Big day tomorrow for Ray Reid and Nancy Stevens...

[UConnDan97]

Oh quite the opposite. I started this thread yesterday, I've posted since they have won. I was glad they were finally playing to their potential.

And I am mad as hell they once again pissed away a championship they should have won.

Your resulting to name calling now and generally breaking down because you can't dispute that autopsy of failed moments I just layed out. I'd be angry too if I had to try to spin that.

There's nothing to spin. We lost in PK's. Period. No soccer player wants to go to PK's if they feel they are the better team. The reason is because there is luck involved in winning a PK shootout. I can't explain it any better than that for you. If you don't agree with it, then you've never been in one and you've never taken a PK. Sometimes the goalie guesses right. Sometimes, you don't hit it with quite enough pace. Sometimes, you don't lay the damned ball properly on the spot on a less-than-pristine field.

Once again, we are at an impass, so I'm not going to continue to battle with you any further. You feel you have furthered your agenda. Kudos to you for my team losing today, good sir. But it is painfully clear to me that you have never been on the spot with the game on the line and a goalie staring back at you. Then, you would understand all the ways that fortune finds itself in that moment...

 

[zls44]

If you don't believe that PK's has anything luck involved, then you've never played soccer. I've played it my entire life. Religiously. Blaming PK's on the coach is about the dumbest thing I have heard in quite some time....and keep in mind that I frequent the Boneyard every day, so that's saying something...

Yeah, I've played it my whole life and analyze it as part of my job with a company heavily involved in broadcasting the World Cup, but what would I know.

Look. Its not Ray's fault that they missed the PK's. But they have to change the way they prepare. We have darn near a DECADE of case evidence, here. Maybe he's more the regular season vs knockout type of coach/manager. It happens.

But it's still amazing.

One PK shootout is luck. A half dozen isn't luck. There's a trend here, one UConn would be better served to acknowledge and fix than to follow your method of just shrugging your shoulders and retreating to Fort Reid to defend it to the bitter end.

 

[UConnDan97]

Yeah, I've played it my whole life and analyze it as part of my job with a company heavily involved in broadcasting the World Cup, but what would I know.

Look. Its not Ray's fault that they missed the PK's. But they have to change the way they prepare. We have darn near a DECADE of case evidence, here. Maybe he's more the regular season vs knockout type of coach/manager. It happens.

But it's still amazing.

One PK shootout is luck. A half dozen isn't luck. There's a trend here, one UConn would be better served to acknowledge and fix than to follow your method of just shrugging your shoulders and retreating to Fort Reid to defend it to the bitter end.

Italy's national team was knocked out of the World Cup on penalty kicks in 1990, 1994, and 1998; three consecutive World Cups. With different coaches. And they have won the second most cups in the history of the tournament. So you wanna tell me again how luck has nothing to do with it? And you analyze this thing for a living??? C'mon, man. Get real...

 

[UConnDan97]

I don't want any one of you to believe me. But please; believe people like Platini, Taffarel, Joachim Loew, Franz Beckenbauer, and some of the other all-time great coaches and players:

http://www.theadgalternative.com/quotes.html

My personal favorite quote here is from Joachim Loew, who said:

"Every coach would like to see a match decided in 90 minutes.
Because I don't think there's any way you can prepare for penalty kicks."

But what does he know? He just coaches Germany...

 

[zls44]

Italy's national team was knocked out of the World Cup on penalty kicks in 1990, 1994, and 1998; three consecutive World Cups. With different coaches. And they have won the second most cups in the history of the tournament. So you wanna tell me again how luck has nothing to do with it? And you analyze this thing for a living??? C'mon, man. Get real...

Healthy Baggio and it's never an issue in 1994. I'm still not over that one.

Also, that's three shootouts. I believe they won the fourth one they had. UConn has lost how many in a row?

 

[zls44]

But what does he know? He just coaches Germany...

The second-most underachieving side in Europe over the last twenty years.

 

[UConnDan97]

Healthy Baggio and it's never an issue in 1994. I'm still not over that one.

Also, that's three shootouts. I believe they won the fourth one they had. UConn has lost how many in a row?

I agree with you on Baggio. As for the fourth shootout, it came in 2006; eight years after the brutal streak.

From here on out, I am just going to refer everyone to the link I posted. If you don't believe that list of famous soccer greats, then it's not worth me wasting my fingers typing over...

 

[zls44]

I'm a Liverpool fan. I believe you can absolutely prepare for shootouts.

 

[UConnDan97]

I'm a Liverpool fan. I believe you can absolutely prepare for shootouts.

Now I finally understand your bias!

 

[UConnDan97]

I'm a Liverpool fan. I believe you can absolutely prepare for shootouts.

I had to make sure and check, but Shilton clearly never played for 'Pool:

"The main factor in a penalty shootout is luck again.
You need to stay calm and focused but the biggest thing you need is luck."
Peter Shilton
Former England Goalkeeper

Peter Shilton is the goalie more famously known for being the victim of Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" play...

 

[zls44]

I had to make sure and check, but Shilton clearly never played for 'Pool:

"The main factor in a penalty shootout is luck again.
You need to stay calm and focused but the biggest thing you need is luck."
Peter Shilton
Former England Goalkeeper

Peter Shilton is the goalie more famously known for being the victim of Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" play...

Shilton was the victim of some right shockingly bad defending is what he was the victim of

 

[zls44]

Also, teams are using analytics more and more at the top level for shootouts. The "you can't prepare" mentality is changing. The most famous examples would be Man United's coaching staff during the CL Final shootout signaling where Edwin Van Der Sar should dive on Chelsea's PK's and Petr Cech in the 2012 CL Final on the Sneidjer PK in ET.

 

[UConnDan97]

 

[UConnDan97]

Also, teams are using analytics more and more at the top level for shootouts. The "you can't prepare" mentality is changing. The most famous examples would be Man United's coaching staff during the CL Final shootout signaling where Edwin Van Der Sar should dive on Chelsea's PK's and Petr Cech in the 2012 CL Final on the Sneidjer PK in ET.

Again, you can use analytics. You can scout the keeper's tendencies towards one side versus the other. You can disguise your run-up to the ball. But at the end of the day, you need some luck. You need some luck on each shot, and you need some luck in aggregate to win a shootout. Even the best miss. Even the worst make. You can try to minimize the luck factor, but you still need it to prevail in a penalty shootout...

 

[zls44]

What the hell was Hodge doing on that play? Nobody EVER asks this!

 

[Gurleyman]

Important to remember that the guys who missed the big shots were not in our top five. If we missed a few from 1-5, you could say that we chose the wrong guys to take them, but once you get past 5 and deeper into your roster, it is even less an issue of preparation and more just cross your fingers and hope.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

As I have said before on another tread, PK’s suck and they open the door for any team to win. That said, it has been a head-scratcher to me why the UConn men’s soccer team continues to put itself in the PK position so often in clutch games (Conference championships, NCAA-Semi Finals, etc.) over the last 10/15 years. If this was an issue for 1 recruiting class, then the fault for poor execution should rest at the feet of the players. But, as this trend is spread across multiple teams, some of the fault in terms of game preparation, game-time coaching, etc. does need to be shared by the coaching staff. I am not saying fire the coaching staff. I am saying that both the payers and the staff must to a better job winning the game before they are put at the mercy of PK’s.
That said, I hope they do stay hot and make it to the College Cup as it is finally within driving distance (Philly). Go Huskies!

 

[huskypantz]

Good luck thread - the big day for Reid and Stevens was today - their teams came through, PK's be damned.