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No. 14 Women's Soccer at Michigan / Thursday BTN

Not sure who Hugh Pressing is?.....JK

If we switch to 5-4-1 or 4-4-2 we do not have enough speed up top unless it is Tiernan. Our weapon is moving the ball by finding feet and getting up field. We tend to get rattled with pressure and yesterday the whole team struggled.

Unfortunately yesterday our midfield could not sustain possession in 2nd half and we lost. Should have scored a few more but that is the way it goes.
“That is the way it goes” lol…so instead of laying blame where it clearly belongs - on coaching - you’re just going to accept losing to a team that’s not even in the post-season tournament, 3-2, after taking a 2-0 lead? SMDH.
 
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This loss was predictable and I called it on page one of this thread. Defense all season has been a major weakness. Please don't call individual players out, especially if you are an adult, or claim to be. Michigan was 0-5-2 in the conference before this game. Not a soccer person but this was like football losing to New Hampshire in 2005.
 
What an ABSOLUTELY DISGRACEFUL coaching job. Up 2-0 and completely dominating we give up 3 in the 2nd to a team NOT EVEN MAKING THE B1G TOURNAMENT!!!! Coach has done a GREAT job building this program, I'll take nothing away from him there, but his lack of in-game adjustments, or just his inability to make the right ones, is stunning.

Feel awful for the girls who played almost a perfect first half and, aside from a couple of GREAT saves by the Michigan keeper, would've been up 4-0 going into the 2nd. No blame on them IMHO.
I went out up 2-0 and was shocked when my daughter told me we lost but I saw the start of the second half and will finish watching but we cannot handle any pressure
 
I guess the pollsters who dropped us to 14 knew what they were talking about.
Michigan's first goal was misplayed by defender and goalie. Defender allowed it to go over her head when she had plenty of room to back up and head it out. Goalie must have thought the defender was going to make the play but she could have called her off and caught it herself. poor communication in addition to poor reads of the ball flight. That goal put life into the Wolverines.
The defensive adjustments Michigan made for the second half, mainly the challenging our passes to the middle, were not met with any adjustment by Rutgers.
 
it’s one thing to lose 1-0 but giving up a 2 goal lead … that stinks no matter if it was MSU or any other team.

UM won last year, so maybe they’ve had bad luck this year in games. A frosh scored 2x so maybe that is a rising star that broke out vs RU.

Very disappointed in this loss. Feeling like RU has no shot in the B1G, might not get a bye in the B1G, and looking at a 2nd round NCAA exit.
 
This loss was predictable and I called it on page one of this thread. Defense all season has been a major weakness. Please don't call individual players out, especially if you are an adult, or claim to be. Michigan was 0-5-2 in the conference before this game. Not a soccer person but this was like football losing to New Hampshire in 2005.
While I didn't mention any player's names in this thread, SORRY, but these are no longer "amateurs" anymore. Student-athletes have chosen to give that up which, in turn, makes them "fair game" (and I'm 100% certain that they completely understand as much). Now, that doesn't mean people should go attacking them just for the hell of it, however, there's zero reason that you can't discuss when someone is struggling out there or making glaringly obvious mistakes. Actually, there really never has been, but now it's pretty much "game on" for better or worse.
 
Not sure who Hugh Pressing is?.....JK

If we switch to 5-4-1 or 4-4-2 we do not have enough speed up top unless it is Tiernan. Our weapon is moving the ball by finding feet and getting up field. We tend to get rattled with pressure and yesterday the whole team struggled.

Unfortunately yesterday our midfield could not sustain possession in 2nd half and we lost. Should have scored a few more but that is the way it goes.
Lol

But I think you hit the nail on the head we should have made some of those tactical adjustments vs doing nothing.

As I noted in my post I am actually completely fine with staying in our attacking formation to try and get the third goal in the first half. But in the 2nd half, as soon as they predictably came out in their hugh press ( see what i did there ;) ), we should have adjusted immediately. It was clear that we were playing with fire for 30 minutes. That's what I am so frustrated about. It's not like all of a sudden the tide shifted. This was coming for a long time and adjustments should have been made.

