Monday Morning Gaffer: NCAA Semi-Finals
December 15th, 2007 . By: Buzz CarrickIt’s College Cup time and if you’ve read any one of the 40 game reports out there you know Wake Forest beat Virginia Tech 2-0 and Ohio State defeated UMass 1-0. As usual I’m taking a look at this game from the prospective of the pro game. Will any of these players be good enough for MLS? The College Cup in theory has four really good teams and it gives us a chance to look at a lot of talent in one place. We’ll take particular notice of the seniors we think worthy, but the underclassmen are important too. In previous years I did grades for every player in the game, but I don’t think I will do that this year. Instead I will give some notes on tactics and then talk about some players that are worth mentioning. Being in Texas it’s hard for me to see many team in person, so I am quite happy to see some of these guys. Since the NCAA has open subs I won’t get into all the times of the changes cause they players come and go. By College Cup time it’s down to just a few changes per team anyway. Game 1: Wake Forest vs. Virginia TechWake Forest The Demon Deacons play a flat, but very modern, 4-4-2. They use two deep central mids in front of their back four, one of the mids links more than the other. Today the Deacons are in all white.
Wake has three players that come in and contribute but only one for extended playing time. #12 Zack Schilawski spells the forwards and even Franks at right mid in the second half. #6 Austin da Luz comes in for about twelve minutes at left mid for Lahoud and #10 Corben Bone plays twenty minutes at right mid for Franks. Wake Observations and Player Notes Wake plays the most advanced tactics and technical game of the teams here. If you are a MLS team and you draft a Wake player you know they already know how to play a high level game. They are really well balanced and well coached. They also have a bunch of players with MLS potential but only three seniors. Still, I’ll talk about their entire lineup because of that potential. - Marcus Tracy (Jr.) was spectacular. He has all the tools to be a immense pro player. Yes, Arnoux scored more goals this season, but Tracy is bigger, stronger, and faster. Combine that with sweet touch and the ability to play tight combinations and you got a heck of a player. He was a man among boys. Some MLS teams will be calling Todd Durbin to get this kid signed after this game. Today had all the hallmarks of a big stage, national television, in front of all the scouts, break out game. As Eddie Johnson would say, Tracy was a “Grown Ass Man.” - Pat Phelan (Sr) is the best of the three Wake seniors even though he’s playing out of position here. He’s going to be a center back at the next level and I rate him above Valentin as he’s much faster and bigger as well as more composed with the ball. He’s playing holding midfield due to injuries, freshman emergence, and adapted tactics by the coach. He’s servable as a holding mid and he can cover good ground and plugs up a lot of the middle, even checking back to help the defense. - I must admit I wasn’t a big fan of Julian Valentin (Sr) coming into this game and he didn’t do anything to win me over. He’s a very smart defender and technically good, but he’s just too slow for the next level in my opinion. Someone will draft him, but I just don’t see him being big success. Every time Nyarko gets the ball valentine drops way off him because he fears the speed. Tech should have had a PK late when Valentin clobbered Edmans. Instead of the next Parkhurst I see the next Lee Morrison, ok perhaps that’s a bit harsh. - Brian Edwards (Sr) is a solid keeper who is big enough and athletic enough to be MLS quality. He needs some work on the shot stopping ability. Positionally he’s quite sound, but he will need time to work his technique a bit before progressing. His one mistake doesn’t cost his team today. - My second favorite Wake player on the day, after Tracy, is the right back Evan Brown (Jr). He covers a ton of ground and goes end to end. It’s not that he’s fast, he just never stops moving. Ever. Nice feet, really relishes getting forward and playing in combinations. He’s also a god technical defender. His pro potential may be limited by his physical stature, he’ll need to add some strength without losing his range to be really good. I just loved watching him play today and He brought a smile to my face. - Sam Cronin (Jr) has really progressed from last year. I didn’t think much of him last time I watched in person. Now he’s develop vision and awareness both in passing ability and in positioning. He’s not a hard tackler but does win balls by intercepting play. His link play and passing are top notch, Tech has no match for it. He’s arguably the smartest player on the field. - Mike Lahound (Jr) on the left side of midfield might be real prize as well. He’s got serious wheels and can take players on the dribble. He frequently gets into dangerous positions and causes havoc. He’s more than a slasher than a get to the end and cross kind of player, he will need to learn to cross to be really coveted by MLS teams. Still an exciting prospect. He never had to do a lot of defensive work today. He’s similar to Stuart Holden in playing style. - Jamie Farnks (Jr) on the other wing has tons of energy and is quite quick, but he’s far less effective than Lahound. He just