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A few more thoughts.
On the SC game in particular - 2 of the goals, as OldAlum and I have said, a direct result of defensive breakdowns; I also don't underestimate (being a keeper) the uncertainty in leadership and direction that not having Campbell in back led to - I've often noticed that young keepers are reluctant to be as vocal with their defenders as they really need to be. Campbell may have been able to stop the first, but it was from really close in and hit with some pace.
They are not the #1 team in the country, and I didn't think they were even when they were so ranked - they don't have enough "threat vectors," scoring and offensive playmakers that defenses have to honor. Most especially on offense, they don't really threaten a packed box with great outside shooting (outside of Sullivan and perhaps Davidson), and when they bring the d-mids forward, they are really susceptible to quick counters up the middle - neither Bauer nor Cook really has the pace to match up with, oh, say a Morgan Andrews.
We also suffer from formation - Jordan DiBiasi is not enough of a threat off the dribble with the ball at her feet, and in a 4-3-3 doesn't have any real help in the offensive central midfielder role. She's also not big enough to stand up to some of the larger d-mids in the Pac-12, SC being a case in point. We have some size in Collins, but no one who combines two of the three of size, speed and touch on the ball, at least not in offense.
Stanford has only really been able to score consistently out of having a LOT of people in the box, with the exception of Sullivan from distance. To be fair to Jordan, she's been almost Wondolowski-like in her being in the right place to poach goals. They also don't have any great aerial attack - no Mariah Nogueiras.
But with our outside backs being reticent to stream forward (perhaps worried about their defensive assignments), I've noticed a lot of play with 6 players back (the backs, Davidson and Sullivan) and 4 players forward, with very little movement between the lines. The women to a certain extent suffer from the same problem as the men - an uncertain connection between the backline and the forwards. Both of them are hitting a lot more "route one" balls over the top than I've seen in the past.
Both also have some hope on the wings - Marion for the men, Xiao for the women (and McGrady, who seems to be getting a bit more comfortable). But there's really no threat the other team has to honor in the middle of the offense - no Teresa Noyola or Simon Elliot or even Eric Verso. For the men, I think they may miss Verso and Thompson even more than they miss Morris.
So what do they have? A really good center of the defense. Youth on the outside. A very scrappy target forward in Carusa who does a lot of really good dirty work. But against better teams, that don't have to retreat against Stanford's possession, they don't have a lot of offense without bringing extra attackers up. And when they do get extra attackers up, the other team can pack the box, and Stanford can't break through often.
Tomorrow, or rather today, will be interesting.
VG
