Sorber had a good interview on the post game show. Said the second goal was a "scoring chance, but should have never been a goal", and reiterated in direct but polite terms that the defense needs to get their act together or whatever we do offensively is all for nothing. What's the over under that he's our new manager after the World Cup break?
In no particular order since I've been drinking: 1) I'm picturing Petke going into the locker room at the half and telling his guys they're disgracing themselves in front of their fans and Hack telling his guys to keep up the good work. Because the second half was a complete turnaround. 2) what happened to that disorganized NYRB defense we kept hearing about? 3) the U spent the entire game underestimating the RedBull LB. Every time down the field he was breaking up passes and dispossessing them but they kept going to the right anyway. 4). Who was supposed to have Henry? I thought it was Ray. Please God don't tell me they weren't man marking Henry. 5) second goal Zach looked like he was asleep again and woke up just after the ball left Cahill's head.
He has been that way all season so far. Part of it is tactical with the new midfield, the other part I think is him not combining well with the new teammates. He rarely makes threatening runs.
Yep, new guys definitely aren't the problem. Maidana had a bad stretch of games but has bounced back nicely in the last two. Edu has been decent and has put away a couple goals as well. Nogueira is fantastic. He's doing everything he can to help and putting the team on his back. You can see why he was captain at Sochaux. Defense is a huge problem right now. The CB situation was never appropriately addressed. I considered Parke to be a rather middling MLS player, but he is heads and shoulders above the crap that's been thrown out there this season. All of the roster options are bad, worse, or unproven. This team would have benefited hugely from a Carlos Valdes return. Valdes was a monster in defense and brought a real calming influence on the back line. As for the fullbacks, Williams is decent enough, but both Gaddis and Fabinho are sorely lacking, albeit for different reasons.
This is why I am skeptical when Hack tells everyone he is pleased with the depth he has this year. Combine that with the fact that we don't have regular finishing up front and you end up with large roster questions, not depth.
Thoughts. - Honestly the defense shat the bed on the Henry goal. Seriously, how do you allow the guy to be UNMARKED in the freaking box? Watching the replay it looked like Edu was nearest to Henry when he began to make his run into the box, why Edu made no effort to mark Henry is beyond me and he needs to be called out on it. - The subs were horrific. Wenger should be giving you a full 90, the guy is only 23 years old and should be physically capable of giving you a full game. Whenever Antoine Hoppenot is brought on I expect that every team we're playing breathes a sigh of relief knowing that any hope of an attack is gone. Did Hoppenot even touch the ball during the game? Furthermore, Lahoud? Seriously? I would rather Danny Cruz come out onto the field. - Le Toux was freaking invisible during the game. Yes, he had a goal from the PK but other then that was totally nonexistent. Whenever Pfeffer comes back to the team he damned well should be getting subbed in for Le Toux if not starting over him. I'm past the point of being patient, our attacking options off the bench this game were goddamned pathetic. Seriously, why Le Toux is allowed anywhere near a corner or free kick at this point is beyond me. - I can't truly blame either goal on MacMath but I do agree with what some people around me said that he should at least be freaking DIVING for those shots. Especially the second one. While I'm not saying that MacMath should be benched for a stretch of games at this point, I do hope to see Blake start against Houston on Saturday. - Coaching once again rears it's ugly head for us. A Hackworth managed team was once again in the 2nd half, totally out played and out coached. Hackworth continually shows that while he might be a decent assistant manager or perhaps a youth team coach, he can NOT handle the duties and pressures of being up there with the big boys. - Ray Gaddis also once again showed that he is pretty much useless in the attack. I like Ray, I like his speed, I like how he has the ability to cut off attackers from the ball with said speed, however the guy can NOT serve the ball into the box and when you have your backs overlapping up the field to assist in the attack that is a skill that is a MUST. Fabinho suffers from the fact that he's not a defender and plays accordingly. - Nogueira at this point has to be wondering what the hell he got himself into. The guy showed craftiness and skill with the ball once again. Hell at one point he had the ball and was cutting back and forth in the New York half of the field and no one seemed to realize that hey, maybe I should make a run so he can serve me the ball. It bothers me because on a better run team Nogueira would be absolutely killing it right now. - I've heard some people say that Hackworth's job was safe through this season, but after the utter disappointment of the past month and a half you really have to question that. I can't fathom how any ownership group would be pleased with the current string of results. 1-2-4 is a pathetic record when you splashed the cash to upgrade the team. I imagine that we're going to give up two or three goals to Houston this Saturday and I could easily see Montreal putting up two or more on us (with McInerney getting one of those goals), that would give us a 1-4-4 record heading into the month of May and there is absolutely no way that Sugarman and even Nick Sack don't sit up and take notice of that. If the results aren't there, I would expect, hell, I would DEMAND that Hackworth be dumped by the WC break.
