Nice comeback. Shellas makes a few changes... Moves some players around and presto: victory. Gotta like that.
Oh, thank goodness Dallas won that. A lot of things went against us and i felt like the team didn't play that well, but it's good to win. Dallas has a lot of spirit and heart.
As craptacular as we've looked at times this season, we've got 10 points after six games, which according to the telecast, is the most we've had since 2006.
1. Not a penalty. No doubt about a clearly blown call. 2. Doesn't matter we won.The penalty just served as a kick in the ass. It was closer than it should have been, but we won. DH-AJ combo was terrible, but inserting Warshaw and Guarda really worked. Warshaw has an ogre's touch, but is a seemingly very good passer. He needs to play with more confidence, but I think he might be underrated. At the very least, he played well tonight. Good to see Guarda back too (how strange to say that). He had a few too many turnovers, but at least he was trying to move the ball forward. I think SH's obsession with turnovers limits what offensive players feel comfortable trying to do creatively, especially those on the margins of the first team (think Avila, Levya etc.) Rodriguez can only play leftback. Maybe rightback. He doesn't have nearly the dribbling abilities nor speed that playing on the wings requires. Montreal is chippy. Corradi is a guido sideshow all his own. Davy Arnaud is a great player. I would love to see him in Dallas. Still not a penalty though.
FCD looked awful in the first half and not much better in the second half until the mystery penalty. I missed it but so did apparently the entire Beer Garden crowd who were on top of it. I thought Montreal was better with off the ball movement and precise passing then we were. FCD had too many balls over the top which went nowhere IMHO. After the penalty, FCD seemed to step it a bit and hustling to win balls they seemingly were not winning earlier. Or a tactical change I had not noticed? certainly the passing seemed a bit more "rational". Or simply the urgency of having to push for goals helped. I need to watch the replay to see where that penalty came from. An obvious shove/shirt tug ?
Someone get Justin Mapp the clippers, give it up dude, cut the rest of your hair. Hack-A-Shaq on FCD is effective and teams are using it. Is Jacobson injured now? It disrupts FCD's gameplan, possession and attack from the wings. You cannot utilize your speed if you are standing still or lying on the ground. Neither team looked good in the first half, and I thought the game was destined for a red. We looked particularly shaky in the back and communication-wise in the early going. I thought Rodriguez made the wrong run three times on a cross in from the left in the first half, he made a middle/near post run, leaving the back post wide open. This may have been due to the wicked wind and/or balls not behaving properly in the air. The switch to 4-1-4-1 helped even though I dislike the formation. Guarda does not play with the confidence I think he should. He is very undecided in the attacking 3rd, although he played hard. Warshaw is growing on me, he did well, and pulled out a crazy wrap the ball around his leg move at one point, that worked... Strong wing play seems to really help FCD and Castillo brought that to the wing opposite Shea. Castillo with the ball at his feet in space is tough to beat. The penalty was a really harsh call. Arnaud was getting pressure from both John and Loyd, but there was hardly any contact until after the ball had passed and then it was just competing and getting tangled, certainly no obvious foul worthy contact for me. If that was a penalty, the one where John was drug down at the other end was certainly a penalty also. Blas is the man, hardly put a foot wrong this season. Shea steals the points at the end. I like it.
Great result for the hoops. Terrible ref. Wahl will get punished by the league for his studs up sliding challenge. He plays like a jackass. Jesse Marsch is still one of the biggest douchebags in MLS history and his team reflects that. Did Brek not get yellow for that leap into the stands?
Totally absurd penalty call. If Montreal had held on for the win, or even for a draw, it would have been a complete and total joke. Horrid call. I second your thoughts on Marsch: he's always been a douche and a thug and his team plays like he used to. Wahl should get punished. He almost amputated Castillo's legs. Great comeback for FCD. Ultimately a very satisfying evening for the home fans.
The switch from 4-4-2 to 4-1-4-1 made all the difference. I don't think I saw a single attack link through the midfield in the first half as they jacked long balls left and right (although a couple almost worked cause the wind was giving Ricketts fits). In the second half, they controlled the midfield much better and as a result were far more dangerous in attack. The penalty was definitely a harsh call, but as good teams are won't to do, they overcame it.
I third your verdict. <Montreal's bench was real classy last night.>sarcasm Arnaud had some sort of words with someone on the Dallas bench after Blas tied the game. Looked like it was directed towards Keeshan, Ferruzzi, or Ellinger. Any lip readers in here that saw this confrontation? Side note: Panamanian supporters group behind the south goal were awesome all night. Beer Guardians and the rest of the beer garden were epic on the penalty call. The Inferno and other supporters groups were great as usual. I like where this is going.
I too thought the PK call was pretty harsh. But, I can see how it was a judgement call for the referee. George John seemed to have the ball just fine although he was in front of Arnaud. Lloyd was the back slice of the Arnaud sandwich, but got a little too close and in one of his steps he inadvertently hooked Arnoud's trailing leg. To Arnoud's credit, (and probably why he got the benefit of the doubt from the referee), was that he tried to fight through the contact and remain on his feet. Unfortunately, he could not. And the ball seemed to be the kind of ball that someone might be able to get a head on. Without the leg hook, GJ makes a pretty routine clearance out the endline. I thought that in the second half free kick, when GJ was pushed from behind.... the difference was that he dramatically threw his arms in the air and seemed to spring up into the air with his last step. This is not the usual way a body goes down upon contact. Again, while I thought the call was very strict..... I can give the ref a bit of leeway. Especially since we get the win. Otherwise, I didn't think he did too badly. I can only imagine what last night would have looked like with Abby ref'ing the game. We'd be suiting up the entire academy squad for the next game just to have a complete roster.
