I will definitely have to take a look at the Red Cards before confirming my suspicions that both could be bogus buts what else is new. Sabo is a stud. The guy gets rode hard and put away wet by the defenders every week with little respect from the officials. His header was sweet. Nick Rimando is one damn fine goalie who should lock up three nominees for save of the week from tonight and Reis had a couple epic saves as well. All in all I will take 3 points
I think both red cards were the result of similar circumstances. 50/50 ball, players went for the ball but were 2nd to it and caught the the other player on the ankle. Both Yellows if you ask me. Neither one was a dirty play. I'll concede that NE's red was probably harsher, since Will's stud's were up, but NE also got to be up a man for a portion of the match where RSL did not. Pretty messed up definition of justice and I don't think NE can say they were screwed. TL;DR: result was fair.
I'm still waiting for the Espy hate to show up the dude missed 2 sitters today no matter how you spin it
just got home from the timbers match, those guys are a mess. going to watch the RSL match now. i'll save my ********s and ********s for later.
I felt we played a good 90 overall. We were able to capitalize on some chances and Reis made some amazing saves. That flick by Morales to the Sabo volley would've been GOTW for sure, instead that'll be up for SOTW thanks to Reis. Both goalies keeping their teams in it and not much could've been done by either keeper on the goals scored. Maybe we finally have a week people stop bashing Sabo? Shift the hate to Espindola now? I think both are playing good enough. Sabo certainly did some positive things on the defensive end. He was a bit more active than he usually is. Morales still isn't 100% but I'd say this was his best game so far this year.
I'll go ahead and say it! Two breakaways, no goals. Maybe I'm just bitter because he's on my fantasy team and I'm in 254th place...
Interesting game. The officiating was consistent in my eyes, even though it was terrible. Both reds I feel should have been yellows and NE definitely got the worse call there. Sabo got away with a handball on his first goal, but there were several handballs that were missed during the game. Forwards: Sabo is playing his game and his second goal was textbook for a target forward. Seems like there was a coaching decision to leave him out of defending corner kicks. Fabi is in the right places and making the right runs. I'm sure his finishing will return. Midfield: Seem to be picking up pace. Morales still looks like he is trying to get to his peak fitness but he is looking better and better with each game he plays. Solid performance from everyone. Defense: Seems like Olave has been turned on his heels a couple of times recently. The goal that was given up I thought was against the run of play and was well taken shot. Goalkeeping: Rimando is easily MOTM. Just wow. Simply put, we got 3 points of this game because of him.
we really got treated to some top not goal tending tonight. Reis made a ridiculous face save to prevent Sabo from getting his third and putting the game away. Nicky has the "double save" with the tip away for a corner and then tipping it over the crossbar from that corner. Really, this was a game that if you have a goalkeeper as a kid, you go "these guys are who you should model yourself after"
28' minute, how in the HELL is that not a pk for the shove on espy in the box? espy is winding up and he gets straight shoved/tactically bumped in the back, zero intention to play the ball. clearly should have been a pk.
and Espy clearly should have buried that shot, and the one in the 5thish minute, to make it a nonissue.
disagree, he had no idea that the NE defender was behind him like that, he winds up to kick the shot and the NE tactically hip checks him off his balance. clearly a penalty, the NE player had no intention of playing the ball. i cant blame espy for missing that shot, i really cant, he is going full speed and set up his left foot for a good shot, the NE defender just came up from behind and threw him off balance. every single person on this board misses that shot, most pro players miss that shot.
if he didn't take like a billion setup touches, I'd be more into your argument. As is, Espy has to know he only has 1 or 2 (at the very most) touches in a situation like that. Probably a foul, but Espy should have buried it and this wouldn't be an issue. If you feel the red on Will was legit, then go watch the highlights of the Seattle v Philly game. Apparently the exact same tackle is only a yellow there... The red on New England was a joke, though, no arguing that.
