SLU Men's Soccer Thread

[courtside]

 

New York City

 

SLU 2 Fordham 2

………………

Chippy game in the Bronx.

……………..

Fordham plays a 4-2-3-1. At times it can look like a 5-4-1 as they often play deep against better teams, as well as when they have a lead in a game. They also sub in 2 more defensive forwards in that scenario. They often concede possession and play for counters and transition. 

 

Because Fordham was missing its Captain and defensive midfielder Luis Lehr due to yellow card accumulation, the Rams opened in a 5-1-3-1 formation. 

 

4-2-3-1 for SLU

 

Fordham rotates their wings and forward during the run of play, and they will push up a midfielder for low pressure. D’lppilito plays defensive midfield, but he pushes uo into the attack and he’s one of their better playmakers and scorers from a defensive position.

 

Much of Fordham is a mix of transfers, a few International players, and players from the Northeast.

…………..

Fordham was coming off a road upset win at a good VCU team, where they were outplayed much of the game. And they almost stole an additional win over UMass prior to that. They gave up 3 very late goals and lost 3-2. Both games were pretty one sided of Fordham defending, playing for counters. It’s how they scored vs SLU to get back into the game. 

…………..

 

Getting an early goal causes Fordham to have to open up more out of its defense first positioning. 10th minute SLU goal. Leatherman sent a diagonal ball over the top for Fournier. He headed it back to the middle for Wrobel who headed it home on the double header. 1-0

 

20th minute goal. Fournier diagonal ball over the top, failed clear by Fordham as Hardy’s header wasn’t handles by Gray. Good hustle from Nate Ward to get a foot on it, and Seth took a one time shot that redirected off of Gray the opposite direction of the keeper. 50/50 ball hustle play. One time shot. A little fortune on the finish. 2-0 

………

Fordham switched to their 4-2-3-1 after SLU’s 2 goals. 

…………

Fordham goal was winning a 50/50 ball at midfield, D’lppilito does what he does well, get forward and create from a defensive position. He played a through ball to in space. Insalaco received the pass and he took a quick shot cutting inside to his right from 20 yards. 2-1. A quick counter off of a goal kick. 

…………

The game changed after the first Fordham goal. The game went from a comfortable front foot SLU win, to SLU trying to preserve a lead. 

……….

88th minute. Unlucky ricochet deflection hand ball PK called on SLU. It was a terrible call. D’lppilito buried it low far corner. 2-2. Fordham subbed in Freshman Emile Kisse on the wing in the final 10 minutes to give them pace and fresh legs. He played a nice give and go in space. His cross was blocked by Maher right into the shoulder of Leatherman inside the 18. Carlos was running back on the play facing goal, and he had his arms at his sides. Pretty easy no PK call there. The ref even stopped to review the play because the near side linesman told him it was not a PK. After review he still inexplicably made the same call. It was the 3rd time in the game review was used regarding a hand ball. SLU was motivated given a 20 yard free kick earlier on a similar play. 

………….

Some Notes: Maher and Barnett returned from injury with some very limited minutes off of the bench. SLU subbed out Henry after his 65th minute yellow. Maher was a final 10 minute of the game sub for Easton. Barnett had SLU’s best 2nd half chance with 5 minutes remaining he was wide open from 12 yards out and he missed wide on a pass from Wrobel. 

…………..

Strong defensive midfield game from Townsend and Fournier for SLU. 

………….

SLU was caught off guard with Fordham’s 1st goal against the run of play. It gave Fordham life and they were on the front foot from there. Credit to them. 

…………..

Sometimes you get what you play for. SLU played too often to preserve a lead in the 2nd half, vs trying to extend it. It worked well for the most as defense is a strength. But SLU turned it over too often in the final half/3rd offensively in the 2nd half. And there wasn’t enough sustained final 3rd pressure in the 2nd.It was a fluke play in the final 2 minutes that prevented the win 

…………..

Instead of a solid RPI win, SLU’s RPI remained unchanged at 58. 

………….

[Taj79]

Agree willie.  Watched most of the second half between dozing.  Based on what I saw, scoring two goals must've been a miracle.

[SLUBALLS]

So many questions about a disappointing year thus far.  My biggest question is why we are not seeing a "return" in terms of success after back-to-back top recruiting classes?  Maybe it was too much to ask to expect a bit more from the youth and quality we are apparently bringing in and the experienced transfers. Maybe we need to spend less time on transfers so that these talented youth can gain experience (win or lose) so that they can develop?  Where is Marcos Moore by the way?

