Report on U of Houston

Reb UT '70 · September 16, 2002

Anyone who is very involved in team sports knows that you are going to lose. If you are a competitive person you always hate to lose, but it really gets your blood boiling when you lose to a team that isn't as good as you are. Take that blood pressure up an order of magnitude for a loss to a team that isn't in your league quality wise, but call EMS when that out classed team beats you in a romp!

I knew there was something strange when I went to the new $4M+ U of H soccer field and there was no one there. I still had trouble understanding that we were going to be playing on the John O'Quinn Field at Robertson Stadium! I don't know if all the U of H soccer games are being played there, but this was strange. The field size was set to the absolute widest and longest size that the stadium would allow. Sitting six rows up I could not see the near touch line because the 4' drop between the stand and the field made it below view.

Based on what I saw, and I emphasize that it is only based on what I saw, I don't think we were properly prepared for that field. Marin is an incredible player, and the style of play that North Texas uses takes full advantage of her. Normally the idea is that you keep Marin as far forward as you can and get the ball to her as quickly and often as possible. I saw her take on and beat four players several times on Friday, the problem was that instead of being 10 to 15 yd. from scoring position, she was still 30 to 45 yards from where she needed to be to take a shot. Marin has good speed and and unbelievable burst speed, but when she has to cover that much ground, the people she beat once are going to have additional opportunities to stop her.

For anyone who thinks that I admire Hedlund too much to criticism him, let me be plain, I don't think he had the girls ready for that field. It looked too much like the Texas game and there was no reason for it. We should have beaten that team by a wider margin than they beat us. In fairness, this was the first game where our lack of experience at goalie showed and it was the difference in the game. I was pleased by what I saw Morris do once she was in the game. She made two saves on shots that were more difficult than any of the goals scored on us except perhaps one, and she was not scored upon. I was also glad to see us score on a set play, that shows a team workiing together.

The game at Rice was called because of lightning before it could get started, and I think Rice was very lucky. I'm looking forward to watching the girls Wednesday at SWT, it should be an interesting game.

CMJ · September 16, 2002

You saying it'll be a woodshed game Reb?

ascchamp · September 17, 2002

well reb, i really don't think that there is really any way to prepare for a different size field other then changing your formation to suit that field and most coaches and hedlund is no exception rarely change there formations. he uses a 4-3-3 and when you have only three mids across a 70-75 wide field, you have gaps. they practice and play on small narrow fields. They built those fields for a reason at UNT, they play into there game plan! and when UNT uses the new fields next year, it will still play into their game plan caues a foot ball field is only 60 wide aqnd most football fields don't have the extra width when they are built so you might not be able to extend and then you also take the length into consideration. UNT's field is what 105 long by 65 wide probably! And whenit comes down to it is that Marin couldn't get it done! an all-american candidate si that for a reason, they can adapt as a player! mayeb she isn't a dimensional as previously thought! remember all games to this point have been played at UNT? when you play SMU, will they play in Gerald Ford Stadium, that field is wide also, or will they play at Winscott field which isn't as wide as stadium?

start thiking about this??? if the coach can't change to adapt to the field well, there isn't much more you can do!

LoveMG · September 18, 2002

Why is there no standard for NCAA soccer fields like there is for football and basketball? It would seem to be a great disadvantage to have to play on a different sized field each game that the other team was used to.

Reb UT '70 · September 18, 2002

I think that with players at this level you can prepare for a different field size in a week. They have the room to set up a larger field and practice on it. It would require a change in the way the team plays, but it's not as if the methods are not well know. Perhaps you might want to make a formation change but you don't have to do so. The main thing is to practice on the wider field so you're ready for it. It is possible that they did do that, I haven't asked and I might be being unfair to the coaches, but they certainly left some large gaps on defense which were exploited.

To LoveMG, being able to pick you field size is part of the game, but at this level I think the coaches shouldn't let it be as big a disadvantage as it has been on the two games I've seen us play on very wide fields, UT & UH. OTOH, it probably is harder for a team who practices on a wide field to play on a narrow short field than it is for us to go the other way.

CMJ · September 18, 2002

It is rather odd though...I mean aren't all the fields in the MLS the same size?? What about the World Cup for that matter?

ascchamp · September 18, 2002

well the fields in the mls aren't the same size cause some are soccer only so they made the field size set, everyone else plays in a football stdium which can onlt be made so wide if it is extended. SanJose can only make its field 65 wide and it is only 105 long!

most world cup fields are all same size some very, but most run about

115x75, some can go up to 125x75. if you look at a world cup socecr field from above, it is almost square. So on world levels that is why the U.S. always plays in Rose Bowl or D.C., because those fields can be made into wider fields! Baesball fields aren't all same length, some have deeper outfields and some are shorter, that is why they are called hitters parks. but every thing else is same as far as infield! so yeah soccer is a sport on it's own. But those things are what make good teams great and others average, the ability to adapt. But the team can't do it with out coaching, so it falls back to the coach. Hey reb , the only i see about practicing on a wider field, is that it doesn't effect the way they play, cau sethe will still be in a 4-3-3, if it was on a smaller field you wouldn't see those gaps. On a larger you do, why? more space and that formation doesn't allow you to cover that much space, especially in womans game where there close down speed isn't what it is in mens! it probably wouldn't have been as appearant in mens game just cause the speed is at a higher level! so maybe those are things to take into consideration?? i might be wrong tell me what you think!

Reb UT '70 · September 18, 2002

I do think that wider fields have a greater effect on women than men, but it more a case of leg strength than speed. Speed is a factor as well, but it is relative, the close speed is less, but so is the breakaway speed so it tends to offset. The length of the pass is a bigger problem. On the play that we scored, Marin took the kick and the ball was still high at the far post. One of our player used her height and vertical ability to head it in. I don't know that any other player on our team could have made that kick.

What I saw on offense was that we set up several breakaway situations for Marin, but they were just too far from the goal. A player with the ball is slowed by the need to control the ball and with the amount of ground that had to be covered U of H was able to get people back, especially once they had a lead and packed their defense.

As for formations, I love the 4-4-2 but I know that it's hard to find the female outside mids who can play it. Actually I think Hedlund is using a 3-4-3. I'm looking forward to tonights game, I don't even want to have to think about Houston, I just hope the girls aren't thinking about it either.

BTW, I found out why Buchanan can't play this year. She was released from her old school, but she dropped out a day late and was not able to register for any classes last fall. Thus she lost a year of eligability and because she wasn't in class she is short the 24 hours needed to play as a soph. I love the spirit that Johnson showed when she Morris came in for her, but I think she needs more work before she's ready to start.