Oh yeah, got it. Considering that so far there's no news, I'm not holding my breath on any new players.
Nobody posted that we won 2-0. https://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/m...-red-bulls-vs-toronto-fc/details/video/206623 has highlights. Chris Mavinga scored an own goal in the 55th minute, and we didn't score on our own until Kemar Lawrence in the 90+1st. Daniel Royer shot a penalty kick high and wide. Rece Buckmaster played defense for 90 minutes in his first game after being promoted from Red Bulls II. He's 23. Toronto had 64.1 percent of the possession, but we had more shots (21 to 10) na dmore shots on target (6 to 3). Justin Morrow got a straight red for denying BWP a scoring opportunity in the 89th minute. BWP played 8 minutes and had 1 shot that wasn't on target. We're third in the East in points and fourth in points per game. NYCFC scored in the 4th minute before losing 3-1 at RSL. They are fifth in the East in points but lead in points per game because they have played 21 games and the top four have played 24. Other than NYCFC, every club in the East played 24 or 25 games. Going by points per game, we could have this playoff path: 4 seed and host 5 seed D.C. at 1 seed NYCFC at 2 Atlanta or 3 seed Philadelphia Every round of the playoffs is now one game. D.C. hosts Philadelphia today. D.C. will pass us if they win, but both of them will have 1 more game than us after they play. This midweek has the U.S. Open Cup Semifinals and the Canadian Championship Semifinals first legs. The only midweek MLS game is NYCFC hosting Houston, so that will help NYCFC catch up in games.
While I love that we rely on youth development to sign most of our players and stay under the cap, you need to bring in a difference maker that is going to take us over the edge. This team is begging for a spark and it's not coming from Armas or any of the guys that are currently here. Go out and get someone! As for the Long rumors at 15M I think at 5-7M you take the money with a percentage of a future sale. Tarek, Parker, Nealis can be the 3 CB's until you can find someone else in the MLS offseason. That price tag should enable you to bring in a difference maker in the midfield or on the wing.
So far, Long is still here. Thank goodness. West Ham signing him always felt like a bit of stretch, especially for the lowball offer. I sympathize that he is going to be 27 and time is short. OTOH, you don't have to take the first offer, especially when a ready replacement is available. To be one of the better selling clubs, i.e. a Dortmund, they need to have a supply chain of players that can be promoted or brought in to become the next Aaron Long. One could argue that Adams was replaceable because Casseres was doing so well with RBII. But where is the next Long, or Lawrence? The club would have to spend some time looking for replacements, because there aren't any within the club. I just don't see any movement on that front. But maybe that's why the valuation is so high.
Interesting move with Sims coming over from England and loaning out Etienne to FC Cincy. I thought he's been playing much better and could help us out in a playoff run but I guess management believes playing 90 minutes week in and week out is better long term (they may be right)
Apparently, Etienne's proposed move to a Ligue 1 club fell through, or at least is delayed until the next transfer window.
Up, down, up, down. Lather, rinse, repeat. The team this year just isn't good enough to compete for anything, but they are still capable of playing some decent soccer. I just don't know why Tim Parker gets beat in the air. Didn't he ever play basketball as a kid?
"Entertaining" game but we lost the game on 2 nearly identical set pieces... of the most basic kind... albeit expertly delivered by Vela. Apparently our much vaunted back 4 have a little work to do. p.s. I don't believe that the the swap of Buckmaster for Murillo was the problem. On those 2 goals, Parker & Long were culpable. p.p.s. Casseres was a bright spot I thought.
Talk about local boy comes good. It doesn't get any more local than that. Good luck to him. And if he ever plays at RBA, maybe he'll get more local butts in seats.
******** this ********ing season, and ******** Red Bull AG. They need to pull out the checkbook and get some decent players. It wasn't for a lack of trying, Royer himself had 10 shots, including 4 on goal. The team as a whole took 22 shots, including 10 on goal, and had another 8 blocked. Generally speaking, when NE does well at RBA it's because their keeper stands on his head. But it shouldn't have been that close. The Red Bulls should have run the Revs off the field in the first half, and still couldn't get even one more goal.
Just able to watch the match. Royer could've easily had a Hattrick tonight, but instead came up empty. BWP could've had the game-winner from point-blank range in injury time. We completely dominated the first half and yet only led by 1 goal. The second half was a totally different story, but we still generated many good chances. Sometimes it's just not your night, and tonight was one of those. We definitely should've got 3 points, but I'm happy we didn't get 0. My biggest concern is not how we played, but the fact that Kemar Lawrence came out with an apparent hamstring. And after trying to tough it out, as he's prone to do, thus possibly aggravating it and extending his time on the DL. Edit: I just heard Armas say Kemar just had cramping that's it.. let's hope! White's injury was also a little concerning, considering BWP isn't quite all there these days, but he said it's a "minor sprain" so with any luck, Bryan will bounce back in a game or two.
Sadly, cramping is an injury that can lead to pulls and tears, if the cramping persists, the muscle is persistently contracting, straining the muscle and connective tissue. Granted the weather plays a role, it's been hot and humid all summer, but it is possibly due overwork, which is much harder to correct. He's going to have to take it easy for a while, try to refresh and replenish the reserves. This team needs Kemar, but it needs him healthy, first and foremost.