This is looking like another one of those seasons where, on paper, we should be nationally competitive, we should dominate the A10, and we shouldn't be shut out in 4 games. 2021....magical year.  2022....amazing year after losing so much in the draft. 2023.....top recruiting class but don't win A10 and miss NCAA.  2024.....repeat of 2023 looking possible.  Was it too much to expect our success to have some momentum after 2021, new locker rooms, new athletic facilities, top talent coming here, StL City down the street, etc? It just appears to be too ripe a situation for there not to be more success on the field.

[OkieBilliken]

I feel like we are playing much better the past handful of games.  We are more competent offensively lately.    Last night was a bummer because we outplayed them dramatically and unfortunately didn’t get the result, due to a very dubious call.   I like our chances of getting on a roll.   Seems like they have improved quite a bit since the CityPark debacle.  

[courtside]

The Quote post button is not working for me. This is a reply to @SLUBALLS

1) Why not let the season play out and see what happens? You said 2021 was “magical” and 2022 was “amazing”. SLU was a bubble team last year. Much has changed since your last post saying similar.

2) As previously stated, recruiting class rankings are a marketing tool. There are 2 commonly used, and, I am part of the process why one place recruits SLU players highly. Many of SLU’s good players weren’t all that highly recruited. Recruiting isn’t an exact science. There is bias and there are some people involved that don’t do the work necessary to contribute quality to the discussion. 

3) You mentioned SLU could spend less time on transfers. Yes,  teams must bring in transfers and work the portal in today’s college athletics to supplement rosters and to add missing pieces. SLU did this in recent years with Becher (Holy Cross) Vaughn, (Pittsburgh), Palazzolo (Indiana), Shterneberg (Michigan State), Komodi (KC), Warrington and  Easton, (SMU) , Tofern (Albany), Suarez (Central Arkansas), Okpoye (Yale), Konincks (Campbell), Wrobel (Bonnies), Flynn (Fordham), Redmon (Indiana), Abonnel (Mid-American Christian), Lopes (Campbell/UTS), Maher (Indiana), Lara (Stetson/Pitt), Barnett (Temple), Ward (Indiana)

4) You said SLU could play more youth win or lose. SLU has played roughly 10 different Freshmen meaningful minutes, the past two seasons. The 2021 NCAA Quarterfinal Team started 1 Freshman (Parker), and played 2, (Seth) for the most part.

5) 5 underclassmen left SLU early in 2021 to play professionally (Becher, Schulte, Keller, Murana, Vaughn) That also affects roster construction strategy.

6) Don’t forget redshirts. Buendia, Floriani, Niece, Hart, Mika, etc..)

7) Marcos Moore was injured last season, and, again this Spring. He trains/practices, both with the team, and individually/small group with a local former professional trainer. Same trainer that works with both SLU Men and Women’s teams, St. Louis City SC players, and local youth club players. 

8 The A10 has been competitive this season. Several teams have been ranked throughout the season, as well as have had good RPI’s. 

9) Shutouts/Scoring. There are a variety of ways to win. 2023 Indiana Elite 8 team was shut out 5 times and scored just 1 goal another 8 times. IU’s 2022 Final Four team? 11 games where they scored 1 or zero goals. 2021 NCAA 3rd Round team? 14 times they scored zero or 1 goal. Yet they still had a lot of success because there are a variety of ways to play and be successful. It’s clear that you prefer a high scoring offensive team. 

10) New Locker Rooms and Champions Center were overdue things that keep SLU in the conversation about those topics. 

11) Having a professional MLS team is helpful. You may have noticed that many of SLU’s recent recruits are local, St. Louis City Academy players. It’s also important to recruit nationally and in the transfer portal too. Also remember Academies recruit across the country and Internationally for players too. 

12) SLU has had more recruiting and developmental success with defensive players vs attacking players in this mentioned time period. Becher, Klein and some others have been success stories. The HC was a former All American defensive player. Some attacking players didn’t work out on the field. A few had some off of the field issues. None have duplicated or increased their SLU results elsewhere. 

You posted after the SIUE game which was basically a game where SLU didn’t effectively break down a team that sits 8/9 behind the ball. You move a big target center back forward out of the back (Max) and play with 3. You pass and go behind/overlap on the width, etc…and some other things. 

