fknbuflobo

What you have said above is one of the most incisive postings on this forum in several years. Bravo! We have three good Center Backs. Each of them is diminished when trying to play Holding Midfield. Carlo Ritaccio is not fully recovered. Jonas Buechte works well with Daniel Strachan because he follows Danny's lead. We could try a three CB line, but that would entail changing our preferred system (easier said than done). I would add that Carlo Ritaccio is still a very influential leader on the team, whether or not he is starting.

Though not their greatest offensive output, against Penn State the Zips logged their most comprehensive offensive performance of the season to date.

I have watched Nittany Lions twice this season. This will be a very stern test.

We were giving him crap during the match, but Georgia State Panther's Matthew Fearnley is a good player. He also looks like he is not adverse to combat. Matthew Fearnley - 2021 - Men's Soccer - Georgia State University (georgiastatesports.com) Ask Danny Strachan about #10.

GS defense did not press until below the circle. They were scared. Not sure the Zips needed to play as many long balls as they did. Still , score should have been 5-0, easy.

Mountaineers draw in MAC opener against Akron | Men's Soccer | thedaonline.com Methinks Zips will meet Mountaineers again this season.

Wow.

Has match started?

Yes. Nice write up indeed. I reiterate: Zips will need an effort better than any yet this season to defeat Mountaineers in Morgantown.

Very sparse but enthusiastic crowd. Zips could not finish. Again. Dyson Clapier's heroic individual effort made the difference. Ryan Kingsford dropping back into midfield (playing the #10) noticeably helped the linkage into offense. But Zips are still not firing on all cylinders. Too many defensive errors! It will likely take an effort better than any yet this season to defeat West Virginia in Morgantown.

Zips coaches and players cannot afford this perspective (we are just fans), but surely Akron can beat Yale at home. Right? Men's Soccer - Yale University (yalebulldogs.com)

How badly do we want the ball? Zips lost 50/50 balls way more than half the time vs. Buckeyes. We could have won the match just winning the ball half of the time possession was in question. Inaccurate passing leads to more questionable/indeterminable possession. Ferocious tackling can atone for bad passing (though not the preferred route to success). Against OSU, Akron passed poorly, and then failed to regain the ball. Against Marshall, this is recipe for disaster.

Passing accuracy must dramatically improve. Just for perspective, Darlington Nagbe's pass completion rate is above 90% on the 2021 season. (Astounding!) I wonder what the collective Zips' pass completion percentage is on the 2021 season. We do not enjoy the benefit of MLS stats tracking, but I am sure last Wednesday did not improve that number.

If Zips put in the same effort at Marshall that they did at Ohio State, the reigning Champs might hang five goals from Zippy's nose.