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Rutgers Women's Soccer Continues Big Ten Play at Home with Maryland / Saturday

This is a big game tonight we really have to show something on the offensive end or I feel we will not go as far as I think we can because I think with this talent we should be able to go pretty far this year.
 
This is a big game tonight we really have to show something on the offensive end or I feel we will not go as far as I think we can because I think with this talent we should be able to go pretty far this year.
Yes. He's got to can the ultra conservative philosophy he used last game & let these girls play. We can score if given the opportunity.
 
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Looking like RU’s first participation trophy weekend might happen (that’s when every RU team loses) ... UMD 1-0
 
Looking like RU’s first participation trophy weekend might happen (that’s when every RU team loses) ... UMD 1-0
Goal scored right after ref missed a hand ball on Maryland and then Ali got taken down in the box.
On another note Moneme is just terrible has zero soccer sense no idea where to go and when to make a run
 
Down 2-0 ... at home ... saw this script on Friday with the men’s team ... at least this team has won a few before playing RU.
 
Yes! RU scores and we’ve got a game!!! Halfway there!!!!! RU has been bringing the pressure and finally breaks through!!!!!!!
 
There is a girl from UMD who has been the best player on the field tonight
 
Corner kicks are the difference ... RU is 0 for 9 and UMD converted on their first attempt. RU has been dominating!
 
Goal scored right after ref missed a hand ball on Maryland and then Ali got taken down in the box.
On another note Moneme is just terrible has zero soccer sense no idea where to go and when to make a run
Nneka with the ball at her feet is brutal, plus as you say no soccer sense.
 
Goal scored right after ref missed a hand ball on Maryland and then Ali got taken down in the box.
On another note Moneme is just terrible has zero soccer sense no idea where to go and when to make a run
Nneka with the ball at her feet is brutal, plus as you say no soccer sense.
I will give a full review of the game either later tonight or tomorrow
 
A couple or threshold points 1] the reffing once again, as it has done over the years, hosed us & screwed us to the wall, 2] we beat ourselves.
Reffing--Tierney was grabbed by the arm & hauled to the ground in the box with the ball at her feet. The ref was right there--no call! A very excellent chance that Ali would have buried the PK. Shortly thereafter we had a Terp defended on the wing in our defensive 1/3 & mysteriously a phantom foul was detected & the Terps awarded a free kick that was converted & buried in the back of the net. A two goal swing & the game.
Beat ourselves-- We had a free kick toward the goal that wasn't converted, a Terp broke out & we had only one defender back, who couldn't stop the Terp in a foot race. Result- Maryland's first goal. We had several corners & once again poor serves that didn't give us a chance to convert. Ali played a beautiful through ball to Nneka who once again was behind the D & alone on the keeper & once again blasted her shot right into the keeper. There may be other examples, but those come to mind.

Personnel-- One of our outside starting D backs, frosh Allison Lynch, lacks good speed & is tentative with her decision making. With approx 11 min to go in the 1st half Mike put Megan Katona in at an outside D position. Once again IMO she played very well as she had when she played in our pre season games & in her brief opportunity in our 1st regular season game. She is fast, & reads the play very well. Her touches result in quick, accurate & sharp passes with the correct amount of pace & heft. Her runs are well timed. Down 2 goals going into the 2nd half Mike went back to Lynch, & Katona, whose very offensive skills were much in need, never saw the field again.
I am not an expert in schemes, but I do understand athletics & athletic ability. Why Megan Katona is not playing is a mystery to me. Only speculation-- but she is a senior from Texas. Lynch is a frosh from Bridgewater Raritan & I believe PDA--the first a potential pipeline & the the PDA a clear pipeline. Once again this is conjecture & I hope I am wrong.

As a footnote, it is my understanding that Swaby & Wiltshire will miss the upcoming Penn State & Northwestern games while they play with the Jamacian National Team. Roberts has already left for the Brit National Team. I can't abide by this bull. The system should never be set up to allow for this. It fosters & encourages a lack of loyalty to one's team & teammates. You're either with your team or you're not.

Would appreciate feed back from dentist & bees3. Especially interested in bees3 take on schemes & tactics.
 