The ref Ismail is having a bit of a howler tonight. Both red cards were debatable IMHO. 2T should be interesting!
We made zillions of chances tonight, but in the end we got a little lucky. The ref made three huge/questionable calls, and two of them went our way. Maybe the two red cards offset each other, but the final PK that won us the game was another questionable call. Murillo could've easily been given a yellow for his dive. And the contact was not strong enough to really send him down. Last but not least, Robles made some amazing saves tonight, and apparently was playing injured after we'd used all 3 of our subs. And so we win the Atlantic Cup once again. Onward to The Bronx!
I didn't watch the match, so I can't speak to the context of Tarek's cards, or the PK, but regarding Rooney, the Law has been changed in the past couple of years, and hands to the face, regardless of how hard, are an automatic red. There's no room for interpretation. So when Rooney gives Casseres a shot to the chin like that, regardless of intent, Wayne gets an early shower. Them's the breaks.
Even after the new stricter hand-to-face rule, I've seen referees use judgment and not give fouls/cards for that. Rooney's was possibly (not for sure) in that category because it looked accidental/unintentional. I'll admit I have only seen one or two replays of it on a pretty small screen, but the worst I could say about it was that it was reckless/dangerous. If that'd happened to us, we'd feel aggrieved. As for Amro's sending off, I did in fact feel pretty aggrieved. The first card for the tackle was very debatable... maybe the ref felt his arm was dangerously high? And then presumably he got a quick second for dissent... I don't know what words he used, but he didn't look emotional or enraged. And if he swore at the ref (as one of the commentators surmised) surely there's some hypocrisy there, since players are generally allowed to say F-off to officials without impunity. BTW, I personally think that FIFA, UEFA and all the leagues should implement a zero tolerance for swearing at officials. Do it and you get a yellow. I think it's patently absurd that on one hand they've made a huge point about "respect" and then they willfully allow players to say "F-off" which is clear as day to anyone of any age who watches on TV.
Rooney had his hands up and moving upwards. It's pretty hard not to make contact with head and throat using that motion, especially when the guy is basically the same height, or a little shorter. I wasn't convinced that Tarek's second yellow was for dissent, and the boxscore states the yellow was for unsporting behavior, not dissent. It was a soft red card, IMO, but defensible. As for cursing, I know that it happens. Whether it is just emotional use of foul language, or actually cursing at a ref is often a judgement call, and refs have to be careful not give out cards that don't earn them much respect from the players not he field.
Hmm, at the time I wondered if he got a 2nd yellow for kicking the ball away. Which I think he might've done. If so, that was a dumb-ass move on his part.
Nah, I think the ref was always going to give him that card for hauling down Arriola (?). I'm not saying it was a 100% card, but it was for a foul on the DC player. It has been a weird, frustrating season. DC had 3 shots on target, and scored 1 goal. NYRB, scored two goals, but only 1 from the run of play, and had 8 shots on target. Ola Kamara makes a brilliant shot from about 20-25 yards out and scores. Meanwhile numerous Red Bull chances of equal or better likelihood were saved or blocked. Against NE, with a 1-1 tie, NY had 10 shots on target to NE's 4. Dani Royer himself had 4 shots on goal. You need luck sometimes to win games. And the best kind of luck is a few golazo's going in at key moments in games. That just isn't happening this year.
Yes we've produced higher numbers of quality chances than our opponents and not received all the rewards we should've. BUT actually we WON THIS GAME in DC and I argued at FT that actually got a bit of luck to do that. In particular we were awarded a very soft PK which ended up being our game winner. Lookin on the bright side. OTOH if Royer goes out injured, we're probably screwed. Edit: Ditto goes for Robles. But thankfully his problems last night were only cramping in his calves. That might be a little factor for his fitness for Saturday but it shouldn't keep him out of this crucial six-pointer!
MLS uses "unsporting behavior" as a catch-almost all term. Of the 15 yellow cards on Wednesday and Thursday including both of Tarek's yellows and excluding Rooney's straight red, 13 were for unsporting behavior, 1 was for dissent, and 1 was for simulation. Dissent is one of the categories MLS uses, but yellows for unsporting behavior could be very different in terms of what the player did. Based on points and points per game, if the playoffs started now we would host D.C. A playoff derby is possible. The last time two New York City or suburban teams met in the playoffs of a major sport was when the Devils beat the Rangers in the 2011-2012 Conference Finals. The Devils lost to the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Nets, who were in New Jersey then, swept the Knicks in the Conference Quarterfinals in 2003-2004. The Yankees beat the Mets in the 2000 World Series. The Rangers swept the Islanders in the Conference Quarterfinals and beat the Devils in the Conference Finals on their way to ending their Stanley Cup drought in 1993-1994. The Islanders and Devils haven't played in the playoffs since the Devils won the Division Semifinals in 1987-1988. The Giants and Jets haven't faced each other in the Super Bowl. The last time two area teams met in Game 7 was the Rangers beating the Devils in 1993-1994, so if we play NYCFC it will be the first winner-take-all playoff game between two area teams in over 25 years.