Home Opener - Ohio State August 25

[YipaZip]

Bad night for our Zips last night. Not many played at the Akron Soccer expected level. While being a big crowd it was very quiet, but the team didn’t give us much to cheer from the very beginning. 
 

From a great performance in ND where the zips should have won, to that last night is a crazy drop off. The team looked tired. 
 

Unlike many of you it seems, I think this team will score goals. #9 looked promising both games. 
 

The team has to win at Kalamazoo. Four points from tough opening 3 games would be respectable. Most, me included expected the win to come from the home game. 

[fknbuflobo]

In a pre-season poll, Big10 MSOC coaches voted OSU to finish #6 in an eleven-team league/conference.

 

That a mediocre side, and primary intrastate rival, can undeniably manhandle us, on our own grounds, is absolutely shameful.

 

Zips lost 90% of all physical confrontations.  Akron was consistently second to every contested ball.  Fundamental passes were executed only erratically.  Very rarely was there a meaningful three pass combination.

 

There is no strategic planning, no tactical maneuvering, no formational scheming that can overcome the physical capitulation that 3,500 witnessed against OSU.  If every 1v1 matchup is lost, success is impossible, regardless of the system employed.

 

The attendance estimate of 3,500 is the largest crowd seen in quite some time.  Most of those fans are not returning this season, and I cannot blame them.

 

The course of this campaign must be corrected dramatically - and soon.   If not, this season will end shortly, pathetic and bitter, prior to mid-November.

[YipaZip]

8 minutes ago, fknbuflobo said:

In a pre-season poll, Big10 MSOC coaches voted OSU to finish #6 in an eleven-team league/conference.

 

That a mediocre side, and primary intrastate rival, can undeniably manhandle us, on our own grounds, is absolutely shameful.

 

Zips lost 90% of all physical confrontations.  Akron was consistently second to every contested ball.  Fundamental passes were executed only erratically.  Very rarely was there a meaningful three pass combination.

 

There is no strategic planning, no tactical maneuvering, no formational scheming that can overcome the physical capitulation that 3,500 witnessed against OSU.  If every 1v1 matchup is lost, success is impossible, regardless of the system employed.

 

The attendance estimate of 3,500 is the largest crowd seen in quite some time.  Most of those fans are not returning this season, and I cannot blame them.

 

The course of this campaign must be corrected dramatically - and soon.   If not, this season will end shortly, pathetic and bitter, prior to mid-November.

Based on the above quote, you suggest the players were more at fault that the staff despite being on bigsoccer and up quoting an Embick on the hot seat post. 

 

 

Embick has won many things at the Zips. I would be close to suggesting big players - Clapier, Malik, Buechte all very very bad last night. 

[YipaZip]

10 minutes ago, fknbuflobo said:

In a pre-season poll, Big10 MSOC coaches voted OSU to finish #6 in an eleven-team league/conference.

 

That a mediocre side, and primary intrastate rival, can undeniably manhandle us, on our own grounds, is absolutely shameful.

 

Zips lost 90% of all physical confrontations.  Akron was consistently second to every contested ball.  Fundamental passes were executed only erratically.  Very rarely was there a meaningful three pass combination.

 

There is no strategic planning, no tactical maneuvering, no formational scheming that can overcome the physical capitulation that 3,500 witnessed against OSU.  If every 1v1 matchup is lost, success is impossible, regardless of the system employed.

 

The attendance estimate of 3,500 is the largest crowd seen in quite some time.  Most of those fans are not returning this season, and I cannot blame them.

 

The course of this campaign must be corrected dramatically - and soon.   If not, this season will end shortly, pathetic and bitter, prior to mid-November.

Also quoting a preseason poll is stupid. Zips were picked top of Big East. So it cant be one way for one (meaning zips are bad but picked first) and one way for the other (OSU picked in 6th). 

[Zip_ME87]

14 minutes ago, YipaZip said:

Embick has won many things at the Zips. I would be close to suggesting big players - Clapier, Malik, Buechte all very very bad last night. 

 

A leader takes responsibility as Jared did in his post game interview last night. We also know that those "many things" won were accomplished with different staff. Men's Soccer has not been where it was since 2018 as another noted on this board.

 

 

[fknbuflobo]

18 minutes ago, YipaZip said:

Based on the above quote, you suggest the players were more at fault that the staff despite being on bigsoccer and up quoting an Embick on the hot seat post. 

 

 

Embick has won many things at the Zips. I would be close to suggesting big players - Clapier, Malik, Buechte all very very bad last night. 

The debacle versus OSU I hang mostly on the players. 

 

Also, Jared Embick is on the Hot Seat.

