Not a whole lot of contact but Vincent is behind Epps, its not shoulder to shoulder and I can see that being a PK. That said, Union defense looking very shaky and when the ball turns over they absolutely have not been able to counter attack. Does anybody on this team have a good first touch? And Elliot has gotten beaten numerous times to allow dangerous looks by Chicago. Don't like him even as a backup.
Another solid win at home. Maybe this team is better than I think it is. I'm starting to think it's just me growing away from this team/league more than the team letting me down. Maybe it is partially their fault after 8 full seasons of disappointment, but something is up. I just don't feel like I get as much joy out of wins these days as I did in the past. Hopefully this season continues to improve and I can start to feel something again.
Hoping McKenzie is OK. Good win, was pretty worried they'd drop 2 points when it was 2-1. Atlanta should bring us back to reality but they were held to a draw against New England so who knows?
Looking at the June/July schedule, we needed to win this game. A point vs Atlanta would be huge. Starting to think Accam is well into his thirties. He is so much slower than I recall.
Stadium was 40% full but I had to park basically in Wilmington. What is with parking this season? Did some of the private lots close? It's going to be a nightmare if they keep winning and people show up. I expect at some point to be turned away from Lot C even with my pre-paid pass. Also, nice win
MLS was set up with strict signing rules just to prevent the inequality you write about. But no one liked it so they have opened the floodgates to the haves/have nots structure of other leagues. A lot of your complaint is simply due to the nature of the sport: great teams look fantastic and not so great teams look awful. By the way, no one said here that RBNY was garbage, so it's only one game in a row.
This was the first game in a month or so that I actually watched. Here are a few thoughts I had during the game. Burke looked good and had a lot of energy, but wasted a lot of it chasing players down the field then being left out of position when the ball was turned over. Accam just can't seem to get himself in the right position for the long ball down field where he can beat people. Then he gets discouraged and doesn't make those runs when he finally has the opportunity. Dockal has been quietly racking up assists. I think the midfield in general have figured out each other's style and are playing well together. I hope Mackenzie isnt hurt too bad. Elliot looked shakey. Why cant the Union get their players to have repeat great season's after their first great season. Elliot, Sapong, Rosenberry, Wenger are the ones that come to mind. But there has to be a reason (coaching) for the slump and getting players past it.
1002000164066914304 is not a valid tweet id Classic case of guy who does a lot of things well going cold and not being able to score, losing job to guy who does almost nothing well other than head ball into net.
Yeah, but regardless of what Earnie Stewart tries to sell you, at the end of the day the only stat that matters in this sport is which team puts the ball in the back of the net the most times. If you have someone that can do it consistently, I can overlook a lot of other things. Players make entire careers being one-trick ponies if their one trick is scoring goals.
My favorite moment is the completely confused expression from Schweinsteiger standing helpless after Ilsinho Houdini'd his way past him on route to a classy finish. Brilliant.
"WTF? The brochure said MLS was supposed to be a cushy retirement league." Seriously though, it was like Schweinie never read the scouting report on Ilsinho. By now the entire league has to know Ilsinho always tries that move when he's isolated on the wing.
A fine win. Didn't play exceptionally well as a team and it was more nervy than it should have been before the PK. I think we played better on Saturday. We beat a team we should have (i.e. below us in the table) but still haven't cracked the playoff line, so that really mutes my excitement. If they beat Atlanta away then, okay, I'll hold my hands up and say I'm impressed. The Union are what they are/have always been, so these kind of performances + results is really the upper limit of what I consider "good" to be from us. As for the quality of MLS, well, yea! That's the beauty of it!
Burke scored, drew a PK, and was centimeters away from another goal or assist. If that is how he plays in a bad game, he can start 34 games a year.
I'm so happy about this game, yet I find myself on twitter arguing with people all morning. Also I don't give a damn about CJ's stats. The guy doesn't score. Burke looks 1000000xs more dangerous out there than CJ ever does. At the end of the day we need a better striker either way.
Yeah, the problem is he probably won’t. I’d like to see him start some more but it was pretty clear he’s not used to doing CJ’s hold up play and that it affected the overall play of the offense. Great that we got three goals, but it was very disjointed.
I too remember when Antoine Hoppenot first starting coming off the bench and scoring goals. He was amazing. Sure, he didn't look like he knew what he was doing on the field, but he put the ball in the net!!! Then teams started figuring him out, and since he was a one trick pony, he was relegated to fan engagement on twitter. Danny Mwanga - same category. Once teams stopped letting him shoot from around the 18 yard line, he was done. Teams WILL start marking Burke better on aerial crosses. Once that goes away, what else can he offer the team? He should get more playing time, and he may get better in the other areas, some players do. But to say because he's scored 2 goals he should start over CJ, has more to do with being frustrated with CJ than Burke's skill level.
I'm good with Burke starting. He's dangerous all game. He harasses players with the ball. He makes dangerous runs in the area. The spacing on the field is better with him on the field as well.The Union are much more dangerous in transition with Burke too. Strikers first, second, & third job is to score goals. CJ actually played well his first year with the Union, then the second season he got his DWI. The Fire looks bad, because they were missing some of their best players. This is MLS. You take wins and pints when you can get them. Especially when you are the Union. If they can get a point in Atlanta, that will be huge. The Toronto game is going to very important. The Union need to get 3 points next Friday if they really want to make a go of contending for a playoff spot.
Anyone heard if Mckenzie is okay? Last I read was that he was having a MRI done yesterday. It’s a good sign that he was able to walk off on his own, but depending on his pain tolerance it is possible to walk with a torn ACL. Elliot looked far worse compared to how Mckenzie has been playing the last few games.