2010 UNC Tar Heels

Thanks for the info.

I've never seen a team have this many injuries.

 

I hear ya, virtually everyone from the forwards to the GK had injuries..

 

I was at the game last night with some folks who know soccer but don't follow this team. They summed up the game as "ND was just bigger & stronger & in several positions faster than UNC. They [UNC] just got outrun. And were confused in the back as none of the goals were particularly 'good' goals." Dunn, Brooks, and Klingenberg were the three players they all thought were very much top shelf. They also praised Ohai & Morris. I won't name the player whom they all thought was the weakest on the field. One, who had seen UNC before a couple of years ago said, "only a couple of players have that intensity that I think is supposed to be expected from UNC."

Take those comments as you will. But I thought I'd post them. I didn't prime the pump in terms of telling these folks much -- except that I did tell them that UNC had had a lot of injuries this season.

We got beat and never really seemed to "click" as a whole XI last night. I'm not sure that I have all that much more to add. I mean, I could say more but I don't think I will.

Of course, I wish the seniors the best of luck going forward in their lives after UNC. I hope the injured heal & have successful rehabs. I hope the players all come back hungry and ready to fight and win next season.

 

Why are people so scared to say that Ranee is not a UNC starter? She is a player that doesnt fit what Anson wants. Not sure why he didnt ever realize it or maybe he never had answer for that position. The whole backline was never a good group despite Meg Morris speed back there. They never had a CB. They were weak on outside back with Brigman. The GK position was weak all year. Biggest weakness was not having a Tobin Heath. Frontline was one unit where they were solid. They kept wanting to attack the middle and not attack the flanks. Anson said this over and over. Take them wide. Team couldnt figure it out.

 

The '06 recruiting class(Heath, Washington, Nogueira, Eveland, etc.) carried the program for 4 years. Their success on the field covered up the recruiting issues AD was having in subsequent classes. Thankfully, the 3 NC's that class won helped AD get some of his recruiting mojo back, leading to the current freshmen class.

However, the mediocre classes between the '06 and '10 classes have resulted in UNC fielding teams for 5(and probably more going forward) seasons with almost all their talent concentrated in one class. Just as the '06 class determined UNC's fate for 4 years, the '10 recruiting class will determine the program's fortunes going forward. That said, the current freshmen class has an even tougher job, because they joined a team with less talent than the '06 team. It feels strange just typing it, but AD is going to have to work hard to rebuild the program's talent and depth level going forward, and try to achieve a more even talent distribution among classes. If not, this type of season will become more frequent.

The back line needs a complete remake. The midfield has issues as well. Both lines were probably the weakest in UNC history.

With all that in mind, the '11 recruiting class looks strange. At the risk of sounding like an alarmist, the class doesn't convey the urgency I feel is needed to return the program to its former talent levels. For the record, that isn't an indictment of Murray or Nigro; they could turn out to be great, but this team has more holes than just one defender and midfielder can fill.

 

Is it possible that he doesn't have the monopoly on recruiting that he used to? AD was pretty much "first on the scene," creating a top-notch program in the '80s before just about anyone invested much in women's collegiate soccer and then he ran the table for two decades.

With the U.S. WNT's big win over China in the 1999 World Cup, a surge of interest developed in soccer, especially the youth ranks, and several burgeoning programs (e.g., Portland, Santa Clara, Notre Dame) appeared on the scene. It could be that it was just a matter of time before the wealth got spread a little better.

With his past success and WNT connections, AD has arguably maintained a nice steady flow of talent into his program but not the out-and-out monopoly he once had. He's going to have to recruit a little smarter and work a bit harder if he wants to reestablish his program as the preeminent one in the country.

I know of at least two players out here on the west coast (both of whom were considered top 10 players nationally) who drew interest from UNC only to choose more local programs. One of these players was a '92 and one a '94. Perhaps in the past they would not have thought twice about it but with a greater diffusion of talent across the country, maybe the incentive to say yes to UNC has declined.

 

i don't know if it's as much that, or the fact that (look really hard...) a LOT of players are doing what you mentioned-- staying closer to home. as you mentioned there IS a greater spread of talent. this also means that, with the correct "by-unc-standards-under-the-radar" players, the Heels can (and probably WILL) maintain their position as the elite program in college women's soccer. parity is clearly here (on some level, just not NEAR the level of say men's college basketball) but there are STILL five or six schools consistently snagging THE BEST players out there.

not to mention the fact that tons of girls out there still grow up "Carolina Dreamin'"...

