Switched to 4-4-2, still no goals. Time to start clearing the bench. I'm sure the guys on there can not score just as well as the starters. A message needs to be sent that if you don't produce, you will be replaced. You know it's a bad night when even Chad Marshall played poorly.
This franchise is dying a slow death. We have gotten worse every year since we won the cup. Management has made all the wrong moves. Attendance is down, goals are down. There is nothing to make me believe that any of our players are getting better.
Just glad I'm not suicidal cause you stack this on top of the shit I have to endure in my personal life and I might try to pull off my own personal tribute to Ian Curtis...
Crew on the whole played the better game but it don't mean dork if you can't score. There is no clue or gameplan in the final third. The midfield is just a mess. TRR.com was just awful. Utterly ineffective. Gaven as well. No one has any confidence except for caveman in taking a shot. Crew set a record for cpnsecutive first hves without a hoal. Now they are working for the second half goaless record. Ugh.
It's not like anyone in their right mind actually thought we were going there and going to win. We played good enough for a draw and simply got outsmarted on the goal. I liked the central midfield line up. For once Ekpo actually seemed to execute. I have no idea what the answer is up top but like someone before me said its time to give the bench some time.
That game changed when Renteria left. I'm not saying he was the answer, but it was a different and very flat team after that...
I'd peg us going flat on Mendoza... he seems to suck the life out of the team (what little life they already have, that is...) So are we gonna go for 3 straight matches of getting scored on by our former players? (Yes, I know that Lenhart did not end up credited for that goal but let's face it he made it happen, the other guy was just in the way.)
Not so worrisome when you consider he is what, 6'4" and he was being shoddily marked by Julius James, pretender to the throne of the center back position? IRO WOULD NOT HAVE LET THAT SHIT GO DOWN!
Portland Timbers vs Columbus Crew 05/21/2011 full game stats Timbers were just more aggressive in the middle of the field.
I know it's just the thrill of the new thing in their city, but after watching fans like that I get even more depressed stepping into Crew Stadium. Let alone the team I come to watch literally has no chance of scoring, therefore no chance of winning.
Julius James should be a Columbus Reject by now. He is 100% trash. Or at least a Cbus Starter Reject. Seattle goal was his fault, Brunner goal was his fault... ever since opening game in DC it's been HIS fault. Goals against are too important with this offense and James is a master of letting other players score on us.
People want to give the bench players a chance? OK who exactly do you want? Tommy H-Just started Duka-Been starting Mendoza-HA Cunningham-Hasnt shown anything in the 15 to 20 of sub time he gets and was invisible v DC Iro-OK, AGREED Francis-OUT O'Rouke-OUT OK, thats all of the legitimate players we have that our ready for league action. So face the facts folks....This is our team. And, our team isnt very good. No, wait. Our team IS NOT GOOD. Its not the formation, coaching tactics, starters, bench, fans, weather,etc. Its the personnel. Its the team that the FO along with Warzyca put together for us and they did it in a hurried fashion and this is what we get when you do put it together as such. It took one off-season to take us from title contender to future cellar-dwellers. Unfortunately, its going to take us multiple off-seasons to fix it.
We lost 1-0 to a team that is undefeated (5-0) at home and everyone here is ready to clean the team, front office and themselves off the planet? Geesh, folks need some levity in their lives.
Come, Fid. We all could use more levity - or perspective - in our lives, sure. But this team flat out sucks right now. What's more, the slide to this level has been a topic of discussion here for a long time; well before last night's match. Yeah, Danny will come back, and that'll help some. But we are simply not playing well, and this coach seems to not have any real idea how to manage the situation. Bobby being in over his head has been a constant theme for, well, just about his entire tenure as coach.
Really. It didn't take a genius to see this result coming. All season long, everyone's been screaming about going back to the 4-4-2. I was the one who wanted to know what players we had in our midfield that would be able to make that work. And sure enough, the 4-4-2 comes out of the bag last night, and we STILL do next to nothing. In fact, our best scoring chance of the night was a direct result of a cross from Mendoza -- the mids didn't have anything to do with it. Bottom line: This club is struggling because Rogers, Ekpo, Duka and Gaven are not good enough to control a game in the midfield and create chances. They're just not. Rogers is Martino v2.0, Ekpo doesn't seem to know what he's doing, Duka is still a bit raw (he may still have some upside) and Gaven, while solid and able to give a consistant effort, just doesn't have that je ne sais quoi. We can bitch about coaching and formations all we want, but until someone steps up in the midfield, it is what it is. Was Rusmir on the field last night? Heinemann was a bulldog out there. Should have buried that header. I'll go 50% "needs a better finish" and 50% great save. Mendoza -- unlucky not to get an assist on Tom's chance. Seemed a little more willing to run around that what we've seen before; not that that's a huge improvement. I think it's time to get Iro back out there. I was willing to ride the whole Julius James thing out while it was working, but now this defense needs a jolt.
Sorry, but I'd give 0% "needs a better finish" and 100% "someone just made a save they'll only do once in their lifetime." Maybe McBride finishes that, but nobody else in our team history even touches it. Lenhart would have done some 360 leg-fling and we would have praised him for his amazing effort. I'm still entertained watching our team play. At no time last night did I think we weren't going to have chances to level. We played well, scoreline be damned. It's the mathematician in me, but we're not due to win another Cup until 2032.
Please. Brunner was obviously offside and the goal certainly should not have counted. Blame the AR and lack of video replay, not James. This is not the first time a game-winning goal has been clearly offside in MLS this year. The entire Crew offense is horrific. Rogers is done. He was never good but he is abilities are obviously on the decline. Gaven has never been very good. Duka is unbelievably bad. Ekpo is useless. Rusmir is useless going forward. The wide backs never get forward and it would be utterly pointless if they did. I thought Renteria should have been the first sub out before he got injured. He cannot hold the ball. However, he was certainly fouled on the play on which he was injured. Mendoza is just a joke. Overall the team is pretty good at dribbling and bad at passing, and horrific at shooting. Heinemann actually played fairly well. But does he have any ability to shoot? I am not sure I have seen it. I thought the team worked very hard in the first half, which I was happy to see, but was either worn out or gave up in the second half.
Stadium was located perfectly as well, must have been at least two dozen bars all in walking distance, and all the ones just outside of walking distance were part of a game day shuttle system. Every bar had some sort of "Timbers Special" and was all decked out. Really, I have never seen anything like it in MLS. Beyond impressed with Portland.