Anyway it's behind us now and hopefully the ladies can recover. I really enjoy watching this team play and think that when they are clicking we can beat anyone in our conference.
 
Lol

But I think you hit the nail on the head we should have made some of those tactical adjustments vs doing nothing.

As I noted in my post I am actually completely fine with staying in our attacking formation to try and get the third goal in the first half. But in the 2nd half, as soon as they predictably came out in their hugh press ( see what i did there ;) ), we should have adjusted immediately. It was clear that we were playing with fire for 30 minutes. That's what I am so frustrated about. It's not like all of a sudden the tide shifted. This was coming for a long time and adjustments should have been made.

Anyway it's behind us now and hopefully the ladies can recover. I really enjoy watching this team play and think that when they are clicking we can beat anyone in our conference.
If they can "click" for both halves of a game they can win the national title. That's how talented and how much "fun" they are to watch at times.
 
Can't believe I'm saying this, however, I hope that @rudad02 is okay? Very odd to have not heard from him yet (and he was silent during the match as well) regardless of what he has to say.
 
Not a soccer person but I root all things Rutgers. I have watched most of the games on BTN and Rutgers has been lucky, very lucky on the defensive end. There have been numerous times the opponents in previous games could have scored many more goals. Last night, one could argue Michigan could have scored 3-4 more goals. I was shocked how often defensive players weren't even on girls.
 
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Not a soccer person but I root all things Rutgers. I have watched most of the games on BTN and Rutgers has been lucky, very lucky on the defensive end. There have been numerous times the opponents in previous games could have scored many more goals. Last night, one could argue Michigan could have scored 3-4 more goals. I was shocked how often defensive players weren't even on girls.
- we could/should have had 4 in the first 25 minutes (so that goes both ways)

- agree re: the D and, the crazy thing is, we were known for DEFENSE, not offense, until just a year or two ago! So, as @SirScarlet has mentioned several times now, to summarize: MO isn't a great game day coach; he's a GREAT recruiter, with GREAT talent, and it seems like we benefited for years on D because of that talent, and now on O as well...BUT....this is where "coaching up" and "devloping" talent should come in, however, it doesn't seem to be the case.
 
Don't forget we lost our defensive coach, Meg Ryan Nemzer, to Maryland at the end of last season.
That's a very good point, thank you, forgot about that one. Wasn't Madison promoted? Is she just not "there" yet and maybe we should've gone out and hired someone with more experience OR is it a difference in coaching philosophy? I LOVED how Madison played in college. Thanks!
 
I guess the pollsters who dropped us to 14 knew what they were talking about.
Michigan's first goal was misplayed by defender and goalie. Defender allowed it to go over her head when she had plenty of room to back up and head it out. Goalie must have thought the defender was going to make the play but she could have called her off and caught it herself. poor communication in addition to poor reads of the ball flight. That goal put life into the Wolverines.
The defensive adjustments Michigan made for the second half, mainly the challenging our passes to the middle, were not met with any adjustment by Rutgers.
I have been saying this for years now we always use the middle and for some reason don’t take it wide and then cross the ball this does 2 things number 1 makes it easier to defend us because you have compacted the field and secondly many times when you take it down the sidelines you will end up with a corner kick because the defender will knock the ball out of bounds on the cross

and I hate to say it but one of the worst offenders is Riley who many times beats her girls and then makes that move to cut into the middle now I know she scored yesterday but that’s one of the reasons why she only has 3 goals
 
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That's a very good point, thank you, forgot about that one. Wasn't Madison promoted? Is she just not "there" yet and maybe we should've gone out and hired someone with more experience OR is it a difference in coaching philosophy? I LOVED how Madison played in college. Thanks!
No we lost Gabby!! That was huge how many times did she clean up or cover mistakes made in the back line as discussed Kassidy is a liability on so many fronts and this is on the coaching staff
 
“That is the way it goes” lol…so instead of laying blame where it clearly belongs - on coaching - you’re just going to accept losing to a team that’s not even in the post-season tournament, 3-2, after taking a 2-0 lead? SMDH.
It happens in sports especially soccer. A 3-0 lead is the magic # because if a WTF goal occurs (like it did) you still have a cushion. I am not happy but not jumping off a bridge like some of you.

