armchair
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Here's a quick review of the 2016 soccer season:
After a pretty dismal season last year, the Vols were better this year--significantly better, but not good enough to make the NCAA tourney. We made the SEC tourney--and won our first game--but fell short of the NCAA tourney again. That sux because two mid-pack SEC teams that the Vols beat, Texas a&m and Missouri, both made the NCAA tourney. We blew it early in the year when we lost to SE Missouri and a Washington team that proved not very good. Losing to weak teams kills your RPI. Also, our defense was not good early in the season--Pensky has not paid enough attention to recruiting defense, we went into the season weak at one of the centerback spots and at right back, and you can't be weak at two of four defensive positions and expect to be a decent team.
To his credit, Pensky made changes after our embarrassing, first-conference game loss to bama. He put forward Maya Neal at centerback and midfield Danielle Marcano at right back--and they both made a signficant difference. He also moved R. O'Keefe from center midfielder to defensive midfielder--another good move. He also changed keeper--inserting S. Yanez, yet another good move as Yanez had a good year and looks poised to be a very good keeper. She, Neal, Marcano and O'Keefe strengthened the defense. We needed a different defensive mid as C. Baldwin hasn't been effective in that role, IMO.
With those changes that Vols went on a bit of a run in the SEC that was good enough to get us in the conference tournament. But we blew a game against Vandy--had a tie pretty much in the bag and got careless in the second OT and ended up losing the game AND losing a big point in the standings that might later have helped us get a bye in the tournament.
Aside from the defensive changes made by Pensky, the other positive was that the Vols scored more goals this year. Whereas last year UT was anemic in attack and did not average even 1 goal a game in the SEC, this year we probably averaged two--that's a huge difference in soccer. One big reason we scored more is that H. Wilkinson finally played a full, injury-free season.
Even though there was improvement, the Vols remained a poor possession team. We press well defensively and win the ball a lot--but we pass and move poorly and give the ball away cheaply. We play too many balls in the air rather than on the ground, and our players basically play too slowly with the ball and often make poor decisions. Soccer is a game that demands quick thinking and quick play. Poor possession makes it hard to create quality chances--and it is the big reason why UT was not able to get a result in our games against the best three teams in the conference. We couldn't tie or beat florida, auburn or south carolina. Had we gotten a result in one or two of those games, we might have slipped into the NCAA. But we simply were not good enough.
Next year, more work is needed to shore up the defense. Three of the four backs will be back--assuming Neal stays at centerback, as she should as she could be an ALL SEC centerback. We need to replace Morrow at left back and need somebody good in that spot.
It will be interesting to see how Pensky configures the midfield and forwards. K. Cousins, midfielder, will be back from the U20 World Cup that she is just preparing now to play in for the United States, and she will be a big help. M. Vignola showed this year that she is a good player and needs to be more involved in attack. And then we have R. O'Keefe, who had an excellent year, along with Christy and Baldwin. And maybe too A. Bialczak--who was one of the unsung stars of the team this year. She is very athletic and has a great work rate, and has some playmaking skills. She will probably play forward next year--but a strong argument could be made that she could help us more in midfield. Erin Gilroy, said to be a very promising player with some size who sat out this year with an injury, should get significant playing time next year--though I'm not sure at what position. Pensky needs to get the midfield personnel right, and if I see both Cousins and Baldwin on the field at the same time next year, as they were in 2015, I'll argue that he got the midfield wrong. Put your athletes on the field, in positions where they can influence games. The Vols need a bit more size overall: If you watch the best teams in the country, they have players with athleticism and size. If you are 5'3" and 115 pounds, you are going to get pushed off the ball by bigger, more athletic players. That's been an issue with the Vols.
At forward, M.Flynn, M. Gouner, Hairston and A. Kuptritz will be back. Flynn did some good things at left forward this year. She is a half-step slower than you'd like, but she seems a smart player--she knows the game, and played well in the SEC tournament. Gouner and Kupritz played right foward this year, and that was a weak spot for the Vols--as together they scored only 1 or 2 goals all year. Kupritz plays hard and does some good things---gets us corner kicks, for example--but she seems to lack situational awareness. She, like the team generally, lacks patience--doesn't recognize when to hold up play so that our mids and outside backs can get involved in attack. This is a problem and shouldn't be for a player who'll be a senior next year. Gouner has excellent speed but also needs to make better decisions and must get stronger and tougher, and learn to make runs. She could be effective if our mids would learn to switch the field of play more often and get counterattacks going more quickly and efficiently. M. Hairston impressed me with her limited play this year and might deserve more playing time next year--she seems to understand the game, has some size and can operate in traffic. Without Wilkinson next year, my fear is that UT will struggle to score again. All the more reason to improve possession play and tighten up the defense.
We should have some good freshman talent coming in next year as well. It's time for Pensky to really push development and show that he can get the Vols over the hump and up toward the top of the conference. I think it's doable.