doesn’t create as much danger and doesn’t combine as well getting into the box. Hard to argue with his energy and work rate though. He does a lot of checking back and defending. Perhaps the least pro potential of this team at this stage although I am in no way writing him off. - Cody Arnoux (So) is a bit of enigma. He’s not noticeably fast, nor big. He’s just really smart and savvy with the ball skill to back it up. He combines really well with the other forward and any crashing mids. He also plays with his head up and sees what’s happening and reacts, which is a very rare skill. Is the ball skill and smarts enough to be a pro? I don’t know. If you can’t create your own space in MLS it’s hard to do much. I’m gonna watch how he progresses over the next couple years. - Ike Opara (Fr) has all the raw tools to be something special. But RAW is the operative word. Very, very raw. He reminds me a great deal of Bakary Soumare. If he can learn to play in control and become a more technical defender he could be spectacular. - Lyle Adams (Jr) is a Khano Smith starter kit. Very athletic and can run the wing all day, but not too nifty with the ball. He’ll overlap, run by you, and cross it in, but he’s not going to beat anyone with sweet move or play in tight combination. He defends with speed and the body, rather than with technical skill. - A quick note on Corben Bone, Wake’s outstanding freshman midfielder. He subbed in for about twenty minutes but was out of sorts on the right side of midfield (he’s a central player). He was Wake’s key playmaker to start the season but has struggled since he picked up a hip injury in a pregame warmup a while back. His loss caused a shift in Wake tactics midseason, mostly in the form of moving Phelan to midfield once Valentin returned from his own injury. Bone’s got immense skill and pro upside, but I recommend at least one more year for him in college with a DPL season this summer. Virginia Tech The Hokies plays an old school stay a home diamond 4-4-2 with a withdrawn forward. They are in orange tops with white shorts.
Tech has two players who contribute off the bench. #20 Jeff Leach plays left mid (Spangler plays both sides) and later on goes up top. #22 Scott Dillie comes on both as the withdrawn forward and later as the attacking mid. Tech Observations and Player Notes Tech tactically is a throw back to the 80s and they reminded me of how my rec team plays. Four stay at home defenders, a deep lying holding mid and a playmaker. Two wide players who run the wing and try and cross to two strikers. No overlapping nor fluid swapping of positions, no tight combination ball work or penetration. Just sit back at midfield, hit it up to Nyarko, and let him do his thing. All of their offense goes through Nyarko, it’s very old school American style. Nyarko is so good it almost worked. Unfortunately they don’t have anything like Wake’s potential in pro talent. Tech vs Ohio State would have been a much better matchup for fans in the stands. This one was never really in doubt as Wake fully deserved the win. - Patrick Nyarko (Jr) is far and away their best player, without him they have little chance of making it to the College Cup. (Goff says he’s staying in school). He’s super quick with great vision and a head for the game. He’s an impressive combination of pace and skill with immense upside. Tech plays long balls up to him and hopes he can make a great individual play to score. He gets a little help from Edmans, but not much. - Ben Nason (Sr) turned out to be better than I had thought. He covers good ground and wins a lot of balls. He held the entire midfield together for Tech. Unfortunately his final pass isn’t near good enough as they far too frequently go to the other team. Although to be fair he often didn’t have a lot of options. He’s borderline and a strong combine would really help him. Except he’s not invited to the combine. - One of the most noticeable players on the field was 6′6″ Englishman Robert Edmans (Jr). He’s a big but skinny ,a lumbering kind of player, one can’t help but compare him to Peter Crouch. Bizarrely he plays as the deep withdrawn striker behind the 6′0″ Nyarko. Edmans likes to run around and sneak in behind the chaos Nyarko creates. He pounces on bad clears and tries to finish lay offs from Nyarko. It doesn’t often work, but the one time it did perfectly he missed over the goal from about 6 yards out. - The right midfielder for Tech, Marcus Reed (Sr), was probably the second most dangerous Hokie. He’s got a little ability and unlike a couple other midfielders was willing to get forward and help out in the final third. I don’t know that I saw enough to think of him as a pro prospect, but he’s be worth a second look or maybe a late pick flyer. He’s mobile enough to at least look into. - The last player I want to mention (I don’t want to get too negative on Tech who had a fine season) is their sub James Gilson (So). He was sharp active and quick. He offered more as a wide midfielder and up top than several of the starters. He combined better going forward and was able to get into the final third on the left. Game Two: UMass vs. Ohio StateUMass The Minutemen are in a flat 4-4-2, one striker plays a very central channel role and the other moves wing to wing. One of their central mids is a pure anchor the other tries to link play. All maroon uniforms for UMass today.