Not unless there's something magic in the water here. He's been a poor finisher throughout his career, which is why he wasn't playing regularly for MTL even before they got Di Vaio. I like him and am rooting for him, but 1 goal doesn't outweigh his previous record of looking like a speedier Chad Barrett. Nothing wrong with being Chad Barrett, btw--he's been a pro for this long because he does a lot of things well. But he's not a great finisher.
Interesting tidbit here. I was sitting just behind a few Union supporters who actually got Brian Carroll's attention during second-half warm-ups behind the goal. They were yelling at him asking why he wasn't in the game. A bit surprisingly, Carroll interacted with them on at least two occasions. I couldn't quite make out exactly what he said, but the impression I got was that he was sort of motioning as if to say, 'yeah, I don't know why, thanks for your support.' I'm used to players generally ignoring those types of situations, but it was evident he seemed ticked off enough about not playing to respond to them multiple times.
Long time viewer and enjoy reading everyones opinions but this game was one of the most frustrating in a while. A couple things: -I understand the long-term thinking of trading McInerney for another prospect once it became clear that he would not sign an extension for a reasonable amount. That being said I do not understand going into the season with no depth at striker if you intend to trade your starting striker. It just reeks of lack of planning and the front office making rash decisions as they come along (I know, who would think that the front office is a clusterf*ck?). The idea that you trade your best player for a talented but unproven player when the only other target striker on the team is a 32 year old striker that has had some injury problems in the past literally blows my mind. I hate Sac and can not wait to see him leave. His long-term planning is atrocious but when you own part of the team you ain't going anywhere. -Wheeler at the back is an embarrassment and I honestly feel sorry for him. He is getting thrown in to play a new position against a very high IQ soccer team in NY. Play that stood out to me was when Philips split the back line in the 70th minute and almost scored. The back line had no idea what was going on. Is Ethan White alive? Is he really this bad? If we really see Wheeler at CB for beyond this season we need to loan him out during the break for the world cup and get him as many games as possible. -Saying all the above I got to be honest and just say that I am so happy with the midfield. This was not one of their best games and I am not making excuses but god is it a MAJOR upgrade from last year. -I don't get the subs other than Lahoud. Hack wanted Lahoud to be a defensive mid and then push Edu up the field. Taking Maidana off is understandable if you have someone competent to replace him. Putting Hoppenot in when you need someone to break down a compact defense was dumb. He is a smash and grab specialist on the counter. -Last thing, this game highlighted the constraints that Hac has on tactics. Using 2 subs at the same time was a high risk-low reward gamble. Was surprised that at the end up a man we did not sub off Wheeler and shift to a 3 man back line. This would have allowed us to have both Wenger and Casey in the game at the same time. Overall really disappointing. I hate when people say things like "this is a must win" but this is a team that we will be fighting to get in the playoffs. We needed this especially with the upcoming schedule. PS Lanus, coached by Schelotto, beat Santos today. A coach who has expressed interest in coaching in MLS.
Nice first post, and welcome. Schelotto was a very crafty player in this league and seems like the type of ex-player fit for coaching. Dallas reportedly wanted him but balked at his salary demands. If that is true, then I don't see Sak and company forking over dollars for him, either.
