UCLA Men's Soccer: Lavin Like Inconsistency/Dorrell Like Performance (Loses To Georgetown 0-2)

by Nestor on Sep 6, 2009 7:10 PM PDT

On Friday night Jorge Salcedo's team pulled out UCLA men's teams biggest win in years as the boys upset #1 Maryland 2-0 at college park. They snapped the defending national champions' 16 game win streak on the road infront of a sold out crowd of more than 6000 Maryland fans. I was hoping that win would spur a hot start for our soccer team which at least by UCLA standards seemed to have been underachieving in recent years.

Well we went out to Georgetown today to check out the Bruins take on Hoyas (who are not really known for being a soccer powerhouse and didn't come into this season with high aspirations). What we saw was fairly disappointing as the Bruins lost to the Hoyas by a score of 0-2, looking rather Dorrelian in their offensive efforts.

It was clear from watching the two teams, UCLA had the better athletes. We seemed to be controlling the flow of the game at midfield and also maintain possession. Even per the official site UCLA outshot Georgetown, 10-7 and had an 11-2 advantage in corner kicks. However, the problem was when our guys got the ball near the opponent's goal post, they looked rather tentetive and indecisive with their shots. I didn't sense any kind of aggression or killer instincts from this squad.

It is pretty clear we have a lot of talent on our team. Remember our recruiting class was number 3 in 2009. And yet the performance on the field today didn't match their talent.

I just don't get the sense that UCLA men's soccer is on the right track with Salcedo. I was extremely unimpressed with how he was handling himself on the sidelines. He was constantly throwing tantrums with the sideline refs. While I don't want our head coaches to be Dorrellian on the sidelines, there is a limit to whining that should be going on in the sidelines.

We had a pathetic season in 2007. In 2008 we got off to a very slow start before recovering to win the conference. However, we then fizzled out by getting bounced in the first round by Cal Poly.

Something doesn't seem right with this program. It is extremely inconsistent. From what I saw on the field today it looked like a Dorrellian soccer team while looking at the big picture on how UCLA has peformed under Salcedo another word comes to mind: Lavinian.

He needs to produce and produce in a big way this season.

GO BRUINS.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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The Georgetown loss is a killer

With Stephens and Perk missing half of the year while playing for the national team in the U-20 World Cup, it was imperative that we rack up wins while they’re here. We did well against Maryland, but then did this? This program has lacked consistency for years now. Salcedo needs to get it together.

by Ryan Rosenblatt on Sep 7, 2009 10:25 PM PDT reply actions

Nestor, I'm mvery disappointed.

You used the “L” word and the “D” word in the same post. I now have to go take another shower. Please show a little mercy to us old people. We have very delicate sensibilities, and can’t take this sort of double-overdose of mediocrity.

by Fox 71 on Sep 8, 2009 4:06 AM PDT reply actions

I don't want to use the L word

but that is what Salcedo’s program has become. He had one good run when he first took over the program and since then what I have come to expect is a slow start, we pick it up as the season goes on then get bounced in the first or second round of the tournament. I have been saying that Salcedo needs to perform in a big way for a few season now.

by makenji on Sep 8, 2009 4:42 PM PDT reply actions

The year we went to college cup finals ...

Didn’t we get off to a really bad start that year as well?

by Nestor on Sep 8, 2009 5:56 PM PDT up reply actions

I think we started that year 0-2-1

then got hot for a while, then had a bad spell at the end of the year that lowered expectations for the team, but they got hot in the tournament and made a run to the finals.

by Ryan Rosenblatt on Sep 8, 2009 6:19 PM PDT up reply actions

yeah

I don’t remember entering the tournament that year as one of the best teams in the country (perhaps my memory is off here). But I seemed to remember we got “hot” just like those uber talented teams under Steve Lavin.

by Nestor on Sep 8, 2009 6:55 PM PDT up reply actions

Yeah we weren't one of the favorites

I think we were considered one of the favorites until our rough patch to end the regular season, then we kind of fell from the list of favorites. I’m not 100% sure if I’m recalling the correct year though so if somebody out there knows better, please correct me.

by Ryan Rosenblatt on Sep 8, 2009 7:08 PM PDT up reply actions

It would be very interesting

If there is a UCLA soccer buff here who could pull together the W-L numbers for the program for the 5 years prior to Salcedo taking over (w tourney record) and then have the numbers of Salcedo years next to it.

