If you watch the replay the ref saw the elbow to Luke's head the whole way. Should have been a red. Same with the scissor tackle on Javi. Dangerous plays both. What will Simon say?
I suspect that Disco will be all over this match. Georg, you take a lot of shit on these forums, but you were dead on about Beltran. He was excellent.
I think I'll give my .02 on the match. Overall, I think we looked good. Granted, the attack slacked off in the second half, but the back line played a lot better than in previous weeks. Nothing more can be said about Javi's goal. It was awesome. Overall, I like the new formation. I wonder where Plata will fit in when he comes back, but I have no doubt he'll add some spark to the attack when he's in there.
4-2-3-1 definitely gave us more coverage and rotating defenders in back. We're still making poor choices, we just had more defenders making the effort to cover for each other.
It's kinda sad how not full the stadium was for SJ in this one. Yes, I get the weather wasn't great and it was a holiday weekend, but it's a brand new stadium. That only 3/4 of it was full is embarrassing to that team. Also, the angle the seats have in there is insane. Similar to the upper bowl at ESA. One misstep and you'll end up 20 rows down. When I saw Jordan Allen and Mulholland getting the start, I was super excited and super nervous. That was a move that, IMO, never would have happened under Jason Kreis. He simply wouldn't use a guy like Allen yet. He'd have gone with Gil and Mulholland. Allen wasn't amazing in the game, but he was good. I liked his movement and energy. That he seems to be a magnet for heavy hits is unfortunate. Jamison Olave isn't playing like the Jamison Olave we all fell in love with. Something just isn't right. I know his game isn't the same as he's older, but mentally there has been a drop, too. I can't help but think part of it is due to playing with Schuler instead of a guy like Borchers. Not having that cool composed CB next to them (for both Olave and Schuler) is causing a lot of stress in the middle that simply isn't neccessary. I'm really hoping Vasquez can step up soon. From what I've seen, he has a lot more of the Borchers tendencies in his game. We need that desperately in the back right now. Not helping is the play of Mansally. I don't think he was as bad as Ish is saying, but he was far from comforting in the back. i've come to expect that from abdi, so maybe that's why I'm not as critical of him. One thing you know you'll always get out of him is energy. I don't know if there is a player you can say that works harder. That said, it's almost to his detriment. That he is currently the back behind Olmes is kinda funny. Both guys run hard but at times you want them to slow the ******** down. Speaking of Olmes, I loved the way he played this game. I absolutely hated the bullshit he pulled with the "injuries" and theatrics. That has to be coached out of him now or it will never go away. The kid has loads of potential and is starting to play a lot like he did when he first came over. The last pass or shot is still slightly off, but I think you see him score a few goals once that first one comes. First, though, get the annoying part of the game out of him. It's a must. Luke Mulholland put on a clinic, especially in the first half, of why he is the better fit for this formation. His simple play in the middle along with the effort defensively was a huge change. It was like the first half against TFC but even better in some ways. Honestly, if Luis Gil pulls that dummy move and through ball that Mulholland did, it would have been on RSL twitter and the website for a week. Even with Sabo not being able to finish it, Gil would have be applauded for his creativity. That Luke did it just seemed to be like a "oh yeah, good job" type thing. Javier Morales. What more can you say with this guy. It's confusing how well he is playing this year. We all (especially me) keep talking about the decline that will ultimately come. It hasn't. In fact, with this new formation, he's gotten better. He doesn't have to bust his ass defensively (though he will if the moment requires) and suddenly has more space given the 2 wingers are sucking defenders away from him. It's beautiful to watch. Andy Williams didn't even dominate like this in his prime. The only player that I can think of that does/did what Javi is doing is Blanco. And Blanco didn't have half the energy in his legs. The most underrated performance in this game, from what I've seen in posts and media, was from Kyle Beckerman. Think about how many SJ attacks were able to go down the middle like the last 3 games seem to have been able to. None that come to mind. KB was stalwart. It wasn't pretty, a lot of times he was making toe pokes to destroy an attack, but it got the job done. This midfield trio was amazing in this game. Not pretty, but amazing in what they accomplished. Can someone explain to me what the hell happened on the set piece? The whole thing was bizarre. First, the foul. How the hell can you say that isn't a foul? The guy's elbow is head height and he's not looking for the ball AT ALL. I seriously thought they called the foul against RSL with how SJ reacted. It felt like a La Liga game where barcelona freaks out after Messi gets taken out. That they were the team committing the foul was just weird. Then the actual shot. If I'm not mistaken, that is a handball. Bernadez looks to raise his arm when the ball comes in to block it. KB certainly thought so based on his reaction right before the second shot. That second shot, tho... dayuuuuuum. Incredible hit by Javi. Just ridiculously well taken. If I was a SJ fan I would just put Javi down for a goal off a set piece when RSL comes to town. The guy loves hitting them up there. The reaction the team gave after scoring was pathetic. Very TFC like. We all knew SJ was going to go into goonie mode and fling bodies into the box to end the half. We handled it extremely poorly and were lucky not to give up a goal. That was probably the worst segment of the game for RSL. Jurgen at halftime was hilarious. This guy will not take blame for anything. Blaming the world cup for late game goals given up is like blaming McDonalds for you not liking the meal you had at Taco Time. Just a lot of "what the ******** are you talking about" with Jurgen. That he is leading our national team into two of the most controversial world cups is nothing short of ironic. The second half was pretty forgettable, if you ask me. There was a lot of midfield battles being played out, but ultimately the defenses won the day. Tony Beltran, in particular, was the man of the second half. He got forward a few times and into some really dangerous positions. This was the type of game that can really make me eat crow about him. He still isn't anything special offensively, but if he realizes that and plays to be the decoy/wall pass he actually can be quite good. It irritates me so bad that we constantly fall asleep on quick set pieces and throw-ins. This team has a truly embarrassing habit of turning off defensively on dead ball situations. We'll get burned for it this year. Hell, this next week probably is the most likely candidate. You don't' get away with how we defended that quick set piece against a better team. SKC would score that. The Gil sub was both smart and dumb. Smart in that the kid showed he can handle the ball much better than others under pressure. Dumb in that we essentially went super defensive to close the game with that move. His shot he created with Sandoval was wonderful, but it was also on a lot more than we took it. I want to see this team be the one that finishes a game themselves instead of just begging for the final whistle. All in all, this was 3 more points than I thought we were going to get. I thought for certain this was our first loss of the season. Full credit needs to be given to the midfield trio. They played with the best chemistry of the season. I hope Cassar rewards it and lets them have another go at SKC. Moving Gil back in after what Mulholland did here would be the wrong move. Let the kid maybe start wide or bring him off the bench. Don't ruin what was a good performance with an unnecessary change.