UMass makes more changes than any other team. Up top #9 Michael Jejna comes on for Hogan and plays the side to side role and #10 Prince Ofosu comes on for Mark DeSantis at the target spot. #23 Chris Vaccaro plays right mid for Cirilo and #15 Stuart Tomson gets a last gasp run as the wing forward late on in the second. UMass Observations and Player Notes It was a remarkable run for UMass to have reached the College Cup. They capitalized on some home games, had the big upset of Boston College, and have a very impressive keeper. The downside of course it that Ohio State is a much more talented team. The UMass model continues with a great defensive performance today, again particularly form their keeper, and they had a chance late to tie They do have a couple nice young players to build around. Ohio State dominates the first half, I think perhaps UMass was intimidated coming in. Their only chances come on long free kicks into the box. In the second half UMass decides to come out and try and play. It’s much improved as they step up and get forward into the danger third. Of course they do finally give up the goal, but I was pleased to see them give it a go and try and win the game. They made the second half fun. - Zack Simmons (Jr) is a truly outstanding keeper, he’s the best keeper at the Cup and keeps UMass in the game through the first half onslaught. He’s not huge but he’s real quick and has a big reach. His reaction’s are fast and he’s a strong shot stopper. The Buckeyes knew they were going to have to pepper him and get a rebound in order to score. After back to back fantastic saves they finally got a rebound to Simmons side and put one away. - The second best UMass player for me today was the left midfielder Stuart Amick (Fr). He’s doesn’t posses great raw athleticism and power, rather he’s just a nice player. He didn’t back off the clearly larger and strong opposition and continued to try and beat people and make plays. I admired his tenacity and effort. (Great battle on his side of midfield with Marsh.) Amick is just a good two way player. As a freshman he’s got some time to mature and some potential. - On the verge of being a real good player is defender Chris Brown (Jr). He’s very aggressive and likes to cut off passes and moves before they start. I like a defender who is ahead of the play instead of reacting. He’s got a solid all around game, but would need some refinement in order to make it. Particularly his passing and feet need to improve some. - In the first half I wasn’t impressed with either UMass central mid, but in the second Ben Arikian (Fr) came to life as he began to try and play. He took some chances, made forays in behind the forwards, and was a much more courageous, and therefore better, player. He has plenty of game and just wasn’t willing to try in the first half. He was a BIG part of why UMass was much better in the second half. That’s a lesson for young players, don’t be afraid to try it when you play someone better. If you don’t try you can never succeed. - Coming into the game Bryan Hogan (So) was the UMass key player I had been told. I can see why people think he’s a nice player, but UMass couldn’t get enough of the possession up front to be useful. So really it wasn’t a great game to evaluate him. He isn’t the kind of player who can (at least at this point) win a game by himself. He’s tall, mobile and plays wide to side. Good ball skills and has ability to play combination, although not many others in the UMass team do. Ohio State The Buckeyes are in a flat 4-4-2 with a withdrawn striker. One of the central mids is a destroyer, one a link player. Like Wake they are in all white. They are the second most advanced tactical team at the Cup.