I’d be very interested to see the comparison in winning percentages etc.

by Nestor on Sep 8, 2009 7:27 PM PDT up reply actions

I did one last September

comparing Salcedo to our previous coaches.

Here are the numbers, which I updated so they’re as of today:

Salcedo: 60-30-18 (.638%)

Fitzgerald: 38-5-4 (.851%), 1 national title

Saldana: 43-17-4 (.703%)

Schmid: 322-63-33 (.809%), 3 national titles

by Ryan Rosenblatt on Sep 8, 2009 7:36 PM PDT up reply actions

That is not good

Not good at all.

by Nestor on Sep 9, 2009 4:27 AM PDT up reply actions

2006 season, I believe

We started out slow, including getting swept on the east coast swing (blowout loss @ UMD, and a close, but thoroughly outplayed match @ UVa), picked up later in the season, but (I believe) cooled off at the end of the regular season. I do not recall how we were viewed entering the NCAA’s, though.

by bruinhoo on Sep 8, 2009 11:11 PM PDT up reply actions

How about a female coach?

Indeed, Coach Salcedo has done a great job recruiting talent, but the Bruins’ game performance the last few years is clearly worse than before. How about hiring Jillian Ellis, our women’s coach, to moonlight as coach of the men’s team?

by bryanucla on Sep 9, 2009 1:52 PM PDT reply actions

She's doing a good job with our women's team

I don’t see any reason to take her away from that and there’s no way one person can do both jobs.

by Ryan Rosenblatt on Sep 9, 2009 2:59 PM PDT up reply actions

It was one thing for Krikorian in water polo, given that the seasons aren't at the same time

But it’d be pretty impossible for one person to coach two teams who will be playing games at the same time in different cities.

by jaffa on Sep 9, 2009 10:35 PM PDT up reply actions

Cobi Jones

I was just kidding about Jillian Ellis. She’s doing a fantastic job, but even she must have her limits!

Seriously, though, I wonder how Cobi Jones would do as head coach. He grew up in the area (Westlake Village), graduated from UCLA, had a successful run with the Bruins (including a role in the 1990 championship), evolved into a stallwart for the National team, was a fixture with the LA Galaxy from Day One of MLS, and has now gained assistant coaching experience at the pro level. Virtually any soccer fan knows who he is (and respects him), and he’d set a positive and competitive tone for the Bruins. Even though he’s not an established head coach, that experience isn’t always necessary. Look at how our women’s basketball team has progressed in one year with new coach Nikki Calloway — another young coach with a great pedigree who clearly knows what she’s doing. I haven’t seen Cobi coach in person, but my sense is he’d be great.

by bryanucla on Sep 10, 2009 10:42 AM PDT reply actions

Cobi is my pipe dream

One thing that I believe helped Fitzgerald have success was the fact that he was an assistant coach in MLS before coaching here. Cobi would be great. His is in his second season as an assistant and has playing experience on the international level. Plus he is well repected and admired by those in the soccer community and is still one of the most recognizable players who has played for the USMNT. I watched the game he was interim HC for the Galaxy and the players seemed to respond better to him than Gullit and play harder, but it was only one game. Plus I am pretty sure Cobi would have to take a pay cut (unless assistants earn as much as backup goalkeepers in MLS), but I would love to see it.

by makenji on Sep 10, 2009 4:34 PM PDT up reply actions

Went to the game today, 4-0 over UC Davis

Sure we scored four, but it wasn’t a very impressive four. It’s a small sample size, but we seem to have a similar problem to last year – holding the ball a ton, but not really doing much with it. I was, though, impressed with some of the freshmen, who actually seemed to have some reasonable ideas going forward (they even scored three of the four goals). Last year, the same thing seemed to happen. Generally speaking, the freshmen seemed to be the best group. That leads me to my main question: for anybody who follows the recruiting, how have our classes been ranked over the last few years? Are the players we’re bringing in improving, or is there something going on with the players who’ve been in the system?

by jaffa on Sep 10, 2009 11:45 PM PDT reply actions

We were ranked third this year.

We are consistently top 5 in the country every year in recruiting. We pretty much just recruit from the USSF/USOC programs. I know Nestor posted a video of Salcedo stating they pretty much only look at the USOC pools and some club teams, should be somewhere in the archives. I don’t believe that recruiting is our problem.

by makenji on Sep 11, 2009 4:50 PM PDT up reply actions