Usually a soccer team that has only three players who have
started every game is either terrible, fraught with injuries, or
both.
But the No. 2 UCLA men’s soccer team (8-1, 2-0 Pac-10) is
neither terrible nor fraught with injuries. The Bruins have
something that most teams in college soccer covet, but do not have:
depth.
“I think we have more depth than any other team in the
country,” coach Tom Fitzgerald said. “I have 28 guys
who can start for me and I believe do a pretty good job.”
Opposing coaches agree with Fitzgerald’s assertions.
“They have incredible depth, they can bring guys on who add
things,” Washington coach Dean Wurzberger said.
Washington lost its first game of the season to UCLA on Sunday,
1-0, on a goal scored by Benny Feilhaber, a bench player making
only his second start of the year.
UCLA has used 68 substitutes in only nine games, an average of
nearly eight per game. This strategy runs counter to an old-school
mentality still prevalent in soccer that states that if a player is
good enough to start a game, he should have the stamina to finish
it.
So why does Fitzgerald go against the conventional wisdom?
Because he has a plan to get all 28 players ready for postseason
play to defend UCLA’s national championship, not just the 11
that start every game.
“All of these games are preparation for postseason, and I
plan to give a lot of players experience, Fitzgerald said.
“That way in case of injuries, players have experience and
are ready for the situation.”
There are also tactical reasons for Fitzgerald’s liberal
use of substitutes.
“We had to play California and Stanford in the NCAA
playoffs last year, and what our depth allows us to do is to use
different combinations of players starting,” Fitzgerald said.
“If those teams got used to a certain set of players, we
could change that and gain the upper hand.”
Fitzgerald acknowledges he is limited in Pac-10 play, due to
conference rules that limit the amount of players used to 18 and
the fact that those players must be submitted to opposing coaches
and referees before the game.
But he still plans to use as many substitutes as allowed to gain
a feel for players abilities in big games and he is not afraid to
ride a player’s hot streak.
“Players go hot and then they go cold, and oftentimes it
switches around so I am not afraid to go to my bench to find
players who are playing well at the time to help our team,”
Fitzgerald said. “It is the coach’s job to find the
right combination and hopefully I can have the master formula when
using our substitutes.”
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Thursday’s men’s soccer match against New Mexico is
part of a UCLA soccer doubleheader. The women play first, a 5 p.m.
game against Washington State. The men’s game is supposed to
start at 7 p.m., but will likely start a few minutes late if the
women’s game runs long.