I thought I'd start a new thread for the new season. The Hoosiers got off to a start last night with a 0-0 draw with DePaul. Here's hoping for a safe few months for the boys.
Not much to say about the game. We played the younger players last night. There were a few standouts. Tommy Mihalic (Fr) is a terror and it's clear that his teammates want him to create/shoot. Joe Schmidt was the only senior on the field and he is (still) tough. I want him on the field. He can play any midfield position and much of our play goes through him. It was great to be back for a beautiful night at Armstrong and see other fans.
Wow - not a lot of D was played last night. IU won 5-4 on Joey Maher's first collegiate goal. There were truly some nice goals in the game. There were also 3 pks - all deserved. One thing is clear - IU has to firm up our back line. L'ville used high pressure from the outset and we made some very poor passes in the back. We had problems with the pressure until Endeley came in so that we could win balls over the top. Still, our D has to step up. As I mentioned, L'ville was very aggressive and that aggression led to quite a few fouls. I think this frustrated them. They also started to bait the IU students at the game, running over to the fan section and yelling at them after they scored each goal. At the end of the game, they also initiated a kerfuffle with some pushing and shoving between the teams. All of this because of an exhibition game. I wouldn't have believed that a team coached by John Michael Hayden would behave that way. Well, on to ND for the first regular season game after a five day reprieve.
It was gratifying that Yeagley played well down the stretch to help tie the game. His first collegiate goal was a goalazzo! Brought home the win for the Hoosiers. That said, the better team didn't win this game. Our defense looked out of sorts - getting caught in possession, not knowing who to mark, some questionable passes, looking shaky on counters - this will have to be cleared up if we hope to be contenders this season. Mihalic had another good game, but Bezerra took a knock and left early in the second half. We don't seem to be getting around the corners of the defense so far. Rather, we're trying to go through the middle or on the edge of the area. Maybe that's what's available, but I'd sure like to see Glass whip some passes into the area from the left. Now for a three game home stand.
I really wish I lived back home and could make it to a game. I'd really like to get one of those Hoosier Army shirts/scarfs.
A better defensive effort resulted in a 1-0 win over Butler despite missing Bezerra, Schmidt, and Wittenbrink. We still had a few lapses at the back early in the game. Celentano saved our bacon twice, preserving his clean sheet.
Not related to the '21 Hoosiers but Eriq Zavaleta (Columbus Crew Academy, IU, and currently with Toronto FC) had a decent game at center-back last night for El Salvador vs the USMNT. He put his head on the ball on a corner kick and ended up putting it on frame for one of El Salvador's best scoring chances. US Keeper Matt Turner made a great save. It's at about 56:10 to 56:15 in the game and 2:50 to 2:55 in the video below. The USMNT had better get their shit together. Hopefully, Pulisic's return will help with that and I'm also eager to see Pepi get some time.
Meanwhile, we (IU) sucked. No two ways about it, we sucked from beginning to end. Our D continued to be woefully inadequate and tonight our midfield declined to show up. Our offense spoke for itself. Hard to even find anyone who did have a good game.
It's hard to say. I thought they played well, but we sure helped by playing like sh!te. They certainly wanted it more than we did.
We were unlucky not to win at Akron Friday night. Their GK made a few unexpected saves to keep them in it.
We lost another one, this to Rutgers. Our defensive woes continue and it looks like the ship is adrift... Our midfield didn't really show up again and, when it did, its passes were horrendous. We can't string three passes together to save our lives. Based on some of the stuff players were saying to each other, I'm afraid that team morale is low and eroding. We need a higher work rate and more leadership on the field or this will be a very short season.
I went to bed at half time not expecting to see a result I liked this morning. It looks like we turned it around and won 2-1. Like BRF has been saying all season, the first half felt sloppy and disjointed. We had a few good chances toward the end of the half, but there is a real lack of cohesion throughout the team.
Yes, we had another fumble/stumble first 35 minutes, including a dumb turnover and bad decision by our central defense, which resulted in an early goal. We started to turn things around and got some good attacks, esp. in the second half. This was the first game where I saw IU attack from the corners - with success. We are dangerous when we do that. We're also dangerous when the opposing keeper comes off his line and we chip him (Sarber's second). Great team goal on the second - Bezerra to Wittenbrink to Endeley for the easy tap in. We still have a lot of work to do.
Well, we pulled defeat from the jaws of victory again on Friday. Our only score was from a PK that Endeley earned. Otherwise, we didn't really do a lot defensively. Meanwhile, our defense and midfield continue to struggle, allowing two goals from UM from crosses. We certainly aren't strong enough in the back, meaning we weren't competing with bigger, stronger UM forwards. I keep asking myself what has changed in the back from last year when we allowed so few goals. The ony answer I can come up with is AJ Palozzolo. As d-mid, he was primarily the one who won balls when necessary. That's really the only difference. I miss him. It's going to be a long (actually, short) season. BRF
I can't believe that we don't have someone who can play that 6 role, especially with O'Rourke there as a coach.