 

With the season over for the Tarheels and with it being Thanksgiving week, I think we ought to take a break from our usual topics and think about some of the things we have to be thankful for, or at leasst appreciative of, with respect to our ladies.

First, I want to thank the whole team and staff for the incredible effort and amount of time they put in to make the best possible team for us to watch, enjoy, and talk about -- win or lose. The sheer physical effort has got to be exhausting and many of these girls are enrolled in difficult majors and doing well in them

Second, I want to note some of the extraordinary skill and efforts shown on the pitch. I won't bore you with all of the things that would be worthy of pointing out, but here are some of my favorites. I loved not only Kling's incredible work rate but her speed and skill. She saved our bacon on many an occasion, and seeing her crying her eyes out after the ND loss really drove home to me just how she gives/gave her all every minute she is/was on the field and how much playing for UNC means/meant to her. I really appreciate the effort and, no doubt pain, Given and Hawk put in to get back as close to form over the season as they did after their early injuries. I loved watching Brooks doing her steady, outstanding job in the back of the midfield. And Crystal has got to be one of the most talented, dynamic, complete soccer players ever, given her age and level of experience. If she continues to develop, she has got to be a strong candiate for player of the year down the line. The only problem, is where to play her, since she can play any position on the field except possible goalie, and I'm not sure she couldn't play that.

About that player of the year thing, Kealia could well give Crystal a run for that. She is incredibly sophisticated for a freshman striker. In time I think we will all come to see her as an "original" in her own right and in years to come compare new players to her, but right now, she strikes me as a combination of HAO and Nogueria. She is pretty far over on the intensity, quickness, and speed scale where HAO lives, while having a good deal of the technical skills, foot work, and ball handling abilities of Casey. I hope she pulls all these things together and give us the original Ohai. I also want to thank Courtney and Alyssia for coming back from injuries and making the late season contributions they did. Ditto for Anna, broken hand and all. And if the backline didn't produce the water tight shield last year's did, well it wasn't for lack of trying or committment; they did the best they could, with great effort and personal sacrifice, and we are grateful for all those counter attacks they stopped. And, we have to enjoy Meg Morris' growth over the season and as well as her accomplishments. Like, Crystal, she can play on at least two lines and maybe the third. I saw her play a couple of games with the U-20s a year ago on tv (along with Crystal and Amber). In those games she was all frenetic energy and a bit out of control. Well, her energy level is still up there but it is no longer frenetic. Her speed on the back line tracking down breakaways is incredible, and when she gets the ball and a head of steam coming forward, she reminds me of a (American) football full back busting through the line.

I also want to thank Rebecca Crabb for what she has accomplished -- going from team manager last year to walkon this year, playing regular minutes off the bench providing backup for Amber. Perhaps it's not too far off to see her as representative of all the hard work and sacrifice that so many of our reserve players put in to be ready when needed and to provide high-level competition during practice. There are many others who have made contributions that should be pointed out, but this post is too long as it is, so I hope others will do so.

Let me end by saying thank you for all those national titles (what is it, 21?). We didn't get number 22 this year. But, even when we lose, you give us enough fodder that we'll stay busy all winter second guessing, talking about what could of been, and what's to come. (Think about it -- this year's team often included 8, sometime 9, freshmaen and sophomore starters; they should be something else next year.)

 

The Heels should be congratulated for a great season especially considering they fielded a starting lineup predominantly of freshmen and sophomores.

Despite the numerous injuries the coaching staff did a terrific job of putting out a roster which was never significantly outplayed over the course of the season. Injuries may have been the single biggest contributor to the premature termination of the Heel season. In the final analysis the Heels overall record stacks up well with many UNC teams of the past.

The question going forward is where does this leave the team heading into 2011. There are many aspects of the game and this past season that could be debated and disected as to what went wrong.

From my perspective the three areas of concern are:

1. The lack of (a) technical ability and (b) soccer smarts of far to many players on the team.

To the experienced eye it was very clear from the get go that a high percentage of the team could not consistently execute the most mundane soccer basics such as passing and receiving under pressure. Consequently we gave up the ball far too often. This was exacerbated by poor decision making. With the exception of 3-4 players the team really struggled in this dept and their flaws were exposed against the better teams.