You next posted after SLU tied a game in which it controlled and led throughout. 

You didn’t post when they made changes to personnel, formation, tactics, etc and improved their play quality. Even your post after the Indiana game was quick to reference previous recent losses to them. If you are having trouble finding a positive/negative balance, perhaps the place to look is within. 

We’ll see how it goes. Expectations are high annually. This season isn’t any different. 

[Gremio14]

17 hours ago, courtside said:

The Quote post button is not working for me. This is a reply to @SLUBALLS

1) Why not let the season play out and see what happens? You said 2021 was “magical” and 2022 was “amazing”. SLU was a bubble team last year. Much has changed since your last post saying similar.

2) As previously stated, recruiting class rankings are a marketing tool. There are 2 commonly used, and, I am part of the process why one place recruits SLU players highly. Many of SLU’s good players weren’t all that highly recruited. Recruiting isn’t an exact science. There is bias and there are some people involved that don’t do the work necessary to contribute quality to the discussion. 

3) You mentioned SLU could spend less time on transfers. Yes,  teams must bring in transfers and work the portal in today’s college athletics to supplement rosters and to add missing pieces. SLU did this in recent years with Becher (Holy Cross) Vaughn, (Pittsburgh), Palazzolo (Indiana), Shterneberg (Michigan State), Komodi (KC), Warrington and  Easton, (SMU) , Tofern (Albany), Suarez (Central Arkansas), Okpoye (Yale), Konincks (Campbell), Wrobel (Bonnies), Flynn (Fordham), Redmon (Indiana), Abonnel (Mid-American Christian), Lopes (Campbell/UTS), Maher (Indiana), Lara (Stetson/Pitt), Barnett (Temple), Ward (Indiana)

4) You said SLU could play more youth win or lose. SLU has played roughly 10 different Freshmen meaningful minutes, the past two seasons. The 2021 NCAA Quarterfinal Team started 1 Freshman (Parker), and played 2, (Seth) for the most part.

5) 5 underclassmen left SLU early in 2021 to play professionally (Becher, Schulte, Keller, Murana, Vaughn) That also affects roster construction strategy.

6) Don’t forget redshirts. Buendia, Floriani, Niece, Hart, Mika, etc..)

7) Marcos Moore was injured last season, and, again this Spring. He trains/practices, both with the team, and individually/small group with a local former professional trainer. Same trainer that works with both SLU Men and Women’s teams, St. Louis City SC players, and local youth club players. 

8 The A10 has been competitive this season. Several teams have been ranked throughout the season, as well as have had good RPI’s. 

9) Shutouts/Scoring. There are a variety of ways to win. 2023 Indiana Elite 8 team was shut out 5 times and scored just 1 goal another 8 times. IU’s 2022 Final Four team? 11 games where they scored 1 or zero goals. 2021 NCAA 3rd Round team? 14 times they scored zero or 1 goal. Yet they still had a lot of success because there are a variety of ways to play and be successful. It’s clear that you prefer a high scoring offensive team. 

10) New Locker Rooms and Champions Center were overdue things that keep SLU in the conversation about those topics. 

11) Having a professional MLS team is helpful. You may have noticed that many of SLU’s recent recruits are local, St. Louis City Academy players. It’s also important to recruit nationally and in the transfer portal too. Also remember Academies recruit across the country and Internationally for players too. 

12) SLU has had more recruiting and developmental success with defensive players vs attacking players in this mentioned time period. Becher, Klein and some others have been success stories. The HC was a former All American defensive player. Some attacking players didn’t work out on the field. A few had some off of the field issues. None have duplicated or increased their SLU results elsewhere. 

You posted after the SIUE game which was basically a game where SLU didn’t effectively break down a team that sits 8/9 behind the ball. You move a big target center back forward out of the back (Max) and play with 3. You pass and go behind/overlap on the width, etc…and some other things. 

You next posted after SLU tied a game in which it controlled and led throughout. 

You didn’t post when they made changes to personnel, formation, tactics, etc and improved their play quality. Even your post after the Indiana game was quick to reference previous recent losses to them. If you are having trouble finding a positive/negative balance, perhaps the place to look is within. 

We’ll see how it goes. Expectations are high annually. This season isn’t any different. 

