Really proud of the backline. This is the sort of performance they'll need if they have any hopes to making an impact in playoffs. This may have been Brillant's best game for us (I know, low bar, but still). Hamid is really back to his old game changing self. Mora keeps impressing on the left. Good to see De Leon getting back just when we needed help at right back. With Stieber's lackluster performance, it gives Ben the option to move Arriola back into attack. Also happy to see Opare back healthy on the bench. A little less impressed with the attack. Rooney's finishing was poor. Stieber was ineffective. And Acosta is lucky that he seems to be finally getting the superstar treatment. He got away with a clear red card foul late in the game. My lone bright spot in attack was Asad's footwork bamboozling Dallas several times.
Mora isn't the fastest guy, but jeebus he has turned the slide tackle into an art form. He also is very smart when he deploys it. It's seldom a reckless slide, it only comes after he's sized up the player's moves and he commits just outside of the 18 so if he misses but fouls, it's a free kick and not a penalty.
Agree on the backline. As for Acosta, if you're talking about the high kick, it was a yellow. No more.
NDL can still consider himself lucky when he hits the broad side of a barn from 6 yards away, but he definitely had some great defensive plays and blocked shots...He reads the game well. Yeah, Rooney and Acosta weren't their usual impactful selves on offense last night, but credit to Dallas for keeping both of them under constant pressure, rather than one or the other, and reading the passing opportunities. It's not hard to see why Dallas is doing so well. That said, they still managed to dice through Dallas's midfield pretty routinely
I was really impressed with Dallas' strength and athleticism. I know we were missing Moreno, but we usually win a lot of transition play in the midfield that creates good chances on the counter-press. Dallas was just too strong on the ball for it to happen as much as we've seen this past month. That brings me to Stieber who was pedestrian yesterday. I'm hoping we use his salary to bring in the same level of skill, but an upgrade on the physical ability next year. I like the ability to have a left footed player on the right wing sometimes.
A question for any Spanish speaker who was watching the Univision broadcast: The announcers mentioned Hristo Stoichkov 4 or 5 times during the broadcast. Can anyone tell me what it was they were saying about him?
Only last thing I will say is that with our thin line choices it was really nice to see Durkin having a very good game, nose guard and all..
For the first time in weeks Wednesday is not actually a crucial game to win. On Sunday we earned the three points we had to have from our two games in hand. No matter what happens Wednesday Montreal will now be chasing us going into the last two games. That said, a win on Wednesday would obviously be huge.
Has been in the job for a couple of years and has a studio "roundtable" gig as do most others in the business. No one I've seen gives him any lip on the shows.
Speaking of bringing back the oldies ......... Nice seeing you at a game again!!! Does Stoichkov still walk around with a little posse of well-dressed enforcer-looking dudes?
That was quite the nail-biter. Good on Canouse to keep fighting in there for that goal. At first when he hit the post he was just mad that he missed. Then he remembered the ball bounced back into the field of play and he should maybe figure out where it went I will have to watch the replay tonight to remember how that play developed. Canouse is quickly becoming my favorite player - and not because of that goal I had made a remark earlier in the game about a Canouse jersey being the perfect choice for a young girl walking down the stairs out of 129/130 with a big boot/cast thing on her leg I was impressed with Brilliant in this game. Whenever I was paying attention to him he seemed to be solid. Only fair to say since I've been ragging on him a bit Our D and midfield really frustrated their #10 - or his man-bun was too tight, hard to tell. He was having to go everywhere looking for the ball but never could really get anything going. You could see how frustrated he was with his teammates. I love it when the opponents are yelling at each other, it makes me warm inside.
I felt like it was a really fair result. It seemed like we carried the action to Dallas more than they did the other way. I haven't looked at the game stats, but I'd be surprised if they out possessed or out passed us. The number of quality chances were similar and we had a lot more half chances that didn't get converted. The one thing that I felt offensively was that we struggled in the absence of Fisher and Arriola. If the ball wasn't at Rooney's or Lucho's feet, it was more often than not a ball over the top looking for Rooney or perhaps Mora down the wing and he's not the more aggressive offensive player out on the wing.
I've been a fan and really wanted him to do well, but I can't fault anyone for his decline in playing time. He's just a bit too low-gear for this league at this point.
I think he's perfect for when we have a lead; he's smart, a great passer, and can slow the play down to keep possession - I am a huge fan of his but y'all are right, he sometimes seems out of place and in a different gear. I mean, he does have the best goal celebration on the team, I'd keep him around
Yeah, Stieber had a quiet game. He should get another chance Wednesday, since Arriola will still be gone. A hard fought game against a good opponent. It looks like we may not only make the playoffs, but be on a nice hot streak, too. Just the way the front office planned it.