Perhaps the answer is coaching

For a goalkeeper coach his keepers give up a ton of soft goals

HI ALL - just stepping in to ask a genuine question...What in the heck is going on with the soccer program? I'm sincerely asking. Just a bad few weeks? Thanks and Gig'em!

aggiedrjdub said:

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HI ALL - just stepping in to ask a genuine question...What in the heck is going on with the soccer program? I'm sincerely asking. Just a bad few weeks? Thanks and Gig'em!

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no offensive, most of your top scorers are hurt and unclear if or when they'll be back

aggiedrjdub said:

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HI ALL - just stepping in to ask a genuine question...What in the heck is going on with the soccer program? I'm sincerely asking. Just a bad few weeks? Thanks and Gig'em!

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How does anyone not know our 5 best offensive players are injured ????????????????????

BigJim49 AustinNowDallas said:

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aggiedrjdub said:

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HI ALL - just stepping in to ask a genuine question...What in the heck is going on with the soccer program? I'm sincerely asking. Just a bad few weeks? Thanks and Gig'em!

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How does anyone not know our 5 best offensive players are injured ????????????????????

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I guess because I don't stalk the soccer forum and just tune in to watch when the team plays, and follow the match updates on Twitter. I will try to be more stalkish about injuries so I don't upset you further. lol

But, that answers a lot of questions for me in terms of goal scoring. Regardless of our scorers; are our defenders hurt? Because...they seem to be giving up a lot of unnecessary space and goal scoring opportunities.

I couldn't watch the second half live as we had company and I frankly lost heart. I reviewed the second half later.

That first goal was a killer. I have no clue what the ref was seeing on the two penalty AU penalty shots and the lack of one for us for box penalties. She also missed the AU goalie picking up a ball fed to her by her teammate.

We played so hard against the Pigs only to lose, Sunday's result wasn't unexpected. But it was still hard to watch.

This next week will be the hardest one for the coaches and the team since I can remember. It's hard to turn things around when so many pieces are missing.

I'm not sure how much of a factor this is, but G has said some of the teams we are playing have "super" seniors, players who were seniors in 2020 but got another year of eligibility. We don't have any, and have been playing freshmen at forward for most of the season.

Quick trip report here (and yes, this ignores all aspects of the game itself and how the team performed).

We had a really fun time in Auburn for the game yesterday. Drive down from Atlanta wasn't too bad and the campus was really pretty and easy to navigate. Soccer is a "non-ticketed sport" at Auburn, so admission is free and seating is all unassigned. Parking is also free in the area around the stadium (on non-football days), so we parked about 300 yards away and walked over. We got there about 20 minutes before kickoff and quickly found the other fans in maroon to sit with (about 20 of us in all including player families and others like us just driving in for the day). Stadium itself is pretty simple with just one full set of bleachers on the side opposite the benches. Attendance was pretty good, I'd guess about 800-900 people there with the bleachers about 75% full. They'd had a home football game the night before, so I'm not sure if that helped or hurt attendance. Auburn fans were generally pretty friendly and my kids had a great time eating popcorn and meeting Aubie the Tiger. A few blow-hards near us talking about how soft soccer players are every time a foul would be called, but that's pretty normal most places. Game wasn't super-competitive so the intensity wasn't high enough to generate much banter between fans in the stands. Most thanked us for coming out and were inquisitive about our school and team and what the season had been like. We hung around and let our kids say hi to several of the Aggie players who came over to see family and fans. Ali Russell was super sweet to talk to my kids for a bit about soccer and life at A&M. Game result non-withstanding, we really enjoyed the trip and would recommend trying to catch a game there if possible in the future.

Oh, and we let the kids throw their confetti after the final whistle because they'd managed to sit through the whole game without driving everyone nuts.

aggiedrjdub said:

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BigJim49 AustinNowDallas said:

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aggiedrjdub said:

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HI ALL - just stepping in to ask a genuine question...What in the heck is going on with the soccer program? I'm sincerely asking. Just a bad few weeks? Thanks and Gig'em!

---

How does anyone not know our 5 best offensive players are injured ????????????????????

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I guess because I don't stalk the soccer forum and just tune in to watch when the team plays, and follow the match updates on Twitter. I will try to be more stalkish about injuries so I don't upset you further. lol

But, that answers a lot of questions for me in terms of goal scoring. Regardless of our scorers; are our defenders hurt? Because...they seem to be giving up a lot of unnecessary space and goal scoring opportunities.

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You.re the one upset! Several times during the game they posted the list of injuries !