The forwards on this team, who many of you consider the strength of the team, are a good example of this. With the exception of Dunn (who i consider a mid or defender long term), the forwards time and again gave up the ball needlessly and put the team under unnecessary pressure. We gave up a lot of counter attack goals this season as a result of poor decision making and the players consistently not taking the simple less flashy option to retain posession in the attacking third.

The visual of our forwards opting to go for the glory of the low percentage goal or assist is etched in my mind from watching games this season. This attitude (and it is a mind set nothing else) is a result of our statistically driven culture and the false praise it generates on sites like this. More than any team sport, given the difficulty to score goals in the 'big & critical' games, soccer is very dependent on skill and unselfish team play .

This particular problem is not unique to the Heels but rather a development issue in the US. See link below to a very good interview with Tony DiCicco on this very topic:

http://www.examiner.com/soccer-in-n...oach-tony-dicicco-rips-u-s-soccer-development

2. Style of play

The collegiate game is changing and there has been much talk about parity and UNC not having a monopoly on talent accross the country. This undoubtedly is a contributor but IMO equally important is the the style of play.

It may be time for UNC to switch away from the traditional high pressure 3-4-3 to a more ball control type offense or risk being upset when it is least desirable to more sophisticated teams who have the techncial ability and are strong in the fundamentals of the game and can not simply be out run.

AD is a visionary and astute coach and his experminenting with the 3-5-2 this season may be the start of the paradigm shift towards a more posession style game.

In the past AD always stated that the 3-4-3 is an effective style of play in the womens collegiate game and that he would only change when the womens game evolved to a more sophisticated level. That time may have come sooner than he expected at least against the elite teams as we have witnessed on numerous occasions this season.

The teams we struggled against the most were the more tactical and better ball control teams such as Stanford, FSU and ND not just statistically but also in terms of quality of play. It is no coincidence that our best players in these games were our most technical players. The UNC days of "out athleting" our opponents may not be the ticket to winning consistently.

3. The lack of a solid defence augmented by sub par goal keeping.

Playing a high line of defence as UNC employs requires communication, composure, close down speed and the ability to defend 1V1. We clearly did not have this as a unit. Our defence never gelled as a unit and the last minute switch of central defenders for the big games down the stretch was difficult on field chemistry. Overall, our defence hurt us defensively and did very little to kick start our offence with quality posession and switching the point of attack. In any short tournament a strong defence alone can take you a long ways (2009).

Clealry, there is no quick fix to any of these but it may be prudent to take baby steps in this direction moving forward to maintain THE DYNASTY.

 

Yes, congrats for making the Sweet 16 (most teams don't get that far).

However, this team is gonna have to live with the bad taste in their mouths for being known as arguably Anson Dorrance's least impressive team he has ever fielded at UNC. Hopefully that will motivate the youngsters to come back next year with a vengeance, and to share one common goal.

I expect to see UNC in the College Cup next year.

 

Um, not quite. I mean, sure, they didn't win a national championship but this year's team achieved quite a bit -- even more when you consider who they lost from 2009 and the myriad injuries.

This year's team won the ACC regular season against stacked competition. Last year's team came in 3rd. Yep. The almighty 2009 team finished 3rd in the regular season -- remember how they crapped out on a couple of road trips. This year's team only lost 2 regular season games and did well on the road.

 

If numbers tell a story.......

WLTW%GFGAGFPGGAPG2010193286.473243.01.02009233188.563122.30.4

The winning percentages are very close for both teams.

Offensively the 2010 team was much superior scoring more goals in less games (on average they scored 0.7 goals moe per game).

Defence is another story and is what ultimately what cost the 2010 team in the tournament.

AD is undoubtedly aware of this and if he is able to shore up the defence and with one additonal year of experience for this very young team the future looks very promising for the Heels.

 

Let me try again.....cut and paste did not work .

2010:
W=19
L=3
T=2
W%=86.4
GF=73
GA=24
GFPG=3.0
GAPG=1.0

2009:
W=23
L=3
T=1
W%=88.5
GF=63
GA=12
GFPG=2.3
GAPG=0.4

 

I don't know why the coaching staff stayed with the three back, knowing that we never had the personel for it. I know they switched to the three back in 1997 and it lead to great success. I feel that teams are getting better with more talent being spread out. Maybe Anson should change it up some. The three back won't work when more teams figure out that passing the ball around and having us chase the whole game. The team really got exposed on the counter attack. I think they could be better without leaving so much space in the back. Notre Dame wasnt the only team to expose the defense, Duke did it as well. I would hate for the talent up front to be wasted with teams being able score at will on them. Midfield needs fixing too. They lose their best player in Klingenburg. Who am I to question a man that has won 20 NCAA titles.

