Yes. I'll chalk that up partly to the midweek phenomena and partly due to the new Five Points effect - More riders now have to change trains to reach the new venue. However I think a lot of it is also due to the crowd mingling to get food, take in the new digs, etc. For both games there were a LOT of people in the concourse area 5 minutes before kickoff. I was helping my daughter and boyfriend find their seats Wednesday and had a long, slow slog in the concession line for my usual water, so I reached my seat in time for the anthem. At that time the concourse was packed. Hopefully we can ramp up the notion among fans that they need to be in their seats at kickoff. Like a 10 minute warning.
the scoring stats for Martinez is simply unheard of. Hope they get this guy a nice big bonus. He should easily finish with 25 goals by season's end. Getting stragglers from top divisions or top emerging talent from Latin America is a great idea going forward.
Philly beating Chicago 3-1 in the 68th minute. If this holds up and we win tomorrow, we are a legit third with a decent shot at second. Montreal won't roll over and die, tho. We'll have to earn it. Also... Columbus is level with NYRB 1-1 at the half. That'll help keep RB from catching us from behind if it stays this way.
Did what I should be doing more of and checked Wiki for the scores. We have only two one-goal wins all season (Orlando on the road and Colorado at home). But we're 8-4-2 in our last 14 (since mid-June) with losses only to DC United. We haven't lost to a troo contenda since June 10 (Chicago, their place), and the draws were to SKC and Eastern non-contendas Orlando and Philly. Some chicken-counting questions: IF we clinch a #3 or #4 seed before the season is up but can go no higher... 1) Do we field full strength for the remaining game(s) to try to "win" the West and guarantee an MLS Final at the Benz should we reach it? Or do we rest players and hope the West race ends with a champ that's behind us in points? 2) Do we need to show TFC our full strength lineup in the last reg season game, regardless of what they do?
This. I wonder how many of the rest of the league's pitches have that sort of width and length available to them. I guess they all should, since they're SSS-designed, but are they allowed to draw them as they see fit --within FIFA regs-- from week to week (basically, can they shrink the playing area when they're playing us)? I bet that's true for every team playing in a city with traffic issues (which would be all of them, really). I think folks are hating on everything we do because we're doing it all so perfectly and so soon. Nobody would care about our turf, for example, if we weren't winning.
If we can put away Montreal tonight then we will have pretty much secured a playoff spot so long as we don't shit the bed...by at least my calculations.
Tata said in his presser that he's going to be evaluated tomorrow. That says to me he's going to be out a while. Well, the playoffs begin in four weeks. If we can win Wednesday, we'll be where NYC was at 30 games and it'll then be a matter of getting even points with them over the last four (we hold the tiebreakers). I think we can manage that without Almiron. NYC goes to Montreal, to Chicago, to New England and finishes at home v. Crew. Chicago and Columbus are fighting for a #3 or 4 like us. Montreal, NE and NYRB are fighting for a spot, period. By my quick and possibly inaccurate figuring, at least three of those teams will still have something to play for when NYC meets them. OTOH, our last four are struggling NE, eliminated Minnesota, NYRB and Toronto. Chicago and Columbus are better than RB and Minny. Toronto will bring the Supporter's Shield to ATL and play it safe. We may get three from them without much trouble. I just think NYC will blink more than we do. We probably won't drop below third in any case. I think we can win the play-in game if it's at home. But there's a chance we'll need Miguel to beat Toronto, and that concerns me, even tho I think he'll be back by then. I just hate to think this season wasted by an injury to a key player. If for some reason all of our best players have a poor showing against another team, fine. But being eliminated by injury just has never sat well with me.
I would assume that best case scenario, Almiron is out for the entirety of the regular season. Even a grade 1 sprain needs 2-3 weeks to heal.
Confirmed via MLSsoccer.com: Miggy will be out a minimum of 3 weeks. So, I would assume that we won't see him again until the playoffs. Get some rest and be ready to go!
Beat me too it. Totally bummed for him because it also means likely missing Paraguay's final 2 WC qualifiers, with them in touching distance of making the show. Time for Atlanta to show they can beat other teams with one Almiron ties behind their back!
Does MLS stop for a World Cup? Because I just realized how easy it would be for Almiron to get injured and be out for a period when we need him, probably late summer/early fall. As much as I'd like to see this young man happy in all his endeavors, I don't give Paraguay any chance of winning the World Cup. At least Guzan is in goal, where he's likely to be safer than a field player. WCQ was what cost us Martinez for so long this year. If he hadn't gotten hurt, we might have the top seed to ourselves, Toronto be damned. I'm starting to dislike international football. It's fine for the players from/fans of the five or six nations with a chance, but coming back to MLS drained because your team made a "great" run to the semis or something...
Well, AUFC's up 2 late on Philly. I feel pretty good about this one. And I'm cheering as hard as I can against NYCFC but I can't get Montreal to do right by me
how again did Atlanta find the diamond in the rough aka Martinez? I see his stats on wikipedia seem quite average while at Torino. But I don't think he was a big starter while there.
Italian ball typically features some egregious defense and, more importantly, typically a very strict offensive approach that often requires great play makers to be fully realized. So many of their clubs play the same style as if they're all purposely trying to groom players for the Italian national team, a counter-attacking approach that can highlight quality strikers IF the support is there. Torino is historically not among the stonger sides and their efforts the past few years to improve the team have met with some muted success but I imagine Martinez likely found himself too isolated too often or, like Sunday, having to spend so much time helping defensively that it hinders his offensive threat. One wonders what he'd have done if he'd been somewhere like Roma, or better still in La Liga where the defenses are typially not so physical.
Liked what I saw today. We're the #2 seed if we get any kind of decent calls from the ref v. Minnesota. TFC gave it all they had and it still took a questionable decision from Guzan and a great free kick from Giovinco to get them a point. I have no doubt that we're the better team. Whether that holds any weight during the postseason remains to be seen.
I wouldn't quite go that far. Toronto's ball control and attack was more threatening overall. Guzan had a great save on Jozy and they had as many near chances as AUFC. Granted, Atlanta was without Pirez and only had Miggy for about 35 mins, but it was obvious why Toronto earned as many points as they did. Could Atlanta beat them? Sure. Over a two leg series? Hmmm.... Meanwhile, the Minnesota home game was a disappointment, but the one that got me was the Montreal match. The red card late in the 1st half was later considered erroneous by some pundits and MLS wonks, but that not only lead to the immediately tying free kick but left Atlanta gassed to where they gave up the late winner in extra time. I view that as 3 points stolen. Now, did Karma grant us any favors in exchange? Possibly, so I tend not to argue the course of a season. Atlanta had plenty of times where a shot for them or the other team would've turned a game. Moving forward, though, need to tighten up the central midfield and get Martinez back on his game. He's playing too frustrated right now.
https://www.dirtysouthsoccer.com/20...ees-to-sign-argentine-defender-franco-escobar Interesting news if true. Certainly helps with the average age in defense!
I'm over the loss. Counting the days until the start of the damn 2018 season (sort of, anyhow- we don't know the exact date).
Games are going to be played at Coolray Field over there in Larryville. Some love for those in Gwinnett
Awesome news! I’ve been saying we need a D2 team. Guys like Robinson, Carleton, etc, who are right there but didn’t get minutes yet, they need some place to get competitive matches.