Thank goodness Sample is gone.
******BTHO Texas******
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Last: 1 yr ago by King Koda
FINAL: Texas 3, Texas A&M 1 pic.twitter.com/m06CjlevHo
— Texas A&M Soccer (@AggieSoccer) November 12, 2022
10 years ago TCU, SMU and Texas were not the programs they are now. The competition for talent has intensified and we don't have a lock on the state's best athletes. At the same time, the quality of soccer in the SEC is improving. Fast athletic players that struggle to possess and don't play well as a unit will lose to less good athletes who possess the ball, maintain formation, defend and execute on fewer, but better chances. Vandy and South Carolina are prime examples. We have the athletes, we need them to play better soccer, individually and collectively.
Just had an opportunity to watch the game. The team did well when they had patience and held possession. However, some players on the backline liked to send the ball long and those resulted in mostly turnovers. This team has to do a better job and build out of the back and connect with the central midfield. The backline likes to play to many passes up the line to the wingers and most of the time those players had nowhere to go and resulted in turnovers. The comment from the announcer that Texas plays through the middle of the field and A&M likes to play up the lines to me is the problem. I thought we did well when we played to the middle and then we distributed to the wingers deeper into the Texas half. Byars is a special player and we didn't seem to have plan for neutralizing her. To many 1v1 opportunities. A&M has lacked that type of forward since Ally Watt. Hopefully next season this team will improve their possession and have the patients not to force balls down the field when their is no option forward. I believe we have the talent, what I see is poor decision making. Coach G has to set expectations next season for style of play. It didn't matter how much our backline booted the ball or made bad decisions he never held them accountable. Playing time should be earned not given. If I heard correctly we will be playing Florida State next season. This is the team we should be modeling our play after. My 2 cents.
deh40 said:
Thank goodness Sample is gone.
Where she goin?
She's like a 6th year grad, I think she finally is out of eligibility.MookieBlaylock said:deh40 said:
Thank goodness Sample is gone.
Where she goin?
In the second half Byars broke loose and Caldwell sprawled on the ground in the box to block her before help arrived. Byars eventually got a shot off and one of our defenders was in goal and kicked the ball out to Caldwell who gathered it in. Since the ball was kicked to Caldwell by a teammate was that illegal touching by the keeper?
Did not see the play
Was the ball deflected to Caldwell or was it controlled by the defender and intentionally passed to Caldwell?
Was the ball deflected to Caldwell or was it controlled by the defender and intentionally passed to Caldwell?
ColoradoMooseHerd said:
Did not see the play
Was the ball deflected to Caldwell or was it controlled by the defender and intentionally passed to Caldwell?
She cleared a shot off the goal line
Zero intent
Sounds like a legal play from the description from Mookie
It was
Sample did everything correct in defending the empty goal when the keep was out took 6 years but she got there
Sample did everything correct in defending the empty goal when the keep was out took 6 years but she got there
mullokmotx said:
In the second half Byars broke loose and Caldwell sprawled on the ground in the box to block her before help arrived. Byars eventually got a shot off and one of our defenders was in goal and kicked the ball out to Caldwell who gathered it in. Since the ball was kicked to Caldwell by a teammate was that illegal touching by the keeper?
No. It has to be an intentional pass.
i.e. Miki Harvey, Stephanie Malherbe... great teams with these twoHiddenAg2 said:Over our history, when we've had a good midfield that can hold possession and attack with purpose and efficiency, we've had our best teams. When we are below average in the midfield we have struggled or underachieved. The last two seasons have proven this as well. We need to add a couple of talented midfielders from the portal if we are going to have a good season next year. But maybe the most important factor will be keeping our players healthy throughout Fall camp and the season. The injuries are just making it impossible to field our best possible team year after year. Think about the difference that a Geczik would have made this season to our attack.Wannabeanaggie said:
Looking at InStat data, the attacking midfield group (Colvin, Brockman and Pante) really struggled with possession. You can't win if you constantly lose possession of the ball. We need to shore up the back line, get another striker to take the heat off of Maile and strengthen the attacking midfield. Becerra can be part of the solution and hopefully a freshman or transfer. We are a couple players short of a great side.
Tim Cox
Yes, the 2021 class that Texas signed was #1 in the country. They are loaded with top tier talent among their best five or so players. Byars and Missimo were the gems of that class (Top 5 prospects) and they were the difference against us in the game. Recruiting elite players matters, especially in our own state, and that's where Coach G has faltered over the last several years.mullokmotx said:
HiddenAg2 wrote several years ago that tu had a great class coming in, especially Byars, and they showed that last night. How did West Virginia shut them out in the Big 12 Tournament?
