08-27-2016, 01:30 AM
81A--
Well, I'll put in my two pence.
I think they played very conservatively for the most part - only rarely did the outside backs overlap hard up the wing. There was one point in the second half (or maybe OT) where Tegan McGrady took a better angle to the ball and got into space down the left flank off a Florida free kick - and simply booted the ball to the mid-line, not in the particular direction of anyone wearing red. That seemed to be the case for a lot of play tonight - safe, short and backwards. And it almost caught them - Florida's best chances came off Stanford misplays among the backline, or between the backline and a holding midfielder, all on short balls under pressure. One dreadful giveaway led to a 3 v 2 Gator chance, but they couldn't get a good shot off.
More generally? Very little attacking from our midfield, and I definitely include DiBiasi in that - lots of horribly heavy first touches, simple balls played out of bounds, and no connection to the frontline. When Stanford did get to the endline and swing in a cross, almost always there were only 1 or 2 players in the box. Even on the goal, DiBiasi hit a six yard shot pretty much directly at the keeper, and her score off that rebound was both the luck of the ball falling right back to her and even luckier the keeper being off her feet - and even then the shot from directly in front of goal inside the crease hit the keeper in the leg before going in. Andi Sullivan was her usual solid defense and good distributor, but I occasionally wished she would simply continue her runs - she was often running at the Gator backline, only to try to slip a through ball to a forward whose first touch would betray her. Tierna Davidson, the freshman, did have a nice game - some physicality, and a bit of bite to her.
The defense? Well, Bauer and Cook are normally solid, but there was so little support from the midfield other than Sullivan, that they often ended up playing balls back to Campbell, then around to the other side, then back to Campbell, which encouraged Florida to press up. They're so eager to maintain possession that even balls where they have a chance to turn upfield almost always go backwards first. And Florida realized that - they had time to get back on defense. McGrady had a couple of nice forays down the sideline, but Ceci Gee on the right flank was either by design (to cover Bauer and help against Savannah Jordan, UF's all-everything forward) or by inclination not very involved going forward, which, as you mention, really cut down on the width of the attack
Averie Collins is a big target, but didn't show a turn of pace that's going to worry backlines, and Sam Tran and Megan Turner were non-factors for the larger part of the game. Tran sat for Collins in the first half, and never saw the field again, AFAIK.Â
And Campbell, as you said, had little to do, but still had some issues - a spilled cross that should have been gobbled up, and a bit of nonchalance on a ball that dipped into the crossbar in the first half.
OTOH, Florida is #6. Part of the issue is that they are big, physical and fast, if not particularly skilled, other than Jordan - a whole lot of bumping and tugging going on out there tonight against a smaller Stanford side. And Stanford won.
Having watched this and the men's game tonight, I think a lot of teams are going to try to replicate the Leicester model - compact on defense, look to counter, and take advantage of set plays in the opponent's end. That seemed to be Penn State's MO against the men, and Florida, with the exception of some periods of pressure when Stanford la-di-dahed the ball around the back and a stream of long balls over the top looking for Jordan, for the most part had 8 players behind the ball for the entire game, aided and abetted by the Cardinal's possession-first/look backwards proclivity.
Oh, and the subs - Michelle Xiao had one beautiful cross that Florida's keeper pawed away, but also had 4-5 balls that she turned over directly into the feet of Gator players.
Oh, and no Mariah Lee? No Walker-Hartshorn? The announcers mentioned that Amack has a knee issue, but no word on the other two. Ryan played on the East Coast trip, so she appears healthy, and Mariah's turn of speed would've definitely been a benefit tonight.
Anyhow, that's what my tired brain remembers seeing.
VG
Well, I'll put in my two pence.
I think they played very conservatively for the most part - only rarely did the outside backs overlap hard up the wing. There was one point in the second half (or maybe OT) where Tegan McGrady took a better angle to the ball and got into space down the left flank off a Florida free kick - and simply booted the ball to the mid-line, not in the particular direction of anyone wearing red. That seemed to be the case for a lot of play tonight - safe, short and backwards. And it almost caught them - Florida's best chances came off Stanford misplays among the backline, or between the backline and a holding midfielder, all on short balls under pressure. One dreadful giveaway led to a 3 v 2 Gator chance, but they couldn't get a good shot off.
More generally? Very little attacking from our midfield, and I definitely include DiBiasi in that - lots of horribly heavy first touches, simple balls played out of bounds, and no connection to the frontline. When Stanford did get to the endline and swing in a cross, almost always there were only 1 or 2 players in the box. Even on the goal, DiBiasi hit a six yard shot pretty much directly at the keeper, and her score off that rebound was both the luck of the ball falling right back to her and even luckier the keeper being off her feet - and even then the shot from directly in front of goal inside the crease hit the keeper in the leg before going in. Andi Sullivan was her usual solid defense and good distributor, but I occasionally wished she would simply continue her runs - she was often running at the Gator backline, only to try to slip a through ball to a forward whose first touch would betray her. Tierna Davidson, the freshman, did have a nice game - some physicality, and a bit of bite to her.
The defense? Well, Bauer and Cook are normally solid, but there was so little support from the midfield other than Sullivan, that they often ended up playing balls back to Campbell, then around to the other side, then back to Campbell, which encouraged Florida to press up. They're so eager to maintain possession that even balls where they have a chance to turn upfield almost always go backwards first. And Florida realized that - they had time to get back on defense. McGrady had a couple of nice forays down the sideline, but Ceci Gee on the right flank was either by design (to cover Bauer and help against Savannah Jordan, UF's all-everything forward) or by inclination not very involved going forward, which, as you mention, really cut down on the width of the attack
Averie Collins is a big target, but didn't show a turn of pace that's going to worry backlines, and Sam Tran and Megan Turner were non-factors for the larger part of the game. Tran sat for Collins in the first half, and never saw the field again, AFAIK.Â
And Campbell, as you said, had little to do, but still had some issues - a spilled cross that should have been gobbled up, and a bit of nonchalance on a ball that dipped into the crossbar in the first half.
OTOH, Florida is #6. Part of the issue is that they are big, physical and fast, if not particularly skilled, other than Jordan - a whole lot of bumping and tugging going on out there tonight against a smaller Stanford side. And Stanford won.
Having watched this and the men's game tonight, I think a lot of teams are going to try to replicate the Leicester model - compact on defense, look to counter, and take advantage of set plays in the opponent's end. That seemed to be Penn State's MO against the men, and Florida, with the exception of some periods of pressure when Stanford la-di-dahed the ball around the back and a stream of long balls over the top looking for Jordan, for the most part had 8 players behind the ball for the entire game, aided and abetted by the Cardinal's possession-first/look backwards proclivity.
Oh, and the subs - Michelle Xiao had one beautiful cross that Florida's keeper pawed away, but also had 4-5 balls that she turned over directly into the feet of Gator players.
Oh, and no Mariah Lee? No Walker-Hartshorn? The announcers mentioned that Amack has a knee issue, but no word on the other two. Ryan played on the East Coast trip, so she appears healthy, and Mariah's turn of speed would've definitely been a benefit tonight.
Anyhow, that's what my tired brain remembers seeing.
VG