armchair
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A good win this evening against Murray State. We are finally finding a way to score against inferior opponents. Whether we can score against SEC teams, we shall soon find out. Sundry points:
1) We had a 1-0 lead at the half thanks to a nice goal by C. Baldwin off a corner kick--but otherwise the Vols played a pretty poor first half, IMO. We controlled the ball, for the most part, as we often do, but other than two shots off of two corner kicks (and the 1 goal), we created NOTHING out of our possession. A lot of rushed touches and the usual sloppy passing. We were solid defensively but had a couple of bad giveaways that could have resulted in at least one goal against had we been playing a better team. It was an active half, and we are an active team, but not a good one.
2) In the 2nd half we were much better, put a lot more pressure on Murray State, and scored a couple of nice goals to put away the game. It seemed that our depth and fast style of play wore down Murray State. K. Cousins, who played better in this game, made an excellent pass to spring the speedy A. Neal down the flank; Neal used her athleticism and strength to win the ball and slid it over to A. Bialczak for a score--Bialczak's first of the season. A bit later McClung got a pass from Marcano and caught the MS keeper out of position and rifled a shot past her and into the goal.
3) This was another much needed win--but our very hurried, direct offensive style worries me. We are very wasteful and inefficient offensively--kind of like the women's basketball team. We lack the precision, composure and polish that really good teams have in the attacking third, maybe because we are young. We make good plays to get the ball, but then we give it away two or three passes later--either lose it to a defender, make a bad pass or make a panicky decision and kick the ball away. We do this time and time and time again. Instead of slowing things down with the ball when there really isn't a good opportunity, instead of methodically trying to break down a defense with six/eight/10 passes, we are ALWAYS in a rush to make something happen and so will show welp the ball forward in some fashion, in the direction of somebody in orange, and hope for the best. And we've lost the ball again. There is a lot of lost possession in football--nature of the game--but we are too wasteful.
Examble: We have a talented forward in A. Bialczak--but talented forwards need service in the form of good combination play that results in other players getting them the ball in a position to score. I think tonight was the first time in 5 games that she actually got a pass from a teammate while in a position to score--and put it in the net. Otherwise, we do with her what we did with Wilkinson--whomp the ball down the field all the time and hope she can make something happen. Yes, do that sometimes, but we've got to do more than that--be creative, hold onto the ball, break down the defense and get a quality shot. We try to beat people with our speed and athleticism--and while we've got a lot of pretty athletic players now, and it's a way to put pressure on teams and maybe wear them down, I think we need to learn to make better decisions on the field--known when to be direct and when to play possession football. I'm not convinced that our style will work against good teams that have a strong defense and good depth as well, but we'll see.
4) One good thing that we did do tonight is that our midfielders got involved in the offense--finally. Cousins was more active offensively, and on a few occasions pushed the ball down the middle of the field. Her lack of speed is a definite concern but she is a good passer, and knows how to properly weight a pass. Baldwin, too, was visible in the attacking half.
5) I continue to be perplexed as to why Marcano does not play more. She is playing more than she was a week and a half ago, but still perhaps not enough. She might be our most talented freshman overall, based on what I've seen (which granted isn't nearly as much as what the coaches see). She is always active and threatening in the offensive end, may get more shots per minute of play than maybe anyone--on a team that struggles to score, got an assist tonight, I think, and yet is still at the low end in terms of minutes played. She can be this team's attacking midfielder, IMO.
6) Not sure what's happened to Massey. Hasn't played in two games. Hope she is not hurt.
Good win. While we are wasteful offensively, at least we are scoring and beating teams that we should beat. The start of the SEC schedule is next with Arkansas. It would be sweet to start with a win. For all of the rough edges on offense--along with the need to find and develop a /good/ centerback for next year--this team does have a boatload of potential.
1) We had a 1-0 lead at the half thanks to a nice goal by C. Baldwin off a corner kick--but otherwise the Vols played a pretty poor first half, IMO. We controlled the ball, for the most part, as we often do, but other than two shots off of two corner kicks (and the 1 goal), we created NOTHING out of our possession. A lot of rushed touches and the usual sloppy passing. We were solid defensively but had a couple of bad giveaways that could have resulted in at least one goal against had we been playing a better team. It was an active half, and we are an active team, but not a good one.
2) In the 2nd half we were much better, put a lot more pressure on Murray State, and scored a couple of nice goals to put away the game. It seemed that our depth and fast style of play wore down Murray State. K. Cousins, who played better in this game, made an excellent pass to spring the speedy A. Neal down the flank; Neal used her athleticism and strength to win the ball and slid it over to A. Bialczak for a score--Bialczak's first of the season. A bit later McClung got a pass from Marcano and caught the MS keeper out of position and rifled a shot past her and into the goal.
3) This was another much needed win--but our very hurried, direct offensive style worries me. We are very wasteful and inefficient offensively--kind of like the women's basketball team. We lack the precision, composure and polish that really good teams have in the attacking third, maybe because we are young. We make good plays to get the ball, but then we give it away two or three passes later--either lose it to a defender, make a bad pass or make a panicky decision and kick the ball away. We do this time and time and time again. Instead of slowing things down with the ball when there really isn't a good opportunity, instead of methodically trying to break down a defense with six/eight/10 passes, we are ALWAYS in a rush to make something happen and so will show welp the ball forward in some fashion, in the direction of somebody in orange, and hope for the best. And we've lost the ball again. There is a lot of lost possession in football--nature of the game--but we are too wasteful.
Examble: We have a talented forward in A. Bialczak--but talented forwards need service in the form of good combination play that results in other players getting them the ball in a position to score. I think tonight was the first time in 5 games that she actually got a pass from a teammate while in a position to score--and put it in the net. Otherwise, we do with her what we did with Wilkinson--whomp the ball down the field all the time and hope she can make something happen. Yes, do that sometimes, but we've got to do more than that--be creative, hold onto the ball, break down the defense and get a quality shot. We try to beat people with our speed and athleticism--and while we've got a lot of pretty athletic players now, and it's a way to put pressure on teams and maybe wear them down, I think we need to learn to make better decisions on the field--known when to be direct and when to play possession football. I'm not convinced that our style will work against good teams that have a strong defense and good depth as well, but we'll see.
4) One good thing that we did do tonight is that our midfielders got involved in the offense--finally. Cousins was more active offensively, and on a few occasions pushed the ball down the middle of the field. Her lack of speed is a definite concern but she is a good passer, and knows how to properly weight a pass. Baldwin, too, was visible in the attacking half.
5) I continue to be perplexed as to why Marcano does not play more. She is playing more than she was a week and a half ago, but still perhaps not enough. She might be our most talented freshman overall, based on what I've seen (which granted isn't nearly as much as what the coaches see). She is always active and threatening in the offensive end, may get more shots per minute of play than maybe anyone--on a team that struggles to score, got an assist tonight, I think, and yet is still at the low end in terms of minutes played. She can be this team's attacking midfielder, IMO.
6) Not sure what's happened to Massey. Hasn't played in two games. Hope she is not hurt.
Good win. While we are wasteful offensively, at least we are scoring and beating teams that we should beat. The start of the SEC schedule is next with Arkansas. It would be sweet to start with a win. For all of the rough edges on offense--along with the need to find and develop a /good/ centerback for next year--this team does have a boatload of potential.
