I watched the game last night. Their offense is still a bit disorganized but it is starting to look a lot better and they did create a bunch of shots on goal. Eddie Johnson and Montero are starting to click and both DP wingers will be back from injury in the next week. Last year they rotated traffic cones through the second striker position and still managed to be the most productive offense in MLS. Eddie Johnson is looking like a savvy trade to fill that hole. When Seattle's starting offense gels I can easily see them being even more dangerous on the attack than last year. The bizarre part is their defense, which was leaky last year. Same guys plus a new keeper but playing way better. In previous years they would have lost some early games while the offense sorts itself out. Quakes are killing it in the western conference but Seattle could level the standings with the games in hand. Advantage San Jose but Seattle is starting to gain some quality strength. BTW, congrats on the new stadium. I used to live down the street from Spartan Stadium back when they were The Clash. It is about time the Quakes got some proper digs.
Not so much a comment on other games played, but on other games coming up....Just finished listening to the "March to the Match" podcast for this week. They were going on about how the LA/NY match this week is the "marquee match of the week". I get that those teams have the big name DPs, but since two of those guys (Henry and Marquez) aren't even going to be playing, how on earth do people consider this game a marquee game at this point? The Quakes vs DCU match should have been tagged as the marquee match of the week. Both teams came in playing really well, with some of the top scorers in the league (Wondo, Santos, Pontius) coming into the game, and last year's MVP (DeRo) playing in it. It sure would have been nice to have had more hype leading up to that game, as it certainly was an exciting game to watch. If more fans saw games like that they might be drawn to watch MLS more.
Thanks for the update on Seattle, I have also been trying to figure out why their defense is so good this year.
Not a problem, I am a seriously retro quakes fan. I still have a house around Branham and Snell even though I no longer live in the Bay Area. I tend to watch the top 3-4 teams in MLS regardless of where I live and the 'quakes look good for the first time in a while. I am pleasantly surprised because I thought they would continue to suck like last year. The newfound defense of Seattle is inexplicable, and they have rotated about 7 defenders through their games with no loss of quality. I talked trash about players on their defense last year that look like studs this year. No clue what changed but they are smothering everybody. However, you should watch their game against Los Angeles. They dominated the Galaxy with their offense in a way that the score line does not do justice to and it is the first game where they are starting to look like last year's offense. If they polish that, they will be very dangerous. Doubly so if their defense is not as leaky as it was last year; a lot of their losses last year were due to defensive failures that are not in evidence this year. My opinion is that RSL is good but currently over-rated in the western conference (many other people probably disagree). If San Jose and Seattle are leading the western conference it won't break my heart. It is still early in the season but from where I sit the interesting clubs from a dominance standpoint are San Jose, Kansas City, and Seattle. All three are looking capable of doing real damage in style.
This bugs me so much. Do we really want to define the pinnacle of MLS competition in terms of a couple mediocre, geriatric teams in a slap fight? Who cares if they spend a lot of money on their players, those teams are fighting for playoff positions in a league that lets just about anyone into the playoffs. I do not favor turning MLS into a living museum for famous players. I respect teams that make real investments in turning nominal nobodies into top-quality players. It doesn't always work out but it is what will turn MLS into a great league. Teams that have figured out how to do that are looking a lot better than teams that are signing large quantities of over-the-hill players that used to be great.
yes but the mighty KC Wizards are getting their butts handed to them by the expansion team. Point being......it happens to everyone.
Yup. Parity. Tiredness. Blank confused faces in Kansas. Like all of a sudden, they're not in...bleh nm. Seattle moving up in power rankings?
yeah......im glad we're not playing either of those teams. theyre trying to Ramsey/Eduardo each other's ankles and the ref has been throwing out cards left and right......so its not like hes let the game get out of hand. its just a game when theyre just at each others throats.
That red on Cardenas was BS. NE just couldnt take advantage of RSL's red card. Also that kid Fagundez is going to be pretty good. I hope he' ll playfor the US.
Salazar again seeing something and thinking it's okay for him to decide not to call it and thus willfully changing the game.
Yeah, LA really doesn't look like a very good team right now - it's not just their defense, it's their whole team. And all of the teams at the bottom of the West table keep losing. Seattle and RSL keep winning, but neither of them really played that well. RSL in particular seems to be winning with smoke and mirrors, they were lucky to get the W. Right now there's 4 pretty good teams in the West who are getting results consistently, and then the other 5 (Dallas, Colorado, Chivas, Portland and LA) are all really struggling. Will be interesting to see if that changes or not.
You know the Gals won't stay at the bottom without trying to get themselves straighten out in the summer. LA just lack any ideas.
It will be interesting - LA should have zero room under the salary cap, so it's hard to see what they can do as far as bringing in significant new players in the summer (unless they sell someone). Maybe Gonzalez gets back earlier than they were thinking (previously I had heard Aug/Sept timeline) and he helps them get their confidence back defensively. I do think LA will sort things out one way or another, but they may be so far down in the standings that they won't threaten the top of the table but will fight for the 5th place spot. The same goes for Portland - I think they have more talent on the team than the others at the bottom of the West, and are likely to figure some things out and fight for the last playoff spot. I really expected Vancouver to drop off and fall to the middle of the West table, and they still may. But they should get better (maybe a lot bettter, hard to tell) in the summer with the arrival of Robson, so it's hard to figure them having a big dropoff.
They've done it before with Angel. Keane is on course to do the same. That is really their only play and bring a guy like Ballack to replace him.
this one looks like its another rugby game. Dallas has had 2 players ejected, and both werent even debatable. Im glad the refs are stopping this BS in its tracks, itll teach them a thing or two that it hurts the leagues image and this tough refereeing is what is needed.
I didn't actually get to see the red card infractions, so you're saying they weren't questionable, that they were strait reds?
yup, Hernendez's i guess was debatable for a yellow, but he was already on a yellow and the challenge was impossibly and unforgivably clumsy. and Perez's was just a high studs up tackle. Not even Dallas fans are moaning about it, theyre more pissed at their players. love me some Summerfest btw......that is goodies. in fact youve inspired me to go to safeway and pick up a 6er of it
.....every second of it. man.....screw you guys, now i have to go to the brewery for dinner fetucchini gorgonzolla and sampler with a growler of summerfest out the door.....is happening tonight