We’ve decided to do some detailed game analysis during the college season this fall. We will do our best to cover a couple of games on a weekly basis live out of Southern California as well as some games we see on TV (FSC game of the week) or online video feed.
First up will be the UC Irvine vs USD game tomorrow night at Anteater Stadium in Irvine, Ca.
Be prepared for tactical breakdown of each team, game details, player ratings, and our opinion of which players have true quality….not the stereotype pre-season All American junk we have seen on numerous lists.
Before anyone gets offended at the critique or praise we will be providing these college players, remember they are almost professionals and need to be able to handle such scrutiny.
We will also provide a list of what we feel are the top level players with true quality who could play anywhere on the planet. Yes, the ones that have class, technique, awareness, soccer IQ…..not the robots we produce and praise here that would be laughed at worldwide.
Looking forward to a great college season where hopefully the teams that attempt to play good soccer, instead of just talking about it, excel…..a la Akron last season.
The road to Alabama and the College Cup begins today!
Gary,
Great idea to approach the college game from the”critical” side. While there are obvious examples of horrendous teams and coaches, I hope that you will be able to find a few oases of skill and highlight them — the most obvious being Caleb Porter. I would love to get your in-depth take on him and his philosophy. I have the lingering hope that he might someday be the first real, world-class coach produced by the US.
While I’ll certainly be chiming in and maybe writing one or two of these things, Brian will be heading up this effort. It’s been a long time coming … and someone needs to be a voice and promote these supposed “phantom quality players” I claim exist in this country. I’m excited to see what he writes, and what you guys think!
K. Gotta go … Barca’s playing Porto right now!
Will try to see that game, but I will be just as interested in reading how you guys analyze it.
With regard to Akron, Jim, FYI, mark your calendars for Wednesday, October 5, at 19:00, UCSB vs. Akron on Fox. I can’t wait to see that game. I can’t wait to read the “Rorschach” analysis for that one.
I am really looking forward to this! I am doing an internship with FGCU and I would love it if you could find the time to analyze them and give your own thoughts about the players and the way the team plays since I know them really well. It would just be really cool to hear an outside person give a detailed analysis, hopefully you can pick a game to do this at some point.
This will be interesting and a bit of fun. I can’t wait to hear how you break down the FSC college games, so I can compare my own notes to yours.
Great idea!
Jim,
We also believe that Caleb Porter is something special…..out of the norm here inUS Soccer. He has proven to every americanized robot coach/institution at every level that you can WIN playing the game the right way…the ball on the ground with passing being your first and only choice. Building out of the back and connecting through the midfield instead of lumping the ball forward at first sign of pressure. Matter of fact, playing the right way increases your percentage of attaining a positive result. We are looking forward to seeing Akron here in Southern California next week. We will be sure to catch up with them at their training session and games and hopefully have a piece on Caleb Porter up soon. Thanks for your comment.
Kevin,
Thanks for the post. Please let me know when there is a FGCU game with live video feed or on tv so I can catch it and break it down. I will have a look at their schedule now and see if they are swinging out west for any games.
On September 2nd and 4th they are playing a tournament in Portland that looks like it will be streamed online according to Portlands site, http://www.portlandpilots.com/schedule.aspx?path=msoc if not then one of the games they are playing at USF will be streamed as USF always streams their home games for free, and those game are on the 16th and 18th of September. Thanks a lot in advance I really look forward to seeing your thoughts and opinions.