This is one area 3G continues to get out coached. These are common sense decisions. Five minutes were wasted patching up Jukka. Gregg makes the post game comment that he thought a few guys were tired from having to defend yet he did nothing.NOTHING about it. The timing of second half subs is critical to how effective they are. Subbing after the 80th minute is next to worthless in a lot of cases. Last night was an example.Out coached. When the entire team went defensive trying to hold a a one goal lead the writing was on the wall. It was a matter of time. NY has enough quality to win without Villa or Pirlo. They are a better team.
Safe to say that the turning point last night was when we went up 2-1. It was pretty much all NYC after that.
K, well how does Mensah and Abu making 5 yard passes in the build up matter? Goal was assisted by Raitala, who was played in by Meram. Meram received a 5 yard pass from Abu, who I believe received a pass from Pipa, who received a pass from Mensah. What exactly did they do that led to that goal?
I have to say that Mensah is a total waste of salary and roster spot!! Not to mention DP and international roster spot!!
I'll take this one. People focus on Mensah because the majority believed that defense was our problem last year. To answer that Berhalter did something very unusual in that he spent DP money for a center back that was barely seeing the field for his old club. We were sold on Mensah's national team pedigree, and Berhalter's eye for talent about how Mensah would be "perfect for our system." 9 games into the season Mensah had been outplayed by a rookie and at best looks the equivalent of Michael Pankhurst at about twice the salary. As far as Mensah fitting into our system, we've had two straight years of Keystone Cops in the back so in fairness to Mensah he may be a perfect fit. Obviously, Raitala was crap last night. Waylon Francis is still our best fit there, but Berhalter hates him. But, when you sign a center back to a DP contract, you damn well hope for better than, "not exactly terrible."
Also of note guys, this is who we are. The early season honeymoon is over. No more crowing about being top of the East (with more games played) or dreaming of supporters shield. We are a level below Toronto, NYC, Red Bulls, and (lo and behold) Orlando. You can point to our home wins over Orlando and Toronto if you want, these things happen in a season. Over 34 games we are nowhere near their level. This is where we belong, on the fringe of the playoffs fighting for that 5th and 6th playoff spot with the likes of DC, ATL, New England, and Chicago. We are average at best, with a coach who doesn't have a clue how to close the gap and a Sporting Director who brings in guys like Mensah and Raitala to do so. It's gonna be a long and painful summer, and a longer and darker fall and winter. Remember the halcyon days of April for they will be all we have to give us any damn reason to believe.
Horsefeathers...Artur will be back soon and save the day. Crognale will reign and we pick up this Scottish guy and work him into the system by August 14th. Its flippin sunny in my world. I am not convinced that Mensah is total garbage but Abu can pack his stuff.
Yes it is typical over the last 3 seasons. We get a one goal lead and go into bunker/possession in our defensive third mode. This has bit us in the ass too many times to count. Possession is great, 3 points(or even 1 point) at home is so much better...
I will say that while I was upset at the loss, I was entertained. That was a lot more interesting than some of the matches a few years back.....
Yeah, that was definitely not a boring match. May not have been a great final result, but it sure wasn't a snoozefest.
Because there was some discussion in the pre-match thread.... I took Uber after the match from the designated zone, and the experience was no bueno. While I did see some other groups get picked up, I hailed three different drivers, and each called after about 10 minutes to say they couldn't figure out how to get there and that I should cancel. After about 45 minutes, ended up walking to the Lowe's and catching a ride there. Like so many things with this club, half-baked.
I'd put not being able to locate you (with GPS and a map) on the Uber and it's drivers, not Crew SC FO.
Sure, with a service like Uber, you are always going to have problems with quality control, and that's obviously not on the FO. If they are going to continue promote this "innovative partnership" though, you think they could put a little effort in, like clearly marked ingress routes for Uber drivers and a heads up to those directing traffic (none of which, from my conversations with the drivers, seem to be in place). Grumble, grumble. Can't you just let me be a grumpy old man after that piss-poor result?
This. I saw a few more drivers than normal coming into the stadium from 17th after the game. My guess is that they were trying to get to the pickup location. Idk what steps were taken to coordinate with Uber drivers, but clearly there were drivers who didn't know how they were supposed to get to the designated pickup location.