Florida State 2020

I hope at least coming back for the spring to make a run at the title would be attractive enough for them. It’ll be key to get MB back for that.

 

How so?

 

Borncamp is sitting on 4 yellow cards in 8 games, that's an issue for Clemson moving forward.

 

I dont see how its a problem unless there is a suspension for accumulated yellows. Its not just Clemson. An easy way to see which attacking players a team fears is to look at who gets fouled and where. If you watch the UVA FSU game, FSU and Carle in particular was the beneficiary of very lenient refereeing. Im not implying it would change the result, but it looked pretty obvious that part of playing a higher line was not allowing players to turn her by fouling them from behind. The ref declining to give her a yellow card for the foul that led to the pk or any other challenge allowed her to continue to kill transition by fouling.

Its part of the game but if the perpetrator and coach is not faced with walking the tightrope after a yellow card it tilts the balance even further towards negative play and narrows any potential skill gap.

I would love to see a 4 team tournament between FSU, UNC, UVA and Clemson under international sub rules. It would be fascinating to see the difference in the game.

 

Lenient refereeing?
That is a door that swings both ways. First and foremost, it is the responsibility of the referee to set the tone of the game.
McFarland got tackled in the box. The girl who tackled her never actually touched the ball. No call.
Howell was tackled in could have been a yellow card, and there was no call. After the tackle is when UVA went down to the other end and scored on the header by Ordonez.
Jarrett was offsides twice at key moments without a call. The first was when she was 1 on 1 with the goalie and kicked it into the side net. Look back at the pass and she was a full 2 yards of sides.
The second was a much closer call. In fact it’s impossible to know 100% without being directly from the side but it appeared that Jarrett was about a half yard offsides on the Play that ended up with a penalty kick.
Again with calls it is up to the Ref to establish how he or she is calling the game and then be consistent with it. As far as offsides, it is simply the assistant refs job to be in position and make the call.
Some offsides calls are very close like the second one on Jarrett. The first one that should have been called on her was not even close. I don’t know how you could not call that one.

 

I have said consistently that officiating is bad. PERIOD. Its all over the game. Im talking about applying the laws of the game wrt to physical play, cards and how it impacts games in the context of pressing.

Close Line calls like offside or goal line are always going to be contentious. They are even with VAR. Without cameras in the perfect position, I dont know how you can be so sure about offside calls unless they are incredibly obvious, especially vs really fast players. Its hard to isolate exactly where the player is when the ball is played. Even with that, I dont think there is bias in the line calls.

On physical play there is a clear and systemic failure to apply the laws of the game properly when it comes to dangerous and cynical challenges that put players health at risk . It is almost as if the mentality is well they are girls, she didn't mean it.

The Carle example I highlighted could have been anyone. I pointed it out to sow that every team can benefit from it, even players and teams that dont play "that way". UVA has had players who play on the edge. McLernon for one.

This is not a partisan comment. It impacts FSU negatively often. Clemson game was a clear example of it. They should have been down to 9 players based on what I saw and facing suspensions. Bottom line is referees need to get much tougher on physical play early in games or you erode the skill gap.

 

I get that you are not trying to be partisan.
I am by nature a fan first. I try to be an objective fan, but no doubt
my FSU fandom colors my opinion unintentionally.
I agree that Refs need to be more consistent with their calls and stop the
persistent fouls with yellows and subsequent Reds. In our game with CU, one of the girls who had a yellow fouled one of our players in the box more physically than the original yellow. No call.
I get that refs want PK calls to be clear and obvious, but you have to draw a line.
Refs have to be MORE willing to call that 2nd yellow.
As to offsides, the Asst Refs are trained for that very thing. That is their job!
Do it well and do it consistently.
It is frustrating and detrimental to a good defense to execute an offsides trap only to have the asst ref not call it appropriately.

On a side note, do you see anyone on UVA, UNC or FSU (domestic) who is USWNT caliber. I have a couple of thoughts, but would be interested in hearing yours.

 

Hard for me to answer the WNT question. Im sure there are players who will be given chances, some already have. I go back to something i say often. I understand wanting to explore potential of young players, but i dont agree the NT camps, allocations and College soccer is the way to do it.

All those teams have players who are capable of playing at a high level professionally. In the right situation, they could do well Internationally as well.FSU has full internationals already as do UNC.

I tend to look at players who have a unique skill set that can be utilized at the next level. based on that, I probably see fewer really high upside players than most. maybe 3 or 4 across all the teams.

 

OK. I obviously see FSU 10x more than UVA, but I believe Jaelin Howell has a strong chance of making the NT. I think Berkely has a fair chance.
I don't know UVA's players well enough.
With UNC, I'd guess Pinto maybe or Bell.

 

I think this is exactly right, and maybe even a little high. If you think in broad conceptual terms, a WNT roster has around 24 players, with the player ages ranging from 21 to 30 (the range actually is wider). That is a 10 year range, which would mean having 2.4 young players come on to the roster each year and 2.4 older player drop off the roster each year.

