I really like the style of play. Having seen them a couple of times over the past few years I think they have played really solid. Grant has done a really nice job without a lot of "named" players on his roster. The color of their uniforms fits them well. They are a bunch of blue collar players who out work their opponents. Metcalf & O'Brien have really stepped up big time for them this year.
Memphis 2 - UAB 0 That clinches the regular season Conference USA championship. Now if they just keep winning, they will most likely get to the NCAAs. Go Tigers!
Great win over UAB... The Tigers just keep getting the job done. C-USA's going to be a pretty good soccer conference in its new format, and I'd love to see the program continue growing.
The good news is that they only lose 2 Srs. Someone I know down in Georgia said that they are getting a real good quality defender transferring to Memphis this Spring.
They lose 4 seniors this year: Daniel Dobson, Justin Dyer, Sebastion Vecchio, and John "Rocco" Reilly. All four are starters. They are a pretty young team. They start 4 seniors, 3 juniors, 1 sophmore, and 3 freshmen.
Isn't vecchio a Jr? Dobson and Dyer are starters, correct? From what I've heard this transfer is coming in to replace one of them. He's a big physical player with really good field vision and an excellent passer out of the back. I've seen him play in H.S. and club. He's a real good defender, very tough one v one.
How good is O'Brien? I know he's done very well in the PDL the past two summers and that he is a quick left midfielder who passes well and there's always a demand for those. Is he good enough to get a look from MLS?
I've seen a couple of times over the past few years. he is excellent on free kicks! Hopefully he will get noticed. Seemed like a quality player. It is always interesting to see players mature and apparently come out of nowhere. Looking at his bio it didn't seem that he came from a strong club team and I don't remember if he was involved in ODP. But that would not surprise much. ODP I think is vastly over rated. I personally would like to see some major changes in the way the program is set up. I favor a surcharge on all registered soccer players from 6's on up. The funds to be used to fund the ODP program, players pay zero and the coaches would be full time paid by the fund and not be associated to any association. let them scout their respective states and invite players that they see. This tryout nonsense is just crap. small sided garbage that shows nothing of a player's true abilities.
O'Brien is a very good player. His free kicks alone make him worthy of a look from the MLS. I know he has scored at least four goals off of free kicks this year. I'm sure I have missed a couple when they were out of town. Hes also clinical on corner kicks and set plays. Memphis have scored so many goals this year off corners, its ridiculous. Partly because of O'Brien and partly because of great execution and finishing. He takes corners from both sides. Normally a right footed player will hit it from the left side on most teams. O'Brien hits it with the outside of his left foot and makes the ball knuckle. Its sickening. Some people are just blessed with a foot like that. He has been great on free kicks this year but I dont think hes played all that well. He seems to dissappear from games sometimes, but he has been so important for Memphis this year.
I have to disagree with the statement about Dayton disappearing. That has more to do with Memphis playing up the right side primarily. Dayton is a bigtime player to me and an excellent prospect for the MLS. Great vision, skill, shotmaking, set pieces, great left foot advantage, tactical awareness, great competitor, finds ways to win. His club team 84 Rangers was not a weak club team. They won state multiple times and he carried his high school team (ECS)on his back to state playoffs every year he was in high school. Sandon, mark this guy down as a prospect. Also, props to Richie Grant for hiring assistants Robbie Nicholson and Carl Schmidt who I think are tow rising coaches in the area.
ECS made it to ONE state playoff. Didn't make it out of regionals any of the other years Dayton was there.
I played against O'Brien when he played for Rangers and he is really solid. I think he was regional ODP. Rangers was a very good club team, but they only had one team so they are unknown. Memphis should have a really solid program for many years to come. The coach has alot of connections with recruiting. The PDL team is also do wonders, giving the players a chance to play in the summer.
Rankings as of 11/09/04 NSCAA/adidas Top 25: #11 College Soccer News Top 30: #16 SoccerTimes Top 25: #17 Soccer America Top 25: #20
Two things The selection committee was obviosuly not that impressed with C-USA this year. No other team made the selection. The other point is that Memphis is a newbie. Ohio State had a rough year last year but rebounded strongly this year. I saw tem play 2x's last year and they were very strong defensively because their top scorer was KO'D by an injury and so they played it close to the vest. I would imagine that the experience from last year has served them well this year. I would not be surprised if this game comes down to a set piece and there Memphis will have an advantage with O'brien.
Re: Congrats to Coach Grant & the U of Memphis Men's squad! Memphis was properly seeded. C-USA is not terribly strong. While Memphis had a good record, I'm afraid they won't survive long in the tourney. Let's see.
Re: Congrats to Coach Grant & the U of Memphis Men's squad! An interesting silver lining was brought up on the Memphis forum. The MLS SuperDraft is in Columbus on Saturday, which may give the Tigers' players some exposure in front of some very important eyes. Indeed. Who that is?