FAYETTEVILLE — The formations were diff erent. The practice drills were new. And the sound of the first-year coach’s voice was foreign.
At times last season, Fayetteville’s boys soccer players had dift culty adjusting to Steve Oliver’s philosophy. He told them there would be a learning curve, but some things got lost in translation going from the seasoned British coach to his group of young players.
“Transitioning from a new coach last year it was a little tough, learning his style of play,” Fayetteville center midfielder Tyler Ho said. “This year we’re getting more into that.”
With the start of the soccer season less than two weeks away, the Bulldogs are closer to the vision Oliver had in mind when he took over the program. They’ve shown signs in practice that they’re more solid defensively and in better shape to run the coach’s off ense.
Things aren’t so new this time around, though there’s still some uncertainty as to who will replace last year’s leading goal scorer in Brandon Sikes, who’s now playing at John Brown University.
“I think mentally the group (is) a lot stronger now than they were last year. They understand and see the big picture,” said Oliver, whose team opens the season Feb. 28 at Springdale High. “I’ll be very disappointed this year if we ever give up over 80 minutes, where I think last year we didn’t give up, but I think we saw the writing on the wall a little bit too early.”
The Bulldogs return a seniorladen bunch, including 11 players with varsity experience. In addition, several players have changed so much physically over the past year that they’re now in position to compete for more playing time.
Ho is looking to build off the potential he showed as a sophomore last season, and Oliver said midfielder Austin Murders will be integral in Fayetteville’s new plans to defend and push the ball upfield.
“Things are a little bit different in regards to I’ve got a number of kids coming back, so it’s less of a rebuilding for a team,” Oliver said. “It’s just more of starting a slightly new project with some slightly newer players.”
So far, Oliver said he has gotten indications that his team could be solid defensively compared a year ago when the Bulldogs were simply “OK” during a frustrating season. But he’s more uncertain about how his offense will look without Sikes, who was known for playing tenaciously.
“Brandon was our go-to guy, obviously,” Ho said. “We don’t have a go-to guy (this year). We’ve got two forwards up there.”