In our first slump

Discussion in 'Austin Aztex' started by Parrothead FC, Jun 10, 2012.

  1. Parrothead FC

    Parrothead FC Member

    Jun 29, 2005
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Just doing my part to keep the Austin board on BigSoccer going. :)

    So we're in our first slump. Two points in our last three games, all at home. Not a great run, but here are what I see as the positives:

    1. The attack has died down a bit, which was inevitable. But on an individual level, Tyrpak, Cortes, and Manneh are still showing tons of skill on the ball. Tyrpak has an endless supply of quick spins and flick-ons, but the "problem" is that he's also a great finisher. I wouldn't mind seeing him take more shots from distance, even though he's a great distributor.

    2. On a team level, I still dig the system we're playing, with the one-touch passes in the midfield that eventually meet an onrushing flank player in the final third. Surprisingly, though, there aren't quite as many crosses coming into the box as you would think based on our success at getting the ball into the position we want. I'm not sure why that is, but I think the system is still theoretically sound.

    3. The defense has been pretty strong. Laredo had a couple of breakaways in last night's game that should have resulted in shots on goal, but we've been able to avoid letting games get out of hand. The giveaway that led to Laredo's first goal came from the midfield rather than the backline. Our goal differential (which admittedly doesn't matter much in USL-PDL) hasn't suffered much as a result of our recent woes.
     
  2. mgrayscale

    mgrayscale Member

    Mar 10, 2008
    Buda, TX
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I agree, that the guys are still doing an amazing job of attacking in matches, and it's hard to gripe when we're still 3 points atop the Mid South Division. However, we're supporters and fans, so it's our right, yeah? For me, the issue definitely seems to stem from our ball management. There were too many times on Saturday night where we would fight to get the ball, make a pass that was either too soft, of was made in a direction that made it easy for Laredo to intercept. For me, when playing a team like Laredo, the passes have to be strong, away from defenders and the receiving player has to step into the pass. I think if we get to that point, we'll start seeing more "W"'s in the standings.
     
  3. pomintex

    pomintex Member

    Feb 7, 2012
    Club:
    Bolton Wanderers FC
    Another slump against a man short El Paso, we just don't look the same team anymore. Defense is starting to look error prone to say the least. Where was Kekuta again tonite..injury ? No spark up front. Now we've got a lot of road games coming up....hmm winning season?
     
  4. mgrayscale

    mgrayscale Member

    Mar 10, 2008
    Buda, TX
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Actually, our defense was one of the bright spots tonight. My frustration is with the ball management in the midfield and forward. Chuy's good, but he doesn't have the size to be able to distribute the ball to the wingers nor to be a target man. Manneh is in LA, trialing with the Galaxy, although word that I get is that we'll see him in Austin again very soon. We had some injuries (Rocha, Lisch), but at the end of the night, we've been beaten twice at home by teams that are clustered at the top. Although the standings don't change (we're still 2nd with goal differential), what has to change is the performance and results. I chatted with Paul tonight, and he has some aces up his sleeve, but for me, the proof will be on the pitch.

    Out of a possible 12 points, we've taken 2, all at home. The schedule starts getting tougher with a Tuesday night match in Laredo representing one of 2 games south in a week. At this point, I need to see better ball management from the blue and gold. We gave too many balls, even when a man up, to the opposing team.

    Is it a slump? Hell yes. Am I giving in and saying we're done? Hell no.
     
  5. VioletCrown

    VioletCrown Member+

    FC Dallas
    United States
    Aug 30, 2000
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The player that I found most frustrating was Caicedo. Of all the giveaways, his were the ones I noticed most.
     
  6. Parrothead FC

    Parrothead FC Member

    Jun 29, 2005
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I wasn't at this game. Sounds like more of the same, on the turnover side of things. Tyrpak ought to be trialing somewhere too, IMO, in reward for his consistency.
     
  7. pomintex

    pomintex Member

    Feb 7, 2012
    Club:
    Bolton Wanderers FC
    Sheesh what DOES it take to keep this board going? I remember the USL blog on here was really busy. I guess just not the same interest all round at this level. I'm enjoying the games myself probably more so than Stoke City lol. By the way Orlando has in truth done very well!

    Well another loss down at Laredo, apparently played well but just couldnt pull the goal back. Lets beat 'em tomorrow now !

    What is the play off situation with this six team league? C'mon Eric you know all about that !
     
  8. Parrothead FC

    Parrothead FC Member

    Jun 29, 2005
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Couple of thoughts:

    1. I think some of the Eberly's Army members talk on their own board. It's hard to blame them; despite the recent BigSoccer overhaul, which I think has brought lots of improvements, this is not the most user-friendly site or the best community (outside of the Austin forum, that is).

    2. If you're analyzing your team closely on a message board, you're probably inevitably going to be criticizing certain players. And I don't think anyone wants to stray into negative territory when it comes to a group of high school and college amateurs. So instead of talking a lot and throwing around criticisms of 18 to 22 year olds, I think some people are choosing to remain relatively silent at the moment. I think that applied to some degree even to the old USL-1 team, so it's magnified for a PDL team (I wasn't around back when the old team was a PDL team). We don't want to come across as in any way dissatisfied with the team at the moment, since a team that's winless in their last five is still much better than not having a team at all.

