there are fanbases in cities half the size who would strangle an ox to finish 4th and and make it to the western conference finals. Hell there are 2 quite possibly 3 USL teams that would embarrass Houston attendance-wise even if they were playing route 1 Tony Pulis ball. No excuses for a city the size of houston that "checks off the boxes" Hopefully beating Atlanta like a red headed stepchild sends a message to their fanbase to start getting butts in seats.
Kinda bummed to not see Yueill or Thompson not lock down a starting spot in the SJ midfield, but after today's performance by their competition, i cant argue it out, the foreigners looked good and connected well. Didnt really focus on Lima or Salinas much but Salinas still got wheels that kills back there for an old guy. Central defense still concerning as it ever was. Tarbell still shaky, but thought that of Bingham at first and he eventually got on a hot streak.
to compare, matches of J-League (Japanese) this weekend got this states: Total mid-forward positions: 112, domestic players 78.57% (88), U-21 domestic players 8.04% (9)
Who's running Houston's front office now? It all comes down to that for attendance. The gold standard comparison is KC going from Hunt Group ownership to their current ownership. Night and day and Dallas still has Hunt ownership. If you switched who runs both clubs then within a couple of year the attendance numbers would switch.
Houston cracked down on their Supporters Groups and the new stadium is... Not the greatest. They got better attendance and more lively crowds at their previous place.
Heath started Danladi instead of Ramirez which is a mistake. They should bring Danladi on like they did last year needing goals in 2nd half. Ramirez sits but comes on for injured Danladi and lays a ball off to Molino while holding off a cb right smack in the middle of the box for first of Molino's brace. Ramirez should have had one off Finlay's beautiful cutback to Molino high in the box, shot, rebound, Ramirez miss from 2 feet. Great example of how that triangle works, b.t.w. Olsen starts Mattocks who doesn't usually go 90, bringing on Mullins for him late in the game with a 1-0 lead. They're not attacking anyway, Durkin is on in dmid, he forces Meram out from the middle at the top of the box, left winger Mullins steps up to do the double but defends the wrong foot, Meram cuts a pass back thru the middle, score. Mattocks is a really good forward wing defender. Olsen had it backwards like Heath. Meram was a monstah. Best pick up for Kreis in the off season and he was US eligible not too long ago.
I always thought Meram should have gotten a look with the US even before Iraq even came calling. No other domestic winger in mls as good as him. Oh well.
Klinsmann didn't value width in forwards. I was pounding the table for width but at that time Berhalter wasn't using Meram much for width and it was hard to make a case for Meram without being called a nut by the Green, Gyau, Boyd, fans. I was pushing Finlay and Wenger Klinsmann used Yedlin for width.
27% this season. Well done @TaylorTwellman in calling out this challenge for #MLS and the role of the league in developing the US player. pic.twitter.com/dzaEyWCukS— Mark Fishkin #🟦 (@MarkFishkin) March 12, 2017
Hate to say it but it looks like he almost didn't need Feilhaber in there for creativity. Kaye was up and down. Some bad and lots of good. Smartest move by Bob was the one least noticed: Beitashour. If you didn't hear his name it's because he was taking care of business. He was a bigger part of Toronto's success than many realize. Could have played for USA, b.t.w.
in this galaxy/timbers match im keeping an eye on kitchen and farfan since they are the only two american field players starting.
MLS so needs some playing time rules for USA (guess Canadian too) youth like LigaMX had a few years ago.
On Matchday 1 of the 2008 MLS Regular Season, Approx 79 of a total 132 starters were US-eligible. Approx 39 of the 79 were midfielders or forwards(i.e., attackers). On Matchday 1 of the 2017 MLS Regular Season, Approx 102 of a total 242 starters were US-eligible. Approx 36 of the 102 were midfielders or forwards(i.e., attackers). On Matchday 1 of the 2018 MLS Regular Season, Approx 67 of a total 220 starters were US-eligible.
Week 1's US eligible starters* * = player initials age team initials Goalkeeper: ZS22CC MT23NE AB23TFC AT24SJ TM24LAFC ML28MU DB28LAG JB28OC SJ28NYC JM29FCD CS30HD EB31MI TM31SKC SF31SS BG33AU NR38RSL Centerback: AT19PU JG21RSL EZ25TFC MH27FCD AM27VW SB27DC IO29SKC MB31SKC JS32OC JL34AU Leftback: MF19PT BS26NYC DL26MI GG26AU JM30TFC SS31SJ DMB35HD Rightback: RC19FCD JN23VW NL23SJ KR24PU AF25NE SB27RSL ND27DC GZ31SKC Lone Defensive Midfielder: CL20OC MB30TFC Deep-midfielder: JH22FCD CR22SS WT25CC PK26LAG SC26NE DN27AU EA29HD AB30PU BF33LAFC KB35RSL Left Attacking-Midfielder: HS26SS AW27HD Right-midfielder: PA23DC EF27MU Right-attacking midfielder: TB28NE A-Mid/Forward: AF18PU Forward: CM21OC JA28TFC CW35SJ Lone Forward: JA25NE CJS29PU WB28SS GZ26CC LS29RSL
That makes sense. I thought the numbers would be lower to start this season, but the drop seemed to be too much. From what I calculated, it would instead be 31%.
That first save he made was a bit lucky and I think did wonders for his confidence. That was a nightmare to deal with, you have to get down quickly, on a shot that really came out nowhere, is blasted at you and is bouncing. That’s is one of those that ends up in the net 9/10 because of the surprise, the pace and he positioning. He was very lucky that deflection didn’t go in, but looked very confident after that.
That goalkeeping class had some good ones. Bono, Miller, Edwards, and Richey in particular (Im still pretty surprised Wolverton didnt stick with LA, that one for me was surprising i felt he was MLS quality given LA's dearth of goalkeeping options at the time). Hope some of these guys can be starting soon that arent. League expansion will help with that. I dont think Bendik is gonna be relinquishing his Orlando spot any time soon, he was another keeper that had a hell of a game. Brilliant penalty stop by him; it was by no means a poorly taken penalty by Mattocks. Bendik just met it with equal authority. Also nice to see Seitz lock down the Dynamo starting spot. Could that be a nice come back story? we shall see.