Andrew Dykstra has to go. First half at Columbus and he just gives up a goal by not holding on to the ball. He constantly fumbles the ball. I think he's only had one clean catch all season. He must have small hands. I don't believe he has made a real save all year. Please play Sean Johnson.
Re: OMG - Dykstra Sucks Remember how Busch was just terrible last year, blowing games all year when our backline broke down? Yeah, neither do I.
Re: OMG - Dykstra Sucks Countdown to LittleMrsDykstraBirdie explaining why no goals are ever her son's fault in 5, 4, 3...
Re: OMG - Dykstra Sucks I can't believe the Fire released Busch to put this load of crap in goal. I hope none of his friends or family members who have babies let this guy hold them. The damn Fire have actually played pretty well, with the exceptions being that Dykstra sucks and Pappa is the only guy on the Fire who can score a goal. If he doesn't, they're screwed. I don't even know what McBride is doing on the field any more, and Dimitrov is kind of like McBride, but worse. If the Fire don't pick up a quality striker this summer (which they won't), the Fire are ********ed. Can't wait to see Frank's next batch of trialists. What's next? The Moldovan fifth division? I really have the feeling that ownership don't really want to put the kind of money into the team it's going to take to win. This bargain-basement player hunting stuff is bullshit. I sure as hell hope someone is the media with access to Klopas confronts him about this. In the meantime, I guess we can wait for the Fire to sign a guy who last played 5 years ago in the Chicago Park District over-40 league.
Re: OMG - Dykstra Sucks What makes this worse is, if Busch was let go because of money. We could of got Hartman for $80,000, if your going to release your #1 goalie atleast bring in goalie that could play (We have 2 rookie goalies on our roster). Dykstra shouldn't be starting or backup any goalie in this league, hell I don't think he'd make it NASL, USL, USL2 or whatever other league there is. FIRE went cheap in goal and there paying for it. It's not like we were going to win the CUP this year, but a good goalie would of helped.
Re: OMG - Dykstra Sucks Well, I wouldn't go so far as to call Andrew "a load of crap". That's a bit harsh. He was the only player to show up to the anniversary dinner last Oct. And for that alone I like him. That said, knowing what we've learned this season, the Busch deal was a wrong one. I wonder how Domic Cervi would be doing right now if he didn't give MLS/Chicago the finger? He's not on Celtic's first team, so maybe we need to give him a call.
Re: OMG - Dykstra Sucks Fair enough. How about "a guy who should be learning his trade playing for a USL-2 team?" It's bad enough that the Fire don't have a striker who can score a goal, but combining that with bad goalkeeping is a recipe for disaster. I'm sure Andrew's a nice guy, but this hopefully is now the big leagues and we need a guy who can produce.
Re: OMG - Dykstra Sucks Even if Dykstra isn't good enough that doesn't mean Busch shouldn't have been let go.
Re: OMG - Dykstra Sucks For some reason I'm remembering it was the Crew at TP who stole the ball from Busch and basically walked it in when Busch was standing at end of his penalty area waiting for the ball instead of kicking it away. Can anyone remember if it was the Crew? It seems like it was. Anyway, that play was 10x worse than anything Dykstra has done this year. However, even though our goals allowed/game is basically the same from this year to last year, I really have no confidence in Dykstra. He's been butter fingers all year and it finally cost us a goal. However (x2) I also think if we had anyone who could score a goal, a lot of Dykstra's mistakes wouldn't be felt so strongly. What was worse tonight, Dykstra or our attack? I know they were both really bad, but I'd say our attack. It was truly terrible.
Re: OMG - Dykstra Sucks A valid point. But that doesn't mean that the front office didn't screw the pooch on this. First, Busch should not have been brought back if: A) he was lying; or B) we need his salary room under the cap to sign a big name or two in the DP market. For "A" I am referring to Jon's parting comments where he said that he would be a good soldier and be the backup but wasn't given the chance. On "B" we have to wait I guess. We should know in another week or two. If Busch should have been let go regardless, then THAT should have happened way, way earlier than it did. Why wait to the end of training? And if you are going to do this, shouldn't you have a back up who has SOME experience in MLS? Dykstra's first minute in the pipes this year was his first in an MLS game. Our back up has even less experience. Can anyone think of a team in either soccer or hockey -- any where in the world -- that started a season without a keeper that had a minute of game experience on their roster? It was a "bold" move I guess, but not a wise one. It does suck having a back up keeper on the bench with a big salary. The Blackhawks will tell you that. But, they needed Huet on the bench on the run up to the playoffs because they weren't sure what they had in Niemi and IN the playoffs, they needed him in case anything happened TO Niemi. For those asking for Sean Johnson to start, I think that would only compound our problems right now.
