now. Thanks for the report on the two games. Again I think what is going to happen over the course of this year is McGinty figuring out just who should be on the field. A couple freshmen may make an early impact while others simply need more gametime to get used to the speed of the game. Good feet, good speed, good size don't necessarily mean a player who makes good decisions on or off the ball. I think the right back is locking down his position. Graydon is showing some potential (I agree Skip that he did not look good in the first half versus Indy but much better in the second half). Donte played versus Jeff Co early in August but hasn't seen much since then; glad to hear he was back out there. I thought he looked rather composed for a freshman.

Skip, I also agree that the combo of Adnan and Kristo could be lethal. Two big, somewhat fast boys up top who have good feet is dangerous. Adnan must have something that he is not getting with his individual play or with how he needs to play in the system McGinty ahs. That and his fitness which is something he told me directly he got in trouble wtih McGinty over.

If I'm right so far, the boys have lost 2-1 to #13 Indy on an own goal and 1-0 away to Akron. If we were getting blown out 3-1 or 3-0, I'd be worried but I think McGinty has done the right thing in challenging these young guys early in the season. I think they have passed the test of at least competing and should be working to putting the best players available on the pitch.

[moytoy12]

A bit off-topic (Vedad Ibisevic) but in case you "missed" this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1SgtSWytPs

Didn't want to get further off-topic, but had to post this in reply. Talk about a PK fail:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkwXkS9rZx8

[slufanskip]

Skip, You mean "I can only loft the ball forward" Briggs? I didn't think he showed the necessary quality we need or have with Manning and Tyler (?) now. Thanks for the report on the two games. Again I think what is going to happen over the course of this year is McGinty figuring out just who should be on the field. A couple freshmen may make an early impact while others simply need more gametime to get used to the speed of the game. Good feet, good speed, good size don't necessarily mean a player who makes good decisions on or off the ball. I think the right back is locking down his position. Graydon is showing some potential (I agree Skip that he did not look good in the first half versus Indy but much better in the second half). Donte played versus Jeff Co early in August but hasn't seen much since then; glad to hear he was back out there. I thought he looked rather composed for a freshman. Skip, I also agree that the combo of Adnan and Kristo could be lethal. Two big, somewhat fast boys up top who have good feet is dangerous. Adnan must have something that he is not getting with his individual play or with how he needs to play in the system McGinty ahs. That and his fitness which is something he told me directly he got in trouble wtih McGinty over. If I'm right so far, the boys have lost 2-1 to #13 Indy on an own goal and 1-0 away to Akron. If we were getting blown out 3-1 or 3-0, I'd be worried but I think McGinty has done the right thing in challenging these young guys early in the season. I think they have passed the test of at least competing and should be working to putting the best players available on the pitch.

I disagree on Briggs, thought he was pretty good last year. I'm surprised to see 2 freshmen getting playing time on the back line and not a peep from Briggs. However, the 2 are the guys I mentioned earlier, so maybe he has just been out played.

I'm still completely unimpressed with Graydon, but hell, it's 2 games of his career. I certainly wouldn't want to jump to any long term conclusions good or bad after 2 games.

Adnon and Kristo need to figure it out. With them and Bryce we have as good of a group of forwards as I can remember. Jair Minors also was able to get 2 breakaways, I'd bet as he gets more experience he'll do better in those situations