Yedlin is looking good right now - just sent in a gorgeous cross. Hope I'm not giving him the kiss of death.
Heroics from Matt Hedges ... Zusi continuing to make light of that silliness about last season's run-of-play assists.
Yikes at Dan Kennedy, Dempsey will probably technically get an assist from the league on that Neagle goal.
The bad news: Luis Gil has slipped into unused sub territory for RSL. The good news: It seems to be mostly because the alternatives are playing so well. Such a nice game-winner for Grabavoy tonight, after receiving the ball from Velasquez.
Clint Dempsey with a very nice sequence for the Seattle goal where he receives the ball about 30 yards out, carries it to the top of the box between 3 defenders and as he draws them to him plays a nicely-weighted pass outside to Martins to finishes over Kennedy.
Come on do some research, there's this thing called Google that's really cool. Gil has had a nagging hamstring injury, wasn't in the 18 last week because of it.
And his first game back means he's slipped into an unused sub? He just started 2 weeks ago vs. SKC when he had to be pulled off for that hamstring injury. I remember when Robbie Keane was an unused sub last year for the Galaxy coming off an injury, apparently he slipped into being an unused sub too.
Yedlin was pretty good tonight overall and certainly good offensively. His service has been getting consistently better which is nice to see and he was his usual dangerous self in that regard. He is still prone to making defensive errors that are mostly lapses in judgement and don't seem like things that can't be corrected. Still, he's a project defensively and I like my defenders to be able to defend consistently at the NT level (this has been something that has also plagued Lichaj when he's healthy..and the two players aren't dissimilar). Overall I thought he had a good night though and made a few nice defensive plays where he didn't over-commit.
If you'd prefer a different phrasing, then fine, but Gil was healthy enough to play, and the coach went with another option instead. It isn't as if Velasquez has been 100%, either.
No, we all know how much you love to take a crap on MLS coaches that don't play young players, so your phrasing was very obvious. Luis was just an unused sub tonight who didn't even practice all week, nothing more nothing less.
I think Yedlin and Lichaj are both exceptionally fast players. Also, Lichaj can absolutely cross the ball.. The advantage that Yedlin has over Lichaj is that he is 5 years younger and I expect that in 5 years time he'll be a star, and a staple in our NT setup. I thought he had a good match. If you want to call it very good then I can't stop you, I don't vehemently disagree with you..we just saw the match slightly differently and not enough for me to make an argument out of it.
That's complete and utter bullshit. Cassar played one young player (Velasquez) ahead of another (Gil). EDIT: Here's my original comment on the players who were used ahead of Gil: "Such a nice game-winner for Grabavoy tonight, after receiving the ball from Velasquez." If you've translated that into "taking a crap" on Cassar, it speaks to your agenda, not mine.
His biggest mistake was a stooping header on a cross that eluded a jumping attacker. He probably needed to flick it back over the endline because there were no forward or wide options.
Yedlin was probably partially at fault for the pk conceded; he overcommitted 45 yards from goal and left Alonso in a really bad spot. The call itself was a horrible decision, but Yedlin has to stop relying on his speed to make up for his mistakes. Dempsey was kind of passive at times; he spent a lot of time dropping deep again, which usually leads to him having less of an impact. That said, he seemed to be trying to facilitate offense a lot last night, and with average finishing could have had another assist or two. It is always positive, though, for guys to have an impact when they aren't at his best, and he had a direct hand in both goals.
Yedlin is an exceptional young athletic talent. His major concern is match awareness and positioning at elite levels. Young players with elite athletic ability often come to rely upon these qualities at the expense of developing greater awareness. Marvell Wynn has not improved substantially on these particular issues. Tim Ream (not that he is an example of elite athleticism, but he did make mental errors) is a player who has. We will certainly know more as the season progresses. Happy Easter to all!
He is supposed to get forward by design. He's essentially a wingback in that system. I don't understand why this concept is so hard to grasp. He can't be in two places at once nor does Sigi expect him to be.