There has been a lot of blame on Howard but why? What’s he suppose to do? If he sits on his line a little, more than likely it’s an easy finish. The naysayers then come in droves. Timmy comes off his line like he did, the ball unluckily hit his arm, got punished with a red and NO GOAL scored. He still gets roasted. Howard did what he had to do. The real blame is the atrocious defending that left a giant hole exposed forcing Howard to make a decision. Sjoberg initially misplays the ball in midfield, trying to make a play on the ball instead of defending the man who makes a dangerous pass. Then Smith hesitates deciding whether to close down dribbler or defend the pass. It creates a bigger hole. Castillo is slow to recover, winger makes a diagonal run in between him and Smith and boom Howard has to come out. Howard was unlucky however that unluck was created by the shit play in front of him. Howard has earned his critics but that play is more on the guys in front of him. He should throat punch Sjoberg, Smith and Castillo.
I very much would have preferred forcing fsl into a shot than Howard out I the field of play. They could have missed and we would have been at 11 v 11. Or they make and we still are at 11 v 11.
You're right that the defense was atrocious on that play, but Howard's paid the big bucks and needs to make the right decision. He didn't make the right decision. It wasn't even close to being the right decision. If Howard comes out like that, he needs to be first to the ball, period. It made zero sense for him to come out because he was never going to get there first. Savarino beat him to the ball by a couple of yards. Then he compounds the error by not sliding with his arms pinned to his sides or tucked behind him. I know it's an awkward way of sliding, but at that point, that's what you've got to do to prevent a red card for denying the obvious goal scoring opportunity via handling. And I'd rather be down 1-0 with 70 minutes left to play after dominating the first 20 minutes than tied 0-0 and down a man with 70 minutes left to play.
What @GreatGonzo said. Every keeper knows that if you come for the ball you have to get it, otherwise you've left yourself exposed. Howard didn't even get close, he should have never left the area.
I had a couple of more looks at the play. You guys are right. I still contend had they defended better there is no way Howard is put in that situation to make that kind of play. Simply put, do the job in front of you. And before it’s said, I agree, Howard needs to do a better job as well.
I would wonder if Hudson actually has the authority to put Howard on the bench after he serves his game his suspension. The guy hasn't had a great season and at the age of 39, he seems to have lost a few crucial milliseconds of his movement and decision making. Unfortunately, having Tim's $2M salary connected to the shirt sponsor would create some complications. I'm sure most of the rest of us who would like that kind of job security.
I think Howard has still be good this season, though clearly MacMath is pushing to take his spot. Howard's big problem, IMO, is that he no longer cares to show an effort when he's been beaten. If he judges he's not going to get to a ball he just stands there instead of making a dive or anything. Not a great look for your highest paid player and captain.
There is evidence of this during his Everton days. Internationally I don’t think it was ever an issue but with Everton, especially his last two seasons, it reared its ugly head. It frustrated many of the Everton faithful.
So, after the red card we shifted to a 5-3-1 that was really more like a 4-4-2 as neither Boateng nor Blomberg was really playing the wingback position. I don't understand the logic in inserting Gashi in this game. Why not sub in Azira? In that situation I think it would have been better to play two defensive minded mids (Price and Azira), leave Enzo in, but push him to the inside left (near Castillo as a pressure / cover guy), play Blomberg as a right mid and take Boateng out? Other than that change, I thought Hudson's other subs were fine. Removing McBean so MacMath could enter was the obvious choice. Boli for Badji fine, just to give Boli more time / experience, although Badji was much better than Boli. Only problem with Badji is his tackles and fouls have been pretty rough / clumsy and close to red card worthy. He and Price had both better clean that up. I like the aggression and fouls are ok sometimes, but those two are red cards waiting to happen. Rapids did play quite well with 10 men for the majority of the match, but some key mental errors led to this defeat.
This. It doesn't matter if the players, coach, or "philosophy" are different. At the end of the day when this team keeps finding stupid ways to lose games, then nothing has really changed at all. Thats what makes the Rapids the Rapids. This club can't execute when they need to, both on and off the field. It's the "Rapids Way".
Boli looked gassed at +/- 10 minutes of play -- hoping the camera just cut to him right after a sprint but if not it may explain a few things?
Bingo. What was equally disturbing was on the third goal we watched MacMath stand in one place and watch it go in. Originally, I thought MacMath thought it was going wide, so he didn't move. But even after watching the replay, I don't know what he was thinking. It certainly wasn't the obligatory dive even though he would have been no more than a foot away. It went short side. Has Howard mentored him? Also, since when does a team go down to 10 men and completely concede on offense? Not that we're a Premiere League team, but once they went down a man, it was Badji up top or nothing. Going down to 10 men doesn't mean you can't have a few counters. Boy that game was disappointing.