Kickoff Sunday at 4PM EST, broadcast by our friends in Bristol, CT. Should be a cool day in Hipster City at just under 60', with the chance of rain picking up as the game moves along. Greg Garza is listed as out for the game due to a hip injury. (Cue panic that he's done for!) Mikey Ambrose is tipped to play in his stead, though I wonder if Bloom can play on the left hand side? He did ably on the right for Mears up in Montreal. No word about Martinez being fit to play. Last report on him implied "later in the month." Portland will be looking to rebound from last weekend's abysmal 3-0 loss at San Jose. They'll likely be without Darlington Nagbe but it seems Diego Valeri will be fit to play. Magic 8 Ball implies AU's chances are slim, but hope abounds. For my money the most important thing is that they play with energy and poise, much like the games at Seattle or Toronto. Win or lose they need to undo the poor form they showed the past two weeks.
A not entirely frustrating 1-1 draw, which is always acceptable for tougher road dates. My random observations: - First and foremost, it was good to stop the bleeding. After two losses that saw the defense ship 3 goals each time anything that prevented another "L" was ideal. This should help the team rebound and refocus. Glad to see the grit and poise needed to get the result. Credit to Tata on this one. - I asked for Bloom and got it, and overall I'm not disappointed he made some mistakes and his partnership with Asad was out-of-sync, but he showed promise. - Jeff Larentowicz was made a difference yesterday. Much more so than last week's debacle in NYC and arguably why he was missed in the DC match. Pending the opponent he seems to be the lynchpin in keep the midfield defensively solid. Of concern though is that at his age (33?) he can't do that for too much longer. - Mears was off yesterday. Couple really bad crosses, some mistimed tackles, and failure to really crack the ball from 6 yards out after getting set up by Almiron. Son, if anything defensive players are supposed to be so anxious to get a shot that they hurry it up! - Biggest weakness yesterday was preventing Portland's transition game. Seemed like every pass/clearance out of their backfield successfully found an open man who then already had support in advancing the ball. Made it impossible for Atlanta to sustain pressure in the opposing third. Gotta work on that. - Much better games from Pirez and Gressel yesterday. Overall a great way to rebound and set the team up for a much needed two game home stand. Houston is much improved this season so it won't be an easy task, but I think Atlanta matches up with them very well and will hopefully be inspired after this weekend.
Tata made some good changes. The biggest is that they adjusted to the high press and found a way to play out of the back versus dump the long ball. It looked a little uncomfortable at times, but they need to do it. Other things I liked & didn't like: Like - Gressel on the wing. Maybe it's just me, but it seemed like he was thinking less and playing more. He might have drifted centrally too much, but hey, he did score on one of those drifts. Like - Almiron in the middle. Much more time on the ball and the offense revolves around that. Like - Larentowicz. Everything about his game, he's a calming influence and never takes a second off. He's a very important player for us. Dislike - Almiron needs to be a little more selfish. Take the shot already. Dislike - Kann has to get that ball that led to the Portland goal. It bounced at the 6, come out and get it. Dislike - Hot-headedness by Carmona. Lucky to not see red. He's the elder statesman among the Latin American contingent and needs to show some maturity. Dislike - Concussion protocol on Asad's injury. He was unconscious as he fell to the ground. He needs to come out of the game. These are young men with a life ahead of them.
Agree with everything you offered but I'm trying to recall the opportunity where Almiron should've shot. I thought he did okay in that regard and didn't have many clear opportunities to begin with. But that's a minor thing and I don't expect it to be an issue going forward.
I think the Parkhurst, Larentowitz pair gives the team a very orderly presence on the field. A lot of what we do is controlled chaos and they do well to control the team. Asad and Carmona need to adjust to the play in MLS. They can't keep losing their composure and risking more red cards.
I agree with almost all of that. This team has real potential if they can ever get back to full strength. So frustrating that they don't have Martinez out there. All that possession time yet they can't seem to finish. Meanwhile, they haven't exactly been getting any breaks from the refs (not so much in Portland, but most of the season in general). Finally, the stadium delays have wreaked havoc on the schedule. So many road games early, yet when we finally get to make up for it with a series of home games in the fall, we'll play 6 times in a span of 17 days. Geez. Oh well, still really enjoying it and hoping for the best.
Almiron had about three opportunities to shoot and took none of them. Even the announcers were giving him stick about it.