I would have loved it if Isaiah had stayed through his sophomore season. Dude was a blast to watch.  Lethal with a wingback like Vaughn supporting.

[courtside]

8 hours ago, Gremio14 said:

I would have loved it if Isaiah had stayed through his sophomore season. Dude was a blast to watch.  Lethal with a wingback like Vaughn supporting.

Yep. Isaiah would have made a difference with his pace and physicality, a downhill attacking player from the wing in college. 

[courtside]

 

SLU 1 Rhode Island 0

 

4-2-3-1 for both. 

 

SLU had some personnel tweaks, starting 3 versatile center backs along the back 4, who can also play outside back. Henry and Floriani have played it at SLU, and Maher player it at Indiana. 

 

SLU subbed in Carlos in the midfield instead of starting at outside back. Barnett also played there. The personnel change also gave SLU additional size in back, and in the attacking 3rd. The subs allowed pace and defense on the wings.

 

Much of the rest was the same rotations. (SLU scored an early goal and defended the game. (11 different defenders ) Seth, wide service, double header, Wrobel to Lara. 

…………….

SLU’s RPI is 43. Their last loss was 8 games ago. Four regular season games remaining, plus the conference tourney for SLU to keep improving upon that. 

 

 

[shempie]

Not sure where else to put this but Dayton up 3-0 on #1 WVU at half. Good for the league. 

[OkieBilliken]

Dayton beats #1 West Virginia 5-1.  Are you kidding me?

[Pistol]

Dayton can really score but they've been inconsistent. Scored 3 or more goals against Detroit, UNLV, SIUE, GW, and now WVU and they beat Indiana 2-0. But they lost to Fordham and Jacksonville and tied UMass, Loyola, and a ranked WMU.

The league is solid this year. RPI as of 10/14:

23. George Mason
28. Duquesne
37. UMass
45. Fordham
47. SLU
60. Dayton
61. VCU
75. Davidson
79. Rhode Island

And then a decent drop off before the rest. Safe to say UD will jump after that result.

The league is still pretty wide open. SLU is the only undefeated team at 3-0-2 but Duquesne and GMU are 4-1. Just a lot of parity.

[courtside]

12 hours ago, OkieBilliken said:

Dayton beats #1 West Virginia 5-1.  Are you kidding me?

Tuesdays are high volume schedule days in Men’s Soccer. Much of the A10 non-conference schedule finished up, with few exceptions. Unlike Women’s Soccer, Men’s Soccer sprinkles non-conference games throughout the middle and later parts of a season. (This would help SLU Women’s Soccer to play better teams later in the season)

Dayton’s win could have been worse. It’s good for any SLU opponent to have success non-conference. Top 10 offense (Dayton) will play a Top 10 defense (SLU) (Dayton’s Women’s team also has a top 10 offense this season)

A10 is the 8th best league at this time on the Men’s side. (There are only 2 bad RPI teams. Most are solid but not elite RPI teams)

SLU’s RPI is 45 and 3 of their final 4 opponents have solid to good RPI’s. One does not (GW 170) 

VCU 64

Missouri State 15

Dayton 32

And, SLU will have additional conference tourney RPI opportunities. 

[Lord Elrond]

Another game, another tie. 1-1 vs VCU, we got 16 shots vs their 4, scored early with Luis Lara in the 14th minute, but gave up a penalty in the 74th minute. We remain undefeated in A10 play 3-0-3, overall 5-2-6. Running out of season.

[courtside]

 

SLU 1   VCU 1

 

VCU is better than their record. They missed some players due to injury during their season. The strength of their team is their backline led by Ndiaye and McLeod. Lucas White is having a good season as well in the midfield. 

 

VCU plays a 4-4-2. 

 

SLU has played a 4-2-3-1 since trying it in the Portland game. 

 

Unavailable: Lopes, Torres, Sullivan, Sellers. 

 

SLU played one of its best games of the season. Smothering, dominant, from the start. They pressed 5 high.They didn’t allow VCU to set up or get comfortable all game. Played passes in difficult spaces for VCU. SLU created a lot of offense. A few very near misses wide by Wrobel and Lara each. A few high level saves from Ermini too. Wrobel was unfortunately offsides on SLU’s 2nd goal. That was a good call. 