 

These two things are not mutually exclusive

[Zip_ME87]

22 minutes ago, YipaZip said:

I would be close to suggesting big players - Clapier, Malik, Buechte all very very bad last night. 

 

I'll add ... no argument our players were bad last night. This is D1 NCAA Soccer...they should expect to be called out for poor performance.

[fknbuflobo]

21 minutes ago, YipaZip said:

Also quoting a preseason poll is stupid. Zips were picked top of Big East. So it cant be one way for one (meaning zips are bad but picked first) and one way for the other (OSU picked in 6th). 

Perhaps Buckeyes were underrated in the pre-season voting.  I do not believe that.  I think Buckeyes will finish middle of the pack in Big 10.  

 

On the other hand, judging from four games watched, Zips appear to be grossly overrated in pre-season coaches' poll. 

(I do not recall mentioning the Big East pre season polling on this thread.)

 

The good news is that plenty of season remains for Zips to right the ship.

But they need to start right now, in Kalamazoo come Friday.

 

[TennZip]

1 hour ago, YipaZip said:

 

Embick has won many things at the Zips. I would be close to suggesting big players - Clapier, Malik, Buechte all very very bad last night. 

Embick went to 3 final fours from 2015 to 2018......with Leo Chappel as the lead assistant for 95% of those games.   TJ Kolba was also on that staff.   Ger was the GK coach during that great run of success.

 

This current staff with Embick, head assistant Ger and Michael Nanchoff.....has not won an NCAA tournament game in the last 5 years.

 

The Akron soccer community (fans, players, coaches and former players) expect that Akron should be in the mix every year to be one of the teams in the NCAA sweet 16.   The head coach and each of the assistants should be very much on the hot seat if they have not won any NCAA games in the past 5 years.

 

 

Last night was horrible soccer.  The coaches and all of the players have to share responsibility for the absolute stinkfest that occurred on the field.

I have been an unabashedly huge Ashton Kamdem fan and felt strongly that Ashton should have started at left back in both 22 and 2023.   I praised Malik for his play after the ND game.   That being said, both outside backs - Malik and Ashton ...both played very poorly in the first half.   Their completed up the field pass % had to be terrible.    Credit to the coaching staff for bringing Joshua Hardin in the final part of the first half.   After not playing much last year, Joshua has been a pleasant surprise.

 

    The coaches can not compete in the middle of the field for 50/50 balls.    Ohio State won almost all of the individual battles last night.

 

Western Michigan has always been a strong, physical team.   They will play the exact same style against the Zips that the Buckeyes used.

 

     The Ohio State game will hopefully serve as a gut check for this team  and adjustments will be made so the team can make it to the NCAA tournament.

 

I will give you 2 examples of Zips teams...that looked like absolute dog crap....early in the season....and then went on ...to win at least one NCAA tournament game.

 

In 2015, the zips opened the regular season with 2 road games...Friday night at VCU and Sunday afternoon at Old Dominion.   Neither of those teams finished the year in the top 25.   That was the first time that I ever travelled to see the zips on the road.     On Friday night, the zips scored a golden goal in OT to beat a fairly average VCU team.   On Sunday afternoon, Old Dominion led the zips at one point ...4-0 before the zips scored a meaningless mop up goal to make it a 4-1 final

 

Old Dominion used long vertical passes to take advantage of the fairly slow 2015 zips center backs.   Old Dominion had a super quick 5'4 or 5'5 forward and he consistently beat the zips center backs to the vertical passes.   That little forward had 2 or 3 goals in that game.

 

I walked out of that game....thoroughly depressed...and thought that the zips were in for a long, long year.

 

After the game , the veteran players (Najem, Souto, Ruhaak, Fenlason, Radjen, etal)...called a players only meeting and said "we are better than this...and this is unacceptable",

 

The coaching staff obviously made changes to deal with long, vertical balls and they made changes during the season to utilize the speed of Richmond Laryea.

 

The following weekend, the zips went on the road again and got wins at two top 10 teams...Georgetown and Maryland.

 

That 2015 team went to the college cup and lost on PK's to the eventual champ...Stanford.

 

In 2016, the zips opened the season with 2 games at home.

 

The following weekend, the zips went out to the west coast to play San Diego State on a Friday night and then play a top 5 or top 10 team in UCLA.    I travelled out to the left coast to see those 2 games.    San Diego State was not ranked.   The zips were very highly ranked.   The zips did not play well against San Diego State and lost in regulation.  Victor Souto got a red card late in that game and never played in another game for Akron.    On Monday at UCLA,   future MLS draftee Abu Danladi made all of the zips look very slow and UCLA put a 6-1 beatdown on the zips.   I think it was 5-0 before Adam Najem scored for the zips.

