Giliano is not having a good game......beat on both goals tonight, and lots of giveaways Did Oduron keep Alberg onside??? Wow that was very close...almost a GOTY candidate there.
Starting Alberg at CAM is the perpetual equivalent of a square peg in Curtin's round hole. Sympathies extended......watching him trying to link with anybody in the middle of the field gives me a pain in the ass as well. Another 3 points there for the taking squandered on lack of finishing, poor decision-making, concentration lapses and the inability to connect dots. but....many exactas in the Prediction League. Three Stars: *** Simpson: looked dangerous at times.....rusty at all times. ** Sapong: Worked hard. Always works hard........ * (MotM): Picault: For better and for worse, the ball only seemed to find his feet. Ilson and I both hated the selfishness...but his individual intercept and finish constituted the only consistent offense this reconstituted, regurgitated formational crap could muster all evening.
As much as I like seeing Blake succeed on the National stage .... uh .... come on Canada? (I know LH isn't the worst option, but we need all hands on deck for these Columbus matchups)
I was thinking that there were a couple of teams playing last night that could have used a little Bedoya (not a small Bedoya to clarify, but more of a dose of his play that seems to help everyone else around him play a little better). Congrats on the birth of your child Ale but please plan this for the off season next time.
For me this is the most frustrating year of all the frustrating years since we now do have a talented team but still no coaching... Most of the players really are talented and are trying to play but once again they seem to have no idea how to play with each other. Too much 'every man for himself' again.
Is it though? We have a few decent pieces but a lot of "meh" filler. I mean, I suppose that still holds true: a good coach gets the talent to really shine and the filler to hold the rest up from game-to-game.
agreed. Outside of Blake I don't think many teams would be lining up to take any of our players to "upgrade" their pieces... maybe Beodya and Haris in a few instances... but you'd have a hard time convincing me that teams think of our other players as much more than bench options or spot starters. Our player pool isn't deep... it's just wide a shallow. A lot of good serviceable players, but not much in terms of players who are going to move the needle enough to put them over the top.
We have a surplus of B players who can grind and a deficit of A players who are dangerous. And the A players we do have (Blake, Bedoya, Haris) aren't scorers so that compounds the problem.
I think the CDMs and back line can definitely compete in 2017 MLS, but there is just no optimism up front. Sapong can hold up all he wants, but nothing will happen with Fafa, Ilsinho, and Alberg playing behind him. There is no vision as mentioned above, no playmaker, and not really a finisher. I really don't understand how people think we are a good team or somehow will turn it around second half. The last few years had some underperforming Union teams, but they just aren't good this year.
Yup. More of the same season-after-season. A lot of nice parts, but useless if they don't work together. The funny thing is that Curtin has acknowledged this, but it hasn't gotten any better.
It is the first indictment that leads to all the rest. The only year that was compelling to watch was the second one. I guess I learned in 2017 that there "is" a vision.....but it was likely created while its architects were consuming bath salts in a back room...... Deeper, but never good (+.500) this year or any other for that matter.
Fun fact: 9 months ago today, the Union were in the midst of a 4 game losing streak to end the 2016 season.
Yup. https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017...rg-independent-panel-rejects-beckerman-appeal Roland doesn't agree though: 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔— Roland Alberg (@rolandalberg) July 21, 2017