Yo I went to the game with some friends and had a blast despite the loss. I sat in deck below Sons of Ben and someone in Sons of Ben threw some food off the upper deck and it landed right on me ROFL, talk about friendly fire. I'll offer my opinions when the devils juice wears off, peace.
You know, articles like this one make me want to punch Hackworth in his damned face. Some quotes And also this Okay seriously, John, may I call you John? You can't be this stupid. You...just can't. You've gotta be ********ing with me. Damned near everything you've described is a coaching issue. Your guys fail to mark players during the Portland game? Geuss what you should be working on in practice the next day? Fail to mark Arnor and let him spring for two goals in the Columbus game? Maybe, just maybe you should attempt to actually be a coach and work on your team's deficiencies. If they continuously fail at picking up what you are attempting to teach them the constant link of failure here is you. Seriously, "baffling"? F-ck. You. Have you ever come up with a game plan? Before the match you grab Maurice Edu by the jersey and say, "Maurice, we're going against Theirry Henry today, its your job to close him down if he gets the ball. You had better be all over him and not let him get off an easy shot. If he scores and you were nowhere to be found, you're in deep shit." If its "not the way you trained it" then that means that the players aren't listening to you anymore. It means that they don't respect/fear/whatever you when you tell them to do something. The fact that apparently the players are failing to follow your instructions (which I personally believe is a lie on your part and a way for you to attempt to shift blame for your shitty, shitty tactics. I'm betting that Le Toux and Maidana aren't switching sides of the field on a whim there John) tells me that you are ineffective as a coach. Do you think Galaxy players fail to do what Bruce Arena tells them? Do you think Dominic Kinnear laments that his players "won't listen"? You obviously should go back to coaching youth players who do what you want without question because you obviously are incapable of handling adults here. Rather than get them to buy into your coaching style and system, you are instead just going through the motions and hoping that things will work out and when they don't you stand there wide eyed and go, "Gosh, what happened? I'm totally amazed that it played out like this." The way you are constantly being out coached in the 2nd half of pretty much every freaking game so far this season tells me that you aren't cut out to be a coach at this level. Maybe with some more seasoning under your belt as an assistant you might. But not now. I truly, truly hope that the team moves on from you sooner rather than later because quotes like I read in that article utterly piss me off. If we limp into May with a 1-4-4 record then I honestly don't know how anyone could stand up for you at that point, if they did it would be...baffling.
No sir. No it isn't. Because at the end of the day............ours is run by a ball Sak and coached by a hack. What Pink does is what Pink does. What Philly does is suck.
Good thing Houston's on a loosing streak. I wouldn't want to see the team stop doing what they are good at
Wow......there is a lot of overly emotional irrational posts on this board! I love how people get all up in arms from articles on MLS's website that only have PART of the quotes from the players and coaches. Full quotes here. Here's one that only had parts printed on MLS' site.......... Hackworth: On communication between midfield and back line on both Red Bulls goals: I just watched them both back and there’s a lot of breakdowns on that play. To allow two serves into the box so easy, then not to have men on the first one, we literally didn’t track guys from midfield. The second one we had plenty of guys back and no one chose to mark the most dangerous players. Literally it’s baffling to watch it back. You think about the plays we got right in that game and then we let those kinds of goals happen. We’ll have to go back and evaluate again because it’s not good enough. Reading the full quote, our coach doesn't sound as much of an oaf as the MLS article makes him aound like. That said, the defesnive mistakes NEED to be cleaned up NOW! I mean..............it was amature hour out there. Okugo got schooled by Eric Alexander? Seriously?!?!?! Ouch! And we left Titi unmarked in the area?!?!?!?! Ugh. Our defenders owe MacMath dinner for the rest of the season for hanging him out to dry. MacMath really