Correct. I was discussing him at DM more than at center back. He did settle in a bit better after the first 15 minutes or so of that half. He is very aggressive on defense and seems to be comfortable with the ball at his feet - contrary to Ward and Leitch.
3,000? LOL! Not even close! You should have seen it, the place was deserted. It looked like a Red Bulls game at Giants Stadium. Lower level sections like 120 and 121 didn't have a single person in them, and even the best sections were still sparse. I tried to stand outside and sell the two extra tickets I had, but there were no takers. At about 7:20, I looked around the parking lots, and didn't see a single person walking towards the stadium. (So I just gave up and went it then.) I tried to get a good guesstimate count once or twice last night. I wanted to say only about 500 folks showed up, but when I actually started counting the number of folks in some sections, it seemed like it would be more than that. I'll guess 750-999. I'd be surprised if we broke a thousand (maybe only if you count all the bored people manning the concession stands).
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, the "piss on the Fire" chant seemed funny and random, but then a few minutes later I noticed the kid in the front row behind the goal with the Fire jersey on. Still funny though.
HE seemed to have the Brazillian touch with the ball and moved around the center of the field well. No way he's a back though - just not the right mentality. Robin Fraser is still the benchmark, IMHO, for backs. He was physical when needed, smooth when needed, and ALWAYS working back to the correct position off the ball. Plus, Kmart still couldn't keep up wiyh him when RF was 35 and KMart was 22....a stud.
Are you talking about Gaven's miss? It came within the first minute of play off of an Ngwenya pass. Gaven the goalie point blank and hooked it wide. Given all the experimentation with many players at new positions, I thought the Crew looked pretty good. My favorite part of the night had to be the crowd's response to Stefani during the intros ...Annddyyy "Gruenbaum" ...Neeeddd "Grabavoy" ...Steffaaani "Who?"
No, I'm talking about the corner kick where Ngwenya was left all alone in the box, had time to settle the ball on his foot as leisurely as he wanted, and then kicked it well wide of the goal.
I'd like to toss out an opposite spin on Ezra playing the whole game, and with the captain's armband. Remember the Open Cup final, where Warzycha came in with one minute left so he could end his career on the field (and taking home hardware)? Ezra Hencrickson is a good guy who deserves to be treated with respect, but, IMHO, his soccer skills are such that he shouldn't be a part of our plans next year. Having this be his last experience as a Crew player is a classy way to handle that.
I'd like to toss out an opposite spin on Ezra playing the whole game, and with the captain's armband. Remember the Open Cup final, where Warzycha came in with one minute left so he could end his career on the field (and taking home hardware)? Ezra Hendrikson is a good guy who deserves to be treated with respect, but, IMHO, his soccer skills are such that he shouldn't be a part of our plans next year. Having this be his last experience as a Crew player is a classy way to handle that.