[81alum]

I was reading some of the other college soccer forums, and all the ACC fans were complaining about how Gunn's style is driving people away from watching soccer.  I was wondering what recreational pharmaceuticals they were employing, but kept it shut.  I think they were mistaking going to PKs for being happy going to PKs, and complaining about a smothering defense.  Would you rather watch Indiana play - yes, some pretty passing, but a whole lot of pointless possession, or Stanford, who may not play pretty, but play FAST and ATTACK?  I found it especially rich given the Hoosiers' utter indifference to offense after scoring 1 goal in the semi.  I don't think I've ever seen Stanford content with 1 goal until the last 2-3 minutes of a match.

Thank you VG for you analysis and for the help you give educating the rest of us about the game.

In answer to your question, I think I did enjoy the women's games more than the men's, and if you ask me why I just enjoyed all those precise short passes that extended their possession.  It was fun to see the defense running ragged and getting frustrated while our women played keep away.  You could see the geometry of the game at work and every so often a crack would open up and there would be a longer pass and a scoring threat.  With the men I saw a lot of passes that were somewhat "off," and a lot of long kicks when the defense seemed to take away those short passing lanes.  It seemed as if every tackle worked, every throw in was a turnover, and nearly all the long passes went to the other side.  A bit frustrating to watch for me.

Do they keep track of possessions and errant passes in some sort of soccer box score?  It would be interesting to compare. 

[81alum]

I was reading some of the other college soccer forums, and all the ACC fans were complaining about how Gunn's style is driving people away from watching soccer.  I was wondering what recreational pharmaceuticals they were employing, but kept it shut.  I think they were mistaking going to PKs for being happy going to PKs, and complaining about a smothering defense.  Would you rather watch Indiana play - yes, some pretty passing, but a whole lot of pointless possession, or Stanford, who may not play pretty, but play FAST and ATTACK?  I found it especially rich given the Hoosiers' utter indifference to offense after scoring 1 goal in the semi.  I don't think I've ever seen Stanford content with 1 goal until the last 2-3 minutes of a match.

Thank you VG for you analysis and for the help you give educating the rest of us about the game.

In answer to your question, I think I did enjoy the women's games more than the men's, and if you ask me why I just enjoyed all those precise short passes that extended their possession.  It was fun to see the defense running ragged and getting frustrated while our women played keep away.  You could see the geometry of the game at work and every so often a crack would open up and there would be a longer pass and a scoring threat.  With the men I saw a lot of passes that were somewhat "off," and a lot of long kicks when the defense seemed to take away those short passing lanes.  It seemed as if every tackle worked, every throw in was a turnover, and nearly all the long passes went to the other side.  A bit frustrating to watch for me.

Do they keep track of possessions and errant passes in some sort of soccer box score?  It would be interesting to compare.