Kentucky - away game on Thursday Feb. 25

[TennZip]

https://gozips.com/news/2021/2/25/mens-soccer-akron-battles-no-12-kentucky-to-a-1-1-2ot-draw.aspx

 

"At the end of the day it is a good result today," Akron head coach Jared Embick commented. "Our effort and mentality were great today. Kentucky is 7-1 and it is a tough place to play your first meaningful game in nearly 470 days. We are a bit disappointed that we didn't come away with three points, which I thought we deserved. The first half we were excellent and the start of the second half we lost second balls and Kentucky was able to take advantage of a long throw. Overall, I felt we created better chances and at the end of the day, we just have to be more clinical."

[Blue & Gold]

10 hours ago, Spin said:

 

I don't post here often. I've been a soccer fan since the old ASL Cleveland Cobras, then the Force, Crunch, and Invaders playing indoor. I talked to Mike Sweeney a lot and went to his team's games, the D3 Cleveland Caps. But I don't have enough knowledge (or enough confidence in my knowledge) of the strategies. So I just read a lot.

 

For awhile I thought I was the only one on the forum so I posted some updates.  

 

They look solid to me. Maybe with the Gov opening sporting events up a little, we can get back to the games.

Keep posting!  Trust me, no one knows less about soccer than me.

[Zip_ME87]

14 hours ago, TennZip said:

really nice to see so many people posting....

 

 

11 hours ago, Spin said:

 

I don't post here often. I've been a soccer fan since the old ASL Cleveland Cobras, then the Force, Crunch, and Invaders playing indoor. I talked to Mike Sweeney a lot and went to his team's games, the D3 Cleveland Caps. But I don't have enough knowledge (or enough confidence in my knowledge) of the strategies. So I just read a lot.

 

For awhile I thought I was the only one on the forum so I posted some updates.  

 

They look solid to me. Maybe with the Gov opening sporting events up a little, we can get back to the games.

 

1 hour ago, Blue & Gold said:

Keep posting!  Trust me, no one knows less about soccer than me.

 

I'm really enjoying reading all of your posts. Please keep posting. There have been times in the past when I felt like I was posting too much and monopolizing the soccer forum. I never meant to do that but rather just being a fan (fanatic) about our Zips Men's Soccer team. Recently, I haven't had as much time to post here: I greatly appreciate TennZip posting all of the previews and other information and love reading others' perspectives. Please keep up all of the great discussions without worry about depth of knowledge of strategies, etc. I never played the game and know I don't pick up on many of the nuances of it, but I learn a lot reading all of your perspectives. Please keep sharing. 

 

Go Zips!!!

 

[72 Roo]

The Zips were the better team, no doubt. The first half was pure vintage Akron soccer. Lots of possession, pressure and penetration. In the second half we lost the rhythm and let a less talented team back in the game. To me the midfield seemed to fall apart and the backs did not overlap and widen the field. In the first half Pol was a monster at that. He and Diago created so many problems for UK's back four. It bothered me that in the second half we stopped settling the ball and passing on the ground with our short pass game. Instead we got caught up in the momentum going to UK and we started going for more long ball and thru passes. UK was effective in cutting off any thru balls and winning their share of the long balls. 

 

The Zips are back. We took on the #12 ranked team and showed we are better. At this stage of the game the only thing I saw lacking was a burner who could stretch the D and get behind the back four. We need a mid to emerge as a dominant distributor also. Regardless, Jared will find a way to win and this team will improve. At tournament time we will be a beast.

[bigzipguy]

72Roo, excellent mention of the short passing game. The great Zip teams of the past 10-12 years had that excellent ground game: short , mid-range and even longer passes. Great ground game passing really wears a defense down, IMHO.

[adzip]

I also did not play soccer but am a real fan of the Zips and their style. So- my layman’s view- they look better. I think the move to return Strachan to middle back is a positive. Last year’s effort to put him at outside back and defensive mid robbed Akron of an offensive player. In Akron’s scheme, all of those positions need to be offensive threats. He did not have an offensive mindset and perhaps the skills/speed to be as effective as others. Milanese, on the other hand, would occasionally display more offensive instincts even from the center back position. What the team really seems to need, as another poster mentioned, is a goal scoring threat from the midfield. It will force opponents to spread out their defense and create space for all our players in the offensive third.

 

 

Edited February 26, 2021 by adzip
Typo

[slowroll]

26 minutes ago, bigzipguy said:

72Roo, excellent mention of the short passing game. The great Zip teams of the past 10-12 years had that excellent ground game: short , mid-range and even longer passes. Great ground game passing really wears a defense down, IMHO.

Totally. During the 2nd half it seemed like they settled on a few too many long balls. But they returned their short game in OT. The short passing game is why I started following this team a few years (well, that and I'm from Akron lol)

1 hour ago, 72 Roo said:

The Zips were the better team, no doubt. The first half was pure vintage Akron soccer. Lots of possession, pressure and penetration. In the second half we lost the rhythm and let a less talented team back in the game. To me the midfield seemed to fall apart and the backs did not overlap and widen the field. In the first half Pol was a monster at that. He and Diago created so many problems for UK's back four. It bothered me that in the second half we stopped settling the ball and passing on the ground with our short pass game. Instead we got caught up in the momentum going to UK and we started going for more long ball and thru passes. UK was effective in cutting off any thru balls and winning their share of the long balls. 

 

The Zips are back. We took on the #12 ranked team and showed we are better. At this stage of the game the only thing I saw lacking was a burner who could stretch the D and get behind the back four. We need a mid to emerge as a dominant distributor also. Regardless, Jared will find a way to win and this team will improve. At tournament time we will be a beast.

Agreed. Also Clapier looked great on the right side and was impressed with Combe's ability to lockdown attackers and pass out of the back. And how about Sohby? Strong, gritty, physical and worked his tail off -- I wouldn't want to face him in the midfield. I agree that the coaches have tough choices in the midfield -- lots of quality... hopefully they'll find continuity.

[Zip_ME87]

7 hours ago, 72 Roo said:

It bothered me that in the second half we stopped settling the ball and passing on the ground with our short pass game. Instead we got caught up in the momentum going to UK and we started going for more long ball and thru passes. UK was effective in cutting off any thru balls and winning their share of the long balls. 

 

Absolutely! I would expect that they will be working on this.