Did you actually hear Hop say that or are you assuming that's what happened? (Not trying to call you out, just interested.)
From my viewpoint in 135 in the first row that shot dipped maybe 5 feet and had a wicked turn back from the direction it was intially traveling. I exclaimed wow as it went in. Lets not take too much away from it being an excellent shot. Sure McMath had a poor game but I'm not going to put all the blame on him for that goal.
I get where you're coming from, but we got 3 points. That's all that matters. Uh...do you not remember Chris "Oops there goes another" Seitz? Otherwise, a good assessment of the game.
We recently lost to DC in a case that we probably should have won. We won last night when we probably should have lost. Which do you prefer?
I have to disagree. And for everyone who says that ZM18 is the second coming of Seitz, they should rewatch that game and tell me how shitty a keeper he is becoming.
I noticed that. It looked to me like they went to a three man back line for the second half. Once Adu put the PK away they went back to a 4-4-3.
The 3-4-3 was really scary. They were so exposed at the back and I fully expected them to concede another goal. I was not sold on the Lahoud sub, but it did get them back into their comfort zone and I thought Lahoud was sensational!
Lahoud has limitations (like 99% of MLSers), but he had a great game, and is clearly loving life in the 4-3-3. Between him and Hoppenot, it's good to have some "run around like a maniac" on the field.
While I agree he had probably his best game for the Union. That 'run around like a maniac' works well for Hoppenot but LaHoud scares me sometimes. I keep waiting for him to get red for one of those tackles. I will say this though, Valdes was like that early last year when he first came, maybe he can get Lahoud to channel it better to still be aggressive but not reckless.
Some concerns from watching the NE match just today: 1) The back line should just stop playing long balls, just stop it-- they're not very accurate and it does little more than turn over possession, which we sorely lack the ability to hold. 2) I'm very disappointed in the poor first touches I'm seeing from the forwards and midfielders when passing around. Perhaps this is one of the reasons the defenders feel compelled to completely bypass the midfield all together so many times. 3) It's puzzling why the defense gives so much space to the opposition's attackers, it hurts. 4) I know we're young but the lack of mature attacking players in the middle of the park forces much of our forays forward to the wings. The obvious problem with wing-play for the Union is that the players are always at a size disadvantage against practically every MLS defense. Of course I'm pleased with Jack's goal and I'm thankful it was Alston who was defending that ball 5) Hesitation: it's difficult to ascertain why, but so many of our attacks break down needlessly because the player with the ball takes one or more touches too many instead of smartly playing the ball quickly to a teammate making a run or quickly taking a shot before the defense can close space. 6) I know he's a young player, but MacMath's instincts concern me. The gaffe he made in the USOC is of note here, but in the NE match there were several times he came off his line when he was VERY lucky not to get scored on because he failed to beat the other guy to the ball. Joseph's flick had MacMath in no-mans-land. His first step on the shot that beat him was the wrong way. It was a wicked knuckler, but I would still maintain that a 'keeper should not get beat from that distance by a shot that ends up in the middle of the goal.