Goals are here and start at 12:15. Standard goal #1 - Hard shot down to his right from about 12 meters out. Tight angle. The defender was just manhandled. Standard goal #2 - Terrible pass out of the back. Not much chance on the save Standard goal #3 - Open shot from a cross from about 8 meters out. I think that Slonina got a tip on it.
Full game highlights are now up and start at 15:30. Additional moments of Gaga. 1st Standard attempt - Player beats three Eupen defenders in the penalty area but shoots high. Slonina seemed to have it covered. 2nd attempt - 1st Standard goal, already discussed. 3rd attempt - 2nd Standard goal, already discussed. 4th attempt - first save for Gaga on a terrible give away near midfield. Feet were set and well parried away. Good strong wrists to push the shot out of danger. 5th attempt - 3rd Standard goal, already discussed. Slonina might have been able to do better on this one.
24 Sep Gent vs Eupen 13:15 Will not be on ESPN + Slonina should get the start. Gent played terrible on Thursday night. If you go look at the "extended highlights" on Youtube over half of the time is the starting line-up. The first true highlight is not until the 60'. I would anticipate an busy night for Gaga.
Gaga started, saved a PK. Eupen stated well and scored, Gift Orban had a red card, but they ran out of steam and lost 2-1 to league leading Gent. Seems like an all around strong match for Slonina.
📺 | Penalty of niet? 🤔 #GNTEUP pic.twitter.com/mirypMV8o4— Eleven Belgium (NL) (@ElevenBeNL) September 24, 2023 This was the foul that led to the PK.
Slonina vs. Gent involvements 19yo Gaga Slonina 🇺🇸 vs. Gent 🇧🇪 pic.twitter.com/Eu2M6Iyz3d— americanwigends (@mericanwigends) September 25, 2023
Looks like Slonina is getting more comfortable in Belgium. Thought he looked more assured in that all touches video then in previous ones.
Too bad he couldn't hold onto the penalty kick, or at least push it over the end line. Kind of a brutal goal for him after the save. After he distributes the ball his posture is one of "hope", like he hopes the ball will get where he wants. Hope he keeps building up his confidence, which I'm sure he will if he continues to start.
I loved the header to clear out the long ball. It looks like he is getting lots of play with his feet. @mace I think that I saw that as well. His distribution and confidence with it is getting better, but more match time will bring more confidence. The team has trust in him with the ball at his foot. Look at all of the times they passed it back to him. @Americanwigends thanks for the isolated clips.
Yeah, even though he doesn't (to me at least) give off the aura of confidence on the ball his teammates sure trust him and were passing back to him quite a bit. That was good to see for sure. And Slonina did have some nice, incisive passes. And yeah, thanks to whoever put together that clip! I hadn't seen much of Slonina at Eupen (I was 5 km from Eupen on Thursday/Friday but didn't stop over to say "hi" to him LOL).
There were some good things, but he's prone to 1 substantial goalkeeping error, almost always in the 2nd half, that dirties up his performance and his team's result. It's coincidentally similar to his former teammate Chris Brady's tendency early in the season with the Chicago Fire. After a point, I think he's resolved that psychology. Now Slonina needs to in Belgium to say he's unequivocally good, or even in his case, decent. Playing the ball out of the back is almost always secondary, especially for KAS. In this regard, he's improved a lot since going to Chelsea, and they asked him to do this, unlike at Chicago. It was similar to Turner after he went to Arsenal from New England. Now he just needs more of his own shot-stopping and command to return, and then to hopefully build on that too.
I will say that Eupen is surprisingly dedicated to playing it out of the back for a bottom third Belgian side. I've noticed in all of Gaga's matches this season that they expect him to keep possession deep in their half and try to play out. Not sure if that's a Kohfeldt-instructed thing but I think Gaga is an upgrade there over their backup GKs. I find it interesting because that's not what I would have considered one of his strengths going into the loan move but he's so young that he's probably already improved there significantly
his distribution is impressive. super confident with the ball. there was only one pass I saw that really almost put him in a bind, but the attacker dived and couldn't get to the ball. In the EPL that speed difference would have been a huge turnover. I'm not surprised to see him struggling with corners. Penalties and free kicks translate, but corner kicks at the adult level are just different. More physicality, body types, and danger from all over than the youth levels. Also playing with relatively new teammates which will matter more in that type of situation.
There is also a question of how much pulling and pushing the refs tolerate. That's gotta be a huge learning curve.
You didn't think so in the video posted above? At 2:15 he just lets the ball bounce all the way thru on a corner to allow that score. His teammates who were there should have cleared it, but so should he have, especially since he can use his hands. I don't know what else he had to do in that situation, other than be ready in case that ball got to him. There wasn't even anyone from Ghent to shoot at his net. It was either going to be a fluky own goal, or that. And he still could have reacted to slap it away.
I think thats really harsh. The ball is going thru like 5 bodies before it passes him. He has to hold and wait for a deflection. That is absolutely not a substantial error.
So everybody should have a responsibility in a play. What should his be on a ball going thru a pack of his teammates with no opposing player in sight to redirect it toward goal?
30 Sep Eupen vs Anderlecht 10:00 Will not be on ESPN + No reason why Slonina will not start this one. Eupen has lost three in a row, and now has a difficult stretch of three matches. Anderlecht, @ Antwerp and @ Union St. Gilloise. The best chance for points is this weekend. Anderlect has a few injuries to starters, but also has a new keeper in Kasper Schmeichel.
3-1 loss with 4/6 saves, and an own goal for his right back in there. Four straight losses. Against Anderlecht, who are clearly a stronger side.