Florida Gators soccer: The road back to prominence is going to take time

The Florida Gators soccer team has had a rough couple of years. After longtime coach, Becky Burleigh retired in 2021, Tony Amato took over.

As we have chronicled before, Amato led Florida to one of its worst seasons ever before being fired after one year.

Samantha Bohon has stepped in as the new Gators soccer coach and Florida is off to a slow start, going 1-3 in its first four games. The Gators were feisty last week in Austin, TX, losing on last-minute goals to both Baylor and Texas.

And while Florida can make a case the results could have been better, it is still going to take time for Florida soccer to return to prominence.

Florida Gators soccer: Tactical approach under Bohon

On paper, Florida seems to be lining up in 4-5-1 with the goal of playing direct. Playing direct, aka hitting the ball forward/over the top as opposed to cycling possession, has its merits. Teams not playing top-flight European soccer tend to be more direct because they don’t quite have the skill required to string together 10+ passes to get the ball to the same destination that a ball over the top can.

There are two problems though for Florida with the way they are playing direct:

1. They aren’t putting their speed threats up top to get in behind the backline. Having watched Florida’s games against UCF and Texas, the two fastest players for the Gators are Kouri Peace and Julianne Leskauskas. Peace tends to play deeper as a winger and Leskauskas has been a sub in all four games. When neither of those two is up top and Florida is sending the ball deep, there hasn’t quite been anyone to receive the ball and hold up play while the rest of the attack joins.
2. Florida’s insistence on always playing forward hasn’t given them a chance to slow things down and regain control as needed. The Gators scored the first goal against Texas, but it was admittedly against the run of play. About five minutes later Texas responded with the equalizer and was running Florida’s backline ragged (which we will get to). The second Texas goal comes off a sequence when they had time and space in the midfield but insisted on playing a ball forward. The ball was mishit, Texas countered, and took the lead.

Perhaps the deeper problem for Florida has been the defensive setup once losing possession. Part of the reason teams play directly is so that when possession is lost it’s at the other end of the field and you have time to set up your defensive shape. Along with their single high striker, Florida will bring a second attacker forward to “press” the opposing backline. Leskauskas was able to score against Texas after taking advantage of a mistake in the Longhorn’s backline.

Most of the time though, Florida isn’t pressing. Whoever Florida sends forward is mostly just shadowing play. The goal of this tactic is to try and clog up the midfield and bait teams into a pass that Florida can spring a counter on.

In reality what is happening is teams are simply playing over the top themselves and because Florida’s backline is being brought higher up the field to join the midfield, it’s turning into a constant footrace between Florida’s backline and opposing forwards.

And the backline isn’t winning that race.

UCF, Texas, and Baylor all caused havoc for the Gators by just playing balls over the top and bypassing the midfield altogether. It’s easy to chalk up Florida’s losses to bad luck and say they are a couple of good bounces away from earning a result. But when it comes to shots on goal, Florida was outshot by UCF 7-4, by Baylor 7-3, and was even on SOG with Texas 8-8 (though total shots were 19-13 in favor of Texas). Goalkeeper Alexa Goldberg has had several key saves just to keep Florida in the game. The results for Florida have been fair results given the course of play.

Florida Gators soccer: The road forward

Bohon is the third coach in three years for Florida. Her main mission this year needs to be to make sure there is structure and stability in the program. And if Bohon’s system is to play direct and force teams over the top, she can get the players in time through recruiting to fit her system and be successful.

For the 2022 season though, Bohon needs to consider who she has and how to set up this squad to be successful. It may seem basic, but Florida moving forward this season should consider:

1. Switching to a flat 4-4-2 and playing deeper. If Florida wants to play a higher backline then it also needs to be pressing more upfront. Playing a high line and not applying any real pressure has invited teams to ping balls over the top. By setting up shop deeper down the field, Florida would be conceding the front half of the field. But it would also limit opposing forwards ability to run in behind the backline.
2. Put Peace and Leskauskas up top. There are ways for Bohon’s current system to work if the goal is to find a target forward up top that can hold up play while Peace comes streaking down the wing. But if Florida’s goal is to play direct and get in behind opposing backlines without the hold-up play, then Florida needs to consider its faster players to fill that role.

It is not a lost cause yet for Florida soccer as SEC play has yet to begin. Just understand that the Florida rebuild after the damage caused by former coach Tony Amato might take some time.

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