The USOC only gave MLS a certain number of berths in the tournament. It's up to MLS to decide how they allocate those slots. They could have easily said "top 8 in, everyone else out." Would you rather have no shot at the USOC, or a play-in tournament that get your squad more minutes against MLS competition? Thx, Jay!
It probably is more of a case where MLS wants to limit the number of teams that are sent through. I am sure if the league insisted that all of the US based teams played in the proper tournament, then there would be little complaints and no MLS qualifiers. Probably done as a convenience for scheduling.
That's the whole story right there. But the fact that he's not starting at RB instead of Korb is troubling. Zayner is still hurt, Korb was being rested for Friday. Woolard anyone? From those that were there, did we really learn anything useful from this game?
Only 2 good things about last night: 1) Yuengling in a can sold at the 'Plex 2) Roy Rogers is on the way to 270 from the 'Plex (good lord I hope Branko is ok)
gofftweet: Boskovic MRI negative, should be in mix for Houston trip never mind, I see you posted that over in the 1836 thread
Also let's add to the key learnings: Beer shop on Wisteria (make left off of Germantown Road when heading toward the Soccerplex). Despite persistant rumors, Talon is not actually Kevin Payne, although the evidence is not completely conclusive. Morsink sure has a mouth. He was jammering at Borsesco after the first goal for about 3 solid minutes. We looked like an intimidated pick-up team last night.
I would like a competition where every professional team qualifies to play. If that means having to join in earlier rounds, fine, but having only 8 slots for MLS is idiotic.
I didn't say they looked good. I couldn't even look at threads on BS after the first Open Cup match pissed me off so much at times. I didn't think saying they looked "better than even the last Open Cup match" would be great praise. Last season was bad. While the Revs threw out some youth players, do you remember the teams United played last year in the Open Cup? United actually looked worse in those wins against USL teams. Much of the play last night was frustrating because they weren't capitalizing on opportunities. Last year, they weren't even creating opportunities. I knew that. It was early at work and I got caught between commenting on the subs and Najar's play. I guess I never even got around to commenting on the subs. I agree with itwasi that Najar didn't do much. He had spurts, but he was inconsistent and disappeared for long stretches until the end. I'm always confused by if play-in matches follow Open Cup rules. I assume there were only three subs allowed.
Anyone else think it's kind of funny KC have a 10 game road trip to wait for their stadium yet are hosting a cup match?
Costa Rican is close to Uruguayan, so he probably felt like it was a good time to help Brasesco get a taste of home.
They have a stadium a mere 10 games away and you really think you have a right to rip on them? Sheesh. Next you'll be telling me they have to wait a game to have a functional defense...