That was one thing I didn't understand....unless he got a knock. I think the Union played well tbh....Casey was horrible though, he won't be a factor this season....he looks shot!
Lost in all this- Houston looked as bad as they have in years. I know they were missing Brad Davis, but...oof. A better team would have jumped all over the U.
I don't like Hacks subs at all.....The first sub should've been LeToux and Casey. The Maidana sub doesn't do anything....its a neutral move. You either make it offensive or defensive, depending on the game....changing like for like in the 58th minute is odd, unless Maidana was injured. Casey was pathetic out there, he would've been hooked first for me....
Zero shots on goal again. This should have been a routine 3 points. I'm starting to think there are better uses of my time than this, like ironing or pulling weeds. Certain players - Williams, Edu, Casey - didn't look bothered, why should I?
Please tell me the TV caught the Houston ball keep away during that red card with them throwing it to each other all over the half. Also Douchebag Kinnear after the match taunting fans with the talky talky hand signals... I told you that town is full of scumbags,
Not just this season, he was pretty awful last season too. They were fortunate and got some goals off his throw ins, so that kind of masked his other problems ( lazy, out of shape, terrible service with feet, etc ). At this point why not play Fabinho left and move Gaddis to where he belongs. Ray's complete and utter lack of a left foot is embarrassing. How does someone become a professional and be that one footed!!?? And why do we insist upon playing through the wings when that is clearly a weak spot? Nogs needs to be involved in the attack EVERY TIME. We have a very good midfield and our attack is still overlapping runs to underskilled backs that don't cross very well ( or at all in Ray's case ) to a single striker that is well covered. And where are the late runs into the box? No one is ever home. I just don't get it, Nogs and Edu have played at a high enough level long enough that they know what to do, they know how to play. This has to be Hackworth. SO GOD DAMN FRUSTRATING. Its not even worth yelling at the games anymore. I just shake my head and Boo on the way out. We don't even get free bread anymore #SACKHACK
Bimbo has been handing out coupons for free bread up to $3.50 the last two games beforehand. They expire in 2015, so I'm set for free bread through July already...
Everytime I look in my local stores I cannot find any Bimbo bread. Is there an American brand name they bought out which they typically go by in retail?
The highlight of the game for me was when the guy sitting behind me said Le Toux was a defensive mid.
Houston's team has fewer PITA guys than they used to. Craig Waibel, Eddie Robinson (who is now the league's worst commentator, since SJ changed over their broadcast team), Brian Mullan, even our very own Danny Cruz. Now Rico Clark is the only really nasty guy they have on the roster. Kinnear, however, is MLS' finest troll. I used to really really *REALLY* hate him but I've sort of grown to admire his commitment to being a total jerk all the time. I swear, the average person in the stands at PPL makes the average BigSoccer poster look like Jonathan Wilson.
Terrible match from Casey. Williams doesn't look like he can be bothered at all. And Edu hasn't been much of a factor lately. As for Wenger, I had fears that the goal might have been the high point of his season. I wanted to be wrong. I don't know if I was. And The Wheeler Experiment. I don't even know if it's worth commenting on anymore.
Honorable mention must go to Nowak for trolling reporters, the fans, his players, and (apparently) even his boss.
I think we dominated the second half and created some chances....it's just they went begging! Carroll played well I thought...same with Edu. Wheeler didn't do bad but Christ, can he pass it to a Union player once instead of punting everything out of bounds?? Casey...tick tock, tick tock. I like Wenger...links up well, missed an open chance...shame! I don't blame Hack for not using the final sub....Edu was up front on the line. The only thing he could've done was sub out Gaddis for Fabinho...for some service on the left side but I don't think it was that big of deal. MacMath B+ Gaddis B Okugo B+ Wheeler C+ WIlliams C Maidana B Nogueira A Edu B+ Carroll A+ Wenger A (would've got an A+ if he got that ball on frame...but put an excellent ball into Casey who shat the bed!) Casey D- LeToux B Fernandes B- Hackworth F
I thought Wheeler was fine. Gaddis, Okugo, Wheeler and MacMath (though he didn't have much to do). Everybody else looked exhausted, especially Casey and Williams. On the disappointment scale this was somewhere in between last Saturday and Wednesday. I was fascinated by Houston's tactic of not bothering to defend against BC7 at all. Which left him the open man on the attack consistently and therefore the other players kept giving him the ball. That had to have been intentional. Also frustrated by the repeated attempts to send Wenger to the left post late in the game. When all it got was a goal kick the first two times, they should have stopped trying. If we'd left Chaco in he could have been taking the corner kicks at the end.
Kinnear gets bonus points for actually succeeding at his job! This was my concern on signing him, tbh. I didn't really think he was laboring at the 55th minute, thought he was dangerous up to that point in the half. But he certainly hadn't done much in the first half. That was exactly the kind of game he's been having in Montreal for his whole career. He works so hard, gets in the right spots, etc. But he lacks that last bit of quality to actually finish plays. If you guys get frustrated by LeToux, Wenger is not going to cure what ails ya.
It seemed to me that the team needs to have some practices. They had some really good runs towards the box today but no one knew where to be. If they could just run a few practices, they would be really good. I wonder who is in charge of scheduling and conducting practices.
Gotta put both in position to succeed. Maidana is a silk-stocking kinda guy who wants to run the game centrally with minimum exertion. Wenger can hold it up, run a bit and is happy to share the ball-because he knows his limitations. Clint Eastwood would be proud of him. Useful; perhaps a quality sub on a better side. Not a striker though. Whether Single-high or with help. A facillitator-not a consistent scorer. Don't know where they're going to find that guy. He's not on the roster-if he ever was.......... a 5-6 minute guy who can't run.
Well, my first live Union game in 3 years and... ... ... ... at least it was a beautiful day for pictures around the stadium!
On a positive note, this is now two games in a row where they have not conceded a goal after their opponent has received a red card. At least that's one area where they seem to be improving.