Columbus Crew @ SJ 'Quakes (9/28) POST-Game Thread (R) Quakes lose. The good thing is that I get a refund on my playoff tickets which would have went unused in any case.
      It stinks to give a valiant effort to repeat but come up short - although only one team in MLS history has ever been able to repeat back-to-back as champions (1996-1997 DC United), so the Earthquakes are definitely not alone in this.       But no MLS team in this year's playoffs (other than Chicago or Kansas City) can start the 2003 season with more stars above its jersey crest than the San Jose Earthquakes!       GO EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
I think putting in Ekelund was the reason the Quakes lost. Right before then, the Quakes had a lot of offensive possession. Soon after, the Crew took over with speedy play on the outside. Russell wasn't a big part of the offense, from what I could tell given a distant view of the TV for the second half and listeneing to Max Headroom during the first, but he was an important part in covering the Crew outside midfielders. When the Crew coach saw Russell go out, he put in West and the game was over. In the last 10 minutes we could only get a few weak counters. Putting in Barclay wasn't that great either. A tie would have been acceptable - Barclay is not a possession or defensive player. He is very high risk.
I'm not really all that surprised that we lost. Life doesn't always go the way you want it to. I'm a little sad that I missed the game still. I'll be supporting every team but LA for the rest of the playoffs though. The way I see it is "at least we made it to the playoffs."
Oh well, no big deal. The only thing that sucks is losing to the sod busters on two Joe Cannon mistakes for a couple of easy "here you go" goals. On the bright side, Jair Marrufo is now the best of the dog crap MLS officials. I know that doesn't mean shyte in the real world but you take what you can get. The Columbus team has one attack plan, long balls over the top to their speedy forwards, it's a pity we couldn't exploit that more as we owned them the first and most of the second half. I'm just waiting for the inbred, dumbass crew trolls to start posting garbage on our boards. Hopefully our moderators will delete their shyte or send it packing:
Good job, Beerking! There's no sod in Ohio. SJ didn't 'own' the Crew for the first half or even a part of the second, but we beat you on good combination play in the box, not long balls over the top. Are you absolutely certain you aren't an Ultra? ...... Agoos has become a liability to your defense. Cunningham went straight at him repeatedly and beat him frequently. I would think that Goos needs to either move into a defensive midfield position where he at least has some backup, which is highly unlikely, or you have to hope he somehow turns it around in the off season. How he'll find speed is beyond me though. Even though he was a crucial element in your great season last year, now he's just toast. It's just a shame he doesn't still play for DC. A little end of the career humiliation with a crap team would have been a more fitting way to go for him. But then, maybe I'm a little biased. Also, you guys had no real answer to Garcia, unless, of course, you think that shots to the head are an acceptable answer. Yallop switched your midfield around hoping to get a height advantage over Garcia on the one side and a speed advantage over McCarty on the other. It just didn't work. For all of McCarty's faults, and they are many, he actually played a smart game tonight. And spejic, I just have to respectfully disagree with your Ekelund-Russell theory. The winning goal, though it was immediately after the substitutions, did not really include the substituted players, and went, if IRC, straight through the gut of the defense, not via the wings, but hey, I may be wrong on that point. Besides, Andrulis made his subs not in response to Yallop's moves, but was looking to inject more offense into the team because the score was tied and he knew it was absolutely imperative to close out the series at home. If the goal had come just a few seconds earlier, Torres would have probably come in instead of West. And did any of you notice that Donovan was nearly invisible this game? He had some of his usual brilliance in the early first half, but he was marked into submission for the rest of the game. I guess if I were a troll, I might say that Kiwi 'owned' him, but I'm not, and it's just one of those facts that needs not be uttered. It will be interesting to see what changes your team makes in the off season. Better luck next year.
San Jose DID have the better run of play in the 1st half, and had the better of the dangerous opportunities in the box. Agoos DID have 2 stellar STOPS of Cunningham, one at either end of the field.
Just want to say, good game played by San Jose. No grudges. I was very impressed. We'll knock out LA for you guys. Nice work San Jose, good job Crew.
Andy, I know you're bending over backwards and kissing your own ass in order to appear objective, but you're wrong. Had the better run of play? Had the better of the dangerous opportunities? The better run of play to what end? Does stringing together more consecutive passes give you the better run of play award? And how can you have the better of the dangerous opportunities in the box and be down on the scorecard if there are no PK's involved? By my count the Crew had one better dangerous opportunity in the box than did SJ. Two stops in 90 minutes? I'm sure he had more than that. The razor's edge that makes a player a liability doesn't count two whole nice stops as much of an achievement. Besides, the stops that Agoos had on Jeff were of the Thomas Dooley's-last-season-as-a-player variety: last ditch, and completely on the edge. Even Yallop in the post game press conference said that they'd been completely unable to contain Cunningham all night. And, just in case you forgot, Jeff and Brian switched sides of the field around the twentieth minute so that 'Goos would be forced into trying to cover JC. Our front line smelled the blood in the water and the scent trail lead straight to JA. From now until he retires, every team in MLS will do the same thing: put their fastest forward directly in front of him and those two sweet saves per game won't keep him employed if he surrenders two goals per game in the process. And Albany, you just called someone a dumbass and a moron because they insulted someone else. That's the way to grab the moral high ground! Were you banging your shoe on the table while you typed that?
Both of Columbus's winning goals were scored in the 81st minute. I just noticed this. It has no relevance to anything but it doesn't matter...
If I was TRULY that flexible, I could make some serious dough in a circus I'm saying that the Quakes had more dangerous opportunities in the box. Donovan breaking in from the right side and slotting a ball across the six yard box where even the Crew mascot could have tapped it in if he was in the area. There were 2 other opportunities where I felt the Quakes should have done better. Maybe we will just agree to disagree. Perhaps I saw something you didn't see, and vice versa. I can accept this, and move on. With regards to the 2 brilliant stops by Agoos, I was just surprised he could stop JC at ALL, let alone twice I think after WC play, everyone knows where to attack when they have to play San Jose. Agoos, you might have been pretty good in your heyday, but you simply are overmatched these days.
Not to mention, both games were scored in similar fashion. Crew score first, Quakes equalize, Crew score final goal
While I would have *loved* to see the Quakes make a huge comeback and win this game, I'm in a way glad they didn't, as I just don't think they deserve it right now. Last season the Quakes were underdogs in every game and fought incredibly hard to win, this season, especially recently, they seemed too comfortable, as though they thought the championship would just be handed to them by default. Good job, Crew. You guys fought hard and played well, and I think you ultimately wanted it more. San Jose has a few excuses (injuries, weak backline, etc.), but the bottom line is we didn't do the job. Now go beat LA/KC (hopefully KC ;-). My prediction is this loss will fire up the Quakes, cause Yallop to make some radical changes in the lineup for next year (much needed), and motivate the players to run on broken legs all the way to the Cup next year. GO EARTHQUAKES! -- Marc
agreed.....tasteless comments. How about we show your comments to those who lost loved ones on 9/11 and see how they feel about what you're saying?
I'm really sorry we lost. I hope Landon is okay. And I hope New England wins it all. Go Revs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Awww man. I had to finish listening to the game on my way to work and started losing the station when I got into Palo Alto. But I sure could tell when the Crew scored their second goal, the crowd was amazingly LOUD and I could hear Shraders broken up voice saying--goal. For me personally, it was a hell of a way to wrap up an awesome season! Sounded like a very intense game. GO QUAKES!! Thanks for a great season!