 

I walked away from that game ...thinking that UCLA was a maserati and that Akron was a pinto.   I did not think that "pinto" team could make the NCAA (and I was assuming that Souto would only miss the 1 game).

 

That 2016 Akron team ended up winning a round of 64 game in Akron before losing to a seeded Indiana team in the round of 32.

 

 

It is early in the season.....The zips did not have any offense in the first 2 exhibitions.    The team did not play well or compete well against Ohio State.

I am rooting for this 2024 team......to build a "recovery" story similar to what was done in 2015 and 2016.

 

[YipaZip]

2 hours ago, Zip_ME87 said:

 

A leader takes responsibility as Jared did in his post game interview last night. We also know that those "many things" won were accomplished with different staff. Men's Soccer has not been where it was since 2018 as another noted on this board.

 

 

A different and bigger staff you should add. The strangle on not just soccer but other sports on campus from the powers above is taking its toll. 

[Zip_ME87]

4 minutes ago, YipaZip said:

A different and bigger staff you should add. The strangle on not just soccer but other sports on campus from the powers above is taking its toll. 

 

Unfortunately, as I suspected.

[fknbuflobo]

4 minutes ago, YipaZip said:

A different and bigger staff you should add. The strangle on not just soccer but other sports on campus from the powers above is taking its toll. 

At last, you have become useful.  

 

How do you know that MSOC is being strangled?

[YipaZip]

1 hour ago, fknbuflobo said:

At last, you have become useful.  

 

How do you know that MSOC is being strangled?

Unlike you, I have common sense. 
 

3 on staff now, 4 on staff for College Cup runs. Pretty obvious. 

[fknbuflobo]

12 minutes ago, YipaZip said:

Unlike you, I have common sense. 
 

3 on staff now, 4 on staff for College Cup runs. Pretty obvious. 

Are you suggesting that the restructuring of Zips MSOC coaching staff years ago is equal to strangling MSOC?

-1 = strangulation?

Seems like a minor shift.

 

How might common sense (which you have) lead to such a conclusion?

The correlation is obscure.

 

Surely, there is more to your point than this.

Please review and advise.

 

[TennZip]

last night and in other games, Attila Schmidt was sitting on the sidelines with Michael and Ger and Jared

 

Does Akron not pay Attila Schmidt?  Link below says 4th season with Akron soccer

 

https://akronsocceracademy.com/staff

[YipaZip]

33 minutes ago, fknbuflobo said:

Are you suggesting that the restructuring of Zips MSOC coaching staff years ago is equal to strangling MSOC?

-1 = strangulation?

Seems like a minor shift.

 

How might common sense (which you have) lead to such a conclusion?

The correlation is obscure.

 

Surely, there is more to your point than this.

Please review and advise.

 

Well from a men’s soccer perspective, the staff is an obvious one. That is what is seen at a game. 
 

From a schedule standpoint, the Zips used to play Seattle/Washington, UCSB and Denver for RPI reasons I presume. These games aren’t happening now. Why do you think that is not happening anymore? 
 

The 2016 (?) Zips went on an international trip to Brazil which the supporters were aware of a long time before it happened. Is this happening again? I heard an Ohio state fan at our game speak about her son going on a team trip to the UK. 

 

[fknbuflobo]

The schedule has become noticeably more localized in recent seasons.

Road trips to Omaha NE are sure to cause a grimace every other year.

 

There has not been funding for off-season international trips. 

Not for a while.

This I know.

If elite programs are offering such enticing perks, then Zips are simply not keeping pace with the serious Market.

 

There are many similarities between Universities of Marshall and Akron.

Whatever they are doing is what we should mimic.

We should observe and learn how Marshall MSOC is funding their program.

Only so much can be kept secret; Marshall is a "public research university," as is Akron.

[Zip_ME87]

Regardless of the number of coaches then v now, there were experience, connections, differing knowledge of the sport, people skills, and other intangibles that Leo and TJ brought to our team. I have seen what I feel has been signs of unwarranted arrogance and unwarranted disrespect for our opponents seemingly because we are Akron and our way is best…don’t question it. 
 

I’ve lost confidence, and I need to see results to restore it. I’m cautiously hopeful given the Louisville game in the Spring and the Notre Dame game this Fall. 
 

[YipaZip]

17 minutes ago, fknbuflobo said:

The schedule has become noticeably more localized in recent seasons.

Road trips to Omaha NE are sure to cause a grimace every other year.

 

There has not been funding for off-season international trips. 

