I had to give my tickets away for this one, so I'll be watching off of the dvr later on tonight. I hope the crowd is just as good as last week and the guys get a better result.
Too bad you wont be there. They are expecting a sellout. Hopefully the team chemistry improves in this one and we walk out with 3 points.
Frustratingly, I couldn't go last night, either (but I did manage to give my tickets away, so my seats weren't empty). I watched the first half hour late last night before going to sleep. Tampa Bay's pressing clearly troubled us--that's the kind of thing that becomes easier to deal with once the players have more familiarity with each other. We've started with a couple of tough opponents. Fantastic to see another sellout.
I ended up having to watch on tv again, I swear I'm going to go this season. Could definitely tell our team hasn't been playing together that long. Like jeffcoop said, we'll get better at avoiding the pressing. Our center backs looked better than last game, so that's a plus. On the negative though, I thought our fullbacks weren't as good. Nearly every time the ball came down the sides I cringed, whether offense or defense. Was it Eckridge or Estridge? Whichever one, he tried to shield the ball out of bounds like 3 or 4 times, the ball died, and it was stolen for a TB attacking opportunity. He lost the ball on a half dozen attacks as well either trying to take on the opponent or passing in too tight a space. At least he's fast to get back on defense though. Hyland not as noticeably bad, but I'm still not sold on his being able to prevent corners, or get forward. I'm pretty sure it was Hyland that the TB forward kept getting by for decent crossing opportunities. Was it a sellout? I heard the announcer saying it was nearly 11,000 like the first game. btw, What's up with the camera guy constantly zooming in? Sometimes he would zoom in so far that I could only see the guy with the ball, then he'd pass it and I'd have no idea where. Plus I remember there were some times in the first half where the ball was by the near corner flag on our end and the camera would be focused somewhere between the goalbox and the halfline, with no visual on our goal or the ball in the corner. These camera operators need to take a look at coverage of some of the other pro leagues. I didn't notice it the first game, but this game it was driving me nuts. Anyone else surprised to see Matt Pickens in goal for TB? I've always thought he was a pretty good goalkeeper. Wonder why he's not on an MLS team.
The game was a sellout. The crowd was late arriving, lines of people were streaming in until the 10 minute mark. I read in one these threads that 10,400 is the capacity for the "Mike" after the opening match. I do agree with the assessment of our fullbacks, too many turnovers. Nicht was extremely solid. Kleberson has to eventually hit find the net, only bad luck is keeping him out and the 11 from full points the first 2 matches. Pedro is someone I would like to see get the start. The way he comes in the game and wins possession and brings it to the final third changes the tide in our favor. Could have used that in the first half. The officiating was terrible. I did enjoy see Anthony Wallace out there. After following him during his youth national teams day, it was good to see him find his level to play at. He caused a lot of problems.
anyone think we should have seen tb play the ball out with norales on the ground during their scoring move? granted, nicht should have stopped that shot, but when i was watching the game this afternoon, i was surprised to see them mount an attack with our center back on the ground in the middle of the box. you wouldn't see a team do that in europe or even mls. even with that, we could have easily won the game if we'd been less wasteful with our chances.
They should have. He was laying down in front of the goal for some time. Converting chances must be addressed. Both games had some missed opportunities.
That late chance with a low drive across the box that our player completely flubbed (no idea who it was pedro maybe) was set up for heroics. If that had gone in, bedlam would have ensued. Very fun game though. Kleberson is getting as about as close as possible without scoring. Will there be anywhere to view next weeks game?
It was obvious to me that Tampa was much faster than Carolina. The Tampa players closed very quickly on Indy when they had the ball. I thought the crowd was excellent considering it was the night before a holiday.
Not to toot our own horn, but Brickyard Battalion sounded great on the highlights (as well as at the match). Great turn out by the fans in all sections and I hope everyone returns and continues to pack the house.