 

What was a terrible call (from Gerringer) was the Penalty/PK awarded to VCU that tied the game. Good VCU hustle play along the sideline, but Barnett still came away with it, turned it over in the middle, own half, and Gallegos was 1v1 edge of the box with Carlos. Huge flop from Gallegos, so much so, I was expecting an embellishment yellow card and SLU free kick. 

 

It’s a play easily reversed if replay was used for it. And it was entirely against the run of play. It’s the 3rd time at least that a PK changed a SLU result later in a game. None were good calls. And as many know I am not one to mention officiating all that often. 

 

In addition, Gallegos had no play. There were 4 SLU defenders in the 18 surrounding him. The call doesn’t prevent a goal or even a chance at a goal.

 

The last few games, SLU moved Floriani to outside back. This keeps Easton in the lineup, adds Maher, moves Carlos/Henry to the other side. A few injuries are contributing to it as well. Floriani played some outside back last year. He played defensive midfield at the prep level. He has a lot of versatility. 

 

SLU scored early, a double header, free kick service from Seth to Wrobel side of the 18,, back post for Lara who was unmarked. SLU almost did it again later. Good mix of an attack from SLU.

 

Ward played it up to Seth whose ground pas across the 6 was too far for Wrobel who slowed down looking for a header instead. 

 

Lara was in alone from 10 but missed just wide of the post after nice triangle combination from Fouriner and Leatherman. 

 

Wrobel’s goal was a long diagonal ball over the too from Maher to Lara as a target. He flicked to Wrobel, back to Lara. Big shot and save as Wrobel volleyed the rebound. But Wrobel was just offsides wide.

 

Wrobel missed just wide left foot from 8 yards after long Lara run and pas. Wrobel again, after a Seth run, cut into the 18 with his right foot, but a full extension save kept it 1-0. Lots and lots of good chances in the game for SLU. It could have been 3 or 4 to zero. 

 

The removal of regular season OT before last season. has also contributed to a higher quantity of draws.

 

SLU’s level vs VCU was good. I’d take the level every time. Big opportunity for SLU Wednesday at Missouri State. (A road win at RPI 14 would be helpful)

[OkieBilliken]

Another night,  another draw.  If you would have told me our soccer teams had three combine losses at this point of the year, I would have taken it.  But they have both pretty significantly underperformed.   I guess we will have Overtime in the conference tournaments at least.  Bummer of a year so far.  

[willie]

Lack of offense begs the question does the team lack goal scorers or is a system problem ? Some genius once said you can’t win if you don’t score . 

 

 

 

 

[Taj79]

Sixteen goals in 14 games for an average of 1.15 gpg.  Last year 21 goals in 16 games (not counting Blackburn) for a 1.31 gpg clip.  Lots of kick ball going on here.

[SLUBALLS]

I know I may get a 12 point rebuttal on this but the question still stands:  "Was it too much to expect our success to have some momentum after 2021, new locker rooms, new athletic facilities, top talent coming here, StL City down the street, etc? It just appears to be too ripe a situation for there not to be more success on the field."

Drawing against a solid team and program like MO State (who would ever think we would say that?) shows we can compete.  I support these guys and Kalish through and through and that won't end. But a 10 match unbeaten streak with 7 ties is not something to brag about as much as something to raise questions on why we can't push through with outright wins? It would appear we have everything on paper to do so and enough time has passed to figure out personnel, system, strategy, etc.  Going to be an interesting A10 tourney.  Having to win it to go to the NCAA is a bit tiresome and a heap of pressure on the guys as well. 

 

[slu92]

I know some people very close to program and a lot of this falls on AD. Let me explain why….he thinks small time in general, all about his own survival instead of visionary winning culture. So that puts unneeded pressure on entire staff, players it trickles down. He hypes up programs way too much for no reason other than it’s an ego boost for him, and no matter what a team does it’s a disappointment. AD has coaches wigged out to win big because he has head in the clouds where we are nationally. No clue at all. He thinks he’s still at Colorado football days in the 90’s before the internet and social media. Now AD thinks he’s Johnny Carson or Roy Firestone doing those podcasts, I’ve never seen such an insecure, wanna be type person in my life. A good AD knows when to step aside and let coaches and players shine. This guy thinks he’s the star. Delusional man and on top of all that a huge nerd. SLU can do better. I’ll keep saying it until he’s gone. 

[slu92]

Here is an example of all about AD. What AD posts this? Seriously? Especially in a politics climate like we have right now? Morons. 