Thinking about that, one of the US advantages is that it has so many players coming through the developmental system, it is pretty likely to come up with 2.4 top players each year. Other countries with fewer players in their development systems are likely not to have such a steady stream of good players, rather there are likely to be more up and down years, simply as a matter of statistics.

 

There are College players who are thought of highly because they are good at most things. I believe elite players have to be elite at something. You can be less good at other things, but an elite skill really sets players at the to apart.

The reason I dont like the WNT game because the way the system works, you almost have to be anointed early OR be willing to buy into a system that does not make it clear how you distinguish yourself from the competition to make the team. The WNT is more about filling holes at the margin in the current group than it is anything else. A good winger with some defensive tendencies stands a good chance of getting a look at OB whereas a really good CAM type has little chance with the logjam at that position.

Im not sure if Howell or Berkely have an elite skill. Im also not sure what position MB plays at the next level. I would rather see them play in a professional league before i stuck my neck out. On the recent U20 Team that won CONCACAF, Laura Harvey preferred a Girma/Wesley CB pairing to Bell. Bell is quick and is a very good 1 vs 1 defender. Ideal for a UNC system but i want to see her have to read the game more before Im sold. Of all the players you mention, she may have the highest ceiling for me.

 

I agree that the numbers suggest that only 2 or so per year will make the national team.
What I don't agree on is that there are only 2-4 who could make it. It certainly takes a high skill set and there aren't many that have it. There are certainly more that have the requisite skills to make the NT that do not because of the aforementioned numbers for the NT. As 007 points out it makes a difference which position you play. For some positions there is an abundance of players who could play at the NT level, but numbers and or politics plays into who gets it.
Only time will tell.
Seeing who gets multiple call ups for these NT training camps gives us a clue into who may make it.
Even when I look at the NT, I don't see many players that have a unique skill better than every other player in the NWSL or other league. Which NT players are irreplaceable? Count me in the camp of the US has depth that can absorb almost any loss. A couple of the NT players are harder to replace than others IMO.

 

You do know Bell at TCU is currently ranked #3 in the country and in position to win their first big 12 title? I think he’s doing alright. . .

 

I think it’s more about sport mentality where the NT have self confidence and winning mentality then just soccer skills. Fearless too against opposition.

 

🏧👥 ALINEACIÓN

¡Ya tenemos 1⃣1⃣❗❕❗

🏧 ¡Descubre las elegidas para el #EibarAtleti! 👇

🔴⚪ #AúpaAtleti pic.twitter.com/jHlAf1Ha8T

— Atlético de Madrid Femenino (@AtletiFemenino) November 5, 2020

DC at LS in a 442. Probably the one position where she could shine in the pros is in a 2 striker formation.

 

Found this blurb on TDS where they highlighted a few players who scored high on InStat.
Jaelin Howell, Florida State: Unlike other players that are flagged by InStat, Howell’s not earning positive numbers due to scoring buckets of goals. Instead, the defensive midfielder’s ability to control games, complete passes and win defensive challenges (she won 71% during the month) earns her high marks. One of her more impressive games came in a wild 4-3 win against Virginia back on October 18, where she made 11 interceptions. She spent time with the full U.S. women's national team before returning to the lineup in Thursday's 1-0 win over Duke where she scored the winning goal.

 

Read this from Skinner today re protecting players for ORL.

“I think Phoebe McClernon has a lot of value that people won’t even under understand yet," Skinner said. “For me, she has the attitude, the commitment, the physicality. We all agree as a staff that she will be a real big kind of player that we would like to grow and invest in.”

What struck me was no mention of anything but her attitude and physical profile. This is what I mean. Perhaps she is less "skilled" than others you see/saw in College, but mentality and physical power matter and in College its very hard ot assess. Especially for players who rarely face adversity or a player(s) who are actually better than they are.

 

I totally agree with this assessment of the value of attitude and the willingness to do what it takes, in being a very good to great player or team.
Kuikka had that. Howell has that. Others at FSU probably do as well, but those two really stand (stood) out with these qualities.

 

Well, you have to have a modicum of ability as well, but the grind is part of being a successful pro. Great teams are rarely the 14 or so best technical players. I takes all sorts. One reason why I dislike getting too drawn on who is "better". You really can see these qualities until players are tested.

 

On a different note, I'm looking forward to the ACCT next week.
I especially want to see how UNC/UVA goes. That will be informative to watch.
I'm interested in Duke vs CU.
Assuming (not a given) we get by the Duke/CU winner, then a championship game will be fun to watch and learn from.
On a side note, it is disappointing that we won't, in all likelihood, see those same teams full intact in the spring.
The May NCAAT will definitely be one that deserves an asterisk next to it.

 

On a related side note, one of the criteria the Committee is supposed to consider, in NCAA Tournament at large selections, is availability of players. I never have seen evidence of the Committee considering this, and the data work associated with it would be significant and not something the NCAA statistics address, but I believe for basketball it is something that committee does consider.

 

With some teams spreading out their games over 8 months and some playing a compressed schedule, and little inter conference play, there has been an asterisk on the season from he start