Drawing a ton of fouls and two yellows for his efforts. Almost a goal. Almost an assist...if Przyblko would actually SHOOT!? OH MY Mueller SO close but offside. So again FIRE seem to be outplaying the opponent yet cannot score.
Chicago vs. Philadelphia Wednesday, June 29th at 7:00 PM Soldier Field Stats Chicago Philadelphia Possession % 61.9 38.1 Shots 6 4 Shots on Goal 1 0 Blocked Shots 2 0 Total Passes 217 135 Passing Accuracy % 74.7 67.4 Corners 5 2 Crosses 13 6 Offsides 1 1 Duels Won 21 28 Tackles Won 2 3 Saves 0 1 Clearances 8 20 Fouls 6 6 Yellow Cards 0 2 Red Cards 0 0
Half time. The biggest thing about this team is how incredibly boring they are. Shaqiri is the only player who is even semi-"exciting" to watch play. Mueller is a decent play and, as stated above, plays like he gives a crap. The rest of the team is just so f'n pedestrian. This team could use "a player like" Quincy Amerikwa or Dominic Oduro back in the team. I never thought I would write something like that.
I can only complain about the lack of goals. The Fire are playing well. Ezra wants clinical finishing, maybe he should tell Heitz to get a finisher or change his tactics. Take your pick Ezra. Insanity is approaching. I'm not necessarily bagging on Ezra. I like him as a coach, but he surely has to do something different. The season is at the halfway point.
WOW Quincy... I love Czichos...Dude is an awesome center back. I enjoy Rafa Navarro. He may get a few too many yellows but he's a DM and I want him busting balls out there. I can live with it. Gutierrez has promise but needs more minutes. Gaga is worthy. Mueller is exactly what you want in a winger. Shaq is the real deal. That's all I got. IF IF IF IF IF this team was finishing 25% of their chances we wouldn't even be having this conversation. This has been going on for 10 games now.
Why do you like him as a coach? I am genuinely interested. What has he done as a coach to make you like as a coach? I have seen nothing this entire season to think that Ezra is anything more than a "poor" coach. His team make up (and I presume he had a hand in assembling the team) has been awfully defensive in nature. His starting line-ups fail to put players in a position to, well, score goals. This substitution policy has been nothing less than terrible. He has barely made a move that has helped the team during a game. I like him as a person, and I really want to see something in him as a coach, but I have not seen a single thing.
Yeah, I know! [I edited my post for clarification] Agree on Czichos. Not "exciting," but very good. Sekulic is pretty decent, as well. In my post, I was going to mention that many people like Navarro's agression, but I don't think much of his play. Maybe I would think more of him, if he was out there on his own. There is no reason at all to play with two DM, when playing with a four player back line. It is a line-up built for failure. I would like to see more from Gutierrez. Mostly, he needs to put on some muscle. He still has the body of the fourteen year old boy.
The center back situation is looking thread bare now that BOTH CB have stepped out with injuries and come back on and no one on the bench to fill their shoes. Scary.
I probably should state that I like him as a person more than anything else. You are correct about the substitutions. He is a defender so I probably give him a pass on the defensive nature of the team. Maybe I'm so used to Paunovic, Potato, and other coaches that the bar is set so low for me. It looks like he is setting a foundation, but he needs to get the team scoring goals.
I understand that Hendrickson has a defensive mindset, but I won't give him a pass for it. We have 14 goals from 16 games and have let in 22. Clearly, his defensive mindset is failing. I agree that Potato and Paunovic and, to an extent, Wicky, have set the bar incredibly low. Ezra Hendrickson seems built from the same mold. He was an effective wing back and scored a boat load of goals in his MLS career.
First substitutions: Bornstein for Reynolds II. Gutierrez for Herbers. Not quite useless, but not exactly inspiring.
An actual goal scored. An actual play. Mueller with the ball. Sekulic keeps it alive and passes to Navarro. Navarro scores (off of a deflection). No deflection, Blake snatches that one easily.
Jose Martinez red card. Stupid grab the jersey foul for a cheap second yellow. Now, he is just standing in the tunnel, bitching at the Fire fans. Bye, loser.
Mueller is making Wagner his bitch this half. Wagner with a nasty kick in the ankle and a yellow card.