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Well here is my review of the game
First off while I am not blaming the ref he blew 2 blatant penalty kick calls. The first was a hand ball at the 23 minute mark which not only did he miss the call but Maryland scores right off of that play so that’s a 2 goal swing.
The second was with 13 minutes to go in the first half when Amirah got pulled down. Other than that he reffed a fair game missed some calls but both ways
As a quick note the Maryland goalie is from Monroe Township
The first half the first Maryland goal #7 was one on two and still managed to score she was by far the best player on the field last night.
Their second goal was off a set piece and scramble 2 breakdowns for the defense
Our offense while we dominated time of possession in the first half we didn’t get off any shots as the Maryland goalie didn’t have to make any saves in the first half. This is due to the fact that we still are playing too much backwards soccer.
The second half was a different animal as we obviously played in desperation mode and of course controlled the ball almost the whole half but couldn’t get the equalizer.
The nitty gritty
Our spacing and soccer IQ is really poor we create no passing lanes and it makes us easy to defend and as we have discussed ad nauseum our girls just hold on to the ball too long there are very few one touch passes.
Another major problem is getting the ball to Amirah in space which we don’t do most of the time she receives the ball with her back to the goal has at least minimum of two defenders on her all the time this completely neutralizes her ability and speed.
Another thing last night is we made at least 10 nice runs in the second down the left side of the field and every time our girls insist on dribbling into the middle instead of keeping it on the outside and crossing the again making it easier to defend. I have no idea other than to think our girls don’t have a left foot to cross the ball.
I don’t want to single out individual girls because they are young women and student athletes but Nneka Moneme should not be out there the good she made a great play to get open again her lack of foot skills kept her from scoring as she shot right into the goalie instead of chipping it over the goalie for an easy goal. Also too many times she goes to the ball and bring her defender with her which just makes us to easy to defend and is just overall too lackadaisical and is wasting the one thing she has is her speed.
Now #7 on Maryland if you watched her she always received the ball moving forward and in space and wastes no time in turning and shooting when she received the ball this what we need to do with Amirah and what she needs to do when she gets the ball
 
Thanks dentist I agreed with many of your points but mistakenly posted on the Field Hockey thread. You are so right about dribbling to the middle into traffic when we have a player, often LaPlant, open on the left for a pass, & either move or cross to the front. Also about spacing, no passing lanes, & the result. Would appreciate any feed back on my post anywhere you chose to post.
 
Thanks dentist I agreed with many of your points but mistakenly posted on the Field Hockey thread. You are so right about dribbling to the middle into traffic when we have a player, often LaPlant, open on the left for a pass, & either move or cross to the front. Also about spacing, no passing lanes, & the result. Would appreciate any feed back on my post anywhere you chose to post.
I will check it out can you copy and paste it to this thread?
 
Thanks dentist I agreed with many of your points but mistakenly posted on the Field Hockey thread. You are so right about dribbling to the middle into traffic when we have a player, often LaPlant, open on the left for a pass, & either move or cross to the front. Also about spacing, no passing lanes, & the result. Would appreciate any feed back on my post anywhere you chose to post.
I will check it out can you copy and paste it to this thread?
Agree with you wholeheartedly on the girls leaving during the season for their national teams because those 2 games could be the nail in the coffin for us to not even make the big ten tournament as we are now 0-2 in conference.
One thing I forgot is our set pieces we had one just outside the 18 in the second half and our girl kicked it right to the goalie on what was not even a hard shot. In the first half we had one just outside the 18 where I believe our girl had an opening to the short side and we did nothing. Corner kicks same story nothing doing!!
 
And yes we still hold on to the ball too long. Didn't think it was quite as bad last night, but still a problem. Have been impressed with how our men do just the opposite. They see the play & move the ball quickly & most times accurately. Their coach has accomplished that in a very short period. Perhaps he has guys who already played that way. Either way very good to see. And yes Nneka is oftentimes brutal to watch. I believe we are 2-1 in conference, with a win over Minny. Still not a good situation.
 
