Based on Kei's track record, I wouldn't assume that Vancouver's appreciation for him will be any more deep rooted than it's been for other 8 teams (counting the Crew twice, of course) he's played for over the past 12 years.
I haven't rewatched yet and not sure that I will. Random dump of gameday thoughts: I had a blast at the game with my kid. This was the first game back for him since the drunken xenophobic debacle at USAvMEX that turned him off on soccer (I've told that story in more detail in the past). On the ride back he said, "Can we go to all the games this season?" So, I'll take it as a win. I meant to go visit the Nordecke before the match but we got out the door later than I wanted and then our car got stuck in the mud in the parking lot. Some nice fans after the match saw us trying to deal with it and helped us push the car free. Thanks! We sat in 109 for the first half and got a great view of the goal. We moved up to 227 for a different view of the game in the second half. The wind was *howling* up there. The soccer in the second half was totally uninspired. As noted by others earlier in this thread, I was wondering why Velenzuela didn't start but then also shocked at how lazy he looked after he entered the match. No Crew players were playing with urgency in the second half. I liked Berhalter's comments in the post-game interview. He said, essentially, "I hope this game is a wake up call that we're not going to win games if we only play at 60% of our ability." I hope Gregg can do more than just make a good observation--but motivate his guys to play better in the second half. Most of this season we've been the worse team in the second half. Are the guys gassed? Are other teams' adjusting and we don't counter-adjust? Are they just disinterested? #SaveTheCrew chants were nice during the match (though not super frequent). It's fun to hear the whole stadium going. We loved the StC yellow/red postcards and flags around the stadium. As noted on Twitter, the Crew aren't even giving out gameday flyers with the rosters anymore. There is *so* little effort coming from the organization. I thought Santos was MotM, not that he (or anyone) was amazing. He was hustling and made the first goal happen. I noticed there were a few exchanges between Santos and Higuain where Higuain seemed frustrated. In fact, Higuain seemed pretty grumpy the whole match. I noticed him wincing and grabbing his thigh a couple times. Maybe he's got a minor groin injury? I didn't think Artur was going to bounce back from that injury in the second half. He was definitely hobbled. It looked like he was holding his ankle. What happened? Kei Kamara is a really good soccer player. He was hustling all 90 minutes, as he always does. And, he made the difference in the game as he often does. I'd like to get a second striker who plays with the passion of Kei, even if he didn't have the same level of athleticism. Go Crew!
I think more along the lines of we could have two good strikers instead of one. Zardes is great and Ola was good just not the best fit for our style.
My thoughts : #1 JH as many have stated has no business starting and 3G reasoning for doing so is horrible. Maybe against Chicago or a bad team but you don’t bench a starter for a less talented guy for a important home match it’s just absurd.Then the first goal JH is out of position heads the ball to Kamara and jogs back. Then on the the cross Afful is Completely lost should have marked Shea my guess is he was too worried about Kei who was covered by Mensah. So our outside backs cost us on that occasion. #2 The disallowed goal should have never got to the handball call which was correct. Abubakar and Trapp double Kei they have to knock that ball out of bounds or foul him , no sense of urgency or tenacity on defense. This is one thing Indont like about Will Trap. Who then could have fouled Davies and made sure no shot got off. My opinion is Trapp is too soft and we could use a upgrade at CDM to start with Artur. #3 The game winner by Kei Mensah should Mark Kei and Trapp should have stepped in front of him. This is just bad defense and appears Trapp at least tried and Mensah has a mental lapse (imao) #4 When we are up how about you sub in Williams and go with a extra defender? Also when your behind how about you get a better attacking option at Striker than Adam Jahn. I was yelling for Sosa didn’t realize he had a banged up ankle and I was yelling that Jahn sucks. It will help when Grella is back but for now we have only one experienced outside mid which is Santos. This roster needs another striker and outside mid or we can expect more losses similar to this one.
Vancouver scored in the 51st minute. Were you really expecting us to change our formation and start bunkering at halftime with one goal? It's not like we got to the 75th or 80th with the lead and left it alone. Well, yeah.
Let me see if I've got this... And it was a really good half for the Crew. And then... It's YOUR goddamn fault. Take responsibility and repent, sir.
Actually, it's my fault. I forgot to wear my KU15 bracelet. And forgot to visit LH's statue pregame. I'm sorry I've let everyone down.
On the goal that was called backk, trapp made a pretty weak effort to shoulder Kei out of bounds but maybe more credit to Kei who road the tackle, escaped the double team and hit Davies in stride. Kei always brings it.
I was making a point about tactics not saying we should have instantly bunkered when we had the lead etc.... I’m saying our tactics need to change in the second half when necessary and honestly we know that Vancouver presents problems so possibly starting the gm in a different formation would have been better than failing yet again against this team. Tactical change would have been much better move than starting JH
First time poster on this thread. I've watched Columbus play at home against a number of different teams over the last couple of seasons and they always strike me as team that can't put the sword to an opponent and really kill the game off with another goal (or two). They get a lead but tend to keep their opponents in it rather than on the back foot. Even when they scored off of Marinovic's spill how many times was the Caps keeper really tested (except in second half stoppage time with that header off the bar)? Credit to the Caps for keeping their shape and game plan but I have seen the Crew seem to let other teams back into the match and drop home points as a result. Is this a reasonable assessment or am I way off base here?
It is a reasonable and accurate assessment. We looked tired instead of blood thirsty in the second half.
Disappointing loss. I had two main take-aways.... 1. We lost because we started to play Vancouver's style of soccer. In the first half, the Crew's quickness and fast ball-movement kept the huge WhiteCap players chasing. In the 2nd half, our ball movement bogged down. Much more stationary and it allowed their size to play a bigger role in the game. Our offensive approach often switched to putting in high balls into the box which their monster centerbacks easily swatted away. 2. Smaller issue, but our two centerbacks really struggled to play the ball out of the back effectively. Even in the first half, we struggled to play the ball out of the back in a way that started an offensive channel. GGG sent Trapp/Artur all the way back to help, but Vancouver marked them hard. Mensah and Abubakar have played decent this year, but this may be something to watch going forward.
Well...I guess Mr. Naas and I are mistaken. We walked in right around the national anthem and no one was handing them out anymore.