Man, if only GG could coach as well as he can recruit...six 1st year players played last nite...all should be starters,(unfortunately) three on the back line...but the speed and 1 v 1 ability is scary when we had Tony Tchani, Chris Ogorsor, Brian Ownby in along with Matt Mitchell and Ross LaBauex. Very even game with a very good and organized SMU team...the inexperience in the back hurt UVA. I don't think too many people are going to want to play UVA by tournament time. Unfortunately, not all will stick around for four years, but a lot of fun to watch...even if they don't win too many games this year.
promising start for smu and new coach tim mcclements. uva always recruits well and there fun to watch.
Thanks for pointing out the typo...you are very helpful, a veritable fount of information...I don't know what we would do without you.
I'm starting to think that George likes having lots of freshmen in the lineup because it gives him a built-in excuse for failure.
Now George's ability to win the big one have won him a 4 yr contract extension http://www.virginiasports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17800&ATCLID=1575779
Joking right... We did pull out the win last night, but he took a top 10 program and turned it into a 15th-30th ranked program (with the exception of the good run in '06).
It really is amazing, and not in a good way. Consider this: we're in Gelnovatch's 13 season as UVa head coach. He's been to the Fina Four twice and reached the title game once. At the end of Bruce Arena's 13th season as UVa's head coach, UVa had been to the Final Four twice, reached the title game once and won one national title. So, at first glance, the differences between Gelnovatch's tenure and the equal amount of time Arena was UVa head coach aren't that much different, with the title game going in UVa's favor for Arena but not Gelnovatch. But the two big differences are A) that Arena took over a program that was an afterthought nationally and built it into a dominant national power whereas Gelnovatch took over said dominant national power. And, B) that immediately after his 13th season, Arena began a run of 4 straight national titles and 5 straight Final Fours. So unless you think Gelnovatch is about to guide UVa to a series of Final Four appearances, it certainly seems like he has done far less with a UVa program than Arena did, despite Gelnovatch having the advantages of all that Arena brought to and built for the program. And for this he gets rewarded with a contract extension? I guess the bar has been set pretty low in C-Ville these days.
As for the UVa freshmen, they had a good game against Mason yesterday. Down 2-0, "first year" as they say on campus, Chris Agorsor started the comeback with a goal assisted by classmate Hunter Jumper. Soph Jimmy Simpson tied it in the 77th minute before freshman Brian Ownby scored the game winner in OT, assisted by Jonathan Villanueva who has gone from being the best recruit in college soccer to coming off the bench for an above average but not great college team. While it's great to see the first year's producing, that Villanueva isn't even starting on this team doesn't say much about him or UVa's current developmental record.
The freshman have some potential. As for Villanueva, he has had the same problems with violations as a bunch of the guys before him. Problem is the staff pretty much lets some guys get away with almost anything. Not good for them or for the team. Big reason uva doesn't produce like it once did.
I'm not certain of what you speak about Villanueva, he just doesn't have the size, strength or speed to progress much. I am very impressed with Tony Tchani... not that he scored two well struck goals against Hofstra, but his comfort and composure with the ball at his feet have not been seen in Hooville in quite some time...I predict he is going to be the next big thing since Reyna to leave Charlottesville.
the gg anointed ones i remember are: kyle martino: hermann candidate; left after jr. yr.; now retired from mls service joe vide: good pedigree; touted as 'tino' replacement; played through sr. yr.; in-and-out of gg dog house; still a serviceable d-mid with dc united jonathan villanueva: touted as a true #10; good fr. yr, but not much since; still has 1.5 seasons to go; perhaps needs to buy into gg system; needs maturity tony tchani: has the skills; will he buy into gg system?; will he stay out of trouble? let's hope he can lead uva for some time to come
In what might be their only ACC win of the season, UVa's freshmen combined to score the first 4 goals in a 5-0 win over NC State. Tony Tchani, all 6-4 of him, had 2,Chris Argorsor had 1 and Hunter Jumper the other. Thru 5 games, UVa has now scored 14 goals. Of those, 11 have been scored by first-years. Tchani has 5, Argorsor 4 and Jumper and Brian Ownby have 1.
Curious to see how long Tchani stays in school. I'll be stunned if he doesn't get a GA offer after this year. Whether he takes it - or trys Europe - or stays in school remains to be seen but he's gonna have suitors. A google search reveals he came to the US in Dec. of 2006 so he may want to turn pro to get the Green Card process started ASAP
The Virginia freshman may be helping shake Jon V. out of a funk, according to this article: As a freshman, Villanueva lived up to a good portion of his hype. The Dallas native was the team’s fourth-leading scorer and was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team. However, last year, by most accounts, Villanueva took a large step back as a sophomore. “I think I may have been a little over-confident and may have lost some of the drive that I had my freshman year,” Villanueva said. “That year I was very excited and very focused. I think last year, after all the success I had, I stopped working as hard probably.” ... Villanueva says having so many talented freshmen in the mix has served as an additional wake-up call. “All these new guys have come in and have really pushed me to be even more focused — just to get playing time,” he said. Link: http://www.dailyprogress.com/cdp/sp...soccer/article/uva_star_back_on_course/28029/
Got a voice mail message from JoeSoccerFan tonight saying something about the kid leaving the field in an ambulance in tonight's 4-0 win over Central Connecticut. I couldn't hear the message very well because of all the back-ground noise. Joe was 4 hours away from any internet access so I thought I would just pass it along from him.
Here's a report from Joe Mauceri and proplayerpipeline on UVA and Chris Agorsor...very sad news for both...hopefully he will recover quickly!! Charlottesville, VA - While Virginia (UVA) won the game 4-0 over 2007 NCAA tournament participant Central Connecticut State University (CCSU), they lost highly touted freshman and 2008 Gatorade player of the year, Chris Agorsor. In the 17th minute, Agorsor was taken from the field in an ambulance after being fouled in the box and being awarded a PK. In reviewing a photographer’s picture sequence at half time, it looked like his right knee buckled under him resulting in possibly an ACL/MCL injury. While I’m not a doctor, I did eat the free breakfast buffet at a Holiday Inn Express this morning! It doesn’t look good for Agorsor. Also, It doesn’t look like the injury was suffered from contact according to the pictures.