I'm not sure what to think about Shelton. Other than the saved shot, he mostly seemed invisible today on tv.
I agree that Nouhou was horrible, especially with Zusi running right by him to score a goal. Probably second to that crap performance was Medranda’s rendition of a statue on the first Sounder goal. I am a big fan of Jimmy, but I don’t think he belongs as a defensive back. To see him stand there ball-watching while Besler tried to guard two Sounders made me think his is going to deserve the gigantic ass chewing he will get from PV for that performance.
Did the new MLS espn+ deal screw with whatever espn has been doing? I tired to pull up the game on my espn app and was unable to do so. My memory is that whenever SKC are playing on espn or espn2 the game was always streaming on thier free app. Not the case today. Bummer, because my youngest is sick and was ready and willing to go to war over Blaze and the Monster Machines.
Shelton. My God, man. Move your ass. Is there some reason he can't sprint to get anywhere? Is he banned from making any type of run? Are his reaction times so poor that a guy 4 yards away wins a ball that is 2 yards from him......and he's the one who first-touched it there in the first place? It was like playing with 10 men but at least someone had to stand by him take up space. Medranda, for me, usually makes up for his shortcomings as a defender with his participation in the attack. But he had a couple major errors defensively that really hurt us. Backs defend first, Jimmy. How many times did Besler save his ass after getting caught forward today? Croizet had his best game, IMO. Which is to say he looked average. Still too many unforced turnovers in midfield. I'll take the small improvement, though. Ugly game, probably because of the weather. I'll take the point after that pseudo-mess. When does Felipe get back? Ilie made good adjustments as the game went on. And, Lol at Nouhou. What a clown.
A couple thoughts to add. I agree, Croizet's best game, but the guy clearly only has 60 minutes in him. If we had brought in an attack minded AM replacement, that would be fine. But Lobato seemed only to instill calm into a midfield that really wasn't lacking calm. The German announcers wanted to know why the fing hell Besler didn't attack that ball in the box, and if he was intent on leaving it for Melia, why Melia didn't seem to know that. Idiotic goal, and you can blame a lot of people but a soft cross like that should never touch ground unchallenged right in front of the goal. And FFS when it does, Bruin beat us ON THE GROUND? Take a look at the Audi number (caveat pending) and they make a couple interesting points. Roger was simply horrible, and not just because he made most of our unsuccesful passes on a night when we completed 84 percent. The word would be profligate. Actually, probably not, but something similar I can't think of right now. He wasn't breaking up their attack. He wasn't a fulcrum in our transition. His movement wasn't pulling them out of shape. Our successes this year are going to be built on players like him soaring through great game after great game. Our failures will come from those moments when they return to ground without landing gear down. Croizet's numerical performance was almost exactly what it was a week ago. The difference, last week that put him 11th out of 11 starters. This week, closer to middle of the team. What the hell, SKC, did Salloi eat someone's orange slices at half? Completely frozen out of the first half hour of the second half. Every time he was on the ball there was an expectation, but man he was peripherial. The German announcers, who love him, where bitching a lot about that lack of involvment. They were praising Zusi's authority and overall our impressive level of team discipline (remember, German announcers, so this is extremely high praise) but our creative spark was down to Russell on the ball, and Salloi's passing, and it works better when both are involved. Finally, Shelton. Maybe no one has told him that it's okay to score? DC United is reportedly in negotiations with Balotelli, while Seattle and Chicago apparently are chatting with Torres. Just saying.
Well, I guess you can say we managed to snag a point out of an awful performance? I'm ready for Felipe to be healthy again.
the thing is, i don't think it was an awful performance from the team. we were deservedly leading 1-0, and then medranda's defense shoots us in the foot for the equalizer right before halftime, changing everything. that wasn't just conceding a goal. it was conceding momentum and spirit... and even moreso knowing that seattle hadn't scored yet this whole year. it was a mediocre performance, given the failure to convert a number of clear chances (broken record for this club that refuses to spend money on the one position that requires it the most) and a couple defensive lapses (no surprise given how we've played on defense this year). i definitely still think it was 2 points dropped from what we should've expected, so we got what we deserved. 1 point for a mediocre performance. your second point, though... man, so am i.
Yeah, I guess calling it awful is a little much, but man, there were long spells of that game where our entire midfield just looked off. We weren't able to string together passes or posses, we made so many silly giveaways and didn't dictate play like we usually do. At home, against a team that hadn't scored all season, we only managed 58.6% possession. We got butchered on tackles won (our 7 to their 22) and duels won (54 to 69). Most of our chances created were on set pieces and Zusi being inch perfect with his crosses. And yeah, the goals we conceded were predicated by individual mistakes, but individual mistakes get punished when your midfield keeps coughing up balls left and right.
And we went for huge streches without forcing them into mistakes. We were half a step late all night, it seemed.