Yeah, they must really impress in training...haha. I think Godoy finally got the memo...Almeyda is getting through to him...hopefully it continues. If he plays like he did against Portland, I'll be his biggest fan. What I liked in the Portland game was our passing tempo... quicker... a lot more 1-2 touch stuff...keeps the other team off balance. The ball didn't bog down...Godoy played quicker and there was no Vako dead end...the first half tempo was excellent.
Scoring the winning goal obscures a multitude. Did not think it was one of Nick's better games. https://www.sjearthquakes.com/post/...-performance-saturday-lands-him-mls-team-week
He score the game winning goal and likely saved a goal. I'd call that a pretty good outing in general... maybe our expectation have gone up? That would be a VERY good thing.
I'm glad he got the goal but he looked really sloppy compared to last season and even his playing time in this season. Not sure if he was just off his usual game or if there is more going on. Remember that TT is playing in his spot due to his added dual threat. Lima took over Lopez's spot as it seemed like Lopez was not MLS ready so he might be trying too hard to impress and keep in the starting 11. Having both TT and Lima in the back line is great when we are offense so hopefully they can hold up when are on defense.
So far, they have, which is promising. I honestly had no idea whether Thompson would be successful in his defensive duties, but he's been better than I expected. Lima's issues as of late seem brought on by something other than ability. Maybe it's trying to do too much, as you say. I don't know, but I can see why he wasn't starting games earlier in the season. Presumably he's still a better option than Lopez right now, and the team's defense is improved as of late, so while I'm critical, things aren't a disaster for the guy.
Several times he expressed frustration at Shea's inability to recognize an open space pass opportunity, specially in the second half, where he also, missed traps or had bad touches that turned the ball over. Hard to focus on Shea's limitations when the most obvious result is teammates having to yell to get him back in the game mentally.
This is just more proof those choosing Team of the Week don't watch all the games. This just saw that a defender scored the only goal of the game. Yes, that is obviously huge, but, as many have said, it was an overall sub-par performance by Nick on Saturday night.
It's probably decided very heavily on result rather than actual performance. Getting a goal is part of that performance, but as you said, it was the only goal scored in a win. That overshadows the quality of the full 90 minutes.
Our inability to find a suitable left back would be almost comical if it wasn't so sad. I think we should call it The Curse of Justin Morrow...... ......and no, Kip Colvey was not the answer.
As I've already pointed out on the MLS N&A coaching thread, the Curse of Kip Colvey afflicts coaches of MLS teams that jettison him, first Stahre and then Hudson. The affliction is fatal and the only cure is more cowbell, I mean Colvey.
That's right, Colvey was an all-star fullback that we got rid of.....oh wait, no, his claim to fame is an assist in an Open Cup match or 5 key passes in one half or whatever it was.
As I recall, it was seven. And the curse cannot be denied. First Stahre, then Hudson. Colvey self-sacrificially hung up his cleats before anyone else could get hurt. He was good friends with Fatai Alashe, though, and you saw what just happened to Cincinnati's coach. So, the curse could be contagious.
Hudson did not hesitate to play Colvey for New Zealand, so was well aware of his ability, yet did not rate him as a starter in MLS.
#Quakes74 defender Nick Lima has been named to the #USMNT preliminary 40-player roster for this summer’s @Concacaf @GoldCup.— Robert Jonas (@robertjonas) May 20, 2019
He may be fringe, but Berhalter has spoken well of him and it also looks like Garza is re-injured. Hopefully not too bad, but would not be surprised if it costs him Gold Cup.
It will be interesting to see if some time with the Nats helps Nick. He seems to be the only Quake who is worse under Almeyda. As long as he doesn't get injured, then I think there is a lot of upside for the Quakes. If he is bad, then maybe he'll feel motivated to adjust, where since he was good last time with Nats he seems like maybe he feels he is fine. If he is good with Nats and it doesn't transfer back, then he still has increased his sales price in the summer. If he is good and it does transfer back... obviously that is good.
I don't think it will make much difference for him in terms of translating back to Almeyda's system. It's made pretty much no difference before. Though I also wouldn't say that Lima is worse under Almeyda. He's always had defensive issues. You just don't notice them when everyone is failing to defend well. That's not been as much the case lately, so his flaws stand out more. I think we just have to accept that he's always going to commit certain types of errors. It's part of who he is. The goal given up to Chicago is a good example of that. He let his mark get free in an area he really shouldn't have. No defender is going to be perfect, of course, so it's important to keep that in perspective. It comes down to whether or not his offensive contributions outweigh his defensive issues. They probably do since he's at least average in terms of true defending. And his defending is probably better than average, even with his flaws.