Former Bluejay soccer player Brian Hill played for Creighton from 1998-2001. These are his thoughts. If you want to disagree with him, fine. But be prepared to defend yourself in the Comments box below.
This year’s Creighton men’s soccer team, currently ranked fifth by these three major polls, is poised to have one of the best seasons in the program’s history. (In order to do that they would have to win a national championship, since the 2000 team — of which I was a part — lost in the College Cup finals.) So I decided to go check out a preseason game and see what these future national champions had to offer.
Now, I realize that Bob, Jay, Johnny, and now Tim would all tell you that there is a lot of work to be done and don’t count your chickens and we need to focus on this area or that … blah, blah, blah. Since I’m not a coach I’m going to give these guys a little confidence boost for a few reasons.
First, they made it through preseason and that’s not fun, especially this year in the smoldering 75-degree Nebraska August. Secondly, it’s the Creighton soccer team and it’s really the only live soccer I have to watch around here (besides men’s league at Dodge Park; trust me, that’s not pretty). Finally, if I can get a few more Jays fans to come out and support this team, it will make the great atmosphere at Morrison Stadium even better. Consequently, I will have a better time.
So here is what I did. I picked out a few players that I thought reminded me of English Premier League players. These guys might not be the best players on the team; maybe they are. But regardless, they for some reason or another remind me of someone playing in the EPL. If you watch Premier League soccer you might notice the same thing. Or maybe you could make comparisons to other players. Or maybe you’ll just think I’m crazy. (Or all of the above.) In any case, I encourage you to comment below and share your comparisons (or just make fun of me). If you haven’t seen the Creighton team play, maybe this will give you something to think about while they are dominating every team they play on their way to a national title.
I’ll start with the defense. The keeper was easy. With that headgear, Brian Holt reminds me of Chelsea’s Peter Cech. He’s arguably the best keeper in the league, and Holt has proved his worth to the Jays many times in his short time on campus. Holt might not have Cech’s size but he’s a heck of a shot blocker. Really athletic.
Going to the left back position, Seth Sinovic reminds me of Fulham’s Damien Duff; granted, maybe more like the Damien Duff of a few years ago. But either way, I see in both players a strong, good left-footed player that can basically play the whole left side and dominate.
Moving into the central defense, Chris Schuler reminds me of Rio Ferdinand, who anchors the defense for Manchester United. Ferdinand and Schuler both combine athleticism with a skillful touch. And even though I dislike Manchester United, you have to respect the talent they have in the center back position.
In the center midfield you’ll find Greg Jordan, who I would compare to Michael Essien. It’s actually really hard to compare anyone to the Chelsea defensive midfielder, but Jordan is a player you can build a team around. Essien is a strong player who wins tackles all over the place and is simple and precise with the ball.
I’m going to equate the exciting freshman Dion Acoff to the Arsenal youngster Theo Walcott. Theo is blazing fast and uses a long touch to get past defenders, as does Dion. Hopefully Acoff can stay injury-free unlike his Arsenal counterpart.
Finally, two Jays up top remind me of a few EPL players. Byron Dacy is a lot like Nicholas Bendtner from Arsenal. Both are tall, sort of post players, but have deceiving speed and are great in the air.
When I see Ethan Finlay on the field, I can make a connection to Liverpool’s Fernando Torres. Both are the kind of player who glides around the pitch looking like they weigh nothing. Torres has an unbelievable knack for the goal, and I hope this season Ethan proves to possess the same gift.
I hope I didn’t give a free scouting report to any MVC teams. I can see the Drake coaches reading this and then preparing their team for an EPL all-star lineup. Good luck with that.
Come out and watch some truly great college players compete for a national title. They’re not English Premier Leaguers, but they’re sure to remind you of some.