Nobody is bothered about a coach complimenting his own players. I think the frustration people are expressing is when others then translate that coach speak into external rankings, awards, recognition, etc.
Agree that women’s soccer suffers particularly from rankings, awards, etc., being based on reputation, what someone else says, rather than actual knowledge. Worst offenders are the player ranking services that try to profit off their ignorance.
What constitutes "actual knowledge"? It's all based on reputation. People make a choice on who they think is credible. Coaches, ranking services, awards and even posters on Big Soccer are all in the same boat. For me, there are no "worst offenders", just people trying to use their influence for different purposes.
A coach hyping or even over hyping their own players does not move the needle of offense for me. UNC always has some studs (a lot of them actually). I don't watch UNC very often, unless FSU is playing them or a brief highlight video from a good game. I suspect different players look good in each game. In the recent FSU/UNC game, Sentnor and Dahlien stood out. That said, I don't particularly watch for UNC players standing out, so they have to jump off at me. Next game it may be Patterson and Meza!
That's kind of how it has been with this roster so far this year. I think only Avery Patterson has had multiple "stand out" games. Sentnor you could probably say is on her second in a row with an even better showing vs UVA in the previous game. This is Dahlien's first big performance of the season. That can be good from the perspective we don't really have a true stand out attacking player. Lots of players *almost* there, but nothing like what I'm seeing from Dudley from game to game. I feel like Olivia Thomas could have potentially grown into that role when things clicked for her, but she got hurt in that SEC gauntlet.
IMO, Dudley is just beginning to show her potential. The next question she'll have to answer is, will she do it consistently. Now the answer to that question will not always be goals, but how much attention does she draw away from other offensive threats like Olsson, Echegini, Brown and Huff.
Early in the season, I compared the young Jordynn Dudley to a young pre-injury Rebecca Jarrett. No disrespect to Jarrett, but JD is much better. She has the speed of Jarrett, but much better touch on the ball. She can dribble nearly full speed and keep the ball within 2 yards. Her shots are with pace and precision. She passes so well for one so young and she has short area quickness to go with the long speed. If she is not a future USWNTer, then I don't know what I'm looking at! To join the fan club, just email ......... JK
That first goal… pulling the ball down, surging with intention, gliding forward, and gaining a few yards of separation from the defender on her shoulder… love to see it!
For one so tall she gets around the corner in the box extremely well. To me, to find long speed and quickness in one so tall is rare! IMO
BTW last week Jordynn was the player of the week for TDS nationally, but certainly was not good enough to be the same for the ACC.
I checked with UNC Central Control Office and they said Florida State already had gotten its allotment for this season.
Wake Forest did the same thing (no opponent SOG) except it was against VA Tech. And the Notre Dame player also scored two goals BUT added an assist as well.
Now that is funny my friend. I suspect you and I would get along famously in person. I love a dry sense of humor!
Just for clarification, I'm not incensed by any of this. I'm slightly amused and bewildered by the lopsided #s, but it is afterall, insignificant in grand scheme of things. ND and WF girls won offensive and defensive POTW. That is the first such award for both schools. Kudos to the "UNC Central Control Office" for their selections
Just for clarification, the shots taken by VT vs Miami were not the same. VT had 3 shots, none on goal apparently. UM had 0 shots period!
I was surprised to see the selections and now I'm curious as to how they're made. No disrespect to the ND gal but Dudley's two goals were sensationally taken regardless of opponent. A PK take, a tap in on a rebound, and a token lay off assist shouldn't have supplanted that. I have a question about the FSU UNC game that maybe I'm just missing in the recaps. I was wondering if anybody found out about what happened to Roque right before FSU scored their first goal? Was that an equipment malfunction like the sock bunching up underneath the sole, or ... ?
[/QUOTE] Well after a 3-3 tie I’m not sure anyone on FSU or UNC was going to win the defensive award. And despite what some may think there are several high quality players elsewhere in the league!
Well after a 3-3 tie I’m not sure anyone on FSU or UNC was going to win the defensive award. And despite what some may think there are several high quality players elsewhere in the league![/QUOTE] Lol oops. Wrong week. Time is going by too fast. Still thinking about the UNC/fsu game.
That was just a woodshed whuppin' that BC took. Several of the goals were high level. Some excellent assists and balls played into the box! BP is still experimenting with player positioning. Had Dudley playing the 9 today instead of Olsson who played 7 or 11. She was on the right. Jody Brown still doesn't look 100%. I haven't seen her full speed yet. Hope she gets 100% healthy.
Peyton Nourse's 2 goals today, and basically all of this freshman class, demonstrate that BP knows who/how to sign and strongly suggests that there will be no decline in talent going forward.
The only thing I know is that UNC had a tie with Duke. That should solidify their hold on the #1 ranking.
I would like to hope so, but we won't know that for a couple more years. 15 of our players were recruited by Mark K. In 2 more years, most of those will be gone. He will need to hit the transfer portal hard. The upcoming 24 recruiting class is good, but not top 10 good IMO. (1 top 25 player, 2 others in the lower top 50) The 25 class ( 3 top 25 types, 1 top 50)