[courtside]

7 hours ago, SLUBALLS said:

I know I may get a 12 point rebuttal on this but the question still stands:  "Was it too much to expect our success to have some momentum after 2021, new locker rooms, new athletic facilities, top talent coming here, StL City down the street, etc? It just appears to be too ripe a situation for there not to be more success on the field."

Drawing against a solid team and program like MO State (who would ever think we would say that?) shows we can compete.  I support these guys and Kalish through and through and that won't end. But a 10 match unbeaten streak with 7 ties is not something to brag about as much as something to raise questions on why we can't push through with outright wins? It would appear we have everything on paper to do so and enough time has passed to figure out personnel, system, strategy, etc.  Going to be an interesting A10 tourney.  Having to win it to go to the NCAA is a bit tiresome and a heap of pressure on the guys as well. 

 

You aren’t interested in answers to your questions. Nor, are you interested in discussing the topics in back and forth manner. You are here for group support of your venting. 

I responded to your posts on 10/10, 9/9, 9/3, 8/30 to crickets. You just don’t like the answers so you re-ask them in a different way or you move the goalposts. 

SLU’s facilities are fine, not top tier, not the worst. And the size of the footprint of the two buildings is a little bit smaller than some other places. It would help if they improved the bathroom situation at home games. SLU only permanent bathrooms on the West side of the stadium, dated, small, with only one way in, one way out. I might receive more negative feedback about that than anything else. And there’s a list.

Having an MLS team works two ways. it means some of the very best local players are skipping college to play professionally. And it also means that SLU can get some of their Academy players to play for SLU. Some others still want to go away to college for a new life experience. That will always be the case. So a roster is a mix of local, national, international, high school recruits, and transfers. 

Missouri State is a top 15 team in the country. Playing well, and getting a road draw is a good result, especially in the newer no overtime system. SLU improved upon its already top 10 national defense. The Bears have been a very high level program for almost half a dozen years now. They have had one of the best home records nationally in that time. They are now at the level and have been, for SLU to play them home and home vs just at SLU. Their entire team is International except for its goalkeepers. Different teams attain success in different ways. There is no one path or correct path. 

I discuss the aforementioned “personnel” “system” “strategy” etc other almost every game. We also have quite a few private message only people  where all of SLU’s Women and Men’s sports are discussed, and information is shared. I mostly only have time and interest to read and post in the soccer threads here. 
 

I imagine we’ll just do this again in November.

[Wendelprof]

Courtside,

As an out-of-town fan always welcome and appreciate your comments concerning the men's and women's soccer games.  

Quick question if you have a moment.  Last year I was flying through Lambert, and I bumped into a couple all decked out in Billiken's soccer gear (parents of one of the other players).  They were flying out for a men's soccer game somewhere on the east coast (North Carolina?).  They mentioned that one of the Billiken's top recruits had hurt his knee and was out for the year.  They said that probably doomed the offense for the year as no one knew where the scoring was going to come from with him out (and unfortunately that turned out to be pretty accurate last year).  I think you've referred to a kid named Moore.  Would that be him?  I think there was an ealier thread that mentioned he hurt himself again this spring and hasn't played all year.  I hate to ask about a player's health, but if you feel comfortable talking about it, can you elaborate on his injuries and what the chances are concerning his recovery?  Sounds like the offense has really missed him.

[Gremio14]

3 hours ago, SLUBALLS said:

I know I may get a 12 point rebuttal on this but the question still stands:  "Was it too much to expect our success to have some momentum after 2021, new locker rooms, new athletic facilities, top talent coming here, StL City down the street, etc? It just appears to be too ripe a situation for there not to be more success on the field."

Drawing against a solid team and program like MO State (who would ever think we would say that?) shows we can compete.  I support these guys and Kalish through and through and that won't end. But a 10 match unbeaten streak with 7 ties is not something to brag about as much as something to raise questions on why we can't push through with outright wins? It would appear we have everything on paper to do so and enough time has passed to figure out personnel, system, strategy, etc.  Going to be an interesting A10 tourney.  Having to win it to go to the NCAA is a bit tiresome and a heap of pressure on the guys as well. 

 

SLU was dominant in the first half last night.  The second half was another story.  I’ll keep it simple.  Take Berea.  Put him on SLU.  We win the game 3-0.  We have good forwards.  We just don’t have a guy like Berea.