Ohio States makes only three changes but only one for more than about ten minutes, they are the most reliant on their starting 11. #19 Eric Edwards plays about 25 minutes as the target striker. The other two spot subs late in the game are #20 Steven Treager as a holding mid and #25 Konrad Warzycha spells Balc, probably in attempt to keep Balc fresh for the final. Ohio State Observations and Player Notes Ohio State plays like the late 90s Kansas City Wizards and Blac is Preki. The buckeyes keep it tight at the back with four strong defense first players and athletic wide players. They rely on Blac to create danger moments and dominate the game in the offensive third. - The prize Ohio State player is Xavier Balc (Sr). He really is a great deal like Preki in style (relax I didn’t say he was as good as Preki). He’s stiff in the upper body and while not slow, certainly isn’t fast by any stretch of the imagination. But he’s got serious game with fantastic touch and terrific vision. Just like Preki he’s a fantastic long passer and shooter. He’s never going to be an up and down flyer, but in the right system he could drive a team. It could be that he never pans out, or it could be he develops to be a MLS MVP like Preki. - Eric Brunner (Sr) I had of course also heard good things about. He’s certainly big and strong. It looks like he moves well too. Too bad for me that he didn’t have a lot to do today so I didn’t really get much chance to evaluate him. I am certainly intrigued I can tell you that, but I need to see him again. I look forward to seeing him mark Tracy. - State’s keeper Casey Latchem (Sr) comes from the Zack Thornton mold of keeper body, he’s a bit wide and short for my taste. I wonder about his lateral quickness. He’s dominate in his box and controls the back line well with strong leadership and personality. Good shot stopper. I am undecided on him as a pro prospect. - A pleasant surprise for me was the right midfielder Geoff Marsh (Jr). He reminded me of Brian Mullan, not just because he wears #9 and plays on the right of midfield. He’s got some real balls and guts and isn’t afraid to throw his body into physical danger and “get stuck in” as the Euro-philes like to say. Big enough and fast enough, he also works quite hard and loves to crash the box. He’s got both the mentality and game to make it if he keeps working. He could be a wide midfielder, or perhaps might be a great converted outside back like Jonathan Bornstein. - Matt Gold (Fr) in midfield was another player I took a big liking too. He’s all over the field and never, ever stops running. He wins endless amounts of balls in midfield and can pass accurately once he wins it. What a terrific upperclassman leader in midfield I thought, until I looked him up and realize he’s a freshman. This is my kind of player. He’s the engine that drives The Buckeyes. - Roger Espinoza (Jr) is a nice player as well. He’s certainly athletic and can run well with the ball at his feet. Not quite as tight in control as I’d like, but was dangerous. He’d need some tactical coaching to bring out enough game to make a MLS challenge, but he’s another worth a second look next year and see how he develops. SundayOn paper Wake Forest is the clear favorite as they are more talented and tactically advanced than Ohio State. But as they say games aren’t played on paper. Ohio State play good defense and Balc can change a game and win it all on his own. It’s a contract in styles and method between the attacking Demon Deacons and stingy Buckeyes. It should be fun. 23 Comments Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI Leave a comment | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Good quick look. Any prospects that fit what yoy think Morrow wants? Is that right back that runs all day a good fit?
Go, Buckeyes!!
I’m an Ohio State alumnus, so it will be fun to watch the game. Also, it would be cool if FCD ends up with another Ohio State grad.
are you serious buzz? that second game was horrible. both teams were crap. that balc kid looked out of shape and was just awful in my mind. Wake is going to destroy Ohio State and they are the only team that has real potential pro players.
Peg, of all the seniors only Phelan fits what I think of as a Morrow kind of player.
Big mike, Wake is clearly the best team with by far the better talent. Ohio State plays a different defensive game. Wake should win, but we’ll see.
