PBP: 2018 Eastern Conference Knockout Round: New York City FC (3) v. Union (6) , October 31, 2018 p/d/p

Looking better so far in the second half, but without looking like scoring.

 

I started out excited to win a game but now I'm just excited to win fouls.

 

Well, looks like I’m eating a whole bowl of candy bars tonight,

This game really sucks.

Poor kids at door keep getting a raft of grief about tiny pitches, bad defending and heading every corner over the bar.

 

3 nil.

Cheeky chip over Blake by Moralez.

 

I love ilsinho

 

Soooooo....how long does it take for Tanner to make some big decisions (like can he still get out of his contract with the Union)? Don't see Union signing Dockal in the off season (that starts in about 10 min) and we still need a striker. Curtin or curtains?

 

Announcer just said Curtin has worked miracles.

I spit my candy corn all over the dog

 

That's the strongest shot you could muster, CJ?

 

How many more years did our great GM sign Sapong for?

 

It's curious how frequently "neutral" announcers talk about how well things are going for the Union.

 

This went about how I expected it to.

 

I got sick off candy.

Did I miss anything? Since Curtin will be here again next year do we want to expect better next year or...

Yeah nvm.

 

Meh....went about as well as I expected. NYCFC is just in a different class with a healthy Yangel Herrera in the lineup. Wouldn't be shocked if they win MLS Cup to be honest.

Oh well..............always next year. Wonder who Ernst will bring in the replace Dockal? I highly doubt there will be a new head coach either.

 

The season had a somewhat different feeling to it than most do. However, in the end the Union still succumb to the same problem that has plagued this franchise since its inception: cannot find enough quality when it matters most, whether in USOC finals or playoffs. Thanks Union for a decent regular season, but losing in the first round of the playoffs seems about the max this club can achieve until front office and ownership become serious about addressing persistent first-team deficiencies. Differences in quality become magnified in the playoffs.

 

I feel like Charlie Brown going to kick the football but instead of Lucy pulling the ball away she punches me in the gonads. Always ends up somehow worse than the bad outcome I was expecting.

 

I expected horrible... I got horrible... and I’m still fired up as hell. Disgusted.

 

I mean...was anyone surprised by this? Anyone at all? My wife went up to Yankee Stadium telling me, "Well, they MIGHT win and I wanna be there for it!"

I laughed and said to her, "Don't worry, they won't."

I was proven right as soon as I saw Warren Creavalle getting the nod to start.

Warren goddamn Creavalle.

I literally laughed when I saw him in the starting lineup. No team that trots out Creavalle as a starting ANYTHING is going to win.

So 8 years of futility going strong. Chivas USA in it's 10 years of existence managed to win 1 playoff game. The Union are going to enter season 9 with zero wins. Will we manage to advance at least once before we break Chivas' record? I'm doubting it.

 

Can we get that knucklehead in Columbus to take this team to Austin?

 

2-0 NYCFC at halftime.

It's been clear for a while that Ernst Tanner has been planning to dramatically overhaul the roster this winter. This game should give him all the latitude he needs.

— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) November 1, 2018

wasn't aware it's "been clear" ... but I'll take it.

 

Who cares? There was a time I'd be upset by the Union performance and loss. But who gives a shit anymore? They don't.

I used to plan my days and life around the Union schedule. Even after moving out of the the area. I only bothered to watch this because I happened to be home.

Thank god I moved and stopped spending money on this team.

 

My daughter used to come to games with us 2010-2013 until she finished college and moved away. Last night was the first Union game she'd seen in ages, and she declared it 'embarrassing'. I couldn't argue.

I don't think NYC played particularly well. They took a couple of chances and then just had to absorb toothless pressure for much of the second half. It was quite shocking how immobile our team is especially on that small field. If Picault say got a breakaway, it was him and Burke versus 5 or 6 light blue shirts. No-one else in sight.

 

The sad thing is that it wasn't nearly as bad as the game Sunday. We didn't see any Union players emphatically kicking the ball into their own goal or literally crying on the sideline. That game will go on as vastly underrated in the pantheon of Philadelphia Union shitshows. It was ALMOST Rais M'bolhi passing the ball to the Chicago Fire attack bad.

 

9 consecutive seasons without a playoff win ties TFC’s record for futility.