Wow, where do I start,.....yes officials put their finger print on the game, an official should never contribute in determining the outcome of the game. Something has to change, its one thing to focus on defense and use a defensive approach, but it doesn't matter if you keep the other team from scoring if it gets in the way of scoring yourself, especially if that approach fails and you fall behind and then don't score. The lack of offense does not appear to be on the team, there were numerous times where Rutgers regained possession and looked for Ali (and perhaps that's too predictable) she receives a ball and literally has a 1 v 5 because everyone is back on defense and cannot recover in time, by the time they do, and "they" means all of the mids and forwards, they are just gassed. Unfortunately, I agree with comments on Nneka, she has strengths but if you aren't going to use them (keeping her high and simply sending balls over the defense for her to run on to limit touches) then your going to potentially pay with turn overs, poor decisions, and weak runs. LaPlant was open numerous times making good runs through and in behind the defense and instead we settle for VERY low percentage shots from 25 out rather than using those dynamic runs, the best goal of the season was against the highest ranked team on a through ball, Tennessee goal, its there quite often and if it doesn't result in a goal perhaps it will result in an assist, Fordham game. The mid field is struggling mightily, perhaps that's also why the forwards are so far back, too help? still not sure of the thought process here, I have been trying to watch a lot off soccer to see if any other teams at any level rely on their forwards to play both ways so much, I can't find it, and obviously up until recently its kept Rutgers one of the top defensive teams in the Country. But, I don't think the forwards should have to defend back to the 18 on every opposing teams possession! Not only is it exhausting it is absolutely killing the offense. The offense is always better when then other teams defense isn't in the attack because our forwards defend less. There has to be a way to get the same defensive effectiveness and not debilitate your offense. R looks like a 4-5-1 playing a 4-3-3 but without the 5 in the mid......., how about a 4-4-2 with Amirah at attacking mid? she gets a lot of touches and is strong on the ball, she would just need to adopt a mind set, receive, pass, move as opposed to receive and dribble. Offensively to me Nneka and Ali were non existent, I agree with rudad, LaPlant had some good moments, off the ball movement, missed them......the team has to find a way to push numbers forward, quickly, attack, get a couple goals then go to a more defensive scheme. You have to score to win.
 
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Wow, where do I start,.....yes officials put their finger print on the game, an official should never contribute in determining the outcome of the game. Something has to change, its one thing to focus on defense and use a defensive approach, but it doesn't matter if you keep the other team from scoring if it gets in the way of scoring yourself, especially if that approach fails and you fall behind and then don't score. The lack of offense does not appear to be on the team, there were numerous times where Rutgers regained possession and looked for Ali (and perhaps that's too predictable) she receives a ball and literally has a 1 v 5 because everyone is back on defense and cannot recover in time, by the time they do, and "they" means all of the mids and forwards, they are just gassed. Unfortunately, I agree with comments on Nneka, she has strengths but if you aren't going to use them (keeping her high and simply sending balls over the defense for her to run on to limit touches) then your going to potentially pay with turn overs, poor decisions, and weak runs. LaPlant was open numerous times making good runs through and in behind the defense and instead we settle for VERY low percentage shots from 25 out rather than using those dynamic runs, the best goal of the season was against the highest ranked team on a through ball, Tennessee goal, its there quite often and if it doesn't result in a goal perhaps it will result in an assist, Fordham game. The mid field is struggling mightily, perhaps that's also why the forwards are so far back, too help? still not sure of the thought process here, I have been trying to watch a lot off soccer to see if any other teams at any level rely on their forwards to play both ways so much, I can't find it, and obviously up until recently its kept Rutgers one of the top defensive teams in the Country. But, I don't think the forwards should have to defend back to the 18 on every opposing teams possession! Not only is it exhausting it is absolutely killing the offense. The offense is always better when then other teams defense isn't in the attack because our forwards defend less. There has to be a way to get the same defensive effectiveness and not debilitate your offense. R looks like a 4-5-1 playing a 4-3-3 but without the 5 in the mid......., how about a 4-4-2 with Amirah at attacking mid? she gets a lot of touches and is strong on the ball, she would just need to adopt a mind set, receive, pass, move as opposed to receive and dribble. Offensively to me Nneka and Ali were non existent, I agree with rudad, LaPlant had some good moments, off the ball movement, missed them......the team has to find a way to push numbers forward, quickly, attack, get a couple goals then go to a more defensive scheme. You have to score to win.
Killer Bee my daughter who played soccer up until college and could have played in college but plays lacrosse said that exact thing about Amirah why don’t we put her in the midfield!!
 
