Unless released early, no Gutierrez (vs Mexico on the 16th). Likely no Russell (vs Portugal on the 14th), having traveled KC to Israel to Scotland I can't see him then starting in Vancouver. I guess he could be on the bench. Same for Nemeth (at Estonia on the 15th). Vancouver likely won't have Kamara.
I look forward to the day, far off in the distant future, when MLS adheres to FIFA international breaks. A future where teams don't get punished for signing international quality players. I also look forward to a future where all PRO referees are at least competent. I'm in an optimistic mood.....must be all the rain.
i had standing water on the floorboard of my car yesterday (drainage is likely clogged or just overwhelmed), so i'm in a less optimistic mood about things from the rain.
So Canado has a game but it doesn't look as if they're calling in Davies? As a neutral, I applaud this. It's Dom Rep or someone like that, and they have enough talent to do without him and club is more important to development than country. As an SKC fan, WTF? (same can apply to de Jong, but really, who cares)
Car floors have drainage? I ask this as someone who lives without a car and this doesn't happen to my bike. Or is the standing water around your car not draining and therefore flooding in? Either way, sorry.
Actually my bad on that, I'd assumed Canada's game was early in the international window and that Davies would be back in time since they only have the 1 game. The game is actually the 16th and Davies was called up, so he won't be there either. (De Jong will, he wasn't called up). Waston, (Costa Rica play the 16th), Yordy Reyna (Peru play the US on the 16th), and Ghazal (Egypt play the 16th) all won't be there either unless released early by their team. So that's potentially five players the Whitecaps will be down for our game.
Then nevermind on my praise of Canada. Not only are they missing five players, in Davies, Kamara, Reyna and Waston, they are missing their four best players, from what I've seen of them this season. Audi does not back this up, at least not from this last weekend, when Davies was in negative numbers, though Kei, Reyna and Waston were all above MLS average. BTW, of note in that game, vd Weil for TFC nailed a -580 pt Audi performance.
sorry, that wasn't very clear. cars with sunroofs have small drainage pipes built in along the sides. my car (on older monte carlo) sits outside and every couple of years, those things get clogged. if it rains hard enough and long enough, it overwhelms it. when this happens, it spills onto the floorboards behind my front seat. it's been wet before, but never standing water... so that was a treat.
Looks like Kamara will be available for Vancouver. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/new...f-sierra-leone-s-match-against-ghana-10809146
Crap. On the one hand, thanks for including the day in the thread title. On the other, AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHH. Woke up and 4am and tried to find the game, until I checked here and realized I am an idiot
It'd be a hell of a lot easier to not make that mistake if, you know, MLS didn't schedule games during international breaks.
It’s a gorgeous blue sky day in Vancouver going up to 63 degrees. Perfect weather for a win tonight over the Whitecaps.
Well that last 30 + minutes was fun, the first 60, not so much. So now Russell is such a stud that the team plays with greater intensity just by him standing on the sidelines waiting to go in.
The subs changed the game, so did Besler with his run to set up Croizet's opener. It's nice having actual game changers on the bench, whether it be Nemeth/Rubio/Shelton (whoever doesnt' start), Busio, Gerso/Salloi, or Croizet. Much better than years past where the only offense on the bench was Oliveira or Peterson.
