Why I love 3rd degree Also I have no idea who the GA candidates will be, although I would expect Agbossoumonde and Renkin to be candidates from the U-17s, and of course Ike Opara. Personally, I'd like to see Arnoux or Akpan.
we also need an improvement over gordon. we also need a central "creative"/attacking midfielder to be groomed.
Re: The Bruce Arena Report (IL De Follow Up) This where the next upgrade should come. With Donovan leaving and Buddle still trying to regain form, we cannot be giving guys like Gordon and Jordan extended minutes. We need to find a 3rd Striker that can take advantage of opportunities from a better second-half midfield. An accomplished target man would be ideal.
Re: The Bruce Arena Report (IL De Follow Up) Yes, but who? There aren't many of them floating around MLS, that's for sure. Watching Gordo ruin a great opportunity vs. Dallas and put yet another shot straight at the goal keeper is getting to be an old song. He simply has no shot. I don't think that I have ever seen him score a goal with his foot without dragging a ball into an empty net.
Re: The Bruce Arena Report (IL De Follow Up) Arena should have anticipated the need before the season began. Unless he pulls something off, it looks like we will have to wait until the transfer window open in mid-July before reinforcements arrive.
Re: The Bruce Arena Report (IL De Follow Up) 1, 1 and 9 are you kidding me? Paint drying is far more interesting!
Re: The Bruce Arena Report (IL De Follow Up) the only thing good i have to say about this years version is that the other teams don't consider us a joke anymore. we were a laughing stock last year. this year, teams know it's going to be tough to get past us. I grant that no one fears us, but still, i'd have to say it's an overall improvement. if you consider that we are yet again in a rebuilding mode because of a new coach, then we had to start here and toughen up before we go forward. stop the bleeding before we heal.
Re: The Bruce Arena Report (IL De Follow Up) Well put. Our team this year is an improvement upon the team from last year. We'll have to look back on it at the end of the season to get the clearest picture but I'll guess that we'll end up better off at the end of this year than we did at the last.
Re: The Bruce Arena Report (IL De Follow Up) Last year's 5-4 losses were "interesting." I've had enough "interesting" to hold me for a few years.
Re: The Bruce Arena Report (IL De Follow Up) Besides which, it's not like our ties are often bland 0-0 affairs. Every time I watch a game, I have a strong (often sinking) feeling that something important will happen in the last 10'.
Re: The Bruce Arena Report (IL De Follow Up) Yes it's exciting when I pull the handgun out of my mouth at the end of games! I know this sinking feeling you speak of. I think Bruce is slowly doing what needs to be done. He started from the back and is moving on up. I am satisfied with what we have in the back. The one time I did see Yohance Marshall I liked him. Now Bruce has some midfielders on trial and that is a good sign. I think after that we should be set. I really like Jordan and would like to see him get some more time and experience. I think if he learned to be calm he could be good.
Re: The Bruce Arena Report (IL De Follow Up) Bruce seems to have a plan. The team is turning the corner and the losing culture is being purged.
Re: The Bruce Arena Report (IL De Follow Up) With Sanneh going down, we really could have used a healthy Marshall off the bench. Anybody know if he's getting close to match ready? I agree he looked good earlier in the season - he seemed to read the game well and was very calm back in the back, and with nice athletic ability to make that extra play. I'd like to see more of him.
Re: The Bruce Arena Report (IL De Follow Up) Hey now, easy there. =) We just won 1 game, and this is barely after failing to score against Dallas when they were down a man for 70 minutes.....a powerhouse we are not, and it is WAY to small of a sample size to say what will happen. Am I happy with the win? Yeah! Am I happy we haven't lost a ton? Yeah! Do I feel like the team is fine? No! We still got some pretty ugly soccer going on that can get exposed in a hurry. Wait and see....wait and see....wait until we play a good team again (SJ and Real Salt Lake away from home don't count).
Re: The Bruce Arena Report (IL De Follow Up) yeah Houston Dynamo is going to be the test i think they been playing great
Re: The Bruce Arena Report (IL De Follow Up) To beat SJ and RSL Don't count, Really? have we played a GOOD team yet? maybe we haven't. We played Chivas, Seattle, Dc. but we've only lost once. You guys remind me of the old Bosox and Cub fans, you like to see Your team lose so you have a reason to whine. A bunch of beaches, if you know what i mean
Re: The Bruce Arena Report (IL De Follow Up) i try and take a measured approach so i don't get overconfident or overly negative about where we are. while i can agree that Houston will certainly be a test, i'm not sure what it would mean... if we don't beat houston, then it means? we are like everyone else in the league right now! it doesn't mean we aren't improving. from where we've been the last couple of years, we are definately improving. teams no longer look at us as easy points. we don't even have to be a good team to be better than we were last year... i mean tying for last with an expansion team is about as low as it could get. if we finish mid table withOUT making the playoffs, we've improved.
Re: The Bruce Arena Report (IL De Follow Up) I'm greedy I want to see the Gs' in the playoffs.It might happen b/c Buddle is back plus when we have Becks and LD together,we are one of the tough team to beat... I think we will do very well VS Houston.
Re: The Bruce Arena Report (IL De Follow Up) Hey, I get that you want to be positive, and I do too. However, if you read my post, you don't see any whining there, just caution about getting carried away. Didn't say we weren't improved, just said it's too early to say we've purged the losing ways and turned the corner. And it is. We've had a ton of draws, including games we should have won and games we should have lost, finally got back in the W column against a Toronto team that has the wheels falling off (nice win still, though--away wins always are) and to say we're out of the woods and on the way to Glory is premature. But, by all means, if you'd like, go ahead and predict that we've turned the corner and are going to win the Cup for sure! After all, that's totally how some people felt last year under Gullit before we.....uh....we slid out of the playoffs because we weren't that good. Wait and see and enjoy the wins.
Re: The Bruce Arena Report (IL De Follow Up) "Wait and See," Once again, It sounds like wishful thinking to me. 1 lose after 13 games, i say that's reason for optimism. Every game we played, we could have lost, but we did'nt, if you are a REAL G fan you should enjoy not being the laughing stock of the league, i am. We are a better team and thats a fact, we are going to lose some more games and we are going to win some more games, but we are now competitive. Go G's