He should have. That's what defenders do. I don't know, I didn't record the game so I can't review it like you, but I remember asking myself, from my North Goal seats, why Espy allowed the defender to catch up and challenge the shot. If he had pulled the trigger sooner there wouldn't have been any contact, but the fact that he didn't made it look like he was trying to draw the contact which is my guess as to why the ref played on.
absolute red on will. clearly a red, he went in studs into the guys ankle, it was a red card. the center ref was wrong and i applaud the side line ref for stepping in and telling the center ref he was wrong. we NEED more side line refs who are not afraid to step in and tell the center ref what they saw. if those ********ing douche bags had more balls than maybe we dont see red cards on olave, or borchers, etc. i guess knowing that will was going to get a red i was watching him more during the first 59' of the game, the guy was a freaking ghost, he literally did NOTHING while he was on the pitch. i hope that whoever gets a chance to replace him next match steps up and at least forces kreis to think about giving him more time in will's spot in the future because will has had a pretty bad season before. i have more thoughts on other players (sabo, espy, javi, and olave) but i'll wait until i finish the game.
he took like 3 touches, you make it sound like he dribbled about 50 times before i took his shot. he literally takes a touch to control, one to move it forward and another to set up his shot. he is literally eyes toward goal after the second touch, completely focused on burying the shot and has zero clue that the NE defender runs up behind him. should have a penalty.
man, sene is a specimen, NE needs to be playing him as much as possible. i was VERY impressed with him before this game, his footwork is very good (i've watched a couple NE games, including the one against NY last weekend). he looks big next to olave, that's saying something.
uhhhmmmm, ok. and this effects my ability to see and judge an RSL game in what manner? seeing as how i've been watching this RSL team since they've existed, i think i'm more than capable of judging them. the timbers are UGLY right now, watching an RSL game after watching the timbers game is night and day. it's sooooo much easier to watch an RSL game and see the intricacies of the game. the timbers are a total kick and hope team right now.
79' minute, javi is fouled in the corner, sideline ref helps javi up and then marches the 10 yards off for the defender on the free kick. cant remember if i've ever seen a sideline ref do that before. then reis' big fat bald head manages to keep sabo from getting a hat trick.
NE is....unlucky they get the red card. the player doesnt actually make foot contact with olave, he gets his foot down and then collides with olave leg to leg. in real time though it is really fast and it looks like his studs collide with olave's leg/ankle. given the situation with will's red card i think the ref was in a position where he sort felt like he had to give a red card. he set the precedence already, except this time he didnt have a sideline ref to come to his rescue and tell him that it should not be a red. steele should have never come in for espindola, espy was far more menacing, dangerous and disruptive than steele has been. waste of a sub.
Would have liked to see someone else other than Steele come on but Espy was too hot late in that game and I think Kreis pulled him off to protect him from getting a Yellow or worse.
what a freaking stupid yellow card on sabo, he pleads to get back on the field for a FULL minute, from the touchline the assistant ref makes him come all the way over to the midfield sideline, so he does. gets all the way over there and pleads to get on the field again, then runs on and the next dead ball gets the yellow. what the hell more does a guy have to do to get back on the field? sabo is really unlucky not to get a hat trick.
so besides the obvious from nick rimando, the things that stood out to me were: people who bag on either sabo or espy for any reason at absolute idiots. beyond the goals that sabo score, which were very good, he busted his ass holding up the ball, flicking on long balls, finding players on the wing and in the midfield and threatening in the attacking third. espy absolutely worked the NE defense from the outside, especially in the first half. ya, he missed the sitter in the 5th minute, i dont fault him at all for missing the second one since he was clearly thrown off balance with the hip check. but he was menacing all night and was connecting well with sabo and the attacking midfield. his footwork and movement on the sideline with the ball on multiple occasions was spectacular. javi is getting back into form, i think this was his finest game since he's gotten back to starting. his touch is getting back to its regular magnificence, you can see his field vision is returning as he is picking players out in stride with 20, 30, 40 yard bombs from all over. and his set piece delivery is getting better and better. his movement with the ball in tight spaces is improving, not quite back to normal, but give him another half dozen games or so and i think he will be real close to the old javi. grab's is a rock in the midfield, the guy does the unspectacular work that wins us games. he's busting his ass making tackles, being there to receive passes and move the ball around and being a south central menace to the opposing team. i think this year he has been filling the will johnson role that we knew from years past while will johnson has been more of a ghost. i would like to see velasquez on the opposite side of grabavoy next game starting, grabavoy has the work rate to cover while velasquez moves forward. olave and beltran both got smoked for the first goal, olave got his ankles broken again. overall i would say the defense was shaky for several different periods of the game. rimando absolutely LAID into them on a couple of occasions, deservedly so. we are lucky that sene didnt really have enough time to work his foot magic.
