11-18-2017, 05:44 PM
I expect that they'll actually try to score, which Utah Valley did and Auburn almost refused to do - I don't think a single member of their backline crossed the midfield striped until there were less than 10 minutes left in the game. FSU will not play to that strategy, given their strength is their attack.
All of their scoring is up front - Castellanos and Dallas Dorosy between them have 27 of their 43 goals. They looked to get the ball to the endline and cut it back to Castellanos yesterday, but she also took their freekicks that were in shooting range.
I think it will be a slug match in the midfield - betting, like UCLA and other matches, we'll spend a lot of time going up the outside, especially with Xiao. We'll see how the Seminoles defend it.
Most interesting to me - will FSU play high stakes ball, and try to press Stanford's backline? Auburn played a 4-2-3-1 yesterday, which is the formation that has given us fits over the years, because it clogs up all of the center channels while still having some width to pressure up front. But Auburn never actively tried to press; at points, they weren't even picking up the ball until 5 yards over the midfield stripe.
Our slip-ups tend to come in the midfield spaces, or more precisely the space between Cook/Davidson and the midfielders in front of them. If FSU commits their 3 or 4 forward, they could generate consistent pressure, which we've had issues with in the past. Our at times over-reliance on maintaining possession (some of the passes through the back yesterday were downright scary) sometimes leads to continually playing backwards if a team presses up effectively.
And of course, set pieces. FSU's size isn't that worrisome, but Castellanos' ball-striking ability is.
I guess the biggest question is tactical - how hard does FSU come at Stanford when the Cardinal has the ball? And how directly do they play when they're on offense?
It'll be an interesting match-up, for sure. A lot will turn on the first goal.
VG
All of their scoring is up front - Castellanos and Dallas Dorosy between them have 27 of their 43 goals. They looked to get the ball to the endline and cut it back to Castellanos yesterday, but she also took their freekicks that were in shooting range.
I think it will be a slug match in the midfield - betting, like UCLA and other matches, we'll spend a lot of time going up the outside, especially with Xiao. We'll see how the Seminoles defend it.
Most interesting to me - will FSU play high stakes ball, and try to press Stanford's backline? Auburn played a 4-2-3-1 yesterday, which is the formation that has given us fits over the years, because it clogs up all of the center channels while still having some width to pressure up front. But Auburn never actively tried to press; at points, they weren't even picking up the ball until 5 yards over the midfield stripe.
Our slip-ups tend to come in the midfield spaces, or more precisely the space between Cook/Davidson and the midfielders in front of them. If FSU commits their 3 or 4 forward, they could generate consistent pressure, which we've had issues with in the past. Our at times over-reliance on maintaining possession (some of the passes through the back yesterday were downright scary) sometimes leads to continually playing backwards if a team presses up effectively.
And of course, set pieces. FSU's size isn't that worrisome, but Castellanos' ball-striking ability is.
I guess the biggest question is tactical - how hard does FSU come at Stanford when the Cardinal has the ball? And how directly do they play when they're on offense?
It'll be an interesting match-up, for sure. A lot will turn on the first goal.
VG