Question (as I watch the game). . . are they playing with quarters? Why did the clock stop in the middle of the first half? I can handle the cock counting down, but what’s this?
Those are TV timeouts. If there is no TV they wouldn’t stop.
it sucks.
buzz,
how does this work in the collegiate ranks? can the MLS only draft seniors, or can players elect to come out early like they do in other sports? if that’s the case, where in your opinion would marcus tracy end up in this year’s draft since you speak so highly of him? maybe he could slip to #2.
if only the seniors are eligible, who would be the #1 & #2 picks respectively. just trying to get a feel for who FCD may end up with.
Only seniors are eligible. Underclassmen have to be signed to the Generation adidas program. There will be anywhere from 8 to 12 or so signed.
There are some bizarre but very rare circumstances for a few others, maybe one or two a year to leave without signing. But as a general rule only seniors are in the draft.
I think MLS will approach Tracy and yes I think he could be had at #2. I need to talk to Morrow a bit about what they are looking for. My guess is at #2 they will go for the second best player period and then at the #8 spot draft for a need.
We will have very in depth drat pool rankings very soon.
You guys missed the big defender (6′-5″ cook) for umass. Absolutely disgraceful that you don’t give him any mention. If Brunner was playing for umass under the same pressure he has seen all year, UMASS would not have come close to the final four. Shame on you for not giving this kid any mention. I’m from the UMASS area and I’ve seen games where he has single handidly won defensively and offensively. He has been taking pressure all season. Phenomenal in the air, deceiving speed, unbelievable and you guys gave him no mention
I didn’t mention Cook because he wasn’t that good at the College Cup. Both Arikian and Brown were better. Cook’s touch wasn’t good enough and he didn’t read the game fast enough. He was about the 7th best Umass player on the day.
With all due respect your credibility just went down the tubes with me. He was being bombarded from all sides by Ohio state and NO other college defender in the country would have withstood that pressure. 1 goal allowed by ohio state, 1 goal allowed by boston college, shut out at st louis, shut out rhode island etc all those zack simmons shutouts had something to do with this tremendous centerback. ohio state had 3 guys sandwiching him in (and holding him)on corner kicks and he still managed to get his head on the ball just about every time. Same thing with Boston College. He had the game winning assist because they could not stop him in the air . I don’t know any other player that can do those things. No more insults about this player ok, it just makes you look bad. I’ve watched this kid play his heart out for 4 years. Makes me wonder how wrong you are about the other players that I haven’t had the luxury of seeing play. Just ask the other coaches in the atlantic 10. He made all conference 3 years.
On this site we look for pro prospects and pro potential. It can be harsh but we are looking for very best to progress to the next level.
The reason UMass gave up few goals was Simmons, not Cook.
“the reason umass gave up few goals was simmons”????
Do you know anything at all about soccer??????
Thats all from me - good luck
Xavier Balc: “(Zack Simmons) is a great goalkeeper and we knew that going in with that great highlights show that we saw at the banquet the other night. We knew it was going to be a tough game with getting balls past him because he’s a big boy and he moves very well. Basically the only way to get it past him was to have him make a good save and while he’s on the ground, we’d put it away.”
Casey Latchem: “Zack Simmons played outstanding. He really kept his team in it. He’s the heart and soul of that team today. It was amazing. He had incredible saves. We knew going into it that any time we put the ball in the box he was going to come out and get it.”
Thanks for reading 3rd Degree.
zack made 3 very good saves and one of them was the goal where he deflected back right into the box. I like simmons alot but lets see how well he does next year without cook. cook has a history of making very good keepers look great in the stats dept. there were several games that I saw where zack didn’t have to do much. oh well - good discussion we’ll just have to respectfully disagree.
I doubt anyone will check back and read this but am I allowed to come back and point out that Cook just went updrafted in 8 rounds of MLS draft?
He played other sports (very good basketball player) so he was an unknown amongst the MLS” in crowd” and “good ole boys”. Thats OK he has many other things he can do using his brain and not his head. Check this picture out, he won this header and is at least a foot above Brunner!! Watch the game, he did this several times
http://www.yoursportshooter.co...bumId=14483&imageId=510864
Your argument has reached a ridiculous point, Cook being undrafted proves I was accurate with my assessment. Again.
