Ok Im so miffed at DC. Olson was trying to get into the Refs head from minute one ( I sit in 124 row 14) He was acting totally unprofessional in his 'leisure suit'. How does this guy even get a job as a head coach? Anyone have a bead on the very poor attendance since the opening match? I know the hockey thing was going on Saturday but just over 11,000 on a great night in Ohio (no rain) is crap. Maybe the combo Hockey/Easter bunny/TWC?
My take from being there and then watching highlights: Ref sucked donkey nuggets! But I saw worse on Friday in a U13 state cup game. Two teammates ran into each other and ref called foul on opposing team in dying minutes of 1-0 game giving losing team a set piece in their attacking 3rd - luckily they didn't score. Except for heroic pass for tying goal, Trapp doesn't pass more than 3-5 yds and often backwards. So I'm not too enamoured with all that praise for passing accuracy everyone wants to hype. Still love the kid though. Trapp sits very deep at times - often between 2 CBs. I even saw him as deepest Defender several times Our defenders are pushing way too far forward too often - opening up the counter attacks we've now seen countless times. Williams thinks he is a forward (see comment above) & can't pass. Dude is just athletic. Thinks he can cover the entire flank - endline to endline. I can't find much good about his game. I would like to see Barson play RB as I think he is better passer and positions himself better. I think he can serve better crosses too. Anyone else see who was chasing back on the play that led to Crew goal? It was Higuain along with Trapp. Not a defender to be found. I think Williams was standing next to DC keeper. I know we were presssing for tying goal, but your AM should not be 2nd closest guy to counter attack. If foul on EJ was Red card as DC is still crying, then so should have been the foul on Oduro that actually got him carded. Not sure how EJ fell to ground when Gonzo was just pulling his arm - oh because he flopped too. I think that is why we only saw yellow on Gonzo. Jimenez should have had 2 more goals - missed a couple great chances. While Anor tackle was admittedly 2 footed, he got ball cleanly and was there a step before defender. Defender jumps and gets slighlty clipped by sliding Anor and falls. No Card and I'm not sure even a foul. It was right in front of me - I thought this live and replay appears to confirm. Love the shots of GREGGG on TV after Crew goal. Looked as if he was yelling at Olsen..."Take that bitches!" I'll take the point and still feel we have bben better team in most matches. Goals will come. That is all.
There was a note in the paper today how the viewing for the Jackets playoff game on Saturday was far above the season average and one of the top 5 ratings of all time. Had to be a factor--and understandably so (though Mrs KG and I chose to go to the Crew game ourselves). I am not sure that TWC is that big a factor in terms of home attendance. I would bet, however, that a lot of folks were travelling for Easter or spending time with family.
A point. Just 1 point...i am disappointed because i HATE DC and i am greedy. But to be at 10 men and take that point in the 90th with our Coach G yelling at the DC bench...I am pretty satisfied overall. I honest to god hope Berhalter fosters an all encompassing seething anger hatred DC and Chicago.
He did better in the second half, but this is our biggest attacking issue: we don't play good passes through the middle in the attacking third. We get to the attacking third and everything seems to go wide for a cross, which clearly isn't a strong suit of ours. Too slow in the buildup. Too predictable. Too easy to defend. Trapp sits in that hole exactly because our outside backs go forward. It's by design. I'd rather we didn't push both outside backs up at all times so our central midfielders could roam forward a bit, but if we keep playing with our wingbacks so high, we're going to need a central midfielder to sit in that hole. In our current system, Josh Williams is not a good right back at all. I think he can be an OK right back, but we can't expect him to be the one to play killer entry passes in the attacking third. That isn't his skillset. He loves to get forward and Gregg loves to see our outside backs doing so, but Josh's athleticism is his only positive attribute in doing so. It was a breakdown after a free kick, wasn't it? Everybody was up and Higuain tried to play a ball to Meram that was well behind him, so Higuain was left to track back with Trapp, who was the only player who stayed back for the free kick. Wasn't really a "why were these 2 the only ones back" issue as much as it was a "why are we pissing away the ball in that spot at that point in the game?" Especially since that is what led to the first goal. No way. Oduro was indecisive on his run and took a dive. Not sure it was worth a yellow card, but he definitely wasn't fouled. EJ went down a little soft, but Gonzo straight pulled on his arm and back. As obvious a red card as there is. We got lucky there. "2 more" is incredibly harsh. Definitely 1 though. His miss from 8 out in the 2nd was terrible. ANYTIME you go into a tackle with 2 feet and your studs exposed, you deserve a red card. It doesn't matter if you got the ball. It doesn't matter if it was intentionally malicious. The referee, for all his terrible decisions, got this one right. FIFA is trying to get rid of dangerous tackles internationally. Any player who slides with their studs exposed or lunches into tackles with 2 feet should be given red cards and learn to adapt their game.
I was noticing in the first half that whenever the Crew had a goal kick that DC would push Johnson and Espindola into the penalty area. They must be outside the penalty area on a goal kick. There was even once after this had happened a few times that I yelled loudly (from 124) down to the AR to "Get them out of the box" and they actually did back up, but not because the AR was doing anything about it. They were just sitting there waiting on Clark to play in out to one of the full backs because it seems to be that predictable. They were forcing him to boot it upfield, altering the way they normally play.
