I want to give kudos to Coach G for having a post-season wrap interview with Ryan MacDonald after the tough loss to Tennessee yesterday. One of my criticisms in the past about Coach G was the lack of communication or follow-up with the fans at the end of the season, especially after crushing losses in the tournament. It does give us insight into his thoughts and conclusions on the year and where the program goes from here in preparation for next season. I don't necessarily agree with some of his points about the game itself, but I really appreciate him taking the time to do this for us and discussing next year's team as well.
Here are some of the takeaways for me from Ryan's interview:
Here are some of the takeaways for me from Ryan's interview:
- While Yanez had a good game for the Vols, I really don't agree she was the major difference in the match. She had one fantastic save off a low near-post shot from Watt, but many of her saves were on shots without much velocity that were basically within 2 yards of her positioning in goal. I thought the biggest difference was our inability to create enough truly dangerous shots on goal despite having the ball in their defensive third for long stretches at a time.
- He mentioned that defender Maya Neal really did a good job on Watt and limited her chances. After re-watching the game, he's right about this. Neal really shut down Watt's ability to make big plays. This is why having Taylor Ziemer up there with Watt next year is going to really open up Watt's chances on goal because opponents can't key on her anymore.
- It was interesting that Coach G specifically mentioned that other programs around the country are investing in soccer and implied that we have fallen behind some of our competitors. Certainly it was directed at our administration that we need to continue to improve our facilities to be able to sell the program in recruiting. I have also noticed some other major programs spending upwards of $20 million on soccer fields and facilities. We are starting to fall behind no doubt and this needs to be addressed immediately after the new volleyball facility (rumored) is completed.
- Kendall Ritchie played with basically a numb left foot because it was badly sprained before the match. She couldn't even feel it, which is quite a feat and might explain why some of her free kicks had dropped off in their quality at the end of the season.
- It sounds like Ali Russell will play outside mid next season with her speed and ferocity on the ball to get wide and make passes into the box. That is exciting to hear. The class coming in next year is very mature and ready to go.
