West Virginia

[Blue & Gold]

Lame sauce 

 

anyone watching this?

 

3-0 West Virginia 

[malonepioneer12]

Something is wrong.....

[ZachTheZip]

The team has no on-field leader. It's disjointed. Lots of individual talent that just doesn't work right.

[TennZip]

beacon already has an article up with many quotes from Coach Embick

 

http://www.ohio.com/sports/zips/university-of-akron-men-s-soccer-visiting-west-virginia-hands-zips-first-home-loss-since-september-2015-1.721498?cache=18961415304345%2525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252fnews%2525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252fohio%2525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252fcss%2525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252fresults%25252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525%25252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252525252527+

[72 Roo]

There is indeed something wrong with the team. Jared is a good coach but he has to fix it now. the team has incredible talent. they are capable of winning it all if they stick together and play as they should. There's something wrong, but that is internal to the team and not for us to know. they know hat it is and they have to fix it. I'm talking p[layers and coaches. This team can still be great!

[Spin]

The most interesting part of this game was watching the camera, trained on the scoreboard at halftime, leaning back until all we saw was sky. Wondering if it was going to fall.

 

The rest, I've never seen Zips soccer play like that. 

[LZIp]

What in the heck is going on with this team...

[fknbuflobo]

This team has lost its way.

[Zip_ME87]

A few observations...

 

1. No one has stepped up to do what Victor Souto could do at holding mid.

2. Can't finish; speed to the corners but not often down the middle; when they do get down the middle, often have to hold up for someone else to get there, by which time the defenders are there as well.

3. LB has been played by committee. No one has been able to claim the position.

4. Some upperclassmen are not playing as well as they have in the past.

 

 

[Hilltopper]

#2 in particular is a big problem.

[TennZip]

On 10/22/2016 at 9:06 PM, ZachTheZip said:

The team has no on-field leader. It's disjointed. Lots of individual talent that just doesn't work right.

Zach, I don't sit close enough to the field to hear the talk.   On last year's team, who were the "on-field leaders"?.

[Zip_ME87]

1 hour ago, TennZip said:

Zach, I don't sit close enough to the field to hear the talk.   On last year's team, who were the "on-field leaders"?.

 

Jake Fenlasson, Brad Ruhaak, Victor Souto from my observations.

[Zip_ME87]

16 hours ago, Hilltopper said:

#2 in particular is a big problem.

 

18 hours ago, Zip_ME87 said:

A few observations...

 

1. No one has stepped up to do what Victor Souto could do at holding mid.

2. Can't finish; speed to the corners but not often down the middle; when they do get down the middle, often have to hold up for someone else to get there, by which time the defenders are there as well.

3. LB has been played by committee. No one has been able to claim the position.

4. Some upperclassmen are not playing as well as they have in the past.

 

I should have put it in bold, but I think #1 is probably the biggest issue with this team. In the Zips system, the attack builds from the back through the middle and then up front. Without the right connections in the middle to get that going, it quickly falls apart as we have often seen. Of course, when you have to quickly get back to defend a counter, the midfield, as well as the back line, is crucial.

[MDZip]

17 hours ago, Hilltopper said:

#2 in particular is a big problem.

 

Lol I thought you were calling out a player. I was wondering why because he doesn't really play.

[fknbuflobo]

21 hours ago, Zip_ME87 said:

A few observations...

 

1. No one has stepped up to do what Victor Souto could do at holding mid.

2. Can't finish; speed to the corners but not often down the middle; when they do get down the middle, often have to hold up for someone else to get there, by which time the defenders are there as well.

3. LB has been played by committee. No one has been able to claim the position.

4. Some upperclassmen are not playing as well as they have in the past.

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Zip_ME87 said:

 

 

I should have put it in bold, but I think #1 is probably the biggest issue with this team. In the Zips system, the attack builds from the back through the middle and then up front. Without the right connections in the middle to get that going, it quickly falls apart as we have often seen. Of course, when you have to quickly get back to defend a counter, the midfield, as well as the back line, is crucial.

 

Point #1 is the largest contributing factor in the demise of the 2016 Akron Zips.  Victor Souto's suspension and eventual dismissal marked ground zero for the implosion of the team.

 

I cannot recall a Zips match where I wanted it to end prematurely, just to be done with the mess.  But that is how I felt last Saturday night vs. WVA.  The last half hour was excruciating.  I forced myself to ride it out, because I wanted the team, the coaches, the staff to see my silent disapproval as they exited the pitch.  I felt is was important for them to see that.

