Yeah, I was so dissappointed to see him there and Colvey played out of position. It seemed like it was a sad, clear signal, that LB is Francis' spot.
It wasn't one bad hack, it was three bad hacks on Jordan Allen, all called for fouls, all right outside the 18 yard box. He also hit 2 or 3 forward passes right into the defender.
Could be because you are a glass is half full type of person, and Francis's play was pretty much empty.
I'm not worried about Francis being the starting LB for more than one game if that. No way Fioranelli will allow him to undermine the effort with his USL level tuneouts in D. Worst backside defensive awareness on the team...absolute killer.
What mental gymnastics will you engage in to maintain your wonderful sense of optimism when Francis plays more than one game at starting LB? You should figure that out now because you're going to have to deal with that, hell, likely by April.
I have no illusions about this, since I know Kinnear's main consideration for an outside back is one who can retreat the quickest, and Francis probably has Sarkodie and Colvey beat in that department.
That one is easy... no mental gymnastics required. If Francis remains the starter at LB, It will mean our new players have gelled and our attack is so dominant...scoring 3 goals a game...his performance won't affect the outcome. Haha There is a very slim possibility that could happen.
Not only were the hacks on Jordan stupid, they were also embarrassingly clumsy. I kept thinking to myself, "Do the coaches really find that kind of defense acceptable"? His distribution is so bad that RSL basically dropped off of him by 10 yards or more to ensure he would get the pass when the Quakes won possession. They knew he would turn the ball over to their midfield and he did....over and over. Meanwhile, Colvey is playing midfield and getting switched to the other side and then probably wondering why the New Zealand national team knows his best position but not his club's coach.
According to a Spanish article (posted and translated on reddit), Alberto Quintero has been let go by Universitario after they were eliminated from Copa Libertadores. The Quakes should look into bringing him back. Anything to push Salinas and Cato further down the winger depth chart...
I'm going to turn into a raving dick if TT. Colvey and Lima don't play much. I get that Lima is inexperienced, but it's going to be excruciating to have to watch Sarkodie play in front of him. TT has been the most effective and dynamic offensive player in the preseason so far. If he rides the bench at the start of the year as his reward for that, the knives come out. And if Francis is more valued than Colvey, that tells me Kinnear has lost the plot. If he's going to play not to lose instead of playing to win, he can go do that somewhere else. I should make a banner. "Go for 3 points or GTFO!"
Hyka is his replacement. Quakes have filled their international slots and are still trialing Olmes Garcia (in case Silva gets/has green card). If Jesse is telling the truth, Quakes will have to trade or cut for DP international slots in the summer transfer window, so Alberto is out of luck.
His nickname is the Albanian Messi. He will be fun to watch, I just hope the Quakes don't saddle him with Shaun Francis behind him. That will ensure he will get double and triple teamed.
We already had the Argentinian Discount Messi. What's the point, when Dom only wants in the center of the field a Discount Kaká with a European build, or else discount versions of DeRosario or Ricardo Clarke.
Based on the kinds of things that Dom has said over the last few years, I think he wants the creative attacking to come from the outside mids. The rest of the players - stand around and watch the creative attacking wide mid do his thing! Not really, but you can tell by his comments last year that he really wanted to Dawkins to be that guy, and he wasn't (for some reason), though he was in 2011 and 2012. And he probably wanted MPG to be that guy but he wasn't quite either. Now this year Hyka's supposed to be that guy. Where is Darren Huckerby when you need him? He's one guy who really made that work. Give the ball to Hucks and people would practically stand up to watch - he was that dynamic.
Hey, wait a second, Salinas is still one of the fastest guys out there. Don't think it necessarily follows the stereotypes. Ian Russell was also a burner - faster than Salinas I think. And then there are guys like Michael Owen .
Yes, Shea is the only FWB (Fast White Boy) on the current Quakes, altho he is half Mexican. I don't recall Ian Russell being that fast - just hard working -- but i was less soccer-sophisticated then. And Michael Owen is not a Quake, and he's British. So doesn't matter. Did you ever see the quote from Christian McCaffrey's mom? That she and Ed McCaffrey got together in order to breed fast white guys. So yes of course there are a few FWBs. And there might be a couple that can jump too.
Lot of in-breeding when two alums of the Farm get-together. Apparently Christian's brother Dylan didn't get the FWB gene: http://touch-the-banner.com/scouting-report-2017-quarterbacks/
Ian was a burner. That's the main reason he played. He could fly down the sideline. What happened after that, well, it tended to be a bit Salinasinian. Donovan was also really fast in his early years especially. Jordan Morris is pretty fast. I mention Michael Owen because he is white and he was fast, and your thesis seems to be that white guys are slow. BTW are you sure Salinas is "half Mexican"? Salinas is an Hispanic surname but there are all kinds of possibilities as to his ethnicity. He might just be "Texan" The 5 fastest Quakes may be Ian, Donovan, Marvin Chavez, Jamil Walker, and Shea. 3 of the 5 are white.
You forgot Marvell, who has some high school record. > your thesis seems to be that white guys are slow. It's not my thesis, it's Mom McCaffrey's! And I was only talking about our current Quakes. At the SSVCF dinner a few years ago, Shea was at our table, and I think I asked him how did players communicate with the Hondurans, and if the other players could speak Spanish. That's when he said that his dad was Mexican and his mother Irish or Italian or something, and that his dad had picked the name Shea as I think short for O'Shea. Anyhow, he said he could understand Spanish, but Chavez and Bernardez spoke so fast that few could understand their Spanish (including not Shea).
Meh, he is not that fast anymore. Only when he has 10-20 yards to get going. That's why I did not include him. You wrote: I would take that to mean that "White boys" are slow. Otherwise why even bring up race, and not just say "it's why we only have a few slow guys in the lineup".