10-07-2019, 01:48 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-07-2019, 01:49 PM by DenverCard.)
VG--
Thanks for your usual fantastic analysis of the games, especially the men's. I enjoy watching the women as well, but with the men, it's usually 90 to 110 minutes of white-knuckling it, especially the last three games in which they fell behind in each, so I find myself getting more emotionally invested in the nuts and bolts of the men's performance.
One minor correction to your post: Keegan Tingey played the left back position, replacing Andrew Aprahamian, who has started in the position since he completed his redshirt freshman year (meaning that he had started for a year-and-a-half), which is a pretty big shake-up. Ludwick was the center back. Apprahamian later came in on the right side to replace Panchot once Gunn decided to have four defensemen.
Ominous that we did not hear any specifics about Tanner Beason. As well, I did not see any shots of him on the sideline; in contrast, the injured players on the women's team, last year and this, have been shown on the telecasts.
Against OSU, I was pleased to see Stanford look a lot more like I expect them to. Especially the first 30 minutes of the game, when Stanford played with energy and greater willingness to pass the ball around. Nothing is more elegant in soccer than a series of one-touch passes that have a purpose (as opposed to passing it around the back), as it means that the players are cognizant of where their teammates are and have the skill to get them the ball without the need to settle it first. I recall seeing a few such series this game, which have been lacking previously.
I also love watching Ousseni Bouda who, to use a baseball analogy, is a five-tool guy. Athletic, works hard, is aggressive, and has a wide range of talents. Bouda can take a pass in traffic and hold the ball against a defender before making a pass (a skill that among other forwards, only Arda Bulut seems to use with some success; Zach Ryan needs to work on that aspect of his game), or he can go one-on-one with the defender with great ball skills. However, the offense hasn't been as productive as hoped in combing Ryan and Bouda. Against UCSB, Bouda played as an attacking midfielder and seemed to get a lot more touches. These observations move me to wonder about playing Gabe Segal along with Ryan up front, which has not been tried, and employing Bouda as midfielder ever ready to join the rush. During the telecast, Kelly Gray commented on how the two central midfielders -- Waldeck and Gilbey -- tend to more defensive roles, and having Bouda as the link between the defensive midfielders and forwards might generate a better build-up.
By the way, having previously voiced concern that Gilbey hasn't been more productive, I thought he played much better. At one point his willingness to press up on an OSU defender created a great chance for Stanford, and he made some nice passes.
All in all, the game against OSU rekindled my hope in the team after I may have overreacted to the Washington game. OSU's roster is probably as good as Washington's, and without a couple of mistakes as you pointed out, VG, including the consequences of playing a man down, I think Stanford played the better game than OSU. Indeed, they had great chances by Hughes and Aprahamian that I think each player converts more times than not.
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Re the Pac-12 telecast, our own Troy Clardy did a nice job of involving Kelly Gray to bring out his observations and insights. Along with providing context and summarizing the action, I think the most important role of the play-by-play announcer is to effectively engage the expert next to him, given that most of the play-by-play announcers have backgrounds in the "major sports" of football, basketball, and baseball rather than in soccer. Well-constructed questions to the color commentator, and holding his feet to the fire to get him to be decisive, can really enhance the coverage of the game.
Troy, if you're reading, two requests to pass along to the higher echelon at Pac-12 network.
One, the close-ups of the coaches or players go on far, far too long. A quick 3 second shot is plenty, but sometimes they extend for 15-20 seconds. And they're frequent; if you in the booth mention the coach, I can expect a shot of him to follow. Meanwhile large segments of action are taking place off camera. The games are stressful enough without the added frustration in yelling at my screen in an effort to get the producer to "get back to the live action!!"
Two, is there any way to get the network to archive the games for viewing later? I realize I'm asking the network to act as the DVR I should obtain, but it can't be too storage intense to save the games for the remainder of the season. (As well, I have to watch many of the games on my computer because they're telecast only on the regional networks, so without technical assistance, I don't know how I would save them.) By comparison, the Stanford-UCSB game is still available through the UCSB men's soccer page.
