Other Teams and MLS....stuff [R]

Sporting KC is in 2nd. See here.

ok....now it's time to panic... Seriously....we need a win

They have a game in hand as well. On the west side of things, LA/Seattle/Vancouver are only 5 pts behind us. Seattle has 2 games in hand, Vancouver has 1 game in hand while we have 1 in hand vs LA. If we don't right the ship we could easily drop to 4th/5th and have to have a 1 off game to get into the playoffs proper.

I deliberately worded it vaguely so as to NOT IMPLY that we were currently ranked 2nd, because I knew people would jump on that and beat it to death.

I'm glad you all proved me wrong. You only bruised it a bit.

My claret and cobalt glasses fogged up and I was looking just at the Western Conference table...even that is a little concerning....making it hard to be a total homer this time of year.

History made today beating Mexico at the Azteca! And who was involved in the goal? Beckerman! Suck it haters! Howard was playing out of his mind.

Time to get rid of of him, his value will never be higher and that's all soccer is about, right? Selling players.

To be fair, he's pretty much at his ceiling. He's a player I'd prefer to keep, but everyone has a price and if we could get a proven 22-23yo talent in trade for him? Sign me up.

1-0 over Mexico in Mexico city and who played over 90 minutes? Yes our very own Kyle Beckerman, and he played very well.
**** all you Beckerman haters he was very instrumental in keeping this team in shape. The more time he see's the pitch better the US looks.
Feel very good for Klinnsman, and total hats off to Howard who again was world class with huge saves.

Screw opinions.

That was just...inspiring.

OK, I will venture a few.

I was amazed at how well the back line executed the trapping high line in the first half...a big part of our Gold Cup wipe out was the complete absence of this tactic, Goodson & (whoever) just retreating Dos Santos and Guardado getting behind the US all day.

Mexico was a touch away from not one, but several goals. We were fortunate that their finishing wasn't there (credit to Howard of course).

However, the US pressured the Mexicans all night...and that contributed to their finishing woes. That was really the highlight - the effort, the tenacity. The US was the tougher more resilient side, something we haven't seen against Mexico in some recent tilts. Beasley couldn't hardly make a touch he wanted, but he ran like a madman when he was in there...same thing with Donovan and many others.

The grit was promising, but so is the ongoing play of some of the younger stars, particularly in the back. Johnson and Cameron are looking really good and Edu's recovery speed at CB is ... great to have.

I MUST be a masochist, I don't know why but I continue to go back to the USMNT forums and read their thoughts on the games. Just mind boggling stuff. At least tonight it's split roughly 50/50 in terms of reviews for Beckerman, half seem to be happy with his play, claiming he was the best of the midfield. Then there is the other half who continue to think he was flat out awful, with some of the most retarded comments regarding his play tonight than I've ever read on that board. Guys bashing his passing (25/30 completed), his collection of the ball (6 tackles and loss of the ball, compared to 12 for jones, 9 for torres, 7 for williams, and even 7 for ********ing beasley who was on the field for like 25 minutes), his movement through the midfield and his lack of defense (uhh really? he had 10 defensive breakups during the game).

Beckerman EASILY had one of the best performances on the night for the US, really I'd place Howard, Cameron, and Castillo ahead of him. That's it.

His tackle that was a slight breeze away from being a goal was hilarious, I thought for sure that was going in. Even if it had gone in, half the idiots on the USMNT boards still would have rated him low. Those asshats have absolutely ZERO clue when it comes to soccer tactics and players performances. Tonight was probably Kyle's best performance in a US jersey.

this sounds familiar...

I need to preface this post with the following: I LOVED watching history be made in Mexico.

But lets not get all excited over this one game (channeling my inner IBIK)

I, like many others, found it incredibly strange of Mexico to not only play in a friendly against the US, but to play it at Azteca. Giving our players that have never experienced that place a chance to play there was something everyone was going "really?" to.

It seemed, as I watched that game, that we weren't really playing at the Azteca, though. Yeah, it was the venue, but the fans weren't anywhere near as passionate as they typically are. The place wasn't literally shaking with noise. There wasn't a boo rained down on every single US player's touch. So while it was awesome to get a win there (an incredibly historic one at that) it wasn't really at the Azteca. At least not the Azteca that will be waiting for us in the next round of qualifiers.

Honestly, I would have given up a 6-0 drubbing in this game if it meant we could have even drawn them there later in qualifiers. The US talk before the game was all about "the result doesn't really matter, it's just about the experience" you can't change that just because the result happened to go your way.

Beckerman played out of his ********ing mind, I agree. I've said every time that I bring him up as trade bait that the trade would really have to be something special, but he shouldn't be put on a list of "we aren't even going to shop this guy".

I say we trade Ned and Javi or Olave for Brek Shea

While I agree that Beckerman had his best performance for the USMNT last night, I can understand where some of the negativity is coming from. He lost his man twice in the box, and both should have been goals. We were lucky Mexico was having trouble with their finishing. Aside from those two flubs, he had some of the best movement off and on the ball for the team. Creating chances, breaking up plays, etc. He played well, but let's not deny that Timmy was playing out of his mind to keep the US in the game.

That's fair. I'm wrong to say that. My thoughts were more on the previous off season when Arsenal was in complete turmoil. I should have remembered their remarkable recovery. I doubt however that Van Persie's choice was based solely on last season's resurgence.

As to why the Mexican Federation hosted the game in El Azteca? This guy was in charge, and this is what he was thinking.

Couldn't have said it better myself...maybe you really are channeling me.

It's a great win for sure, and maybe even deserved, but I also think a 3-0 FMF win would have been possible and probably deserved as well. Chicharito missed a couple sitters and Howard the Duck was in the right place at the right time on a few others. All in all there's still work to be done.

Got to reward the home fans sometime and this match should have done that had the US cooperated.

holy mother of
well done ECS
If only we could pull something even a tenth as large as that off here...

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA ... Let me catch my breath ... HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

Ten minutes of that, and that is the craziest thing you have ever said here.

Thinking RSL supporter groups could pull off a 10th of what the ECS does.

Ohhhhhh Nelly, are you smoking something tonight.

Hilarious.

Wipe tears from eyes. End post.

anybody else see Cahill's first MLS goal?
wow, just wow..
and not because it's a quality finish (it's decent) but because of how shitty it is by the ref

I love the homer announcer: "I don't know why Portland's arguing...."

How about because the whistle blew and Cahill's goal didn't even come off his foot until after the whistle? Should not have been a goal in any way, shape, or form. Or have we become the NBA and that was a "continuation goal"? Can a guy get an "and 1" in soccer now?

why does MLS use the New England video/commentators for their highlights ever?

just a blatant ******** up by the ref, he didn't have a good game. on top of that he flat out LIED in the post game review when they questioned him about it (read it on the ref forum here, actually the first ever time i've read a thread in that forum in which NOBODY, massRef included, defended what he did). of course shep messing is just an awful announcer and a clueless idiot when it comes to this sport, listening to him announce a game makes me dumber by 10 IQ points.