Your boy was in the College Cup, that’s the biggest stage in the college game. He played in front of every MLS coach; now every team, GM, and coach in the league has now officially agreed with me.
Feel free to come back and tell me again how I know nothing about the game. I’ll stick with the MLS coaches who have told me, again, that I was right on the money.
At this point all you’re doing is upping my traffic and making my points for me.
Not my boy…My kids (ages 8 & 11) are umass fans (live near-by)…just sticking up for one of their favorite players…nothing more..nothing less.. He’ll graduate, get a good job and make more money than he ever could dream of playing in the MLS. You guys did this kid a great favor. It is scary to think my own kids someday will fall to the graces of your exceedingly talented eye for judging soccer talent during the course of “1″ game. Sorry if I hurt your feelings!!! you are truely an absolute soccer genious!!!! Feel better now?
So you questioned our evaluation cause your kids like him? What a colossal waste of time.
We don’t coddle kids here, we evaluate professional potential.
Ok, I’ll take the bait..I promised not to reply anymore but i can’t let your comment go unanswered..Sorry!
Continuing to deposit slime upon one single college player to advance your own self serving cause for subjective credibility in a public forum is nauseating at best.
I questioned your evaluation based of my own two eyes and not solely because my kids like this particular player. All the players that were selected in the draft are also very very good players. They will be fun to watch and cheer for many seasons to come. I’m excited for the MLS because i think this years class will truly raise the standards of quality play.
If you want to continue this ridiculous argument, keep throwing out the bait. I think we both have better things to do with our time.
Continuing to slime him? Please go back and read the thread and article. I will spell it out for you.
I didn’t say anything negative in the article about Cook at all. Not one word. I didn’t insult him, nor question his skill.
Your first contribution was to proclaim the article “disgraceful” saying “shame on us.” so right out of the gate you insult my work and question my ability to evaluate.
But did I insult you in return? No, I explained Cook had a bad game, and added my evaluation that I didn’t put in the article because he wasn’t very good that day.
You in return said our “credibility went down the tubes” again attacking my work, said “no more insults” when I didn’t insult him, and “makes me wonder how wrong you are about others” again insulting my work.
once again I didn’t insult you, instead I explained that Simmons was the UMass player worth looking at.
at which point you attack me for the 3rd time with “do you know anything about soccer at all?”
Once again I didn’t attack you, instaed I gave you some player quotes that back up my Simmons statement.
So after being attacked and insulted three separate times, I came back when Cook went undrafted to add a note to the thread as I proved to be right in my evaluation.
You proceed to tell me I know nothing (attacking me for the 4th time). You say you attacked me cause your kids like Cook, then proceed to attack me for the 5th time saying “Continuing to deposit slime upon one single college player to advance your own self serving cause for subjective credibility in a public forum is nauseating at best.” Not once have I piled slime on Cook, nor insulted him or you. Not one single time. Public forum? No one is reading this but you.
Which means in this thread you have insulted me and my work five separate times, while I have done nothing but given an evaluation of a player’s pro potential that turned out to be completely accurate. So that’s 5-0 from you on insults and attacks.
So by all means come back again. Insult my work again, insult me again. Tell me how great Cook is again. Continue to attack me all you wish. I will continue to defend myself and prove I am right.
So thanks again for reading the site.
You know something…as i read the thread, I realize that in my zeal for this player (I forgot that I’ve watched this player 4 years),You only had a one game window. I was very over reactive and insulting to your work. For that I apologize. Hey you must do interesting stuff because I am reading your web site.
I have a great idea…we should settle this with a series of penalty kicks.. You name the time and place and I will bring my 1988 soccer cleats.
Only problem is with your soccer acumen, if you overlooked my aging middle aged body (not a pretty site), you may remember me from the days that I played. That could be very awkward and embarrasing.
Let’s just agree to disagree.