Game turned around on subs and moving players. I am soured on Loyd at left back (how did he play with the national team there?) because he won't use his left foot. Can't make passes down the line and has to switch to right foot before crossing. Anyone notice Brek involved once Rodriguez switched? Loyd moved to his spot and then there was attacking down both sides. Bruno is second only to Ferriera on making himself available for outlet passes and possesion went way up. He needs to make better decisions at times but a good game for him. Warshaw showed some better footwork but his long passes weren't as good as last week. Bruno and Warshaw may need more time to get acclimated but it's not likely either will be any more than subs this year. Glad to see Brek get off the schnide but I am still waiting for "all out Brek" who flies back on defense too. Was Chavez his inspiration for that and now he's gone?
Yep. Just when I thought the NE game's level of craptacular-ness couldn't be matched, we go out and use the tactics of a U-12 team playing with the wind..."maybe if we kick it, it will go superfar with the wind and maybe we can chase it!" Wow it was painful to watch. Man, these are my exact sentiments. I attribute a lot of our first half sucking to the DH-AJ combo. After last week and now this week, I am convinced that AJ is a DM and DH cannot cover enough ground to play as a DM in anything other than a "4-1-4-1" which, unfortunately, is becoming a "4-2-3-1" at best because we need 2 DM's to do what one should be able to given DH's inability to control the center of the pitch like he used to. Indeed, you saw the difference in playing with a two-way player when Bruno Guarda, our 3 or 4 at that spot, came in, pushed higher up the field and immediately our possession and attacking threat seemed to double (or maybe I should say increase because doubling zero is still zero). Warshaw also is showing signs of being ready to compete for that starting DM spot with AJ. I would be OK with a tandem of those guys handling that position in the 4-4-2. With a lead, you could pull the CAM and play with dual defensive CMs if you wanted. Bottom line: no more dual DM's, no more DH. second half results seem to make the argument on their own.
Finally just now finished the game. Where would this team be without Perez? After an absolute dreadful first half, the second half looked 10x better. Our passing is still in bad need of repair. This referee was an absolute joke. From letting Montreal restart the ball 30 yards from the offside point in the first half; to the PK call which was HORRID (all three players had their heads up looking at the ball and their feet tangled. It happens all the F'n time!); to GJ getting body checked in the box with (surprise) no call coming our way. What a donkey. Glad we got the last laugh. Perfect placement on Perez's header. Brek Shea, THANK YOU, for proving me wrong. I was ready to come on here and rip him up for being an absolute nobody this game and maybe buying too much into his hype. What a play and what a finish. Sweet win considering the circumstances but the treatment room continues to fill up. Hope Hartman was ok at the end there. This team needs help bad on the injuries front or we're looking at ugly results coming our way when we actually play talented oppositions.
He and Pertuz were both pulled for injuries... http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/socc...hing-fcd-needs-more-of-right-now-are-injuries
The DMN article said that Hartman was ok after the game, despite appearing to be injured at the end, so good news there.
I think we all knew, and so did Hyndman believe me, that FCD has needed a striker like this for a few years.
One thing I haven't seen mentioned was Castillo's layoff for Shea for the winner. Castillo so often has an absolute donkey touch, but that one touch layoff for Shea who was flying past him was exquisite. Perfect pass by Castillo (and great header by Perez to get it to Castillo in the first place).
No mention of the defense on here or 3rd or Big D ?!!? They worked in unison and handled everything the Impact could muster. Pertuz was tidy on the right and was always always in position to deal with the danger that popped up his side of the box... which begs the question...wha happen??(at halftime) George was fantastic all around including 2 inch perfect loong balls to Shea in the wind. (what did you say about his passing skills again Buzz). He handled absolutely everything and was really unlucky to not have scored and earn a PK. This is the George that we see 98% of the time...class of the league..its funny how a lot of you over the winter seem to have forgotten who he was...let me remind you..he's our #1 CB On a related note I purpose a new training exercise for players who are a bit rusty joining the team....rocket balls to the face. But I hope Jackson wont need it lol Ugo is having another awesome start to the season, FCD has been ranked in the top 2-3 for CB pairings by soccer America over the last few years...I think we have a great shot at taking first place from RSL this year. Loyd had one of his worst games but he showed heart to grind it out and finish strong. A lot of it was him not being able to adjust for the wind. I really don't mind the thought of in-swinging crosses coming in from the left at all. The only issue with him on that side is he was hesitant to clear the ball with his left foot on occasion which could have lead to Benitez like turn overs -Hopefully that goal is the spark Shea needs to let his hair down and do his thing. -Im so thankful Jackson is coming back. -Perez is Godly. - Warshaw deserves some love too. He came on strong with some sharp passing and nifty footwork to boot. Seems lots of you didn't see/hear the broadcast. Your lucky....the color commentator made Steve Jolly sound good.
He was at the River Club last night postgame with his wrist wrapped in ice. Probably more a precaution than anything, I'd guess just a bruise. Nothing that can't heal by next Saturday hopefully.
Well, get used to it, because until we have a shorter injury list, it's what we're gonna have to do to cobble together results.
I was at the game last night and I have to say, in the first half Dallas was either poorly coached, or were a herd of knuckleheads. I swear, the wind was gusting up to 50 mph and not once did they work the ball to the middle and take a shot from range. Not once. Unless it was the last 5 minutes of the half when I was up getting my nachos. The apparent game plan was knocking the ball long up to Fabian Castillo so he could run onto it with speed but sadly his soccer IQ is a big ZERO. I know he's young but wow. How many times was he offsides? His speed just doesn't make up for his lack of IQ or skill. Sorry but he just doesn't need to be the focal point of the attack. Other than that, the game was great with a late comeback win, but we should never of had to come from behind against that team. Of course the ref was a nightmare as well and possibly the only person outside of Castillo who did more to give the win to the Impact.