deserves a better back four as he has done his job and also improved since last season. Well atleast the midfield played well for the most part. Where would this team be without Edu and Noguiera??? That's too scary think about. Hate to say this (or maybe I don't?) but we need to either trade or restructure LeToux's contract. He's making FAR TOO MUCH $$$ to be COMPLETELY invisible and ineffective. Most players get BETTER as the talent around them improves......... unfortunately we're now seeing exactly what the technical staffs at Seattle and RBNY saw........... Seba really only works well as a lone striker in a 4-5-1 formation that stays defensive and plays long ball quick counter attacks over the top. He struggled playing in a possession oriented side that utilized quick one two passes and combination play in the build up. That is what Hackworth is moving this team towards........and oh wow, LeToux is struggling and his dead ball delivery has reverted back to his pre-2013 season standards. RBNY's defense was markedly better in this match, and that had a lot to do with Olave being back in the lineup. With Him RBNY is a contender. Without him, their defense is bad. I thought Wenger batteled and played well, but the service to him was lacking. He needed to take his one great chance better, even if the pass was a little off, that still needs to be buried. Maidana looks to be over the knock he got a few matches back. He looked good. Hope that continues. The reality is that there are no easy games/sure wins in MLS. That's the beauty/frustration with a parity driven league system. The Houston match is a must win, for this team's confidence, if for nothing else. Even if Hack has to play more 2013ish to get a win against Houston, he should do it. RBNY didn't set the world on fire against the Union, but for about 15 minutes in the second half they did what was necessary to get a win after staying stout on defense for the first half.
It's not quotes taken out of context that lend the oafish appearance. As much as I support firing Hack, and make no mistake, I do, the sound of "we have every confidence Rob has what it takes to get this team on track, which is why we've removed the 'interim' tag" gives me the heebie jeebies. Someone who understands how to manage pros (not Hack), manage to a cap and budget (not Piotr), and how to manage a game (none of the above). While we've robbed Peter to pay Paul, improving our midfield at the cost of the back line and forward depth, we've regressed from last year. A year that was an absolute s*** show. A year where late season top of the table was in sight and we flew the plane into the mountain. You can keep blaming the players, but at this point, only Okugo and Sheanon remain from 2010. That's some impressive turnover in 4+ seasons. There really isn't anyone left to blame. Ownership? Jay Jay bucked up, even on the allocation tip. Nick? Sure. He did put Hack in charge, that whole operating partner thing is problematic. Which leaves, John. This could be over by Memorial Day. HOU draw? @MTL loss @SEA ugly loss DCU win WHOOHOO @SKC ugh loss NER win @LAG loss @chiv draw So maybe 8 points in 8 games, we'll be off the pace by then. 3 West Coast trips (though maybe they stay out between the LA ones) plus a road trip to KC and the Jack revenge game. Saving grace? That result string will keep Edu home.
cant wait to give it to Hack when he strolls out on Saturday. and dont give me that S**T about "support the team" "faithful to the end"... supporting and being faithful doesnt mean we have to sit here idly and put up with garbage ____________________________ If I'm Noguiera, I'm looking for a spot in Ligue 1 next window.
I think booing Hack is warranted. You're still supporting the players on the pitch. But you're booing the man who time and time again is setting them up for failure. Loan striker? Check. Converted CB? Check. Inability to close out a match? Check. Questionable set piece defense? Check.
For reference, let's look at the other "big spenders" in the league: EAST TFC | 9 pts | 3-2-0 DCU | 7 pts | 2-2-1 PHI | 7 pts | 1-2-4 NYRB | 7 pts | 1-2-4 MON | 3 pts | 0-3-3 WEST SEA | 10 pts | 3-2-1 LAG | 7 pts | 2-2-1 POR | 4 pts | 0-2-4 Not a whole lot of disparity between teams who have splashed the proverbial pot.
I am not baffled by the result when you start an entire back line of players who are not playing in their natural positions.
Amobi's a centerback now, and has been for enough time that we need to get past the "converted midfielder" caveat with him. As for Ray and Fab, they're not a natural RB and LB, respectively?