We'll I'll be--we won again! I'm glad they gave you a good game, Ismitje. I wish I was there to say hello. If you're headed down to Orem, let me know!
it was really nice to meet the legendary @Ismitje - I apologize for my crazy family. Took my son to his first game. He thought the confetti was the worst thing I've ever done in my life. Like almost cried when the paper hit him. I don't know how to react to this also - the game was fun. We won without me freezing my tits off
Also have to say: The last two EC teams that have rolled into town have supposedly been some of their best. I wasn't impressed. With NYCFC that was understandable since they benched Villa. This Philly one, though? That team did not look good. They looked like a team that had been reading their own headlines.
Nice of Plata and Sunny to show up at last - hell, everyone looked better. Is that a form thing or a Petke thing or both?
I think it's a Petke thing. Yura seemed to also be more interested in actually doing what he is being paid for since he had three (I think) shots on goal. Of course, having Luis Silva out there running around doing his job and looking better at it can also be another reason.
I am willing to eat crow if it is truly Beltran that makes such a huge difference on defense. I will have to see it consistently for several games before I'm fully convinced, but what a difference last night.
In other good news Justin Glad went over 40 minutes last night and will get the start for the final 16 against New Zealand.
A few thoughts -I still think there are few ideas in the attack. I did note that our outside shots appear to be far more accurate and dangerous at least this game, relative to past months and years. We used to be comfortable skying balls into the stands or 10 feet wide... now its just plata. -but ok, plata got his goal and it was a good one. plata and mulholland both had a couple of megs that made philly wary of challenges, in my opinion. -Either philly wasnt too keen on pressuring us, or we got better at dealing with pressure. hard for me to figure out which. I did note that more RSL guys appeared to be available in the center than other games. -after the half I felt we were playing for the shutout, playing safe instead of going for more. But. we got the win and the shutout. So! Better than a lot of shit I saw under cassar. Savarino was fun to watch.
Are you sure he's your son? Maybe he can redeem himself by taking some extra straws next time. Seems like Petke's vision is starting to take shape. Hopefully Plata continues to improve. If not, I have no problems with a Sava/Lennon setup on the wings. On top of it all, if Plata does earn his starting spot, it means we have a legitimate problem in choosing two wing starters, which is a good thing. It means that we would then have a lethal option off the bench, and can properly rotate players to keep them all fit as well. I was also happy with the midfield. There seemed to be some actual movement and interchange going on. While we could still upgrade there, it at least means we have something that works without KB. Now we just need a solid backup CF that can push Yura to be better, or start in place if he's not playing well. If we could also snag a quality CB to pair with Glad as well, our chances of playoffs would look even better. And hey, we're tied for 9th now! Slowly moving up!
Just watched the recording: 1. Sava has given this team some much needed life. Since he has been added there is much more chemistry in the attack, especially if Silva is in rather than Yura. 2. Yura did well when he came in. I wonder if his best role is as a fresh-legged sub against tired defenders? Just a thought. 3. The poor passes from back line to mid-field and middy to middy were driving me nuts. Fortunately Philly was turning it over with equal frequency. 4. I didn't see any loafing out there. There was a professional level of effort from errbody. 5. Maund's effort to clear the ball from the goal mouth saved the day, but he and Shuler continue to get split giving opposing strikers easy opportunities.
Especially with the next two matches in Texas where our odds of getting even a single point are going to be pretty slim.
Even with our best teams in the past, we rarely got a point in Texas. I always go into those games expecting a loss.
So we arrive in section 14's Ford Zone and head to the concession stand for the hot dogs, soda, and popcorn only to find that 15 has been there before us. Want proof? I present you this:
Funny story - the person in front of my family tipped that over. I knew I would get shit on here for it
This point has been sticking out to me a lot lately. I'm really not sure how we haven't been burned on it more. We keep giving the opposing team's strikers clear cut chances down the middle of the pitch. At some point a team with a forward who can finish is going to kill us.... right? Or is this the way we defend? We give up such easy chances that the other team blows them and we get a shutout?
