I Think we lacked speed all over the field tonight. Mensah and Gaston could not recover quickly enough on counters, Clark was no help there, Pipa has lost a step or two, maybe Afful, too. Add in Artur being a little gimpy, we were always a step behind. I thought we showed a spark after Argudo came on, same with Sosa, but it was too little, too late. I think Porter opted for experience over youth and speed. I suppose he needed to evaluate the bench, hopefully he's learned. Second, we had a lot of bad passing, some right to the opponents, some too soft, some to no where. Philly was swarming us, yet we insisted on trying passes under 10 yards, instead of trying to get clear of the swarm. There were a number of times when our guys were receiving passes without opening up, which left them with few options. Receiving was also bad, lots of balls tanked off by 5 yards. Last, I think a lot of players were playing last year's game, slow and low, not very aggressive, no shots. The last two complaints can be fixed in training. Speed is harder to train, I think Jimenez got faster during Ggg's time, but I don't think Clark, Pipa, or a couple others are going to do that.
It's an explanation not an excuse. There is a reason Clark,Jiminez and Mullins are no longer starters in this league. I'm sure I don't have to explain the difference between Steffen and Bendick. Both teams were closer to USL than MLS last night and we came up short. That's the silly league we watch.
(Disclaimer) I have nothing against you ColumbusOwl, and the following rant really isn't directed at you, but I will quote your post since I've seen this sentiment shared by a few people, including Dwight on the broadcast. Possession Who the fvck cares about possession? Overall possession was: Columbus: 55% Philly: 45% It's how you use it that matters. So, for example these two nuggets: Total Passes Attempted: Total: Columbus 580 / Philly 478 (Columbus + 102) Backwards: Columbus 80 / Philadelphia 79 (Columbus +1) Sideways: Columbus 326 / Philadelphia 232 (Columbus +94) Forward: Columbus 174 / Philadelphia 167 (Columbus +7) Cbus had overall 102 more passes than Philly, though out of those 94 were sideways. For non-math buffs, that's 92% of those extra passes. Also, let's look at where each team on the field controlled the ball. Part of Field Pass Was Intended For: Defensive Third: Columbus 161 / Philadelphia 85 (Columbus +76) Mid Third : Columbus 316 / Philadelphia 255 (Columbus +61) Attacking Third: Columbus 149 / Philadelphia 168 (Philadelphia +19) So, despite out possessing and out-passing Philly, they had more passes played in the final third that us. To further illustrate this point, let's look at some charts: Columbus Passes in the Penalty Area: 4 Philadelphia Passes in the Penalty Area: 11 Despite all that possession, Philly had nearly TRIPLE the amount of passes in the penalty area than Cbus did. Columbus Touches in the Penalty Area: 10 Philadelphia Touches in the Penalty Area: 25 2.5 times as many touches in the penalty area. Thank god we had those extra hundred passes in the defensive two thirds of the field though, that beautiful sideways play really had Philly right where we wanted them!! Pressing What pressure did we put on Philly? Cause the stats say otherwise. Tackles Attempted: Cbus 24 / Philly 27 (Philly +3) Tackles Succesful: Cbus 16 / Philly 20 (Philly +4) Tackles Attempted in Opponent's Half: Cbus 6 / Philly 9 (Philly +3) Interceptions: Cbus 10 / Philly 15 (Philly +5) Interceptions in Opponent's Half: Cbus 1 / Philly 5 (Philly +4) Blocks in Opponent's Half: Cbus 2 / Philly 3 (Philly +1) Possession Lost in Own Half: Cbus 8 / Philly 2 (Cbus +6) Immense pressure we put them under indeed!! Now, I don't wanna hear that we didn't have Trapp, Zardes, Steffen, and Francis. Philly didn't have Blake, Burke, Fabian, and Creaville. We all know about the offseason, that's fine. Porter had a chance to change things at halftime last night, just to try something new, FVCKING ANYTHING, and did absolutely nothing. On top of that, he played Pipa 90 minutes. Seriously, why? I'm not on the fire Porter bandwagon yet, but I'm very concerned that he doesn't seem capable of changing formations, tactics, anything. Hell, even GB went to a 3 man defense every once in a while, especially to close out games. If GB can be semi-flexible, Porter should be too. Play direct, play with 2 strikers, play with 5 at the back, anything other than the norm when getting destroyed, or heavily rotating the squad.