It is college soccer and we have a competitive team which I am proud of and sometimes teams lose. Hopefully the way it happened lights a fire and we beat MSU and get back on track. Except forthe goalie and Lynch this is still a young team.
 
No we lost Gabby!! That was huge how many times did she clean up or cover mistakes made in the back line as discussed Kassidy is a liability on so many fronts and this is on the coaching staff
But...we were very good on D pre-Gabby.
 
It happens in sports especially soccer. A 3-0 lead is the magic # because if a WTF goal occurs (like it did) you still have a cushion. I am not happy but not jumping off a bridge like some of you.

It is college soccer and we have a competitive team which I am proud of and sometimes teams lose. Hopefully the way it happened lights a fire and we beat MSU and get back on track. Except forthe goalie and Lynch this is still a young team.
Oh it's definitely young....and if we get decent GK'ing we have a shot at a national title next year IMHO...but last night is just a tough pill to swallow. Simply did NOT have to happen.
 
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Rutgers has clearly underperformed against teams that should have been wins and instead were ties or losses.
It is what happens when you are highly ranked. Always have that 🎯 on your back.
 
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Actually, felt like the Nebraska football game. You knew the entire second half even with huge shutout lead at halftime we were going to lose. A slow painful choke. No killer mentality
Watched so many games in many sports over the years where an opponent gets a lead on us in the first half then come out in the second half and 'step on our necks'. That's what we lack -- Killer mentality.
 
Watched so many games in many sports over the years where an opponent gets a lead on us in the first half then come out in the second half and 'step on our necks'. That's what we lack -- Killer mentality.
Been saying this for 3 years. Our teams have the talent BUT lack this in so many sports. Need a team shrink for the athletic department IMHO!
 
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Watched so many games in many sports over the years where an opponent gets a lead on us in the first half then come out in the second half and 'step on our necks'. That's what we lack -- Killer mentality.
You do remember RU trailing LSU 2-0 at half and guess what....we won 3-2.

We also had a few other come from behind wins.
 
Let's see what happens Sunday. We still hold 3rd place in standings. I believe MSU clinched 1st. Maybe MSU has target on their back and we take the game. In addition, maybe they rest some players and we also luck out.
 
Mike O’Neill’s second half plan is a joke
I watched the game in between the Yankees playoff and when I turned it off, we were up 2-0 with 27 minutes in the game. I come back and I literally took a second and third take, that we were down 3-2 with 3:30 left.

A lot of blame to go around, especially with the defense, but ultimately, this is O'Neill's fault. His team gets up against an opponent and for whatever reason his teams stop attacking and they go into a defensive shell hoping to run out the clock. I don't care how good of a coach he is, you CANNOT play not to lose. There is NO REASON whatsoever for this Rutgers team to lose the way they did. None.

One would think O'Neill knows how to have his women finish a game. This was an example of allowing an inferior team to beat you, because the coach didn't think they needed to keep attacking Michigan's defense.
 
I watched the game in between the Yankees playoff and when I turned it off, we were up 2-0 with 27 minutes in the game. I come back and I literally took a second and third take, that we were down 3-2 with 3:30 left.

A lot of blame to go around, especially with the defense, but ultimately, this is O'Neill's fault. His team gets up against an opponent and for whatever reason his teams stop attacking and they go into a defensive shell hoping to run out the clock. I don't care how good of a coach he is, you CANNOT play not to lose. There is NO REASON whatsoever for this Rutgers team to lose the way they did. None.