I think it shows expectations of Mansally compared to the others, honestly. Mansally did well in that he was constantly a thorn. he made truly stupid decisions (whats new) but was nothing short of the energizer bunny. Reminded me of a Will Johnson outside back performance. And no, that's not a compliment.
If there isn't a retroactive red given for the tackle on Javi at the end of this game then there is no reason to even have the DISCO. That was a blatant frustration tackle that could have been an ankle or leg break for sure. I still have no idea how the ref didn't send him off. It's textbook red card material
Maybe, I dunno, thought he was better against Philly even though he really didn't do much. I just keep asking myself, how long until Phillips gets back? Also, what the hell is going on with Pecka? Is that guy ever going to play?
Also, who made the highlights for the game? Probably the worst set of highlights I have ever seen for any game in any sport. 4 minute video with clips that start in the 43' (you're telling me nothing happened up to the Javi free kick?), then a few minutes of SJ highlights after that, and then the Mansally shot at the end that goes out for a corner. I "watched" the game as best as I could while I was at an Easter/house warming party at my cousins new place, but I wanted to go back and see a few of those challenges/highlights. Absolutely lousy job by whoever put that together.
Yeah, the Phillips thing is starting to get concerning. Dunny made it sound like he trained fully this last week. I get not having him start right away, but not even in the 18 for 2 weeks in a row is not good. What don't we know there? Pecka got hurt at literally the very worst time. From what I could tell, he was likely up for a starting spot next to KB. That would make the most sense in this 4-2-3-1 that we want to play. Instead, he gets hurt and the tactics change to adjust and we haven't lost. You can't really justify dropping both Gil and Mulholland at this point and nobody is touching KB or Javi. What is confusing, though, is that he can't jump over Stertzer to be in the 18. Like Phillips, it's a bit concerning.
Seriously, what happened to the highlights this year? Not just for this game either - all of the MLS highlights have been crap this season.
Sounds like Jaime is out for at least another week maybe two. I'm curious how Cassar handles the trio of Mulholland, Gil, and Allen this next week. Allen didn't do anything to lose the spot, IMO. But we all know the Gil hype and that they want him on the field. Maybe the wing is what he needs. Even more freedom to roam with that spot. Which segways - anybody notice how we'll have both wings on one side of the field at times. It is so weird to me. It could be great if the opposite side outside back would push and expose, but I'm not a huge fan of all 3 forwards being so compact
Pecka wasn't fully participating in practice a week ago, but did seem to be this past Friday. I'm betting they are giving him another week or two to get back in shape. Phillips was fully involved in practice, but I think they're giving him a bit more time just in case. I can see them targeting next week, where Dwyer and company will be a bigger threat than what SJ brought (Dwyer >>> Jahn).
It's a hammy issue...they will likely give it as much time as necessary before it turns in to a wasted year.
At least for MLS Live users, you can watch condensed versions as opposed to full highlights, much more in-depth. But yes it does seem like the MLS highlights this year are too short.
Again, goes back to my post earlier in this thread (or was it the news thread), it seems like there are differing reports on the Jaime injury. Cassar said it was "the non-weight bearing bone" that got fractured, which would be the fibula and I would expect him back in another week or two. Other reports said it was the tibia and that would probably require more time (I broke my tibia when I was a kid, it hurt like a ************************ for a while). I'm way more concerned about Phillips, he's a dynamic player that can really be the difference in this lineup. I see our struggles on the offensive side being directly attributed to him not player and Mansally being a bit....over zealous. I watched as many of the preseason games as I could, when Phillips was playing we were a much better team and you could see all the RSL players understood that. A lot of the attack came down his side and when we were at our best it was because Phillips was either directly contributing to the attack or acting as a really good distraction for defenders. Gil and Jaime in particular seemed to be much more involved, mainly because defenders were having to worry about Phillips and those two guys could dip in behind and interchange. It doesn't seem like defenders give much respect to Mansally.