I think Vancouver is my favorite MLS city to visit. Stunning place. While the Audi numbers exactly say that was 60 minutes of meh and then some decent play, they kind of do. The overall team score was 4817, which is very decent, and we had nine players beat the average score for an MLS starter. But three of those nine were our subs. Busio (passes, 24 good, 3 missed to go with the slowest rolling goal in recent memory) and Russell finished in the solidly above average category (382 and 369) while Shelton with 2 assists, a shot off goal, 19 successful passes and only two that missed just fell short of the sort of score that usually means MLS best 11: 623 in 33 official minutes, though 40 by the time the game was over. If, however, we add Rubio's 57 minute score, we get pretty much the same thing. Rubio did put together 177 Audi points. He had 16 successful passes (to be fair, 3 were key passes) and missed on 2. He blocked two shots and lost his only take on. These should be the numbers of a 15 minute sub. He just wasn't very involved. Look at his game map and it's barely there. Better than Gerso's outing, though. Gerso, ftr, was on the field. His numbers don't know it. He connected on 11 passes, and missed on 2. He did win three tackles. Overall score: 175. Worth noting: This was Evans best match for SKC. A very solid 0 score for 0 minutes. Our worst Audi performer: Seth, with a -32. He completed 58 passses, 1 key, missed on 12. He was dinged for the yellow (well done though, should be a positive) and the handball. Still, he had an SOG, won two aerial battles and a tackle. To me, the night was kind of summed up in Croizet. Croizet, for stretches, was quite good. The rest of the time, he was bafflingly off. His overall score was 237, almost straight up average. He connected on 17 passes. He missed on 10. He won a take on and two aerials, he lost a tackle and two take ons. He scored a hell of a goal, all three of his crosses failed to find anyone (two weren't bad though). Our star turn outing was obviously Salloi, with a 961 Audi score. So 606 of those points were the goals (great to see him score again). His successful to missed pass numbers: 31-15. but he won 3 takes ons and two corners, had a clearance and blocked shot, a SOG and a key pass. It was a good outing. It just felt almost there for him. I think he might be just about fully back to where he was earlier this year. Our bellwethers were quite belle. Ilie came in at a pretty great 514. His passing 90 good, 11 missed. Four ints, 2 key passes, 2 tackles. It was a very solid night. Roger was good Roger, at 453. 68-13 in passing, 3 key passes, 3 ints, 2 takes ons won, 2 corners won, a clearance and an aerial challenge won. If you combine their game maps their actions almost color in the entire field, Roger shading right, Ilie center-left. OTOH, 4-1 and 3 points and second to ourselves, and a nice bit of confidence as we head into the meat grinder portion of the schedule, though reading the standings it looks like 1 more point assures us top four. Rather take first, though.
sallois audi score shows the limits of that stat again - that 'clearance' just in front of our box should've dinged him like 200 points, and scoring the game winner should be worth more than scoring a 96th minute tap-in where the other team doesn't give a crap anymore. tbh, i thought until the shelton sub that gerso was better than salloi yesterday and was kinda pissed when vermes subbed gerso out for russell rather than him. and then... he goes on to score two - good that i'm not the coach shelton has to be the most efficient striker in the world with absolutely zero goal drive
Just out of curiousity, was Shelton at full speed last night? I don't remember him being painfully slow, in fact I remember him being reasonably fast, and last night he looked like he was running in tar (which might explain the ball getting stuck on him). Also, interesting to look at his passing chart, very right sided.
He is obviously not back to full speed or form. He struggled to keep the ball at his feet and stumbled a lot. I think that was also an issue with the terrible spongy plastic turf. The SKC guys were slipping and falling a lot last night.
salloi was almost complete garbage until the 80th minute. busio reminds me of watching zusi when he was a rookie. i don't recall him being a regular starter, but i do remember seeing enough that you could tell he was going to turn into a good player. didn't have blinding speed, wasn't going to dribble anyone off the park, but seemed to have a vision that good players can work with. the difference is that zusi was in his early 20s, i think, and busio is only 16.
Salloi needs Shelton at CF to be effective. To the point that if Rubio or Nemeth (never again please) start at CF, then Salloi needs to sit. This team does well with Shelton at CF. He doesn't score, but others do, which works out.
Agree with this 100%. Its huge to have attacking options on the bench that can change the game. If we need speed, holdup play, or a technique player, PV has that available to him. This quality attacking depth is going to be a difference maker during the playoffs. Croizet was very good last night. I'm not sure if he's adjusting to the league or figuring things out, or being played in a more natural spot, or what. But he has been playing much better. Busio....man, he's got a lot of potential. Never seen anyone as composed or as natural at that age as Busio. The future is bright for him.