Thoughts: Philly didn't have the quality of many other teams during warm ups and it translated into the game. The finishing session they went through to wrap-up warm ups was honestly pathetic for a professional team. The south stand took more shots than the back of the net. Tony Beltran was composed but I'm still not convinced the guy is what everyone makes him out to be. If we need a defender to just defend, there are few I'd pick over him. But that's not (a) how we play or quite honestly (b) how the modern game is played. I like Tony. I think he is a good soccer player. I just fail to see how he is AS MUCH of an impact as others make him out to have. The Maund/Schuler CB duo is going to get its ass kicked this week in Texas. The gaps they leave are shocking for a supposed set of professional center backs. That we kept a clean sheet here was amazing to me. Wingert at LB wasn't a disaster. He works as an outside back in rotation. Nothing more. Which means that salary is ridiculous. The Sunny/Luke midfield actually worked fairly well, I thought. Mostly because Sunny decided he can play professional soccer again. I didn't think he was SO GOOD that he should be on MLS Team of the Week, but he was a big reason why the offense had the freedom they did. Speaking of the offense, this was easily one of the groups most promising performances on that end of the pitch. That's funny to say after only putting one goal on the board, but I truly believe it. The creativity, the flow of play, the desire. It was different this game. I liked it. I sat most of this game to tend to my kids - there were multiple instances of the offense being so good to watch that I jumped up out of my seat. For a long while now, the opposite of this has been true. I would stand for about 20 minutes and want to sit out of boredom. Savarino is a hell of a player. I love the kids creativity and flair. I bashed the signing and I'm still concerned our GM is addressing the wrong parts of the pitch, but he sure is fun to watch. I'll give credit where it is due - he's a good player. I'm starting to wonder if our scouting staff just doesn't know how to evaluate other parts of the pitch as well. I can't think of a better performance from Joao in a long while. The most impressive part of his performance? A defensive scenario. Shortly before being subbed he busted his ass down the wing to track down a Philly attack. He stood the player up and won the tackle. Wingert was sure to say thank you on multiple occasions. You could tell Petke loved it, as well. Luis Silva also had a pretty decent showing. I'm still perplexed on his salary to contribution level. However, if his contribution is more like that then I'll be more ok with it. He seems to have so much more chemistry with the wingers than Yura. Albert Rusnak is exactly the type of player this team needs to build around. He isn't flashy like the wingers, nor does he go on lung bursting runs or get stuck in. What he does insanely well, though, is connect passes in key parts of the pitch. He had 3 key passes in this game, according to whoscored. His influence on the game from a connection standpoint is awesome. I thought all 3 subs made sense but offered zero help. Yura is still a bit of a waste of space. Holness is the soapbox loverboy who offers nothing on the actual pitch. And Schmidt was added late to simply waste time and clog lanes. My daughter, a dancer through and through, had a comment during this game that I found especially funny. She didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the game so whenever the crowd would get loud, she'd ask if someone had scored. It got so bad that I said "if it goes in the net, then they scored. You can tell." Her reply "they don't put it near that very often do they?" The irony of that statement is that this game featured our most shots on target (8) in any game this season. That's half of our total shots. That's actually a really good number. In only one game have we had a higher percentage (LAG) and in that game we only took 5 total shots (3 on target). The random interesting stat from this game: RSL got dominated in the air. We won 26% of aerial battles. The player with the most aerial wins? Yura Movsisyan. In fact, he was tied (at 3) with Gooch and (this one is telling of our midfeld size) Bedoya.
Nick has something to do with that. I think he is on the mind of opposing attackers and it puts their stroke off. Also, MLS doesn't have the plethora of surgical strikers that the top leagues have.
"The random interesting stat from this game: RSL got dominated in the air. We won 26% of aerial battles. The player with the most aerial wins? Yura Movsisyan. In fact, he was tied (at 3) with Gooch and (this one is telling of our midfeld size) Bedoya." Side note...I suggest we may see more and more of Schmidt on the outside back simply to get some more size and heading ability on the field. I'm not surprised at all with the 26%...exactly 2 of our players have size (center backs) and only one of the 2 is above average in the air (Schuler). Wingert and Beltran are both weak in the air. Yura actually isn't bad, but when he isn't starting, none of the mids or forwards have any size at all.