One would think O'Neill knows how to have his women finish a game. This was an example of allowing an inferior team to beat you, because the coach didn't think they needed to keep attacking Michigan's defense.
Didn't go into a defensive shell at all & haven't done so all season. Michigan went to a high press & we couldn't move the ball out of our D third. Also believe the girls came out in 2nd half subconsciously believing they had the game. Michigan came out very sharp & aggressive. In a game like soccer it is very hard for a team to switch gears in flight. Plus, Michigan's first goal was horribly misplayed by our keeper & that really opened the floodgates.
 
Didn't go into a defensive shell at all & haven't done so all season. Michigan went to a high press & we couldn't move the ball out of our D third. Also believe the girls came out in 2nd half subconsciously believing they had the game. Michigan came out very sharp & aggressive. In a game like soccer it is very hard for a team to switch gears in flight. Plus, Michigan's first goal was horribly misplayed by our keeper & that really opened the floodgates.
We agree.....Yeah. Need 3-0 lead to be overly confident.

Not sure what coach could do since we could barely connect passes.

Let's win tomorrow and finish 2nd or 3rd.
 
Didn't go into a defensive shell at all & haven't done so all season. Michigan went to a high press & we couldn't move the ball out of our D third. Also believe the girls came out in 2nd half subconsciously believing they had the game. Michigan came out very sharp & aggressive. In a game like soccer it is very hard for a team to switch gears in flight. Plus, Michigan's first goal was horribly misplayed by our keeper & that really opened the floodgates.
I really don't know much about soccer but why do they keep passing the ball back towards our goal when they should be kicking it way forward towards their goal. Looks to me like they are playing as they did in basketball with 4 corners and no shot clock years ago. Attack and attack and attack. Just don't sit back thinking the game was won.
 
I really don't know much about soccer but why do they keep passing the ball back towards our goal when they should be kicking it way forward towards their goal. Looks to me like they are playing as they did in basketball with 4 corners and no shot clock years ago. Attack and attack and attack. Just don't sit back thinking the game was won.
Playing out of the back is actually one of the best developments of modern soccer. It used to be viewed as a panic move but think of it rather as resetting and beginning your build out from the back eithet looking for players who can check in so you can turn and attack your opponent,..or looking for opportunities to skip multiple levels of your opponent with some direct passing

Personally I like building out of the back.
 
Didn't go into a defensive shell at all & haven't done so all season. Michigan went to a high press & we couldn't move the ball out of our D third. Also believe the girls came out in 2nd half subconsciously believing they had the game. Michigan came out very sharp & aggressive. In a game like soccer it is very hard for a team to switch gears in flight. Plus, Michigan's first goal was horribly misplayed by our keeper & that really opened the floodgates.
Thanks for the explanation. I'm still shaking my head how you lose a game you're up 2-0 with 27 minutes to go. Regardless of reasons, this IMO was a bad loss.
 
Being up 2 goal is the worst in soccer. It happens more times than not the opposing team gets one goal and all the momentum switches. The get the equalizer and game on.

regarding MO being an incredible recruiter, of course he should be. He is the head of PDA. He is handed these girls already.
 
Didn't go into a defensive shell at all & haven't done so all season. Michigan went to a high press & we couldn't move the ball out of our D third. Also believe the girls came out in 2nd half subconsciously believing they had the game. Michigan came out very sharp & aggressive. In a game like soccer it is very hard for a team to switch gears in flight. Plus, Michigan's first goal was horribly misplayed by our keeper & that really opened the floodgates.
Yet other sides seem to do it against us, like Michigan the other night, all the time (but completely agree re: 1st Michigan goal).
 
Last three games = 1 point
We deserve 7 seed when you consider the teams we played
 
Yet other sides seem to do it against us, like Michigan the other night, all the time (but completely agree re: 1st Michigan goal).
By midflight I mean during play. Michigan had the halftime to regroup & refocus. That happens all the time. Two different animals.
 
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