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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.

 

 

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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.

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HFFSC.jpg

Welcome To Hoops Family Field

 

This should be a great match. Marshall has scored 18 goals on the season or an avg of 3 goals per game. Last game Marshall played was Friday Sept 17 against #4 WVU. A game that ended in a 2-2 2OT tie in front of a Hoops Family Field attendance record crowd of 3,033. 

 

Im glad to see that last season was hopefully an anomaly for Akron, an uncharcatristic down season. 

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40 minutes ago, BigGreenTruck said:

HFFSC.jpg

Welcome To Hoops Family Field

 

This should be a great match. Marshall has scored 18 goals on the season or an avg of 3 goals per game. Last game Marshall played was Friday Sept 17 against #4 WVU. A game that ended in a 2-2 2OT tie in front of a Hoops Family Field attendance record crowd of 3,033. 

 

Im glad to see that last season was hopefully an anomaly for Akron, an uncharcatristic down season. 

Beautiful picture.  Can't wait for this match; should be a fun one!  Wish you guys were still in the MAC.

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I would say good game Akron but after controlling the 1st 6 mins of the game Akron became sloppy with their ball handling and passing. Akron was lucky, very lucky to only give up 2 goals. This could have been easily 4-6 to nil. 

 

I believe Akron is much better than what they showed tonight and I fully expect to see Akron in the NCAAs this year. 

 

I do hope Akron stays on the Marshall schedule. It is a good game for both schools. 

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Hoping these guys are able to jell before the MAC tourney. Right now they are a bunch of very talented players with little cohesiveness and their play is much more fluid on their own pitch. Typical of young teams. So I look for another Pitt/Indy type effort in Akron on Saturday vs. Yale and then they'll build on that effort. I believe there may be growing pains yet but they will jell.

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9 hours ago, Akron Rick said:

Hoping these guys are able to jell before the MAC tourney. Right now they are a bunch of very talented players with little cohesiveness and their play is much more fluid on their own pitch. Typical of young teams. So I look for another Pitt/Indy type effort in Akron on Saturday vs. Yale and then they'll build on that effort. I believe there may be growing pains yet but they will jell.

I like your positive post.    Let's give a lot of credit to Marshall for how the zips looked last night.  Marshall is a scary good offensive team.   Marshall defenders did a very good job of "dis-possessing the zips in 1 v. 1 defending.    I fully expect that Marshall will be in Cary in December for the college cup.  There is no question that this Akron team will be better in November than they are right now.   The MAC has 3 teams in the top 20 of the coaches poll...West Virginia at 4, Bowling Green at 17 and Akron at 20.  As you can see below in the Marshall comments, Marshall has played all 3.  WVU played Marshall to a 2-2 tie,  BGSU and Marshall were tied 0-0 after 88 minutes with Marshall winning 1-0.   West Virginia is going to be a brutal first conference game for the zips.  That being said, the young zips need to concentrate on Yale and get a win on Saturday night before they can even think about conference play.

 

There are positives for the zips.   Malik Henry had some excellent moments last night.  Malik started the game at right winger and put the ball on a zips striker foot...in front of the goal 5 minutes into the match.   If the zips had been able to get on the board there, that would have provided a lot of confidence and momentum.  Malik looked like he moved to right defensive back in the 2nd half.   Malik was a huge factor in several good zip counter attacks in the 2nd half.   I am sure that Jared and the coaches will find the best position for Malik but I am excited about this young man's potential and skill set.

 

Will Meyer has kept the zips in games this year.....with very good saves.   Will made back to back saves at 13 minutes and 14 minutes into the first half to prevent the game from getting out of hand.   The zips are very fortunate to have 3 very good center backs.   In the first half, Carlo and Jonas Buechte were the CBS with Daniel Strachan at HMF.  Daniel and Jonas were the CBS in the 2nd half.    I love all 3 guys.....but this team is better with Daniel playing center back.   His steady veteran presence and great decision making provide this young team with the structure that they need.

 

The zips need to get back to death by 1,000 passes...possession soccer and spreading the field.   Right now, the zips are trying to pass from the defensive backs up to the forward/wingers.   Renato and Wan Kuzri can be good distributors/passers.     Pacheco, Clapier, Shokalook and Kingsford.....are having to battle 1 vs. 2 when they are now getting long passes from the defenders.   All 4 are very talented and they will start to jell with the midfielders.   The talent is here.   Looking forward to seeing this team improve during the season.

 

 

https://herdzone.com/news/2021/9/21/mens-soccer-no-5-mens-soccer-blanks-no-20-akron-2-0.aspx

 

"We definitely needed the win tonight," Herd head coach Chris Grassie said. "We played three top 20 teams from the MAC in Bowling Green, WVU and Akron. Two wins and a tie from that stretch is fantastic.
 
"We talked to the guys about this game being a fight and it really was today. You saw how open the game was at times. I think we had about seven or eight breakaways, they had three or four that they could have had pretty good goals. And I think we had to pick those moments to fight and those moments to play. It was important for us to stay mentally focused. The guys were definitely up for the fight today and did a great job."

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2 hours ago, TennZip said:

I fully expect that Marshall will be in Cary in December for the college cup. 

 

Im glad you have that confidence. Getting to Cary and the College Cup will be a tall task. Marshall done it last year because they were basically and unknown. A school that had only been to one NCAA and that was the previous year in 2019. Even though Chris Grassie and his staff had put together a talented roster I feel some schools didn't fully prepare for The Herd last year. It was never more evident than in the 2nd game in the NCAA against #1 1 seed Clemson. 

 

We are now the defending National Champions Ive noticed in the first seven games that every team has been playing Marshall more aggressive and a lot more physical than last year. Everyone wants to knock off the last National Title holder.

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2 hours ago, BigGreenTruck said:

 

Im glad you have that confidence. Getting to Cary and the College Cup will be a tall task. Marshall done it last year because they were basically and unknown. A school that had only been to one NCAA and that was the previous year in 2019. Even though Chris Grassie and his staff had put together a talented roster I feel some schools didn't fully prepare for The Herd last year. It was never more evident than in the 2nd game in the NCAA against #1 1 seed Clemson. 

 

We are now the defending National Champions Ive noticed in the first seven games that every team has been playing Marshall more aggressive and a lot more physical than last year. Everyone wants to knock off the last National Title holder.

As a fan of a mid major soccer team, I will be rooting for both Marshall and Akron to do well.   Marshall plays an attractive brand of soccer as they try to get goals from the run of play.  Good luck to the herd for the rest of the year.

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21 hours ago, bigzipguy said:

When was the last time the Zips were shut out in back-to-back matches??????

 

April 11 and 14, 2021.  https://gozips.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2020

 

Pre-COVID....September 13 and 16, 2019. https://gozips.com/sports/mens-soccer/schedule/2019

 

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4 hours ago, Akron Rick said:

"the Zips need to get back to death by 1,000 passes... possession soccer and spreading the field "

 

I was thinking exactly this during the game... I wonder if Coach had that thought as well!

 

🤔  During the game, I specifically heard him yelling at our players to create space.

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