HT: 1-1 - Gressel with the tap in off a sweet run and lay off by Pity, who is my MOTM so far. - Josef misses a PK. Not a bad shot to the low left but it wasn't strong enough and the keeper guessed right. - Toronto scores a couple minutes later on a counter attack against the run off play. Changed the complexion of the match completely. - Defense has looked safe but offense is lacking as a result of the 4-in-the-back approach. Wonder if FdB will change things up by subbing out Pogba for Meram or Hyndman later. You can see where breakaways on the left have died down with only Barco out wide. - Gressel is coming inside more than I'd expected. Not sure if it's intended or drifting to come closer to the ball. Things are way too bunched in the center of the pitch, which is to TFC's advantage.
If FdB stays with 4 at the back maybe switch LGP and Pogba so the former can bomb forward in support of the attack more frequently. Or drop Jeff deeper as a 3rd CB and push LGP and Escobar up.
Team has played good but Barco has been poor and Josef has been terrible. I swear, they should pull out his finger nails next time he does that stupid hop.
Josef Martinez come on man... you have absolutely sucked tonight. Everyone else is on. But you have outright sucked.
This is all Josef Martinez’s fault. He has had chance after chance after chance and he has been absolute ********ing garbage.
That was the most winnable game ever. Josef Martinez needs to work on his ********ing finishing because he ********ing sucks.
A) Will be anxious to see reply and hear from others about possibility of a foul against TFC before the match winner. Everyone here thought Franco had been chopped down @ midfield. B) I'm less pissed about losing than I am about HOW they lost. Once more arguably the better side but undone by a few counters. Blech. C) FdB waited too long make his change, I feel. Attack was way too toothless and that played into TFC's plan. Not a night to leave bullets in the holster.
normally I would blame the coach for that. But, in this case, it was the right call. Who was he going to bring in? Mo Adams? Emo Hyndman? Our bench is very weak. We needed Josef to step up, but he absolutely was a failure tonight. It wasn’t just the missed penalty. He was lazy. His touches were sloppy. He got in the way. He didn’t hold the ball up. And his finishing was atrocious. I’d give him a negative score if I could.
It really was. And at this point, we can't be sure the opportunity is coming back again anytime soon. Like I said earlier, teams like ours have to fight tooth and nail against MLS's filthy penchant for parity.
On no fewer than 5 occasions in the 2nd half Atlanta came forward with Pogba open on the left and he never got a look. Why? Because he's a one trick pony as a wide attacker and out of position if the team turns it over. Instead Nagbe, Pity, or Barco just turned away from him as if he was a sub off the touch line. If he's not going to be an asset in attack and not really making a difference on defence then add Meram or Hyndman to give you another attacker. It's win or go home and you need goals. There's no credit given for unused subs. Throw on another body with fresh legs and potential to change the shape of the defense. As of this moment I'm of the mind that FdB lost this match.
Quite a disappointment. It's one thing to lose when you're outplayed; it's another to lose when you think you were the superior team. Someone in my group thought Josef was running funny in the first half. Turns out they were right. Looks like he got injured earlier in the week. Sucks to lose like that when the final was such a winnable game. That'll sting for a while.
Gutted to see Parkhurst end his career by making a gritty comeback to play after injury only to fall tantalizingly short of another trophy opportunity. Sorry, Parky. Still a helluva career and we appreciate your contributions to the team and the league. Cheers, sir.
On some level, it's gotta suck being an elite athlete. So finely-tuned that you can't check the mail in January without stretching before you leave the warm house. I remember bounding out the front door as a kid when that door separated 72 degrees from 35 degrees or less, and sprinting or riding wherever I was going without concern for any muscles or ligaments. These guys can't really do that because their jobs require absolute performance. They're like thoroughbreds, kinda.
As I understand it, the concern was not filling it on a Wed. night and still having to clean up the 300s for the gridiron team. Yes. But that was always going to happen. Honestly, I don't really think there's a team in MLS that can consistently draw 70K. ATL rode that motivational "bad sports town" horse a loooong way, thru selling out Bobby Dodd and eight matches at the Benz, but even motivation has its limits. I figure we'll taper off to around low 40s in MLS mode and mid 60s full house. Still higher than anyone else in MLS. I look at that in a positive light- when you see empty seats, it means that everyone with the time, interest and money to show up has shown up. Having space for more of our fans to be able to watch our team has generated interest that might not have been generated if we had a 20K SSS. I've spent close to $300 every time I've gone to watch us play, because ticket, rental car, food, beer, etc. If I had to bid or compete with a metro ATL resident for seats, it'd be much worse, or I'd not be able to see us.
A friend of mine who has friends in the club texted me about two hours before the match and said that Josef had strained his hamstring the previous day. I didn't see anyone else saying this so I dismissed it even though my friend has been correct with "somewhat inside" info before. But then we were on the sideline watching warm-ups and his leg was wrapped and he seemed to be favoring it. By no means does that excuse missing the PK, but I do think he had a minor injury that was slowing him down.