Fixed yer post, and... NE = Blackburn New York = Bolton San Jose = Fulham Philadelphia = Blackpool Kansas City = West Ham D.C. United = Newcastle United Colorado = Birmingham Toronto = Millwall Just kidding. More like Leeds.
interesting so many columbus fans are saying this was one of the best games the crew has played all year.
Don't get me wrong. I like Tim Howard. He is the best option we have at that position as far as the US is concerned; but I have seen more than a few keepers that have been leaps and bounds better than him as of late and Ricketts has been one of them. Maybe I am a bit biased but not really.
Did I just hear Weissman call Tristan Bowen "Jason Bowen"? Hey ho, we got us a new nickname for T-Bow: "Jason"! "Smooth move, Ex Lax."
Yup. Ricketts has been great, but there's a reason why Howard plays for a top (well, ok, 2nd tier just out of the big 5 or 6) EPL team that made the Europa Cup final and Ricketts used to play in League 2. Ricketts is good, but Tim Howard is on a totally different level.
To my Galaxy brother, your being a bit biased but what the hell, Ricketts is playing to a level i didnt think he was capable of, and i hope in saying that, i have now not jinxed him.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9Ep4n7JHkw&"]YouTube- Highlights from Galaxy @ Crew, May 29, 2010[/ame]
OK - I've been trying to do a bit more in-depth analysis this season, but a festive, busy weekend means I haven't been able to get to this post til now. As our focus is already on Houston and much has been said about the game already, I won't go player by player this time. I want to start by acknowledging that we rode our luck at times in this one. Having said that, I don't think we were necessarily lucky to win. We were certainly lucky not to concede, but it's worth noting the dynamic that the 1-0 scoreline created. Columbus are arguably the best purveyors of possession football in the MLS. In GBS they possess one of the leagues best creative players. They were at home, defending their own undefeated streak. From the 11th minute, the impetus was on the Crew to pull back that goal and the longer that situation prevailed, the greater that impetus became. I don't often state my opinions as fact, but so strong am I in my belief of what I'm about to say that I'm going to do just that: If this game had been 0-0 or 1-1 on 45 minutes, that second-half onslaught wouldn't have happened. So I've credited luck, credited the Crew, but it would be very shortsighted to think that the Galaxy were just standing there for 80 minutes with their fingers crossed like they were waiting for a roulette wheel to stop spinning. They more than played their part. The Arena Era (or "Arera", if you will) has been characterised for a year and a half by a stubborn resistance and grinding out of results. It's easy to look at the number of corners, shots, percentage of possession and decide that this was a game Columbus threw away. Not so. For the most part, this team defends very well. When it does get beaten, they have two elements that act as a second barrier: the first is obviously Ricketts and when called upon, Saunders - the second is this teams sheer tenacity. I have literally lost count of the amount of times that an opponent has got through the defence, only to find a Galaxy body slide out of nowhere to block the shot. It also seems to be this teams mission to ensure that there is no second bite of the cherry. If you don't put your first shot away, or if you elected to find a teammate instead of taking on the shot, expect a Galaxy shirt to be drawn to that ball like a magnet. We don't just have a strong backline and goalkeeper, we supplement that by also being superb at last-ditch defending. And the overall bottom line to this game, cliched though it may be, is that it is key to finish your chances when you get them. That, backed by a healthy dose of determination, is what ultimately decided this fixture.
You know, one thing I've been thinking about during this run--- is how many people have been talking about how "lucky" we are when referencing the shots that have just missed or gone off the posts or been called back by offsides, etc. And I think one thing we're overlooking is -- things like that happen in just about every game. There are always near misses. But you usually forget about them because other shots go in. And those are what you remember and complain about and see in the high-light packages. But we aren't giving up any goals. So the only thing we see are the near-misses. So, yeah, it looks like luck. But I'd say that there's a little bit of luck (good and bad) in every game. And the good teams make enough out of their chances, and limit the opposing teams chances, so that the luck seems to favor them. So - what I'm saying is -- yes, we're lucky. Because we're good. The only exception to that is Kei Kamara's miss. That sucker gets remembered even if the score was 5-5.
the way that i feel is that, like Bruce, i'll gladly take the win and get the hell out of there. we withstood an absolute onslaught and came out with a very ugly win. an ugly win over the other best team in the league playing at their home. so that's a good win, a good 3 points to take, especially where we don't have LD or Buddle in the lineup. it's commendable that we were able to do that. that being said, we have got to get better at possession play. we DID withstand an onslaught and it would keep us on more comfortable footing if we could find ways to kill off stretches of the clock when we are up. if we had lost this game or the one before, we'd be able to point to a number of games in which our midfield was not able to control possession or even generate much combination play, and we'd look at those prior examples and say "the handwriting has been on the wall for some time, why didn't we make adjustments???" for me, this is my great concern--let's make these adjustments while we can, because i'm afraid that if we don't make the adjustments before we lose a game, it might be too late by that point. i'm interested to see who they might bring in (and send out) at the next transfer window.
I believe it was John Wooden who once defined Luck as the place where preparation met opportunity. The thing I like about these Bruce Arena coached teams is that they are well prepared. If this team has been branded "lucky" by others I will take that moniker with the definition above. I'm willing to bet "lucky" isn't in Bruce's vocabulary.
This is a very good point. Retention is our main weakness. Having said that, I'm seeing small signs of improvement. Stephens is progessing well and as he learns his trade, he should be key in making us better. However, I'm not convinced that it is necessarily the midfield that is the biggest offender. Our defence, be it the back four, GK or Birchall, seem to operate a "safety first" policy. While that doesn't mean they exclusively blast the ball up the field, it does mean that if it's a snap decision, that thing will often be airbourne and not necessarily aimed at anyone in particular. We lose a lot of possession that way. I think we need to either have Ricketts and Gonzo in particular, working on their short passing (though Ricketts actually seems very comfortable on the ball) or assign our forward personnel to marshalling specific zones upfield. These "zones" should then be the priority destination for any long-balls so we aren't just hoofing it randomly in a pinch.
i agree that our back line is part of the problem. i also have to say that it doesn't help with playing guys up top that aren't good at holding up the ball. hopefully tristan will learn better, but he's not there yet.
Yeah, that one's gonna show up in soccer blooper clip shows for years to come, right along with the guys sliding into the goalpost and crushing their nuts. I try to send that clip to my Wizard-fan friend at least once a month.