Blake wasn't really tested, but he showed good reflexes regardless on some of the shots. I'm interested in seeing what he does against a better attack.
Oh please, he'll be sent to the bench in order to get McCarthy games prior to the final (red not red?) Ayuk keeps improving. LeToux is doing his usual play like shit for the majority of the match, then turn up and score a goal cementing his status as fan favorite thing. Chaco is still in poor form, seriously guys I cannot wait to see what he's like in good form... The back line was shaky, but managed to get the job done. Blake is an improvement positioning wise over the other two. Would like to see him start from here on out when available. Have to prepare for next season. Oh and this one gets an asterisk......no Piatti for Montreal......
I didnt ever feel nervous whenever Montreal was on the attack, something I can't say about McCarthy or Silvestre... so that's something.
1 point below the line*!!!!!! *Montreal has 4 games in hand and the next team after them has 7 points on the Union
This POS year is going to end with us slipping into 6th, winning the USOC, and then winning the double...because MLS.
For all of the articles hyping how far MLS has come, does anyone else feel like, after every game, that you are always saying, "Well, neither side was very good tonight." It's been the MO for most Union matches, and, with MLS Live, I feel like every other team rarely has a game where they play well. So, where, exactly, are these huge strides MLS is making?
Blake with 4 saves (1 more than McCarthy's last 3 MLS game total) but Montreal's offense was running low on ideas without Piatti. Blake controlled his box, showed good positioning and distribution. It looks like he will start the NE game than head off to Jamaica's WCQ to miss the SJ game.
Unfortunately, I can't disagree much with your main point. Although, I will say that there are teams in the league (I do watch MLS Live) who generally play a cleaner game that is more pleasing on the eyes. I watch teams like LA or Seattle knock the ball around and hold possession in the midfield with greater fluidity and sense of purpose than I typically see from the Union, even from their backup players in the CCL. The reality is that there are still a lot of poor touches around the league, not much confidence on the ball by many MLS squad-type players, defenders can't hit accurate long balls, and defenders can't stay with the guys they should be marking in the attacking areas. But, I find myself thinking of the Union as one of the most consistent, chief examples of such patterns around the league.
Chaco has played better since I made that a comment, but I do think it is a concern that about 43% of his assists this season have come in just 2 of the 23 games he has played. That was what I meant about consistency. Again, his form has picked up, but I am just clarifying my comment.
Well....not after watching LA play. But I do feel like that after being foolish enough to watch a Sunderland-West Brom game. Unless your point is that good teams play good games and bad teams don't regardless of the league. Yeah...w/o Piatti to dive all over the place Montreal is much less offensive. Really....he's almost as bad as Blas. Chaco, Nogs and Barnetta get ragged on these pages like they're not living up to DP level hype. Guess what, they are not DPs. They are not players who will win game single-handed But they are very good non-DP level players in this league. Put a stud #6 behind them who can cover space and link forward and those three will look a lot better. Give them a real DP striker to feed and they will look a lot better (nothing against CJ but he is not a Kamara/Keane/Villa/Martins).
Instead of having just one aging, beyond his prime star as during the Beckham era, they have a handful?
It's inherent in the game. Soccer is more like musicianship than the "big three" American sports, in which you can go to an entertaining high school, college, or professional game. Whereas who wants to go to a typical junior high school band concert.
Part of it is that the Union are purposely set up to muck up games and make them slugfests. Part of it is that the Eastern Conference is way inferior to the West. My favorite teams to watch from an aesthetic viewpoint are LA, Columbus, Vancouver, Red Bull, Sporting and (when they're healthy) New England.
At this point, with Curtin now at the helm for more than a year, I have to say that I agree with the above quote except for the word 'purposely'. That's giving the coach too much credit. It honestly looks like somebody took 18 guys an hour before the match and said, 'Here, you guys wear these blue and gold uniforms and go out and play against New England. Good luck.' With very few exceptions this year I have felt that there has been a great deal of desire and effort on the part of the individual players and even an occasional flash of understanding between a few players but at no point have they played like a team with a coach.
Vancouver is how you build a team around youth while having some older veterans in there to help develop them. Manneh, Rivero, Laba, Techera, Koffie, and Parker were all starters for their win against Dallas and they are all under the age of 25. Basically, Vancouver is doing what the Union should have done, draft or sign good young talent, develop it in your system and bring in some DPs that can help hold the team together. Despite the young age of their starters, Vancouver is currently in the running for the Supporter's Shield and honestly, if they're able to keep those guys together Vancouver is poised to be a force to be reckoned with over the next few seasons.