I disagree. In hard fought games at the professional level, both teams will usually have chances. The team who wins is the team that can finish. RJ made a complete mess of his best chance. Espindola buried his.
Of course both teams will typically have at least some chances. But it's rarely even. If it is, then the teams are evenly matched. The way to build a winning team is to focus on trying to create as many quality chances as you can while limiting quality chances for the other team. If you obsess over chances missed, you're probably only going to make things worse, because that's when you start pressing.
Yes you're right, that is the way to build a quality team. Creating chances and limiting chances is very important. But often at such a high level, the difference between winning and losing is having a player who can finish well or even having a goalkeeper who can save the game. Jon Busch singlehandedly kept Chicago in some games last year. Juan Pablo Angel two years ago scored goals that other forwards wouldn't have.
Agreed. It's valuable to have a lethal finisher or a GK who stands on his head. I don't know of too many lethal finishers in MLS though. Maybe Angel two years ago, as you said, but last year he tailed off. I think even the best finishers can be streaky, which is part of why this finishing thing tends to come and go.
I think that's the main difference between American soccer and the other soccer I watch. Even players in League Two in England finish off chances that they are expected to, most of the time. In MLS, you really never know whether or not most of the strikers will score. Like against RSL, RJ really should have scored his opportunity. Easily. But did any fan feel 100% that he would? I sure didn't expect him to.
"Hernandez, Corrales Making Plays" (Tuesday, 4/13/10) Hernandez made a goal-saving clearance off the line on Saturday (Getty) GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
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I tuned in to AM Radio 1050 about five or ten minutes after 6 PM and I heard Jason Hernandez talking to Ralph Barbieri about soccer and the WC. Did anyone else hear the interview?
I heard it too, so I guess it wasn't a hallucination. It was a pretty good interview. They seemed genuinely interested in the World Cup and Jason's impressions of it, etc. Of course they asked the typically sort of newbie questions about soccer (How about getting rid of the offside rule!? What can be done about the diving?) There was little to nothing about the Quakes, but I expected that. They seemed to like Jason and commented that he had a future in media, etc.
"Quakes' Hernandez learns costly lesson" (Monday, 8/16/10) San Jose's Jason Hernandez was red-carded vs. Kansas City and will miss the California Derby against Los Angeles. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Good. I was worried that a straight for VC would be 2 maybe 3, but hadn't seen mention of anything past Sat's game.
"Hernandez banned add'l game for KC incident" (Wednesday, 8/18/10) San Jose's Jason Hernandez has been suspended an additional game for an incident against the Wizards last weekend. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Well, hopefully sitting on the bench for a couple of games will help Jason get his mind right. Actually, we've been very fortunate this season -- only one sendoff each for Leitch and Hernandez, so I don't think we can really complain about the officiating from that perspective...
Well, Teal gets a day off without pay, too. Seems he's no angel. http://sports.yahoo.com/mls/news;_y...nqqkvrYF?slug=ap-mls-wizards-bunburysuspended Looks like Jason was just doing some basic enforcement. Anyone know his address? I'll send him a basket of fruit.
"Hernandez, McDonald holding line for SJ" (Wednesday, 9/22/10) Brandon McDonald and Jason Hernandez GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Not sure where to put this. This is for the whole back line this year: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq5R3q7vEF0"]YouTube - San Jose Earthquakes 2010 Back Line[/ame]
"Quakes' Hernandez set to start in conference championship" (Friday, 11/12/10) Jason Hernandez is expected to be in the starting lineup for San Jose against Colorado on Saturday night. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
"Hernandez the Most Underrated Player in 2010" (Friday, 12/24/10) San Jose's Jason Hernandez is MLSsoccer.com's Most Underrated Player. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G