Pre-PBP-Post Game Thread : NY Red Bulls @Vancouver Whitecaps - March 8th, 7:30 PM. MSG2

so are the defenders.

 

BWP has plenty of pace, he should have started up top.

 

Sam did his share of defending. Biggest problem was Alexander. Have always believed that he lacks speed, ball winning and ability to close space on attackers. Could not understand why Klinsmann called him into last USMNT camp.

 

True about Sam. Alexander's strength is ball control. He's better than anyone on our team other than the DPs. Problem is he often can't do anything productive. To me, the problem was that the midfield kept losing the ball, often through Luyindula, who was supposedly playing as a forward, but too often drifted back, collected the ball and then was immediately dispossessed.

 

Sam was the best of the group, but he did get burned badly for the fourth goal. Both Dax and Alexander were awful defensively last night, they barely applied any pressure when Vancouver was attacking (just two tackles between the two of them) and left acres of open space between themselves and the central defenders, which is where most of Vancouver's attacks came from.

 

Luyindula and Esky were the black sheep of the herd, but is to early to panic or critizied Petke or the players, is only one game and come out on the wrong feet, now Luyindula I thing never will be OK, but I don't know about Esky I only see him play once, so is better if we wait and see..... The big problem was on defense to many mistakes, but Olave wasn't plying and with him on I think the things will be different, well I hope so....

 

What didn't you like about Luyindula's game? I thought he was the only bright spot other than Sam.

Petke should have played him in the midfield instead of Alexander though, with BWP up top.

 

The team selection was destined to fail. The McCarty-Alexander pairing just doesn't work. I am also shocked that Petke went with the Cahill-Luyindula pairing up top. If his plan was to be solid defensively and try to get a result (which his other selections seem to suggest), then why didn't he play somebody up top with pace to get behind or someone who can run at a defense?
I really hate Alexander's penchant for getting the ball taken off his feet in the midfield. It is maddening...

 

His wood foot, that work to the wrong side and place that his excellent futbol mind order......

 

Yeah I would prefer Peggy or Cahill as Dax's partner in the middle. Petke should still with platooning Alexander with Sam on the right wing.

 

Huh? Peguy has one of the best touches on the team... And other than Cahill, he gave the ball away less than any of our other midfielders/strikers

 

I really admire Petke for carrying this one. He knows he has to do better.
http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...ike-petke-takes-all-blame-after-humbling-seas

 

The last two times Petke has decided not to play Peguy centrally, he has made comments afterwards admitting that he made a mistake with the lineup.

 

Oh Yeah, he was in front of the net with out marking an always he make the impossible, send the ball 20 yards off the goal.... nice touch.....

 

Something tells me if a 24 year old had put in the exact same performance as Peguy did against Vancouver you wouldn't have a single thing to say... Peguy was far from the problem, give it a rest.

Yeah, his finishing is a joke, that's why he should be playing midfield 100% of the time, and he's the best central midfielder we have on the team. Petke hopefully knows not to play him at forward anymore.

 

Agreed.

Yeah it was weird he did that after all the talk regretting the 2nd playoff leg. Granted when I first saw the lineup I didn't think it would work out like that. Obviously after that drubbing hindsight is 20/20. It's only one game though, I'm still confident Petke will make the necessary changes, and he is saying all the right things.

 

I don't think any player covered himself with glory. And of course the coach has to take his share of blame, also, for not having his team better prepared. That said, this is what often happens when a veteran team starts the season. It may take them time to dial things in and shake off any niggling injuries. We've seen this happen in recent years with LA, who look like crap for half a season and then get on a roll to win the MLS Cup. It's a World Cup year, which makes the start of the season even more irrelevant. They can't afford to give away too many points, but being middle of the pack by July 1st keeps the club in the hunt for the playoffs. Unless the goal is another SS, a slow start doesn't really hurt that much. When the teams like Vancouver have burned themselves out, the Red Bulls should be just starting to get hot. So, I'm not going to read too much into this particular game.

 

i

That he is the best CAM I will not argument about that, and that have to worry us, because if he is the best on that so important position we are dammed, condemn to be for ever the mediocre team that we have been for 19 years.....

 

In the three games Peguy started at CAM last year, we won twice and tied once, outscoring our opponents 10-4. If that is "damned" to you, then I can't wait to see this team when they really get going!

 

My quick take on Petke's 2013: I liked the hire initially and gave him a grace period. He showed his inexperience early but made strides, particularly by admitting his initial plans to play a 4-3-3 were a bit idealistic and not well suited to the roster. He then regressed a bit in the middle of the season and became very inflexible tactically. The Henry blowup happened, the team became much more cohesive and Petke was very good down the stretch showing a willingness to tinker. He made a mistake by being too reactive in the playoffs against Houston by not playing Luyindula.
I'm very surprised to see that he didn't quite learn from that but the first few games of any season are usually strange and not indicative of long-term trends. I'm not too worried about one loss.
I think that RBNY did the right thing by hiring Petke and placing him alongside Roxburgh, a guy who has spent the majority of his career grooming coaches.

 

I think we gotta give Frasier some credit too, I don't know his exact role but everybody at the club loves him and it was reported that he was the one who originally suggested moving Peguy to the midfield. Between him and Roxburgh, I don't think we could have asked for better mentors for Petke.

 

Absolutely. I should have mentioned his influence. I'm so happy we didn't lose him this off season.