10-26-2023, 08:53 PM
(This post was last modified: 10-27-2023, 09:05 AM by Hieronymus.)
Entertaining game despite the 0:0 score, but yes not a lot of clear chances. USC blitzed us at the start of both halves; and while Stanford took control of most of the first half. the second half was more of a struggle for us. Overall, USC had better chances today especially 2 shots in the second half where Bhuta's mark slipped in front of her near post.
343 again today. I erased my OSU tape and I couldn't go back and check on the formation; so I am not sure how many games in a row that is now. The 343 though may be the new normal. Today it was Harvey at the back, Doms left (flipped with Aikey in the early 30 min range), Bhuta right and Aikey running wherever she wanted as the AM. It is clearly a Cruyff Barcelona style 343 with a diamond in the midfield, not the more common current 343 with 2 holding mids.
Certainly fodder today for the earlier talk on how much experimenting is too much. While the 343 makes sense theoretically, I don't think anybody in the front 7 played all that well in it today. Harvey really struggled, came out around 60 and didn't got back in. Aikey and Bhuta seem less influential and Doms doesn't seem to be able to slip forward effectively like she does in the 433.
Part of the issue was certainly CF and not just the formation. So far he has tried Wolf today, Grilione last game and Lumi with sub minutes; and none of them have done much. At this point I think you just have to pen in Aikey there and divide up the sub minutes. Which leaves an issue at left mid. A few posts back I threw out a few names, but none are obvious fits. Williams is a forward, Leontini a DM and I don't think Jung is physically ready against top teams yet. Hence, putting Aikey there and trying other folks at CF. But it isn't working. My view is if Ratcliffe really wants a 343, do it with 2 holding mids (Leontini with Harvey) and leave Aikey at CF. My real view though is this late in the season, stick with the 433.
Other thoughts:
- We aren't the fastest team and USC's speed caused trouble especially down the Stanford left.
- The backs don't distribute all that well which is an issue sometimes
- But they were amazing defensively today. The midfield got carved up a number of times - again Harvey really struggled - and the backs did a great fire suppression job. Wesley was absolutely amazing.
On to UCLA.
343 again today. I erased my OSU tape and I couldn't go back and check on the formation; so I am not sure how many games in a row that is now. The 343 though may be the new normal. Today it was Harvey at the back, Doms left (flipped with Aikey in the early 30 min range), Bhuta right and Aikey running wherever she wanted as the AM. It is clearly a Cruyff Barcelona style 343 with a diamond in the midfield, not the more common current 343 with 2 holding mids.
Certainly fodder today for the earlier talk on how much experimenting is too much. While the 343 makes sense theoretically, I don't think anybody in the front 7 played all that well in it today. Harvey really struggled, came out around 60 and didn't got back in. Aikey and Bhuta seem less influential and Doms doesn't seem to be able to slip forward effectively like she does in the 433.
Part of the issue was certainly CF and not just the formation. So far he has tried Wolf today, Grilione last game and Lumi with sub minutes; and none of them have done much. At this point I think you just have to pen in Aikey there and divide up the sub minutes. Which leaves an issue at left mid. A few posts back I threw out a few names, but none are obvious fits. Williams is a forward, Leontini a DM and I don't think Jung is physically ready against top teams yet. Hence, putting Aikey there and trying other folks at CF. But it isn't working. My view is if Ratcliffe really wants a 343, do it with 2 holding mids (Leontini with Harvey) and leave Aikey at CF. My real view though is this late in the season, stick with the 433.
Other thoughts:
- We aren't the fastest team and USC's speed caused trouble especially down the Stanford left.
- The backs don't distribute all that well which is an issue sometimes
- But they were amazing defensively today. The midfield got carved up a number of times - again Harvey really struggled - and the backs did a great fire suppression job. Wesley was absolutely amazing.
On to UCLA.