Re: OMG - Dykstra Sucks In all seriousness, I'd be shocked if we are as that would raise tremendous questions about Frankie's and DLC's competence. I think they're gonna ride the Butterfingers Express all the way, even if that means missing the play-offs. Say, is the use of Stickum illegal in soccer?
Re: OMG - Dykstra Sucks Dystrak is a big reason I have no problems missing Fire games this season. I can't bear to watch it.
Re: OMG - Dykstra Sucks a top-shelf goalkeeper still won't solve our finishing problem. It's easy to pile on Dykstra, but in fact he had some nice saves last night. Now Nyarko...
Re: OMG - Dykstra Sucks Atleast a top-shelf goalkeeper would keep us in games (It's not like we were asking for a national team keeper), unlike butterfingers. Has he made more than 2 big time saves yet this year, I think it was a big mistake to have Dykstra has our starting keeper. FIRE went cheap at keeper and there getting burned by that move, they could of pickup Hartman for only $80,000. Instead he signed with FC Dallas and he's 5-1-3 with a 0.67 GAA, while butterfingers is 4-4-5 with a 1.38 GAA. He also gave up an easy one, butterfigers coughed up one right Moffat for a tap in. That wasn't the only one he's messed up on, I think he caught maybe 3 or 4 balls clean all year.
Re: OMG - Dykstra Sucks Dykstra can't direct traffic at a school crosswalk, but Sean Johnson can't even find the intersection. They are both awful and the back line has no confidence in either of them. It was a mistake to let Busch go minutes before the start of the season and start someone with no MLS experience. Busch wasn't a giant in the goal, but he was like Fred Belitnikoff before the NFL banned stick 'um. Whatever you threw at him stuck. I'm pretty sure I saw him catch a ball with his elbow once.
Re: OMG - Dykstra Sucks Thirteen games into the season we've conceded the same number of goals as last year while scoring three fewer this year. EDIT: The Jabulani is MLS' official ball this season, correct? Does anyone want to consider the impact of that ball on Dykstra's butter-fingeredness? We've seen plenty of gaffs in the World Cup because of it.
Re: OMG - Dykstra Sucks And Busch settled for 90,000 at San Jose and is about to start his second straight game ahead of Joe Cannon.
Re: OMG - Dykstra Sucks I don't buy the complaints about the ball at the World Cup, and don't buy them here. Nothing but a built-in excuse for failure. If all MLS keepers were having the same problem, then maybe.
Re: OMG - Dykstra Sucks Well I'm pretty sure you haven't done a study of all the keepers in the league so let's try and be realistic. Even if the ball isn't a factor, and I don't know the answer to that, there are some other numbers I've mentioned that are an important part of the discussion.
Re: OMG - Dykstra Sucks If we're going to blame the ball, I think the onus is on those saying that it's somehow a factor. I think that's pretty realistic. I'm not inclined to believe that the ball caused Dykstra to fumble away a shot that came to him along the ground. As I said, my guess is that all the complaints about the ball provided an easy excuse. I don't recall Germany complaining about the ball, although I suppose I might have missed it. If the ball is a problem, I could see it (maybe) swerving away from a keeper. I really can't see it causing a keeper to continually fumble balls that land in his arms.
Re: OMG - Dykstra Sucks Please don't ignore my other point. The Bundesliga has been using the ball for over a year so their players are more than used to it.
Re: OMG - Dykstra Sucks But the problem with your other point is that it completely negates Krol's acquisition. Dykstra sucks. He's hard to watch. The other players appear to not trust or respect him. We can look at numbers all day and nothing changes that.