Traffic is what they said but I do not buy it. I think there was no desire to get asked even softball questions on Cbus/Austin
I agree a little although I think the price tag is leaking into the perception. And for whatever reason, some transfer players don’t do as well initially as they eventually do. I’m holding out hope that we will see a lot more next year.
Waking up to a feeling of dread? Check Feeling dead inside? Check Go read through BS posts? Sure, why the hell not.
There is a difference between saying Meram is immune from criticism and that he was THE reason we lost, or he was actively sabotaging the game. I trust you can realize that. Additionally, Ola Kamara spent this playoffs offside, tripping over his own feet, or wandering aimlessly. He was absolute shit.
Commish missing the pre-game interview and you would think he makes it up at halftime. As far as the Trophy presentation, isn’t usually two of the VP’s that hand out the conference trophies and the commish doesn’t get involved until then Cup Final?
Hannover 96?? Also founded in '96 (1896, tho). Their record player in terms of appearances is an American too. Unless, of course, you are a "front-runner" fan. Looked this up earlier--only 6 different teams have won the BL since MLS was formed. And, of course (as far as I know), Kaiserslautern was the first Bundesliga team to come to Columbus for a game. But they are in grave danger of relegation to the 3rd Bundesliga at this point
At least I had this to comfort us last night. Last Wednesday, Mrs KG decided to take in Bear's little sister. Her name is Amali.
I stayed away from the internet after the match (for good reason, it seems) Some reactions from last night: Our 'best' players are simply not big game players, Steffen excepted of course. Pedro Santos is a surprisingly good wingback. An extremely overpaid one though. Related to that, I thought GGG's tactical switch to three center backs worked pretty well, the problem being that Williams and Abubukar are 2/3rds of the three. I mean, when Mensah is your best center back what does that say about your squad? Our squad is thin. I mean, Manneh is good and Jahn is fair; neither should even be substitutes for a team with trophy pretensions. We are way too slow going forward.
Some (like me) are dealing with this with raw anger. Some (like the Sunshine Brigade) are dealing with this by supporting the players and "Saving the Crew." At some point down the line when emotions are settled I think it will be a generally held belief that we lost this in the 90 minutes at home. That performance simply wasn't good enough. It was tentative and scared. It was a game in which had weeks to come up with a plan to beat a shorthanded Toronto. He failed to deliver a plan, the players failed to execute. Vanney had a plan and his shorthanded team played it to perfection. Last night was always gonna be difficult. Outside of Josh Williams being Josh Williams and giving up the PK, I thought Columbus was very good in the first half. But Vanney made small adjustments, and our team and our coach wasn't good enough to match up. This series was there for the taking but the dud this team laid at home in front of a sold out crowd vs a shorthanded Toronto did us in.
I think @hangthadj got halfway to the problem. Berhalter teams can't win away from home in the playoffs, or score goals. That is a major problem. Yes - I know that the Crew advanced in all but one, however it is reliant on winning at home in the two legged games. Play off away games. 2015 Montreal - Lost 2-1 Red Bulls - Lost 1-0 2017 Atlanta - Drew 0-0 NYCFCFC - Lost 2-0 Toronto - Lost 1-0
Toronto traffic is horrible every single day. Horrible. So, when you go to Toronto, you plan for that. I went to the Arctic Circle once, but had to turn around because it was cold. He totally refuses to be interviewed. He knows he has been exposed and his position is indefensible. He is further afraid that if he spews more lies, those will also be exposed. Evil? Yes. Stupid? No. I think the media needs to push harder.
I agree with Hang that this series was really lost during the home leg. That being said, the game yesterday was there for the taking. Trapp's early foul on Giovinco was the first thing that had my heart sinking. I can't imagine that wasn't a talking point all week, no fouls around the box are acceptable when that little f***er is on the field. I can't believe he hit the wall with it. All 3 center backs made bad plays on the goal. Williams plays the man instead of the ball on the first bounce, Lalas and Mensah let it bounce a second time and the shortest guy on the field is able to take it off his chest. Then Williams and Mensah are behind the play and Lalas stumbles on his own feet after trying to peel off from Vasquez and pick up Jozy. An UGLY sequence from a goal kick at the other end of the field. Who was the Fox director for this match? I would have turned it off if it wasn't my team playing. I'm glad they had extra cameras there, bumping up production value should be the result. That was not the case. Strange camera zooms, cutting to closeup of standing players while the ball is elsewhere. Showing multiple angles of replays while the game is going on. Too many to mention. I can't recall seeing worse in the last few years, things had generally been improving on that front. Not last night. It was a fairy tale run that, like a lot of pre-Disney fair tales, ends in a pretty dark place. As I said before heading into MAPFRE Stadium last week, I hope this isn't the last important game I see The Crew play.
I'll note that there is talk on MLS's site about Bradley's late foul on Manneh. Some noted that it should have been red. It was a scissor.