 

It was freaky and weird to see Victor sitting in the bleachers, watching the match vs. WVA.

Some day this whole story will surface, but not any time soon, I fear.

[Blue & Gold]

6 minutes ago, fknbuflobo said:

 

 

Point #1 is the largest contributing factor in the demise of the 2016 Akron Zips.  Victor Souto's suspension and eventual dismissal marked ground zero for the implosion of the team.

 

I cannot recall a Zips match where I wanted it to end prematurely, just to be done with the mess.  But that is how I felt last Saturday night vs. WVA.  The last half hour was excruciating.  I forced myself to ride it out, because I wanted the team, the coaches, the staff to see my silent disapproval as they exited the pitch.  I felt is was important for them to see that.

 

It was freaky and weird to see Victor sitting in the bleachers, watching the match vs. WVA.

Some day this whole story will surface, but not any time soon, I fear.

^^Good man.  That's the definition of a true fan.

[TennZip]

10 hours ago, Zip_ME87 said:

 

Jake Fenlasson, Brad Ruhaak, Victor Souto were the on-field leaders from my observations.

ME87....thanks for your "pitch side" observations....just to give everyone a clue which comment that I am referring to....I added "on-field leaders" to your original quote

 

Missing 2 out of the 3 names....clearly has made a huge difference.

 

I think that my feelings about Victor were made pretty evident in my October 1 'treatise" but I will just say that his will to win is unmatched and I am thankful that Victor came to Akron and I loved to watch this young man do his best for Akron.

 

Jake was a very underrated competitor.  We all watched Jake out compete and out work a much more talented GK in Fernando Pina.

 

My praise of Jake is in no way an indictment of Ben Lundt.   The final score may show that Ben allowed 3 goals.  With a less skilled goalie, the count easily would have been 5 or 6.

The stats showed that the WVA goalie made 5 saves and Ben only made 4 saves.   In the business world, we often say that there are 2 kinds of statisticans...Liars and dam*n liars.  The stats clearly lie here as they don't measure the difficulty of the save.  The WVA keeper's saves came on shots from the side that had no hope of finding the net or on 40 foot shots where the zips were playing 2 vs 6.   Ben had several punch outs that were very good.  Ben was asked to make saves on 1 vs. 2 breaks where the WVA 1 was much faster than our 2 DB's or on 2 vs. 3 breaks where the WVA 2 were much faster than our 3 DB's.   I know that I share in everyone's discouragement but Ben Lundt was the zip that I had the most empathy for on Saturday night.   The stats will show that the other team scored 3 goals.  To me, that does not mean that Ben Lundt did not make some spectacular saves.

 

Jake was a senior that had earned the respect of his teammates by outworking Pina.  Jake had earned the right to be vocal and a leader.   Ben is a first year zip and it is much harder for him to bark out orders to a 3 or 4 year starter like a Brad Ruhaak or 2 year starters like senior Danilo Radjen or junior Nate Shultz.    I have really liked what I have seen from Ben and I really felt empathetic for Ben on Saturday night.

[Zip_ME87]

I want folks to understand that I was just pointing out who the on-field leaders were in my opinion last season. No indictment of anyone on the field this season. Ben Lundt has done a stellar job in my opinion. Without him, the Zips would not have won/tied a number of games and would have certainly lost others by much larger deficits. Jake, last season, and Ben, this season, have had to make up for shortcomings in the midfield and on the back line that David Meves rarely had to face.  Many a match, Meves could have done his homework back there.

Edited October 25, 2016 by Zip_ME87

[Zip_ME87]

2 hours ago, fknbuflobo said:

Some day this whole story will surface, but not any time soon, I fear.

 

Not sure why it matters that we ever find out what happened. It's something that the coaches and players are keeping close to them, as they should, and something that Victor is likely too embarrassed to fess up to. The fact is that as much as I like love Victor, he f'd up somehow and let his team and us down. He's a good student with good grades who is on track to graduate this Fall. He's been good to me anytime I've ever talked with him, and I think the world of him for what he has accomplished (in a foreign country so far from home with English not his 1st language) and as a friend; however, there is something there that I will likely never know. I'm disappointed at the havoc he has wreaked on the Zips and on himself and that he won't be there celebrating with his teammates on Senior day or in the post season that would have been more likely with him. As much as the thought of what he has wasted sickens me, I wish more than anything that he looks hard at himself, truly owns up to whatever it is (root cause) and fixes it so that he can be successful in whatever he does.

Edited October 25, 2016 by Zip_ME87