MSOC: Billikens vs. Oral Roberts

[RiseAndGrind]

Another goal? Had to leave with a tired two year old.

Yup. Kristo. 3-1 final

[slufanskip]

Another goal? Had to leave with a tired two year old.

Kristo had the ball forward and wide so he went to the corner to run some clock. They had 2 defenders on him. He turned baseline made a move on the 1st guy and then used his strength to get past the 2nd, cut back toward the corner of the 6 yd box and fired a rocket to the far corner from about 8-10 yds.

Kristo didn't start again and SLU is a different team the minute he steps on the field. He demands so much attention (rightfully so) from the opponent that it just opens things up. Franscisco played better behind Kristo but a lot of that was due to Kristo being more acvtive and drawing more attention giving him more space. He has to be more active without the ball. With him and Adnon just jogging through 10-15 yard runs off the ball, you aren't going to get space.

Graydon got much more forward in the 2nd half and he was fantastic. I don't think there is another player on our squad who is capable of making those 2 goals happen. The 1st he dribbles the ball through numerous ORU defenders down the right side just inside the box he takes it to the end line and places a cross perfectly on Franscisco's head who then hits it home. On the 2nd one we our countering with David receiving a bouncing ball played up the middle and he takes a touch or two drawing two of the 3 defenders to him and then makes a perfect pass to a cutting Bryce about 6 yards left of the left post and 15 yards out and Bryce slides it under the coming out keep. The pass was beautiful and much more difficult to make than I can describe here.

The back line was good overall, the 1st goal was nothing more than a lazy Graydon pass being intercepted and taken in for an easy 1v1 goal. Overall they did a good job. Shack didn't have much work but made the big save when called upon. We spent most of the game with our 2 wide backs very far forward leaving ORU a lot of room to counter with just Tyler and Julian back along with Graydon who seems to be the 1st player on any 50-50 ball he's near.

The 2nd SLU goal came just after an ORU sure goal was headed away by a Billiken defender ( I don't know who ). In a matter of 1 minute we went from what could have been down 2-1 to up 2-1, what a swing and that 1 minute changed the game

The Bills dominated the game having probably 80% of possession in the 1st half but couldn't penetrate ORU who generally had 10 men inside the final 40 yards. This is when Adnon and Fransisco have to be more active off the ball if we are going to penetrate packed in D's. When teams do this the center of the field gets very tight and space is hard to find but you have to keep moving off the ball and you have to move the ball quick and utilize your wings to spreaqd things out. We did a decent job of getting the ball down the wing but rarely had anyone but Kingsley forward enough to get a head on the ensuing cross. We spent a lot of the half moving the ball up to our mids who in turn played it back to the back line.

When we get a turnover or when we change fields we have to look to move forward quicker and take advantage of a defense that isn't packed in for that moment. There is a reason to play the ball back when you need to draw a defense out, but when you have them out looking to attack and you get a turnover with space to turn forward and push the ball at them, you have to do it. The Bills are playing that ball back far to often especially in the 1st half. Part of that was probably a lack of forward options due to the inactivity of Adnon and Franscisco in the 1st half. We were much more agressive going forward in the 2nd half and the results came.

I get why we'd want to play David as a defensive mid as he is so quick, confident, and skilled on the ball. He seems to own every 50-50 ball and has the skill to do more then just win it and knock it back. But unless Franscisco or someone else can do a better job as an attacking mid, I don't think we can continue to lose his creativity with the ball in a more forward position. Maybe we'd be better pairing him with someone else and not clearly defining the defensive and attacking mid letting David get forward more often alongside someone who can and will cover his back. There is some risk here as poor comunication can leave you open to quick counters if they are both forward but with our D, especially if we get Manning back. Maybe that's the design with Franscisco, but if it is, he has to be much, much more active without the ball and defensively.

[SLUBALLS]

Can't disagree with much of what you say. Adnan is only getting time because Robbie is getting back to fit. Once Robbie returns for full time, adnan is done. The numerous times I thought I heard mcginty shouting out to adnan in the first half just shows he does not have the complete tactical knowledge to be our main guy. Kristo is light years ahead.

