Season 23 (can't believe it's been that long) begins Saturday... Saturday, March 3rd Toronto FC vs Columbus Crew, 12:00 pm (Direct Kick/MLS Live) Houston Dynamo vs Atlanta United FC, 2:30 pm (KUNV-23 Univision) Philadelphia Union vs New England Revolution, 6:00 pm (Direct Kick/MLS Live) Orlando City SC vs DC United, 6:30 pm (Direct Kick/MLS Live) FC Dallas vs Real Salt Lake, 7:00 pm (KTXA-21) San Jose Earthquakes vs Minnesota United, 9:30 pm (Direct Kick/MLS Live) Sunday, March 4th Seattle Sounders FC vs Los Angeles FC, 4:00 pm (ESPN) Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs Montreal Impact, 5:00 pm (Direct Kick/MLS Live) Sporting Kansas City vs New York City FC, 6:30 pm (Fox Sports 1) Los Angeles Galaxy vs Portland Timbers, 9:00 pm (Fox Sports 1)
RBNY, Toronto and Seattle all won their first legs against Mexican opponents in the CCL. The team that knocked us out got slaughtered at the Azteca (as expected). Not really a good reflection on FCD.
Or had we gotten by Tauro, that could have been us getting slaughtered at the Azteca (as expected) in one of two extra CCL games we'd have to play during our MLS schedule. To me the only real downside of our CCL exit is the loss of revenue for the club from not hosting a Club America home game against FCD in Frisco.
Saturday, March 10th Columbus Crew SC vs Montreal Impact, 12:00 pm (Direct Kick/MLS Live) New England Revolution vs Colorado Rapids, 12:30 pm (Direct Kick/MLS Live) Real Salt Lake vs Los Angeles FC, 2:30 pm (KUNV-23 Univision) Houston Dynamo vs Vancouver Whitecaps FC, 5:00 pm (Direct Kick/MLS Live) Chicago Fire vs Sporting Kansas City, 5:00 pm (Direct Kick/MLS Live) Red Bull New York vs Portland Timbers, 5:00 pm (Direct Kick/MLS Live) Orlando City SC vs Minnesota United FC, 6:30 pm (Direct Kick/MLS Live) Sunday, March 11th Atlanta United FC vs DC United, 2:00 pm (ESPN) New York City FC vs Los Angeles Galaxy, 4:00 pm (Direct Kick/MLS Live)
Space-X Launches Mission To Retrieve Michael Bradley Penalty Kick From Orbit April 26, 2018 Cape Canaveral, Florida - Space-X, today, launched a mission to retrieve Michael Bradley's penalty kick from Earth Geosynchronous orbit
Friday, May 11th Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs Houston Dynamo, 9:30 pm (ESPN+) Saturday, May 12th Minnesota United FC vs San Jose Earthquakes, 1:00 pm (ESPN+) Montreal Impact vs Philadelphia Union, 2:00 pm (ESPN+) FC Dallas vs Los Angeles Galaxy, 2:30 pm (KUNV-23 Univision) Columbus Crew SC vs Chicago Fire, 6:30 pm (ESPN+) New England Revolution vs Toronto FC, 6:30 pm (ESPN+) Colorado Rapids vs New York Red Bulls, 8:00 pm (ESPN+) Real Salt Lake vs DC United, 8:00 pm (ESPN+) Sunday, May 13th Portland Timbers vs Seattle Sounders FC, 3:00 pm (ESPN/ESPN Deportes) Orlando City SC vs Atlanta United FC, 5:00 pm (Fox Sports 1/Fox Deportes) Los Angeles FC vs New York City FC, 7:30 pm (Fox Sports 1/Fox Deportes)
So FCD is third in points per game with the caveat that they've also played more home games than road games. Oddly they may be better on the road as their countering style works better when the other team is attacking then when they are bunkering. FCD's biggest challenge is finding the right combination of tactics and players to start breaking down bunkers at home. Once they're up a goal they can counter the rest of the game. Were I them I would work on set plays until the players see them in their sleep. If they start scoring from the run of play then the set play practice can decrease.
I think their set plays have gotten marginally better. They've been better at getting the ball past the first defender and have threatened the goal a few times recently. Still, I agree that set pieces could use a lot more work.
It helps that Acosta is back as he's the second best at them and best at the longer ones (possibly including corners). Diaz starting helped that a lot but his tend to go hot and cold. he was good yesterday. BTW, need to give a shout out to the groundskeepers who I've judged harshly at Frisco. Best looking grass I Can remember there. Looked fantastic on TV and would have in person if the grass was a bit darker green. It was cut in a stylish way and just looked sleek and fun to play on. Now keep it going every week.
I also noticed the grass looked particularly good. Maybe this is the peak period of grass beauty after winter, before summer, and definitely before concerts and football.
Wednesday, May 16th Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs San Jose Earthquakes, 9:30 pm (ESPN+) Friday, May 18th Toronto FC vs Orlando City SC, 7:00 pm (ESPN+) Saturday, May 19th New York City FC vs Colorado Rapids, 12:00 pm (ESPN+) Portland Timbers vs Los Angeles FC, 2:00 pm (KDFW-4 Fox, Fox Deportes) FC Dallas vs Vancouver Whitecaps FC, 3:00 pm (KTXA-21) New England Revolution vs Columbus Crew SC, 6:30 pm (ESPN+) Philadelphia Union vs Real Salt Lake, 6:30 pm (ESPN+) San Jose Earthquakes vs DC United, 9:30 pm (ESPN+) Sunday, May 20th Minnesota United FC vs Sporting Kansas City, 1:00 pm (ESPN+) Chicago Fire vs Houston Dynamo, 3:00 pm (KSTR-49 UniMas) Atlanta United FC vs New York Red Bulls, 6:00 pm (Fox Sports 1, Fox Deportes) Monday, May 21st Montreal Impact vs Los Angeles Galaxy, 2:00 pm (ESPN+)
Why do we have such an imbalance in home vs away. After Saturday it will be 7-3. Lots of road games down the line.
Wonder if it has anything to do with the HoF and maybe needing one final push to finish the interior before the grand opening in August?
Not sure as it seems all that's left is the interior and don't see why they would need the whole stadium for that. Maybe it had to do with the CONCACAF tourny and they didn't think FCD would be such a failure.
I'm sure that it's because of stadium construction in LA, Portland, and Washington, where the local teams have had to play a lot of road games to start the season.
Hadn't thought of that. Starting to tire of the stadium not ready excuses though. Don't start playing if it won't be ready. Wait another year. Duh.