Blake vs Coropel (or whatever his name is) is a similar talent gap. EPL teams have wanted to sign Blake, but he has work permit issues. He's also Jamaica's Steffen basically, their starting goalkeeper for the next decade. Philly was missing Fabian, when healthy, a starter for the full Mexican national team. Trapp or Zardes aren't on that level. i take you're point that it's an explanation, not an excuse, but don't make it sound like our losses are worse. I'd say they're about even.
From the robot's mouth: Head Coach Caleb Porter talks #PHIvCLB and what #Crew96 needs to learn from before next week's home match against Atlanta. pic.twitter.com/idRkNti9O5— The Crew (@ColumbusCrew) March 24, 2019
Don't know, but Kamar Lawrence of NYRB has had similar issues. EPL teams have been rumored to be sniffing around him for a couple years now.
I recall that being the case, too. But I think the UK tightened those rules quite a while ago. From what I've read, it's up to each Commonwealth nation to define what status being a citizen of another Commonwealth nation gives someone in that particular country.
I know when Hull City was in our first EPL season we were looking at a Jamaican and the rules were more relaxed. That was over ten years and quite a bit of bourbon ago.
You took a chance that those Philly fans didn't spike your drink. That's as dangerous as playing the ball back to Steve Clarke's feet.
I know zero about this guy but if hes Jamaican then hes a citizen of a Commonwealth country and by definition doesn't need a permit to work in Britain Edit: just saw the comments above. Maybe things have changed but I find it hard to believe. England has been trying to emphasize the advantages of the Commonwealth of late. I can hardly believe they'd be cutting out the worker movement rights.
It's referred to as "the right of abode" in the UK: https://www.gov.uk/right-of-abode Regarding Commonwealth citizens, it's somewhat complicated, but in general, no, Commonwealth citizens do not have the right of abode in the UK: https://www.gov.uk/right-of-abode/commonwealth-citizens Commonwealth citizens only have the right of abode is they can qualify for it via their parents or through marriage (but only if you're a female Commonwealth citizen). Even if you qualify via the above guidelines, for athletes, I don't think it would matter. You need to have been a Commonwealth citizen on December 31, 1982 in order to qualify through the parental route. Meaning, even if you were born on that day, you'd be 36 years old today (turning 37 in December), which is a bit old for the Premiership.
The Crew were weak down the middle. Forward, midfield and goalkeeper. Wings were already iffy. No strong point on the team without Nat players.
ouch. between this, and paul dolan telling indians fans to fahk themselves because he wont even try to resign lindor.......
I am 100% with this. But I also think we downgraded the HC position. Porter's inflexibility and penchant for playing Pipa 90' are worrisome. The previous regime's neglect to form an effective affiliate or own a USL team has put us years behind other MLS teams in terms of player development. We do not have much in the pipeline.
I'm going to wait to make that decree. If you remember, there is a vocal part of our supposed fan base that thinks Gregg is a horrible coach even after doing what he did with so little help from the FO. I did think Pipa could have been subbed out when it was clear we had no chance but I also think Porter may have thought subbing him out was waiving a white flag which he was not about to do 3 games in. We have to give Porter the benefit of the doubt until the FO can get their feet under themselves and their concern can turn away from building the structure of the business and focus on the building of a roster.
Yes and no. Long term, sure, Porter needs to get in players he wants, and out players he doesn’t. Precourt sabotage, lack of time, blah blah blah. Short term, when the offense has been shit for three games, and you’re getting smashed 2-0 at the half of the fourth game, you better change something to start the second half. Nope, same tactics, same formation, same players. And throughout the second half, it only gets worse, and nothing changes except hopeless like for like subs. That was bad. Real bad. Porter should’ve been able to change things up. I’m not saying fire him, but something as fundamental as that is worrying.
Who else could he have brought in? Drop a defender and add an attacker, sure, but we are three games in and goal differential matters. You don’t want to lose by 5. I just think you are over reacting.