After a pretty dismal season last year, the Vols were better this year--significantly better, but not good enough to make the NCAA tourney. We made the SEC tourney--and won our first game--but fell short of the NCAA tourney again. That sux because two mid-pack SEC teams that the Vols beat, Texas a&m and Missouri, both made the NCAA tourney. We blew it early in the year when we lost to SE Missouri and a Washington team that proved not very good. Losing to weak teams kills your RPI. Also, our defense was not good early in the season--Pensky has not paid enough attention to recruiting defense, we went into the season weak at one of the centerback spots and at right back, and you can't be weak at two of four defensive positions and expect to be a decent team.
To his credit, Pensky made changes after our embarrassing, first-conference game loss to bama. He put forward Maya Neal at centerback and midfield Danielle Marcano at right back--and they both made a signficant difference. He also moved R. O'Keefe from center midfielder to defensive midfielder--another good move. He also changed keeper--inserting S. Yanez, yet another good move as Yanez had a good year and looks poised to be a very good keeper. She, Neal, Marcano and O'Keefe strengthened the defense. We needed a different defensive mid as C. Baldwin hasn't been effective in that role, IMO.
With those changes that Vols went on a bit of a run in the SEC that was good enough to get us in the conference tournament. But we blew a game against Vandy--had a tie pretty much in the bag and got careless in the second OT and ended up losing the game AND losing a big point in the standings that might later have helped us get a bye in the tournament.
Aside from the defensive changes made by Pensky, the other positive was that the Vols scored more goals this year. Whereas last year UT was anemic in attack and did not average even 1 goal a game in the SEC, this year we probably averaged two--that's a huge difference in soccer. One big reason we scored more is that H. Wilkinson finally played a full, injury-free season.
Even though there was improvement, the Vols remained a poor possession team. We press well defensively and win the ball a lot--but we pass and move poorly and give the ball away cheaply. We play too many balls in the air rather than on the ground, and our players basically play too slowly with the ball and often make poor decisions. Soccer is a game that demands quick thinking and quick play. Poor possession makes it hard to create quality chances--and it is the big reason why UT was not able to get a result in our games against the best three teams in the conference. We couldn't tie or beat florida, auburn or south carolina. Had we gotten a result in one or two of those games, we might have slipped into the NCAA. But we simply were not good enough.
Next year, more work is needed to shore up the defense. Three of the four backs will be back--assuming Neal stays at centerback, as she should as she could be an ALL SEC centerback. We need to replace Morrow at left back and need somebody good in that spot.
It will be interesting to see how Pensky configures the midfield and forwards. K. Cousins, midfielder, will be back from the U20 World Cup that she is just preparing now to play in for the United States, and she will be a big help. M. Vignola showed this year that she is a good player and needs to be more involved in attack. And then we have R. O'Keefe, who had an excellent year, along with Christy and Baldwin. And maybe too A. Bialczak--who was one of the unsung stars of the team this year. She is very athletic and has a great work rate, and has some playmaking skills. She will probably play forward next year--but a strong argument could be made that she could help us more in midfield. Erin Gilroy, said to be a very promising player with some size who sat out this year with an injury, should get significant playing time next year--though I'm not sure at what position. Pensky needs to get the midfield personnel right, and if I see both Cousins and Baldwin on the field at the same time next year, as they were in 2015, I'll argue that he got the midfield wrong. Put your athletes on the field, in positions where they can influence games. The Vols need a bit more size overall: If you watch the best teams in the country, they have players with athleticism and size. If you are 5'3" and 115 pounds, you are going to get pushed off the ball by bigger, more athletic players. That's been an issue with the Vols.
At forward, M.Flynn, M. Gouner, Hairston and A. Kuptritz will be back. Flynn did some good things at left forward this year. She is a half-step slower than you'd like, but she seems a smart player--she knows the game, and played well in the SEC tournament. Gouner and Kupritz played right foward this year, and that was a weak spot for the Vols--as together they scored only 1 or 2 goals all year. Kupritz plays hard and does some good things---gets us corner kicks, for example--but she seems to lack situational awareness. She, like the team generally, lacks patience--doesn't recognize when to hold up play so that our mids and outside backs can get involved in attack. This is a problem and shouldn't be for a player who'll be a senior next year. Gouner has excellent speed but also needs to make better decisions and must get stronger and tougher, and learn to make runs. She could be effective if our mids would learn to switch the field of play more often and get counterattacks going more quickly and efficiently. M. Hairston impressed me with her limited play this year and might deserve more playing time next year--she seems to understand the game, has some size and can operate in traffic. Without Wilkinson next year, my fear is that UT will struggle to score again. All the more reason to improve possession play and tighten up the defense.
We should have some good freshman talent coming in next year as well. It's time for Pensky to really push development and show that he can get the Vols over the hump and up toward the top of the conference. I think it's doable.
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