The studs up tackle should in no way be an automatic red. That's absolute garbage. If the guy gets clobbered and draws blood or something, fine, give the red. In Anors cade, clean tackle - play on.
You misunderstand - I'm saying that the rule that says a studs up tackle is an immediate red is a garbage rule and completely bogus.
Anor's tackle was moronic. There was no need to do it, he did get the ball first but he wasn't in control of what he was doing. It was a dirty, dangerous challenge.
I watched Anor go into that two footed tackle and lightly brush up against the DC player thinking to myself, 'Frankie would have gotten his money's worth out of his red card...'
There is absolutely nothing in the laws of the game that stipulate a two footed tackle is a red card. Bernardo Anor did come in with both feet, and did have the studs showing. But it wasn't with a vicious amount of force, and both his feet were actually on the ground -- it's not like he went above the ball and caught him on the kneecaps. To me, although I didn't have a problem with red there, if there's ever a situation where a two footed tackle only warrants yellow, I thought this was it.
The players just need the courage to not take what the other team gives them. The style 3G has chosen is very demanding especially on the wingers. They need to have a forwards mentality with the skill of an Amid. Its why 3G is hesitent to put Oduro out wide. He needs smart soccer players in that spot, Dom is just fast. Short passes, thight combinations, that's how the Crew unlock these teams that pack the middle. I'm not totally sure these players are up to it. I thought Jimenez played his best game and had 3 good chances this game. I do think the Crew need to spend some serious cash when the window opens though. If they could get their wingers acting as they should and a CF that could be a threat in the air, the team could be pretty hard to stop.
I like your last bullet! I share your optimism. To your comment about Williams I will offer my take: Barson is extremely difficult to beat defensively. Very strong one on one as a defender. Nice and fast too. But in my opinion, he does not have the ball control skills that this system calls for. His composure, offensive vision and touch could be considered his weaknesses. Its a bit of a shame in a way, because I believe he is a terrific OB in systems that press one of the CB's offensively as a key distributor. I like him very much. But Josh has a very high ceiling in GB's system. Keep in mind he is still developing as a true defender and only has a handful of games in this system. "He's got skills. " I feel very positive about him. Plus, I love his hard nosed play - strong, tough, fast. And that's what I think about that.
continuing the liverpool talk from page 3: I noticed our build up style is similar too.. but the difference is liverpool gets the ball to the sideline and works the ball via small passes and runs instead of delivering a sh!t cross to nobody. They do have suarez and he does some magical moves but a lot of it is just passing in tight situations, working their way into the box. this style is good for plenty of tough challenges for defenders to make in their own box too which of course gets penalties
I agree. The laws of the game provide broad categories ("violent conduct" or "serious foul play") to describe a red card offense. Anor's challenge could be interpreted as falling in those categories but it is a subjective call. Refs typically send players off for two-footed challenges but that is a customary rather than dogmatic ruling these says. It wasn't always that way . I can't argue too much with the call but I think it could have gone either way without violating the rules of the game. Both Liverpool and Columbus score often from counterattacks and try to build from the back but the similarities largely end there. Well, that and a lack of tall attackers (I've yet to see Oduro win a header. Ever). Skrtel has 7 goals though, that's Chad Marshall form for a CB! Rogers clearly favors the 4-4-2 diamond, he has shown tactical flexibility over the season but he tinkers less often these days. Liverpool have three very dangerous attacking players (Suarez, Sturridge, Sterling) that flood the opponent's area and overwhelm defenses. Their exchanges in the final third are world-class (Coutinho deserves praise here). It's hardly all about Suarez, though I will concede that without him they would not have been challenging for a title. Columbus doesn't have that kind of firepower and our attacking play in the final third is slower and weaker (hardly a criticism since few teams in Europe can match Liverpool's attack at the moment). Liverpool relies on speed to stretch defenses and the Crew are not fast enough as a unit to play that way.
so do Columbus and liverpool differ in their style of play, or just that columbus does not have similar players that can compliment what they are trying to do?
Maybe more the latter. But it's too early to pass judgment on the Crew. But in my opinion (for what that's worth ), I think Berhalter's ideas are good, and the system is working so far. The caveat is that I expect it to improve as the players become more used to it and (hopefully) better players are brought in over time.
It should get better over time. Especially when the goals we have allowed this year have mainly been due to preventable mistakes. The goal against DC and the set piece against SJ are the result of two blunders that we shouldn't see no matter the system. If we eliminate those kinds of mistakes we are seeing this team hasn't even really been challenged much outside of Toronto.
I completely and utterly disagree on you assessment of Barson. If he couldn't pass and didn't have good ball skills he would not have played for Caleb Porter at Akron & he would not have been part of several YNTs. He contributed quite a bit to Akron's offensive attack. He is good at playing the ball calmly out the back with accuracy and purpose. Not to mention he is very smart and dare I say plays very "responsibly". I also don't buy into the Williams has more upside and is a project. He is older than Barson. Why not play the younger and technically better player? Especially if it helps the team win now. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to bash Williams. I like him. I just think Barson is better at RB. Had we not signed Parkhurst and/or Gonzalez, I think Williams is playing there and this discussion isn't happening. It will be interesting to see how things are played during and after WC.