Big big win for the boys. Two goals from defenders. Three assists from Pipa. We still can't defend. Discuss.
A win is a win, but it was ugly. Terrible passing from everyone. Just terrible. We got lucky that we scored not just from one corner (which is shocking enough) but two!?! And mensah did his best to give the game away with a couple of pathetic turnovers in the first half and the obvious penalty in the second. Luckily Red Bulls were worse than us and probably still tired/deflated from the open cup loss in midweek. I like what I'm seeing from santos. I'm expecting more from him next season.
Terrible passing only in first half. Second half was much better from all. Mensah played ok. NY didn't get a shot off following the PK and really had few quality chances all game long. Who's more frustrating, Meram or Kamara? Im going with Kamara, but its close.
Good to finally see the return of the Meathook. As soon as Meram had that ball on his right foot, in that spot, I knew it was going in. Good for him, because he was having another particularly frustrating night before that. Sometimes, watching him dribble is like watching an elephant roller skate. Santos was better tonight, I thought. He had the pass to Kamara that should have been an assist for him until Ola butchered it, and got hammered afterward. Honestly, I think that knock stayed with him for the rest of the match after that. Ola. My god. I heard on MLS' podcast last week that he leads the league with 15 "big chances missed", whatever the hell that means; sounds very subjective to me. No one else had more than 10. Make it 16, I suppose. Now, hard to say what they mean with that stat -- could be keeper saves, flubbed shots, posts, anything. And some "chances missed" will be easier than others. But let's be conservative here. Suppose only a third of them were howlers -- six, we'll say. And suppose that of those six, two were in garbage time, two would have changed losses to draws, and two would have changed draws to wins. Six more points. How much different would things be right now with six more points? I like Ola, but these highlight reel shitshows are becoming way too common.
I will take that win all day. Still, two soft goals. Mensah with his typical one bonehead play per game. Abu & Jimenez with a TO for the other. Still, Pink Cow didn't really have a dangerous chance outside those two plays. We had more. More frustrating: 1) Soft goals from TOs 2) Conceding shortly after scoring 3) Mensah's blunders 4) Kamara's misses 5) Meram's dribbling 6) Giving away points late We are trying to get rid of #1 by playing more longball. Still, we make a lot of dumb passes for a 'possession' team. One of those. Two instances of we score/they score last night. Mensah struck again (was good otherwise aside from that bad pass, 1 goal & 1 bar). Kamara with an awful miss. Meathook Meram redeemed the poor dribbling. Gonna have to live with that from those guys. At least we saw the game out well. No real chances after the PK. Artur still off a bit. Lets get Francis back.
I'm not sure that Pedro is that much of an upgrade from Finlay (who is doing very well in Minnesota). I'd love to see us upgrade our forward. Too many missed opportunities. Merman Plays well for a few minutes every game- maybe thats enough.
I'm not down on Ola. Sure, he misses some good chances, but he also comes up with some goals that are impressive. If he were a more lethal finisher, he wouldn't be in MLS. That PK was ridiculous. How is a PK awarded for a foul out of bounds? Mensah grabbed Felipe to keep him from going back inbounds near the goal. I wouldn't have objected to a yellow card but extending the penalty box across the goal line is just making stuff up.
I think there is some "science" to it, a lot of teams play the way they do to create these type of chances. I guess playing the percentages.
That is what i want to know. Maybe b/c the slide started in the box? Should have been a drop ball. Frankly, i think the rule should be changed so that the penalty box is deemed to extend infinitely backwards as that foul seems like it should be a pk.
I asked about this on the referee forums. Apparently there's been a recent rule change that allows contact off the field to be punished with a free kick or penalty kick as needed. This is from Law 12 -- Fouls and Misconduct 4 - Restart of play after fouls and misconduct ... " If, when the ball is in play: a player commits an offence against a match official or an opposing player, substitute, substituted or sent off player, or team official outside the field of play or a substitute, substituted or sent off player, or team official commits an offence against, or interferes with, an opposing player or match official outside the field of play play is restarted with a free kick on the boundary line nearest to where the offense/interference occurred; a penalty kick is awarded if this is a direct free kick offense within the offender's penalty area." This is new. Before this was pointed out to me, I looked up the 2016-17 version of the LAWS, and it said this was a dropped ball on the endline.
Did i say i was unhappy we won? No. Was it a beautiful game full of amazing passing and stunning tactics? No. We fought harder and played better. Nothing wrong with that, frustrating as hell to watch though. Seem fair enough?
As much as fouls should be reviewed, dives have to be factored in. Yes, mensah grabbed him out of bounds, but I thought Veron made a meal out of it. He fell way harder than mensah could have pulled him. I’m not a fan of VAR as it currently is implemented. Good game for Crew SC otherwise. We need some wins like that. Not super pretty but we’ll take it.
Understand and agree that wasn't pretty. May I suggest "it was ugly, but a win is a win". This shows that it's a fact that the play sucked and you're happy that we got the points. When you say "a win is a win, but it was ugly", that sounds like you'd be happier playing better regardless of the outcome. If I'm over analyzing, forgive me. Helping my son with adverbs and proper nouns is going to my head.
My son has not gone to a loss this season. He has attended around 7 or 8 (maybe 9) games this year, and he always comes back with his recounts of the game. I am not sure if I have ever been that lucky.
Hmmm... We would be happy to pick him up and return him for whatever home games might remain. Not that I am superstitious or anything.
You can't be serious Pedro is a well rounded smart player who can do it all. Ethan was a one trick pony . That's a upgrade and Santos will really blossom next season once he gets to know the system and his teammates better
Disagree it was a stupid and unnecessary desperate gimmick foul and he would have got away with it , if it wasn't for those kids and that pesky dog
There's no way that's a dive. Mensah was sliding, and his arms and his body took Veron's leg out from under him. It's an obvious penalty. Frankly, I have no idea why it took VAR to get that one called in the first place. Also, it didn't show on TV, but Higuaín ran clear to the other side of the halfway line while the ref was looking at the monitor to yap at him, and got booked for it. I can't stand this kind of mindless, petulant taking of yellow cards. It serves absolutely no purpose, and it sets yourself up to potentially get kicked out of the game if you get a second one for time-wasting while you're trying to kill the game.
When he didn't call the penalty immediately, I figured there was some other infraction that had negated the foul. Who knew the ref just wasn't (apparently) looking at the play?