    That's just my reading of why things are a bit slow here. For what it's worth, I plan on sticking around and I try to post when there is a reason or an opportunity to do so. :)

    The top two teams make the playoffs, and if it works the same as last year's playoffs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_PDL_season#Bracket) it will go like this: The number one seed in the Mid-South division will play the number two seed in the Southeast division and vice versa. So if the season ended today, we would be the number two seed in the Mid-South and we would face IMG Bradenton Academics who currently sit atop the Southeast. The winners of those games would of course go on to face each other in the Southern Conference finals, and the winner of that game would be in the league semifinals and face whoever comes out of the Eastern Conference. Then it's the final, which our division's very own Laredo Heat lost last year to Kitsap Pumas of the Western Conference's Northwest division.
     
  9. VioletCrown

    VioletCrown Member+

    FC Dallas
    United States
    Aug 30, 2000
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Thanks, Parrothead, for answering the playoff question. Checked the USL website, but the one page I found says "2010 Season". The description there matches what was done last season. I think it's unlikely that it's changed. There has been that much of a fluctuation in the number of teams.

    As to what it takes to keep the boards going... my thoughts:

    1. The PDL is an odd beast. It's a MUCH shorter season, so it's here, then it's gone. We've had a lot of home games in a row, so many of us are actually seeing each other in person and getting a chance to talk about things then. Not much reason to talk if we've already talked it out.

    1a. Another aspect of the short season is that it doesn't consume as much of the year. With the D2 team, we were starting to talk about the team in February, and the season went through September. With PDL, there's a little talk in March, it doesn't really get going until May, then it's over in August.

    2. Smaller attendances, smaller audience, smaller awareness.

    3. Besides the Eberly's Army website, Facebook and Twitter. There's actually some activity on Facebook now that used to be over here, and Twitter, too, I guess (I don't do that thing).

    4. Away games are quieter. With the D2 Aztex, we used to get to watch the away games. We're not going to get to do that with these guys.

    5. Maybe its partly my fault. I used to try to post a weekly thread for the games, but haven't managed to this season. A variety of other responsibilities have distracted me.

    Hopefully things will pick up as the team stays around. And that might be another factor. On some level, as much as we're happy to have the team around, having been burned once so recently, maybe there's a lower level of commitment and enthusiasm.

    Just my guesses.
     
  10. mgrayscale

    mgrayscale Member

    Mar 10, 2008
    Buda, TX
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Don't take the silence as no interest. All of the reasons that are posted by others before me are accurate. Frankly, I've been very impressed with the interest shown not only by rabid fans, but the fans in general. Through last Saturday's match, we're averaging well over a thousand fans, which is tremendous for a PDL club not in Portland. There are other areas, including the aforementioned Eberly's Army forums, Facebook, Twitter, etc. For me, the biggest reason I haven't posted is the number of opportunities we've had to chat face to face with fans of the Aztex at matches, pubs, USMNT watch events, etc.

    From a playoff perspective, I'm still nervous. We're tied with El Paso on points, and have them on GD. However, we have 2 games in a row with the Heat, who are playing very well after a slow start (including pre-season loss to some Austin universities). We've taken 2 points from a possible 15, which is not good. For me, we need to take at least 4 points from the next 6 to keep playoff hopes alive. Obviously, I'd prefer 6, but am realistic on a split between home & away.
     
  11. Parrothead FC

    Parrothead FC Member

    Jun 29, 2005
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I keep reminding myself of our GD too, but unfortunately it may not come into play. The Wikipedia article for the 2011 playoffs says this:

    I don't know if this is still true, but I fear that it is. We're 1-2-0 against El Paso with one game to go, so the only way to bring GD into play is to beat them in El Paso on July 8 (and, of course, maintain our GD by not getting blown out by anybody in the meantime and not having El Paso blow anybody out.) So unfortunately there's a lot of "ifs" there. The best solution, as ever, will be to start winning games again and put some distance between us and them in the standings.
     
  12. Parrothead FC

    Parrothead FC Member

    Jun 29, 2005
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I could give that a go for a while. I enjoy distracting myself from my responsibilities. :)
     
  13. VioletCrown

    VioletCrown Member+

    FC Dallas
    United States
    Aug 30, 2000
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Go for it!
     
  14. VioletCrown

    VioletCrown Member+

    FC Dallas
    United States
    Aug 30, 2000
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  15. Parrothead FC

    Parrothead FC Member

    Jun 29, 2005
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Even if you jinxed it, you're right, we're not :) . We might start a new one, but for the moment all is well. That must have been quite a game. It would be nice to have more than a 3-point lead over the Patriots, though... Not out of the woods yet, but getting closer...
     
  16. VioletCrown

    VioletCrown Member+

    FC Dallas
    United States
    Aug 30, 2000
    Austin, Texas
    Club:
    Austin Aztex
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    No, not out of the woods, but now our woods are nearly as thick as El Paso's.

    Us:
    2 away vs. New Orleans
    1 away vs. El Paso
    1 home vs. West Texas

    Them:
    1 away vs. West Texas
    1 home each vs. Austin, Texas Dutch Lions, and Laredo
     

Share This Page