Re: Sighting The other dude was probably Alan Irvine and they were originally scheduled to be in LA for a friendly against Monterrey but that got cancelled. They still made the trip to LA for training purposes though. So my guess is that they decided to go see a good match and kick back as very few of the players playing last night, had they caught the eye of Moyes, would qualify for a work permit to play in England.
Equally excited about the result and what it means for the morale of the team, but also want to echo Cadaver, TJ and others on our actual performance on the pitch. Donovan's frankness in his comments are appreciated -- especially considering how he busted his ass last night. That is the Landon we need to see every match. In light of the other "New Captain" thread on the boards, if LD played like that more often, that thread would never exist. Our passing, though, is diabolical. Kelly Gray, Jazic, Klein, Gordon ... jeebus uffin crikey, make the easy pass. So many dangerous Pachuca possessions came off straight up sloppy, amateurish passing. That just kills me. And somebody needs to send Kelly Gray a Football-gram: "Dear Kelly. Stop. You are not Steven Gerrard. Stop. Or Tomas Rosicky. Stop. Hell, you're not Ricardo Clark. Stop. Shooting from midfield needs to stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. I mean it. Stop. Don't make me come down there. Stop."
I actually like to see the midfield shot, they will never go in if you don't take them. Keep it up Kelly, although we are more likely to get a corner or a rebound then a goal, we still need to make the keeper work. If he takes two of those a game, I will be happy. It kind of mixes things up
i agree we haven't had anyone willing to shoot from outside the penalty box since simon elliott and while gray's shots are wide, at least they don't look like football field goal attempts.
I agree. His "probation" time is up. He clearly looked frustrated walking off the field when he was subbed last night. As a veteran, it shouldn't take him 10 games to get his "mojo" going. I am almost...I mean, almost ready to put him in my Jaqua hall of fame. I didn't think any player could frustrate me as much as my Nate, but Pavon is coming close. Was I just dreaming that a month or so ago he scored 5 goals in Gold Cup? Hmmmm.
Re: Sighting All of Everton is training at the HDC right now, so I'm sure there were quite a few of their boys in the house. I saw Moyes and the people surrounding him in section 129...all I can say is that a big group of English people stick out like a sore thumb at the Home Depot Center. It was so obvious they were from England. I didn't see Timmy Howard but I would assume he'd have been there as well.
Re: Sighting Donovan, Xavier & Pavon - that's all I can think of. EDIT: on the Galaxy. No idea about Pachuca. Edit again: Speaking of scouting, Bob Bradley was in Section 136 for the Chelsea game.
There is a big positive here. That's two games in a row, against quality competition (Chelsea and Pachuca) that QK came in and created a golden scoring chance. There was the cross to Donovan that could have won us the Chelsea match, and the ball to Pavon tonight. A shame that Carlos didn't put it away, but credit the Pachuca keeper too - he was no slouch and has a resume to show for it. If QK can put one or two on a silver platter each game, he will be an impact player. I will go out on a limb and say that QK could be our eventual Cobi replacement, particularly given all the time we expect to be without the Phantom Backham given his England duties this year, and next year.
Re: Sighting Have just watched the game again and to be honest my ratings are not a great deal like my first impression. CANNON: 7.5 Good saves and is starting to look like the dependable keeper we need. Also improvements in communication. ROBERTS: 5.5 Gets ripped to shreds by anyone able to run. JAZIC: 4 Complete the following sentance: Slow as.... a) a week in prison b) a one-legged guy on sedatives. Hardly ever gets forward and when he does his crosses are appalling. HARDEN: 7 Marked him down slightly but I won't be moved on the point that he is the G's brightest prospect. Another good game, needs to get the awareness when he has the ball at his feet. XAVIER: 7 Lost out for the goal but is generally solid, and if I were looking at the G's I'd say he was our best player. Seems to let his mind wander at times. DONOVAN: 7 Decent display by Lando, and although he got lucky with the goal, he deserved it on balance. Actually looked interested. GRAY: 6.5 Good passer of the ball. Needs to work on building up play, as this could be his major strength. Very strong near the ball but lacks pace. KLEIN: 5 Worst trade of the lot. Verrrrrrrrrrry slow, never gets close enough to his man to make an effective challenge. MARTINO: 6 Drifted in and out of the game, and has struggled up against two strong midfields. Not the same intensity as against Chelsea but worked hard nevertheless. GORDON: 7 Only gets a seven for the good finish. He missed much better chances and I worry about his general eye for goal and finishing. Plenty of effort, not a lot of quality. PAVON: 3 Absolutely f*cking useless. 1) Carthorse slow and is a bit on the fat side. 2)Seems to lack effort and can't be bothered getting into good positions. 3) Largely irrelevant to the game bar the odd wasted chance. The list is endless. USED SUBS; KIRK: 6.5 Far better bet than Klein. Tries to get crosses in at least. It looks as if he could play anywhere down the right. Problem is where: He seems to slow to be a right winger, too soft to be a right back, but is okay in either position. VAGENAS: 4 How long is FY going to tolerate his sub-standard displays? Only the longer period of crappiness by Pavon saves him from the third worst player award in a row. Don't want to scapegoat a player, but I couldn't see him in the game, apart from when a Pachuca player danced past him. COBI: 7 Another decent effort. Galaxy will miss him next season. GLINTON: 5.5 Never on long enough, and he must wonder what he does wrong for Pavon to get a start ahead of him. Willing runner, but needs minutes like Vagenas needs talent. TACTICS: 8 Might be ugly. Might be the kind of tactics that produce the most boring 0-0 draws, but the team suits them and it is much better than the pointless hoofing we resorted to a couple of weeks ago. Pace in defence is a big drawback of this team and this system covers it well enough. Possibly deserved better from the Chelsea game but definately warranted a victory here. FANS: 7.5 Noisy as ever and the Pachuca fans made it a real atmosphere. I hope these ratings are more accurate. My man of the match award goes to Cannon. If only because Xavier missed out due to the mistake for the goal. Can't see how he could have done better with the Pachuca goal.
Or our Beckham replacement? Seriously though he has been playing well. I hope he continues to progess and gets some good minutes during our 2 a week stretch. We are going to need him.
Anybody know Martino's status? It looked like he injured his hip again. Hopefully thats not the case.
Re: Sighting The irony as Xavier had a stint with Everton during the Walter Smith era before Moyes came on board. And great pic of Neville & Becks. Thanks.
Re: Sighting i liked this one: looks like we just scored, though his mum doesn't seem too happy. must be a pachuca fan.
we played like ********ing men last night i sat practically in the tuzos supporters section and their faces were PRICELESS when we scored the second goal xavier and donovan will lead this team to glory
Re: Sighting they did show beckham on the screen after the first goal, he was very excited. i couldnt see the 2nd time cause the big ass jersey was covering me
I'm hoping they lead you just far enough to meet us in the finals.... Then turn into little girls...(well, and coke-heads) respectively... Actually, awesome job....I would love to see every FMF team bounced from this competition in the group stage....
Re: Sighting It might be Beckham trying to alert the ref that there was a handball. I do the same thing.
Re: Sighting Beckham: "Bloody 'ell! There might actually be a bloke on this team that I can ping the ball off 'is head to score some of me goals! GOOOORRRRRRRDDDDOOONNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!"