Not for a while.

This I know.

If elite programs are offering such enticing perks, then Zips are simply not keeping pace with the serious Market.

 

There are many similarities between Universities of Marshall and Akron.

Whatever they are doing is what we should mimic.

We should observe and learn how Marshall MSOC is funding their program.

Only so much can be kept secret; Marshall is a "public research university," as is Akron.

Marshall has been on international trips and are playing national stature teams. I’m not sure your choice of Marshall is a good comparison. Their head coach just signed a 10 year contract extension. Marshall are investing extraordinarily in Men’s soccer. Some would say similar to UA did in Porters era. Their head coach makes $500k with his new contract. 
 

You have kind of caught up With the common sense logic I was implying to suggesting Zips are not keeping pace with the serious market. There are MSOC teams all over USA getting NIL. AFAIK, basketball is our only NIL sport. To suggest we should mimic Marshall though… 😬

 

 

 

[YipaZip]

15 minutes ago, Zip_ME87 said:

Regardless of the number of coaches then v now, there were experience, connections, differing knowledge of the sport, people skills, and other intangibles that Leo and TJ brought to our team. I have seen what I feel has been signs of unwarranted arrogance and unwarranted disrespect for our opponents seemingly because we are Akron and our way is best…don’t question it. 
 

I’ve lost confidence, and I need to see results to restore it. I’m cautiously hopeful given the Louisville game in the Spring and the Notre Dame game this Fall. 
 

Leo failed to get a college soccer job between fired in 2018 and spring 2024. 
 

TJ has been part of a vastly underachieving Michigan State staff. 
 

I feel you’ve left a lot unsaid in your above post. 
 

 

[Zip_ME87]

8 minutes ago, YipaZip said:

Leo failed to get a college soccer job between fired in 2018 and spring 2024. 
 

TJ has been part of a vastly underachieving Michigan State staff. 
 

I feel you’ve left a lot unsaid in your above post. 
 

 

 

Yeah I did, and it's more about my lack of confidence in our current assistants than the items you're recalling. Putting it out there for you and anyone else who wants to whitewash over where this program has been heading with the current staff.

 

 

Edited August 27 by Zip_ME87

[YipaZip]

32 minutes ago, Zip_ME87 said:

 

Yeah I did, and it's more about my lack of confidence in our current assistants than the items you're recalling. Putting it out there for you and anyone else who wants to whitewash over where this program has been heading with the current staff.

 

 

Entitled to your opinion. 
 

Personally, I’ve never judged my thoughts on an assistant based on his/her people skills. I feel as a fan that is irrelevant. What sort of a relationship with the staff are you wanting? Did you have a better relationship with TJ and Leo therefore you value them higher than the current assistants? 
 

As previously stated, you mentioned TJ

and Leo having more experience, people skills, intangibles etc yet both have struggled since they left UA with one struggling to even get a job! 
 

 

[Zip_ME87]

11 minutes ago, YipaZip said:

Entitled to your opinion. 
 

Personally, I’ve never judged my thoughts on an assistant based on his/her people skills. I feel as a fan that is irrelevant. What sort of a relationship with the staff are you wanting? Did you have a better relationship with TJ and Leo therefore you value them higher than the current assistants? 
 

As previously stated, you mentioned TJ

and Leo having more experience, people skills, intangibles etc yet both have struggled since they left UA with one struggling to even get a job! 
 

 

 

Not my relationship with the assistants. The assistants' relationships with the players is what matters to me. Understanding what motivates players and how to help them feel confident but not arrogant.

 

Unlike others, I'm not writing a diatribe here. I've lost confidence in how our assistants work with our players and the effect that they have on attitude.

 

I also have concerns about potential group think among our coaches.

 

 

 

 

[TennZip]

To my knowledge, the summer 2015 trip was completely funded by donors making donations for $3,000 per player.

I believe that no athletic department funds were used.

 

I think they are only allowed to take 1 international trip every 4 years (could be 3 years...but I believe it is 4.)

 

To my knowledge, none of the Akron soccer donors have been asked in the past 5 years to fund an international excursion.

[Zip_ME87]

I don't know who you are YipaZip. Obviously, you're entitled to your opinion as well. If you want to bury your head and accept the trajectory our Mens soccer program is on, so be it. But, I think if you look at the history of this program, you will find that others were able to do well despite the adversity which you prop up as excuses.

 

I don't post on BigSoccer and don't often read it, but Jared should feel the heat that folks have posted about there. In the past, he would not have accepted this trajectory. I don't know what has seemingly changed, but it is his to fix even if that means shaking up his staff. Nothing should be off the table.