[Pistol]

18 minutes ago, Gremio14 said:

SLU was dominant in the first half last night.  The second half was another story.  I’ll keep it simple.  Take Berea.  Put him on SLU.  We win the game 3-0.  We have good forwards.  We just don’t have a guy like Berea.

He had 13 goals in 13 games heading into last night. Had 7 of 10 shots for MSU and 4 of their 5 shots on goal. Dude was everywhere.

[courtside]

1 minute ago, Wendelprof said:

Courtside,

As an out-of-town fan always welcome and appreciate your comments concerning the men's and women's soccer games.  

Quick question if you have a moment.  Last year I was flying through Lambert, and I bumped into a couple all decked out in Billiken's soccer gear.  They were flying out for a men's soccer game somewhere on the east coast (North Carolina?).  They mentioned that one of the Billiken's top recruits had hurt his knee and was out for the year.  They said that probably doomed the offense for the year as no one knew where the scoring was going to come from with him out (and unfortunately that turned out to be pretty accurate last year).  I think you've referred to a kid named Moore.  Would that be him?  I think there was an ealier thread that he hurt himself again this spring and hasn't played all year.  I hate to ask about a player's health, but if you feel comfortable talking about it, can you elaborate on his injuries and what the chances are concerning his recovery?  Sounds like the offense has really missed him.

Yes. Moore. He was also unavailable this Spring. He has been practicing with the team as well as doing individual and small group workouts with a former professional player who works with both the SLU Men and Women’s teams. The game they were attending was either at VCU in Richmond, or GW in DC. As I have said before, way too much is being made about one player.

As I mentioned previously, it’s a multi-dimensional answer to a question where some want a one word response. It doesn’t work like that. Isaiah Parker was an unexpected immediate impact Freshman on a loaded team. Seth was a medium/normal impact Freshman off of the bench on that team. Others were less of an impact or no impact at all. A few even redshirted which is common. It took Simon Becker 2 schools and 3 seasons to have a big breakout season. This amount of time is more common for non straight to professional players. John Klein had more of an impact sooner. 

What I have said, and what I can say is SLU has been much more successful recruiting and developing defensive players than offensive players. SLU has had some offensive recruits that weren’t good enough. They have had a few that have had off of the field issues. Parker for example would have been a Senior this season but he went professional after year 1. As mentioned some targets also went straight to pros and skipped college. And recruiting is both Freshman and transfers. Programs must be good in the portal during this era. 

The team changed the way it plays after the SIUE game. Formation, personnel, tactics etc…Previously there was very little change or flexibility to that in previous years.

SLU played a good game against Indiana. sLU played 1 good half at SMU, the 2nd one. SLU dominated IU Indy but settled for a bad draw. SLU didn’t use appropriate tactics against SIUE when they sat 8 behind the ball and lost on a bad PK call. SLU played well at Portland. SLU was sloppy vs Lipscomb and settled for a bad draw. SLU dominated La Salle and settled for a bad draw. SLU played well vs Loyola Chi. SLU played well vs Charlotte. Since it was a home game result was mixed. SLU dominated Duquesne, the team leading the A10. SLU dominated Fordham but settled for a draw on a bad PK call late. SLU was good at Rhode Island. SLU dominated VCU but settled for a draw on a bad PK call late. SLU was good at Missouri State.

SLU is a direct, possession optional, pressing team. They force turnovers to score in transition. They use their outside backs (Leatherman unavailable last night) to play up the line or to initiate triangle combination play with overlapping runs. SLU likes to play through its defensive midfielders on the ground, then wide to Seth for service or combination runs on the right side of the box. SLU has improved its aerial game during the season. Using Wrobel, Floriani, Easton, and Lara for double headers. Floriani will also play long balls over the top as a target to Wrobel or diagonally to wings. After changing to a 4-2-3-1, SLU plays a pace central midfielder to press 2 players high, 2 wide, and 1 defensive midfielder behind them. This is how SLU plays. There have been several injuries, a long list but that is another reason why a 2nd 11 is recruited and needed without dropping a level in play.

Today, SLU is a bubble team on the wrong side of the bubble. They will need a win at Dayton to get on the right side of the bubble. Additional conference tourney wins pad that NCAA invite. And of course winning the conference tourney gets an auto invite. 

(San Diego and Oregon St. Are the NCAA teams in the WCC this season. USD is good.)