Wow, where do I start,.....yes officials put their finger print on the game, an official should never contribute in determining the outcome of the game. Something has to change, its one thing to focus on defense and use a defensive approach, but it doesn't matter if you keep the other team from scoring if it gets in the way of scoring yourself, especially if that approach fails and you fall behind and then don't score. The lack of offense does not appear to be on the team, there were numerous times where Rutgers regained possession and looked for Ali (and perhaps that's too predictable) she receives a ball and literally has a 1 v 5 because everyone is back on defense and cannot recover in time, by the time they do, and "they" means all of the mids and forwards, they are just gassed. Unfortunately, I agree with comments on Nneka, she has strengths but if you aren't going to use them (keeping her high and simply sending balls over the defense for her to run on to limit touches) then your going to potentially pay with turn overs, poor decisions, and weak runs. LaPlant was open numerous times making good runs through and in behind the defense and instead we settle for VERY low percentage shots from 25 out rather than using those dynamic runs, the best goal of the season was against the highest ranked team on a through ball, Tennessee goal, its there quite often and if it doesn't result in a goal perhaps it will result in an assist, Fordham game. The mid field is struggling mightily, perhaps that's also why the forwards are so far back, too help? still not sure of the thought process here, I have been trying to watch a lot off soccer to see if any other teams at any level rely on their forwards to play both ways so much, I can't find it, and obviously up until recently its kept Rutgers one of the top defensive teams in the Country. But, I don't think the forwards should have to defend back to the 18 on every opposing teams possession! Not only is it exhausting it is absolutely killing the offense. The offense is always better when then other teams defense isn't in the attack because our forwards defend less. There has to be a way to get the same defensive effectiveness and not debilitate your offense. R looks like a 4-5-1 playing a 4-3-3 but without the 5 in the mid......., how about a 4-4-2 with Amirah at attacking mid? she gets a lot of touches and is strong on the ball, she would just need to adopt a mind set, receive, pass, move as opposed to receive and dribble. Offensively to me Nneka and Ali were non existent, I agree with rudad, LaPlant had some good moments, off the ball movement, missed them......the team has to find a way to push numbers forward, quickly, attack, get a couple goals then go to a more defensive scheme. You have to score to win.
Killer Bee my daughter who played soccer up until college and could have played in college but plays lacrosse said that exact thing about Amirah why don’t we put her in the midfield!!
One more thing if you want to see how to play set pieces or good soccer follow Stanford women’s soccer on Instagram!!
 
Killer Bee my daughter who played soccer up until college and could have played in college but plays lacrosse said that exact thing about Amirah why don’t we put her in the midfield!!
Dentist, you & bees3 may recall that she was at attacking center mid one game . She really didn't seem to have the ball or be involved in the attack. Don't know why. Perhaps she just didn't understand how to play there. O'Neill put her back at forward in the 2nd half.
 
Killer Bee my daughter who played soccer up until college and could have played in college but plays lacrosse said that exact thing about Amirah why don’t we put her in the midfield!!
Dentist, you & bees3 may recall that she was at attacking center mid one game . She really didn't seem to have the ball or be involved in the attack. Don't know why. Perhaps she just didn't understand how to play there. O'Neill put her back at forward in the 2nd half.
They have got to figure out a a way to get her in space and that starts by better spacing by our girls which I have not seen any evidence of this yet
 
Gentlemen: anything that would lead us to believe, but for some reason this year, there is some kind of a chemistry issue going on - whether it’s stems from the locker room or elsewhere - that is taking it’s toll out on the pitch?
 
I don't think its locker room. The players play well and seem to support each other -- they just have a couple players who don't see the field well, and as a team they are often not in position to capitalize offensively. For me, its coaching. The lack of offensive production, resulting from the way they play offense has been an issue throughout O'Neill's tenure.
 
Gentlemen: anything that would lead us to believe, but for some reason this year, there is some kind of a chemistry issue going on - whether it’s stems from the locker room or elsewhere - that is taking it’s toll out on the pitch?
I'm beginning to believe that a chemistry issue may be part of the problem, as well as a scheme issue. Also as Cabbagehead says there are some who simply don't see the field or the play well. It's a puzzle to be sure. Just between Ali & LaPlant there is more than ample skill, ability & speed to put the ball in the back of the net on a more regular & frequent basis.
 
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