Thanks for your usual fantastic analysis of the games, especially the men's. I enjoy watching the women as well, but with the men, it's usually 90 to 110 minutes of white-knuckling it, especially the last three games in which they fell behind in each, so I find myself getting more emotionally invested in the nuts and bolts of the men's performance.
One minor correction to your post: Keegan Tingey played the left back position, replacing Andrew Aprahamian, who has started in the position since he completed his redshirt freshman year (meaning that he had started for a year-and-a-half), which is a pretty big shake-up. Ludwick was the center back. Apprahamian later came in on the right side to replace Panchot once Gunn decided to have four defensemen.
Ominous that we did not hear any specifics about Tanner Beason. As well, I did not see any shots of him on the sideline; in contrast, the injured players on the women's team, last year and this, have been shown on the telecasts.
Against OSU, I was pleased to see Stanford look a lot more like I expect them to. Especially the first 30 minutes of the game, when Stanford played with energy and greater willingness to pass the ball around. Nothing is more elegant in soccer than a series of one-touch passes that have a purpose (as opposed to passing it around the back), as it means that the players are cognizant of where their teammates are and have the skill to get them the ball without the need to settle it first. I recall seeing a few such series this game, which have been lacking previously.
I also love watching Ousseni Bouda who, to use a baseball analogy, is a five-tool guy. Athletic, works hard, is aggressive, and has a wide range of talents. Bouda can take a pass in traffic and hold the ball against a defender before making a pass (a skill that among other forwards, only Arda Bulut seems to use with some success; Zach Ryan needs to work on that aspect of his game), or he can go one-on-one with the defender with great ball skills. However, the offense hasn't been as productive as hoped in combing Ryan and Bouda. Against UCSB, Bouda played as an attacking midfielder and seemed to get a lot more touches. These observations move me to wonder about playing Gabe Segal along with Ryan up front, which has not been tried, and employing Bouda as midfielder ever ready to join the rush. During the telecast, Kelly Gray commented on how the two central midfielders -- Waldeck and Gilbey -- tend to more defensive roles, and having Bouda as the link between the defensive midfielders and forwards might generate a better build-up.
By the way, having previously voiced concern that Gilbey hasn't been more productive, I thought he played much better. At one point his willingness to press up on an OSU defender created a great chance for Stanford, and he made some nice passes.
All in all, the game against OSU rekindled my hope in the team after I may have overreacted to the Washington game. OSU's roster is probably as good as Washington's, and without a couple of mistakes as you pointed out, VG, including the consequences of playing a man down, I think Stanford played the better game than OSU. Indeed, they had great chances by Hughes and Aprahamian that I think each player converts more times than not.
----------
Re the Pac-12 telecast, our own Troy Clardy did a nice job of involving Kelly Gray to bring out his observations and insights. Along with providing context and summarizing the action, I think the most important role of the play-by-play announcer is to effectively engage the expert next to him, given that most of the play-by-play announcers have backgrounds in the "major sports" of football, basketball, and baseball rather than in soccer. Well-constructed questions to the color commentator, and holding his feet to the fire to get him to be decisive, can really enhance the coverage of the game.
Troy, if you're reading, two requests to pass along to the higher echelon at Pac-12 network.
One, the close-ups of the coaches or players go on far, far too long. A quick 3 second shot is plenty, but sometimes they extend for 15-20 seconds. And they're frequent; if you in the booth mention the coach, I can expect a shot of him to follow. Meanwhile large segments of action are taking place off camera. The games are stressful enough without the added frustration in yelling at my screen in an effort to get the producer to "get back to the live action!!"
Two, is there any way to get the network to archive the games for viewing later? I realize I'm asking the network to act as the DVR I should obtain, but it can't be too storage intense to save the games for the remainder of the season. (As well, I have to watch many of the games on my computer because they're telecast only on the regional networks, so without technical assistance, I don't know how I would save them.) By comparison, the Stanford-UCSB game is still available through the UCSB men's soccer page.