Dude. You regularly ask people to post scores for you for games that concluded several days previous. Lighten up.

jeffk said:

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Dude. You regularly ask people to post scores for you for games that concluded several days previous. Lighten up.

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Havn.t missed a game televised! You are mistaken.

Our RPI today is 65.

Lol ok

At this point we have to wonder who will actually be back or at some point is a redshirt possible for some of those hurt.

BQ_90 said:

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At this point we have to wonder who will actually be back or at some point is a redshirt possible for some of those hurt.

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Good questions! Seems like the Covid redo is helping some programs and hurting others, also.

This was the most deflating loss I can remember. Just a gut punch. I'd thought about that 7-2 loss to Duke during Shea's freshman year. That 2011 season started BAD. But, they bounced back with that UNC upset and then rolled through Big 12 play. This team isn't going to see a UNC-esque redemption and the SEC is good this year - they're going to continue taking lumps unless they get healthy fast.

CDub06 said:

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This was the most deflating loss I can remember. Just a gut punch. I'd thought about that 7-2 loss to Duke during Shea's freshman year. That 2011 season started BAD. But, they bounced back with that UNC upset and then rolled through Big 12 play. This team isn't going to see a UNC-esque redemption and the SEC is good this year - they're going to continue taking lumps unless they get healthy fast.

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Or lucky
Need a bounce like the one Auburn got to turn things around

In his press conference, G mentioned "bureaucracy" and Covid protocols as causing some players to miss multiple games. Seemed a strange statement--it potentially implies that (a) players are not adhering to Covid guidelines; or (b) he disagrees with medical/protocol decisions being made about when players can return. He literally said he now assumes that these players will never return again in their lives. Just an odd lashing out by the HC at some unnamed someone or group of someones. His frustration level is clearly sky-high.

http://a.espncdn.com/sec/media/2021/SEC%20Task%20Force%20Recommendations%20August%202021.pdf

These protocols are ridiculous IMO. But, I get his frustration. When you're a pretty consistent elite team it's hard to go through a season like this. Hopefully, with all the playing the reserves are getting it only makes the team that much stronger for the following years and seasons.

The rules are less onerous for the vaccinated.

Not sure if I've seen G this frustrated before and I've been coming to games for 15 years. Seems like if players are missing a lot of games due to the virus they should be able to get that year back.

Yeah, Coach G was clearly frustrated and borderline angry about the COVID restrictions, which I assume have taken out Hayes and Pante for 2 weeks at least. But I also think he's not happy with maybe training/medical staff who won't clear some players who are very close to 100%? Just my impression watching it. I could be wrong.

This is a perfect storm of inexperience, key injuries, and now COVID protocols that have gutted the team. That's why it's hard to get upset at the results or coaches for this season. It's an impossible situation to manage right now. There are very few teams in the country that could lose their best 4-5 players for half the season and still compete at a high level.

It's disheartening that this season has had more COVID complications than last fall.

I think the team was in a "bubble" all of last year, fall and spring, and they are not this fall. Hayes had a big wrap on her calf on Sunday standing on the sideline. The way G was talking I think Olivieri is ready to play except for covid. We will find out Friday.

Unfortunately, Coach G mentioned no one will return on Friday. It will be the LSU game at the earliest.

mullokmotx said:

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I think the team was in a "bubble" all of last year, fall and spring, and they are not this fall. Hayes had a big wrap on her calf on Sunday standing on the sideline. The way G was talking I think Olivieri is ready to play except for covid. We will find out Friday.

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I don't think it's covid, if it was covid then she wouldn't have been on the sidelines last Thursday.

Giggem said:

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In his press conference, G mentioned "bureaucracy" and Covid protocols as causing some players to miss multiple games. Seemed a strange statement--it potentially implies that (a) players are not adhering to Covid guidelines; or (b) he disagrees with medical/protocol decisions being made about when players can return. He literally said he now assumes that these players will never return again in their lives. Just an odd lashing out by the HC at some unnamed someone or group of someones. His frustration level is clearly sky-high.

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I understand his frustration. For multiple reasons, he is watching this season become a "throwaway."

He needs to suck it up and win

G said on the Aggie Soccer Hour last night that he didn't expect any of the unavailable players to return this week against UT

jessexy said:

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Just as an FYI, the referee in the Auburn game is considered the best female referee in the US. She's ranked in the top 2 and has officiated several (7-10?) MLS matches starting back in 2020. She'll probably be the USA representative to the next Women's World Cup. I didn't watch the game at all and only saw the box score, but thought I'd share some info

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For example, the referee had the whistle on the Real Salt Lake v. LA Galaxy match last night. She's rated pretty highly. Again, I'm not sure what happened in the A&M v. Auburn game.