Evansville 2004

What's a 6'2", 190 lb guy doing taking corner kicks? Having seen the Aces play a couple of times this season, it seems clear that Golan has his work cut out for him. It looks to be a very poor level of committment on the field, especially in team defense. Worse still, a number of the team don't look to be match fit.

 

Re: Evansville 2004 [R]

Not the best of starts to the valley for this team. This team has not shown that they are able to over come obstacles as of yet. I hope that this is when they start.

Western Kentucky was able to beat a very organized SMS team so things could be difficult on sunday. Western is never an easy place to play. Thank God they don't play on the football field any more.

Drake was able to produce a result and come away for the Tulsa game with a point. They led the game in the shot total category as well.

Bradley opened with a come from behind win on the road beside the lake at Eastern.

The rest is a blur at this point. As always it will be an interesting year in the valley and the fun is just starting.

 

Re: Evansville 2004 [R]

I'll say. A 3-0 loss to Butler and a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of SMS in the span of 4 days, on top of equally lopsided scores earlier to Alabama A&M, Memphis and Indiana. I'd say the obstacle is an understanding of defensive concepts.

 

Re: Evansville 2004 [R]

You know, that's what I would say also, but having seen them play several times, they're good enough that they should have more results than they show. From what I've seen, the lack of defensive organization combined with and overall lack of on-field leadership just kills them. They go a goal down early, hang their heads and simply don't recover. Tough problem to fix.

 

Re: Evansville 2004 [R]

I agree, they are good enough to have posted more wins at this point in the season. It has been a disapointing start to the season, and now conference play. I hope they can pull together and make a stong showing in the MVC, but it seems like a tall order with multiple teams doing so well. I wish Dave and the boys all the best.

 

Re: Evansville 2004 [R]

My question is where are players like Chairez (hard, energetic, team leader), Fankam (steady, athletic, ball-winner), and Pele (left foot OB, strong, 1v1 def.). Is it possible that these players could help Dave's defensive debacle. And why with players like Birch, Brox, and Binder does Eville have so much problem getting forward and scoring. Have they any idea how to send players out of their defensive blocks to combine and create chances? I don't know, I have yet to see them play this season. If anyone could help shed some light I would be greatful. As always good luck to the Aces!

 

Re: Evansville 2004 [R]

Didn't they play really well defensively last year? What happened? I know they lost their keeper who was excellent, but from what I hear there is just no defensive leadership on that team. They lost a Sr in the back who was shaky at best and they lost another Sr in the midfield who did a decent job. They've given up 52 goals in 17 games vs 20 in 19 games. They still have to play Creighton and Bradley(?). They could end up giving up 3X's as many goals as last year! Ouch! Something does not seem right.

 

Re: Evansville 2004 [R]

Add FOURTEEN more to that 52 GA as the Aces were spanked in their last two games 6-0 by SMU and 8-0 by Tulsa. I have seen this team a few times this season, and I know that they're capable of much better play. If Coach Golan can get them to the MVC tournament, which is still a possibility I believe, then maybe they'll start to click!

 

Having seen them play

they look really clueless on defense. Their is very little coordination and a general lacking of leadership in the back. I think the coach got carried away with their success last year and placed more emphasis on offense and really dropped the ball on what produced wins for them last year. If you've read his pre season outlook he placed a great deal of emphasis on generating more offense. Giving up 52 goals in 17 games is not all of a sudden going to stop if they get into the MVC playoffs.

They were lacking over all size last year and this year's squad is even smaller. They are not a physical team and lose far too many one on one battles. They have not replaced the keeper and they have not replaced the people they lost. I've heard from several sources that there was a under current on that team last year, that a lot of players did not repsect the head coach or the assistant. I thought they might have addressed that issue when they replaced the asistant this year, who by the way is having a horrible year at Bowling Green. One source told me that several of their top players were suspended from last MVC playoff game. I checked out the box score from that game and several key players did not play. The funny part is that all of those players came back this year. Makes you wonder if there were problems why they would not play in such an important game and even stranger that he brought them back.

What is that old saying about the inmates running the asylum?

 

Re: Having seen them play

I heard those players (MB, LM, DB, IM) were kept from dressing or traveling with the team for the MVC tournament game due to poor attitudes and poor training. And while i think the players were with the coach they felt the time of the decision was poor and should have been done much earlier. the coach allowed those players to return because he felt that they reached an understanding, and that those players would hold up their end of the bargin. now whether they are or not this year i don't know. i feel the players really respected the coaches but were not able to buy in to what they were saying right away. now is the fault with the coaches, or the players? in my opinion the players at evansville don't know what it takes to win because they haven't had a great season in over ten years. they do lack leadership and character, but when was the last time they had a good example?

 

Re: Having seen them play

I for one heard that some of the current players ran Coach Schmalz out of Evansville by threatening to transfer if he stayed. Not only did they make that threat, they didn't even go to Schmalz to confront him, they went to the Athletic Director who forced Fred into retiring. This is what I've heard, let me know if anybody else has heard anything like it.

 

Re: Having seen them play

I heard the same thing, and several had put the word out among their contemporaries at other schools that they were looking to transfer.

 

Re: Having seen them play

That's just sad...Fred is a great coach and more importantly a great guy. I'm still shocked that a team would do that to him after all the years of success he had with the program. The future was looking bright with him at the helm, but looks anything but that now. I'm not sure if it's really the coaches fault, maybe the players are the real problem. A coach can only do so much, and by the results Evansville has been putting out it's the players who are dropping the ball bigtime on this one.

One last thing, does anyone know what happened to Muckey?

 

Re: Having seen them play

Every cloud has a silver lining, eh. Aces 2, Creighton 1. That has to be the upset of the season.

 

Re: Having seen them play

It was very sad that the players and the AD ran Fred off. I heard, from a former coach at UE, that the AD gave him the opportunity to change the way he did things and come up with a plan to address what they determined were his deficientcies. Now I don't know exactly what happened after that but I hope Fred told the AD that he didn't know the first thing about soccer. And that he could take his list and keep it. At least they compensated him and recognized what he had done for the school and the soccer program. the problem is that players are different than the ones he coached when he was having success at UE. He had trouble adapting and finding new ways to reach the players, and he was made the scape goat for all the sub par years. i would like to say congrats to all the boys for their last two wins. a huge congrats goes to the group of seniors who have done so much to help that program. glad to see they won their senior day match. keep it going lads, everyone starts 0-0-0 in the conf. tournament. go dave and go aces!

 

Re: Having seen them play

what a great result. i was there, and remember well, the last time the aces beat the bluejays. it was a cold nigh at the old black beauty field. 1-0 was your final against a very capable creighton side. it was a great night, as i'm sure it was for the current group of players. i hope these results will help get them to the mvc tourny. keep it goin' boys. go aces.