Why can't the Breakers get players like this?

Once again, the tying goal is scored RIGHT AFTER HALFTIME.

Can you say lctd?

 

In the late 1800's a group of Englishmen who wanted to play football with the feet only (except for throw-ins) decided to separate themselves from the ones who wanted it to be played the way we now it now.. rugby. These men differentiated football from rugby by forming Football Association... now the FA in England (as in FA Cup). The English like to shorten names (i.e., the joneses, the tudors), thus they shortened Football Association by using three letters of the second word in "Football AsSOCciation"... hence the game became known by these 3 letters SOCcer. One of the Englishmen who participated in the creation of FA/Soccers moved to the US and began to try to promote football.. by its shortened name... SOCCER.

Also, my comment was not directed at you...

As for the rest of your post... let me just smile

 

YES! With heart, passion, spirit, GAME, and a coach-and-players partnership that took action at halftime to redirect the course of the game and the performance of individual players and the team.

 

Glad someone did see that!

I hope KL does not go into coaching.. just not yet

 

Seriously, are you a Breakers fan or ARod's groupie?

... and its OK... you can insult me and be vulgar with me in your reply post... I understand.

 

Last year, this year, and... that's her darling, that's her... and I truly hope she matures and fixes it for her own good and the good of her team(s).

 

You nailed it.......other teams would have simply given up. But this team never loses their spirit and keeps playing together even when the ship appears sunk to a few blind "fans." Now we're seeing why ARod didn't fit into Tony's system!!!

We are blessed to have a great coach...and a great team even if they are not 1st place......

As for Philly? They're just a bunch of Independents.

 

I know, that was a cheap shot and isn't entirely true.....but I had been waiting a while to pull that one out!

 

Philly outplayed the Breakers today, Amy worked her butt off the entire time, I saw more out of her than Smith and Lilly(Mitts owned her most of the game) today... I will say that the Reff stunk on calls both sides of the game and was out of posisition to see when she needed to make the correct call.

Amy has hardly been one dimentional and we were dreading her coming to Philly... but we get 2 more chances for Boston in Philly so you can come and see her before making statements about when she played for that team last year... she is on a MVP pace tied with Marta

 

Not really, it is hardly always about ball-possession, space-possession or territorial penetration... more often than not it is about managing the moments in the game, the tempo, the pauses, the wait... and then the stab! So, images are deciving.. they do not really give away the PROCESS.

As a former player, I wish ARod well and every player in the league and in the world... and Marta, as good as she can be, she cannot play 1 v. 11... that comparison says really nothing at all... "stars" are overrated, any and all "stars"... it is a team-sport, no "star" is self-dependent!

 

wow, you made it sound like Amy is having a season like Cheneys and dismissed Marta as Average... wasn't that Lilly's first goal today ? as a star she must be over rated too, then ?

 

Thank you.

I have studied and lived in London, the homes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester, that of MUnited and Manchester City and saw first hand the destruction in the streets after a match in Manchester by the fans. I have never heard or read in newspaper, TV etc. the use of the word 'Soccer' during all the years I was in England. What an inventive mind from this gentleman. Why would anyone want to shorten the word 'association' which is in itself completely unrelated to the game and not to use a similarly short word 'football' to describe the game in England? May be I should just smile too.

But it seems that when he has no reply to other people's points in the post, he just pretends to smile. If his post was not directed at me, why quote my post when he posted his? I see he is ready to retreat because he does not want to create more attention to the points I have made.

 

I would agree with you on this one. I think that coaches in the US often value work rate more than game intelligence, and that the harder working team is not necessarily the most successful. I would, however, agree with pasoccerdad on the first half of yesterday's game--Philly created far more dangerous opportunities--managing the moments in the game, if you will--and failed to finish most of their chances. And I think we all agree that putting the ball in the back of the net is what matters. And Boston found the moments in the second half, taking advantage of a lack of focus in the first minute of the half to get the first goal, and getting the quick counter against tired legs late in the half for the second. Whether you give credit to Tony or the players, they got the job done.


I disagree, though, with comments you made about Amy:

I've seen all of Philly's home games this year, and Amy is one of the hardest-working players on the team, probably second to Lori Lindsey on the squad. And it's not mindless work rate, it's checking for the ball, making runs to open space, laying the ball off to teammates, then peeling around and through to get the return pass, all very intelligent stuff. No, she's not playing a lot of defense (neither is Sanderson) because I don't think Riley is asking them to--reading his comments from a prior match, he wants them to have fresh legs on the attack late in the game, so they're not playing high pressure with their forwards. You'll see it on occasion, often late in a half or late in the game, to try and take advantage of the other team's fatigue. Very situational. And to say that she's not a team player is absurd, certainly in regards to this season.

I have a lot of respect for Tony D as a coach, certainly for his past accomplishments. And I'd never heard of Paul Riley before this season, so I was a bit surprised when Philly dumped their original coach and hired Paul. But when you look at what they've accomplished so far this season, Tony, with a second year team that he was able to build from the original pool of players available to the league (and kudos to him for landing Kelly Smith and Alex Scott) and Paul, with a team built via trade and an expansion draft from other squads' expendable players, who's done the better job? The guy who's done the most with what he's got, or the guy with an abundance of talented players, who can't bend them to his will? Maybe that's not an accurate assessment, but that's sure how it looks.

It will be interesting to see who makes the playoffs. Was yesterday a turning point for the Breakers? Will Philly still be able to stay in the top four after their recent defensive lapses? Stay tuned. In any case, I'm stoked to see the next matchup between these two.

 

I am late to this thread ... I wonder where Dartsoc is? I'd pay to see him/ her tangle with this new TD's lover.

 

I am here and I am a "he" and am delighted that we won Game # 2! Actually I am very impressed with Philadelphia and am surprised we were able to beat them. I doubt that this is a turning point but hope reigns eternal......I will take a week off from bashing The Legend.

 

I congratulate all who have contributed to this thread! It was very entertaining to read and killed some time during my lunch break. Hopefully the team can snare win #3 this Sunday against Atlanta. I'll see you all at the tailgate and in the dock.


P.S. If we want to see another victory everyone should pray that Matty gets lost on the way to the stadium. He hasn't seen a win in person in over a year now!