3rd in the nation in attendance.
— Texas A&M Soccer (@AggieSoccer) November 18, 2022
Your support is unmatched.
Thank you again, #12thMan.#GigEm | 👍 pic.twitter.com/acxTvCRHUY
Unmatched except by number 1 and 2
G has done a reasonable job of recruiting talent. Freshmen Becerra, Leb and Calzada could have played anywhere in the country. Sophomores Piante, Cornog and Hayes were also highly recruited. TX wanted all or most of these players. The issue is development and quality of play. Did Smith and Sample get better during their tenure? Are our players maintaining formation, passing, attacking and defending as well as teams like Vanderbilt or South Carolina which arguably have lesser athletes, but play better as teams. We have the talent. We need to get more out of our talent given the quality of play in the SEC keeps getting better. One person's opinion.
Well I certainly agree that talent hasn't been the main issue over the years. Lack of fundamentals and development once they get on campus is a real problem. I've seen many elite kids come into the program and their best seasons are their freshmen or sophomore years, only to slowly digress and be very average in their upper classmen seasons. That's always been very frustrating for me. Sample and Smith are the most recent examples of this. Now, to be fair, sometimes these kids get hurt and are really never the same afterward because of the limitations as a result. But overall it's been an ongoing issue.Wannabeanaggie said:
G has done a reasonable job of recruiting talent. Freshmen Becerra, Leb and Calzada could have played anywhere in the country. Sophomores Piante, Cornog and Hayes were also highly recruited. TX wanted all or most of these players. The issue is development and quality of play. Did Smith and Sample get better during their tenure? Are our players maintaining formation, passing, attacking and defending as well as teams like Vanderbilt or South Carolina which arguably have lesser athletes, but play better as teams. We have the talent. We need to get more out of our talent given the quality of play in the SEC keeps getting better. One person's opinion.
Byars and Missimo were both clearly superior to anyone on our roster and they were the difference in the match. There is a difference between high 5-star talent and mid-tier 4 star talent. Coach G has averaged around that 3.5 to 4.5 level of talent for many years, which usually equates to NCAA 2nd round to Sweet 16 type seasons. That's why I've been pointing to keeping the elite talent in the state as a major reason why A&M has not been able to break into that Top 5 level program status. So when I discuss recruiting elite talent, that's what I'm referring to. If our goal as a fan base is to just make the tournament, then our recruiting results are fine.
Not to beat a dead horse. But TCU, Texas and A&M have many Solar Soccer Club players on their rosters. The least heralded Solar players are at TCU and have been instrumental to TCUs performance. Eric Bell would love the talent at Texas or A&M, yet he's making the deepest tournament runs. We have the players. We need to take the development and coaching up a notch.
Eric Bell is a very good coach but he is a system coach. I have spoken with him several times and many of A&M girls he has not recruited hard. He is looking for a specific type of player and only wants that type of player that he feels can fit his system. He has stated many times that he is unwilling to take a girl that needs developing or is not used to his possession style of play. He is usually very happy with the players he has signed, as they are exactly the ones that fit his system.
Eric Bell came from the Coach Krikorian tree where they recruit more to style than stars. FSU never had highly rated recruiting classes (though they did bring in more internationals than most other schools). With that said, he does have some very high quality Dallas players contributing (many are Solar).
Texas had the one extremely good recruiting class when they brought seven players off the Missimo Solar team. It was very top heavy though with Missimo, Byars, and Cox. Other than that, they haven't recruited Dallas very well or at a high level.
If you look at the Aggies recruiting from 2019-2021, they only took one field player from Dallas. The 2022 class has some very high quality Dallas players along with a top level 2023 and a top level 2024 already committed. I think the over reliance on Houston has hurt us recently with most of the top talent in the state coming from the Dallas area.
Texas had the one extremely good recruiting class when they brought seven players off the Missimo Solar team. It was very top heavy though with Missimo, Byars, and Cox. Other than that, they haven't recruited Dallas very well or at a high level.
If you look at the Aggies recruiting from 2019-2021, they only took one field player from Dallas. The 2022 class has some very high quality Dallas players along with a top level 2023 and a top level 2024 already committed. I think the over reliance on Houston has hurt us recently with most of the top talent in the state coming from the Dallas area.
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