I enjoyed the Queen Greatest Hits medley from TRE tonight in junk time. The are pretty consistently inconsistent, though.
This next week is going to be rough. Probably taking a three game losing streak into the final. We could see ourselves on the outside looking in by the end of next week. Doesn't help that we have the away game to the Crew the weekend after the final.
It's 3-1. When Curtain replaces the only playmaker with a defensive mid, it's time to leave. It was nice to get heckled by a guy one section over, "Later, Cheap Seats!" as I exit. He pays $4 more per seat. Lovely night in Chester.
Serious question: I wonder how much of this let down was due to the international break? Did the two week hiatus give them a chance to become complacent? If they hadn't had the week off, would they have laid an egg this game?
I mean, they were on a hot streak which given the context, was bound to end and the team was going to revert to their mean eventually. Nothing about this team is any different from earlier in the season when we thought they'd finish out of the playoffs. The issue with the Union is, and always has been that for them to generate even half-decent results that make them look competitive everyone has to bring their A-game 100% of the time. Nobody can have an off day. Nobody can be tired, and nobody can get injured. When you're relying on the stars to align like that you end up with short, sporadic bursts of nice play but ultimately its unsustainable. You won't get the stars to align forever, and then the team reverts back to their normal, inconsistent self where they're making mistakes, not communicating with one another or just not all playing on the same level and dropping points as a result. This doesn't change until the team can bring in two things: depth and a handful of serious playmakers and goalscorers who you can rely on to get the job done, even if they have stretches where they're not at 100%. The Union doesn't have those players, or they don't have enough of them, and the quality drops off precipitously when you go to our bench. Not to mention our defense has been porous since 2012 and we've never solidified a backline since then that I think I've ever been entirely confident in.
I still feel like he's playing well over expectations on the year for me. Earlier in the year, I assumed that he was on his way out of MLS when they signed Real.
On the way out of the stadium, my oldest tells me that sometimes the money spent on tickets just isn't worth it.
You're right, he is. And Saturday night's performance doesn't make the other two options at LB any better. Just have to hope he snaps back to form. At least with Ray we know it is never a lack of trying.