The formation was odd in the first half. I swear we had no true right mid as it looked like sweetin tucked in and marco played a hybrid mid- back position. Heck I thought adnan was our right mid for a spell. You mentioned how Graydon simply needs cover to get forward and I wonder if the way sweetin was tucking in was doing just that in the first half? Luckily Francisco goes down in the early second half and graydon was pushed forward into an attacking position. Changes our game from there on out.

Francisco looks so incredibly lazy out there. He was showing more but always laid it back. Wonder why we can't give hidalgo some time at AM? Always felt like his work rate was solid at minimum. One thing I am disappointed with is that while I know we have a youngish team, we have not had a freshman come in and grab serious time yet. I was hoping one of the recruits was good enough to battle for time early on.

[slufan13]

If Manning can come back, I wouldn't be surprised to see Tyler David play the CDM and and Graydon move up to CAM. I would be very happy with that lineup.

It actually looked to me like Raymond Lee moved back to CDM in the 2nd half when Minors came in the game. Lee played some CB his freshman year and I know it's different, but at least he has some experience playing as a more defensive player. I kind of liked that lineup with Graydon up at CAM and Minors playing on the wing. He's got more speed than Lee in my opinion and he works well with Graydon. Graydon absolutely needs to push forward more even if he's playing the CDM.

Pretty sure Sweetin just plays wherever he wants on the field. I know it's not really like that, but it's how it seems. I like Heskamp pushing up on the wing because he recovers extremely well, but he was too far in the middle of the field in my opinion last night. He might actually be the best on our team at putting in a cross from the endline. Him and Maglasang worked the give and go extremely well last year with Heskamp getting the ball at the endline and sending in a cross to Kingsley or Kirsto. I'd really like to see that him again this season especially with all the targets we have up top.

Francisco has no business being out there. He must have shown something great during the Madrid trip because I see no reason for him to be playing. Adnan just doesn't get it and he's better served as a guy coming off the bench anyway with his speed especially against tired defenders. Kristo makes the rest of the team significantly better. He doesn't just "win" every header, but he flicks it on to a player in an attacking position. If Kristo gets the ball in the box, he's going to get space for a shot and if he gets space for a shot, it's going in.

Agree that I would have hoped to see some freshmen at least get a look at the end of the game. It's early in the season but I do somewhat worry about the depth on the team. Kohring seems to be set as the outside mid that comes in late in the game with the lead. He did that last year and in both games this season. Hildago has some experience and I'd like to see him out there more as sub but not sure who he comes in for in the midfield. None of us like Francisco and I know Adnan can score, but he's a senior now and he still doesn't get it so. I do like Jair Minors coming in on the wing and I'd even be okay with him starting.

Also I assume the preseason games don't count but Graydon does have 3 yellow cards in 3 games. So even if he just has 1 so far on the season, we certainly don't need him accumulating the cards and having to sit out a game. The card last night was an awful decision by the ref, but he's still getting too many cards in my opinion whether they're for reckless fouls or for constant arguing.

[slufanskip]

I don't have a problem with not seeing freshmen yet as we have so much experience returning I didn't think we would see much. The 1st game was Akron and this game was still in doubt until late.

I mentioned Tyler David earlier as a defensive mid thought. I guess the thought behind that is to have your best 11 on the field and playing hin there allows Julian to stay on the field IF of course Manning gets healthy.

I'm also no against taking someone with absolutely no defensive experience but all the physical attributes and working them into the position. If you understand the game of soccer and these guys do, I believe most could adopt quickly. I could see Hildago with David there and them sharing the defensive responsibilities.

Graydon needs to chill out a bit, we need him on the pitch

[WUH]

Great analysis so far.

I'll just add that it was Heskamp that cleared that ball off the line.

And, pound for pound, Graydon may be the toughest Billiken I have seen. But he definitely needs to chill...I think he probably deserved that card Friday night.