 

Not sure that you can say that more teams are figuring it out as the reason as UNC just won back to back championships with that and I don't think it was a revelation since last year by the other teams. I think the answer has been what people have repeatedly said - it was a personnel issue more than anything. The reason to change isn't because you can't win with a 3 back -- the reason would be that they don't have the right mix of players in goal, in the back and certain midfielders to keep the 3 back.

 

Good points even Anson has said once the womens game has become more sophisticated he would have to change. I seriously don't think you can dominate teams with a 5 foot tall center mid. UNC has to win the air if they are going to play 3 in the back, otherwise they are instantly outnumbered when they don't win the air. Something they have done for years. Great player wrong position, 5'8 wins everytime over 5'0 in the air. A huge percent of balls coming to the middle come from the GK 90% of those are in the air. It hurts the offence and defence when those balls are not won. Offense can't get going forward and the defense is constantly under attack.

 

Anyone else get 53 replies to this thread from the last post?

Weird

 

SA.........

The modern game of futbol (not football) is played on the ground not in the air......the two greatest teams in the world (Barcelona and Spain) have centre midfielders who are 5'7" named Xavi and Iniesta.......another player called Messi also stands a whopping 5'7".....these are considered very small by male standards.

A team is exactly that. Not one dimensional with one type of player....it takes all kinds to make a strong team.

In the case of the Heels....The guy that gets paid to make the decisions seems to understand that......as Focker said who are we to argue with a man with 20 championships under his belt .

 

The women's game and the men's game is completey different. I've seen Xavi and Iniesta they are exceptional athletes. As a matter of fact Stanford has one of the smallest center mids in the country T Noyola.. But if you are going to only have 3 defenders you better win the middle! that's a given. Soccer is not played in the air I agree, but like it or not, virtually every ball served by a keeper in the womens game is in the air and it is fielded by a midfielder. They have to win the air, or the ball is constantly going to go towards your goal with only 3 defenders to stop it. The mids will have a heck of a time getting back after the ball is lost. As for Anson, no one is questioning the greatest coach in womens soccer, lets just say for me a 5'0 center mid with only three defenders in the back is not my cup of tea. Nor has it been UNC's untill this year.

 

Yes, but the 2009 team made amends by winning when it mattered most (in the NCAA tournament). They went on to win the National Championship, and beat undefeated #1 overall Stanford in the NCAA Title Game. That is called "finishing". The difference between the 2009 and 2010 teams, are that the 2009 team got better and better as the season unfolded in the 2nd half of the year, and the 2010 team declined more and more as the season unfolded in the 2nd half of the year, in the ACC tournament, and in the NCAA tournament. That's when it matters, and the 2010 team crapped the bed in their underwear during that time, where as the 2009 team reached their orgasmic peak and won em' all when it mattered most.

 

You can't compare the 2009 team full of seniors with the 2010 team full of freshman. Also the huge loss to the team when Jessica MC Dondald left UNC after her junior year. She would have been on the 2010 team, yes the same JM that scored the winning goal, the only goal against Stanford last year in the finals. Take JM a 2010 palyer out of that game and who knows maybe the 2009's don't win it. UNC has never had so much talent leave the program in a single year and then add injuries to the equation. UNC did decline a bit at the end of the year as more and more players were injured, the 2007 team had a similar situation but not nearly as drastic as the 2010's. I personally agree the 2009 team was better but they should have been, they were top heavy with seasoned veterens.

 

Congrats to Lori Walker on her buckeyes making the final four.

I'll be rooting for you to win it all!

 

In a way UNC is represented with former Tarheel goalkeeper and 3 time National Champion, Lori Walker as the Head Coach of Ohio State.

There may be a day when Anson and 3 of his former players as Head Coaches make it to the College Cup.

 

Congrats to Crystal 1st Team All-American as frosh is outstanding! Klinger with a well deserved 2nd team. She was the reason a rebuilding season was so good. Ali also won the senior class award. Good stuff all around for those three. Sad to see Lori buckeyes knocked out they just didnt have the players to beat a extremely talented irish side.