I hope hassli is ready soon because kcj looks lost as the lone striker in our 4-5-1. hassli made more and better single-striker runs in the 10-15 minutes he was on the field than kenny did all match. while I am a kcj fan, he is really more suited to the second striker or even the wider position that he played after hassli came on last night.
FCD doing just enough to get the 3 points, but who can complain? Marvelous goal by Castillo and super effort by Jackson on the 2nd. I'll pile on and say that Cooper was a misery out there...invisible most of the night and poor when actually involved. He's become an even softer player than I remember. Seitz was very solid in net. I hope he stays as #1 but I doubt SH sees it that way. Michel was again solid in the middle. I've been defending Jacobson but I thought he was quite poor last night and only because RSL was missing some players did some of his turnovers not create greater havoc in the back for FCD. Incredible block by Hedges on that one sequence. Saved the night for FCD.
Michel should be a lock in the defensive mid spot from now on. Cooper would have made a better case had he buried that chance. Otherwise, he was pretty hapless on his own up front. He also really needs to stay on his feet, can't believe how easy he goes down for as big as he is.
I think we have a board full of people who have made it a competition to complain. I don't doubt that they will have their say. But, I pose a different question. Are we any good this year? And, I don't think it is an easy question to answer today. I believe that we are in the process of becoming a good team. However, I don't think we know what we have yet. We added all of these attacking parts, and we are tied for 2nd in the league. Yet people rightly criticize the performance of several of our attackers. I do think that we are better than last year in the final third. We will have to see if the form holds. "Yeah, but we got blown out in the last part of the game by the egg-sucking Chivas team." OK, fair enough, but Chivas are currently the league's highest scoring team and are currently 2nd in the west. "Yeah, we've won games against last year's best team RSL and HD, but both squads were not at full strength for a variety of reasons." Good point, but we had miserable roster luck all year long last year and results are all that counted. The reality is that we are currently #1 in the Western Conference. When was the last time you could say that? And finally, the team tactics, particularly in closing games our has been a little shaky at times. However, the coaching staff quickly adjusted DF and Michel's roles in ways to quickly make them more effective. So, they seem to be correcting things systematically. I still think we are a holding mid short of being a really good team. Whether or not the answer will be developed from within our roster or from an acquisition is what I think will define our year. One our two GK's will have to emerge as a much improved player as well. So to answer your question, I can't complain. But as a greedy SOB, I still expect improvement.
It's frustrating to watch this team, even if they are finding results, if that makes sense. I think it's a bit of fools gold, which this club has been known to fall for in seasons past. Right now they are catching breaks, and taking advantage of them, which is great. But I can't look at the play and say they have looked good in any game. It's tough to watch Cooper as a lone striker, it's just not his skill set and to put him in the spot is foolish. But on the plus side of things, wins are wins in this league and being 3-1 is a damn fine place to be. I just hope one day we can see 2 forwards play together.
I think we look much improved from last year. Notice how most of our distribution from GK is now throws to feet instead of punts downfield. Michel has been a good link-man at Dmid. Jacobson seems to be a better player with Michel at Dmid. It may be a stretch, but Ferreira seems to be playing more like we want - as offensive catalyst. Michel is a tremendous addition to the lineup for a guy who was announced on this forum (2/20/13) as "Also signed..." Kudos for theodore for predicting that Michel would be a force in MLS (2/25/13). On the downside, I'm disappointed with Cooper too. I'd like to see more scoring chances created and finished. We have 7 goals this season - 2 from set pieces, 2 gifts from goalkeepers, the Cooper goal, and 2 golazos. I'd like to see a higher proportion of quality goals from open play. But if we can get 9 points out of mediocre offense, look out if our attack really comes together!
I feel pretty much the same way. I'm happy for the results but feel like we've been getting the breaks (for once) that has presented us with the victories. I am glad, however, that we've been improving game to game. After the first win, I was having a hard time being happy with the result because of how poor we looked. I didn't really watch the 2nd game but see that our missed chances and poor control let us down. So I was pleasantly surprised by our win vs Houston and controlling large stretches of the game. On Saturday I felt like we bossed Salt Lake for the most part. That's the only thing giving me hope is that we seem to be progressing and hopefully once our team is full strength, our forwards can start gelling and Cooper can get out of this funk he's in. Still would give up Castillo & AJ for Chavez & Dax.
Re: Cooper, I am fine with him going down under contact when he is 35-40 yards from goal with his back to goal, receiving a pass, if he is fighting off a defender and there is a foul there, even if he could fight through it. Closer in to goal, 25 yards and in, he needs to fight through everything and fight for the ball. I'd bet 1/2 of Messi's goals he could go down for a foul/contact but he always continues to play and fight through it. Cooper is by no means even in the same stratosphere as Messi it is just a point to make and something for KC to learn/take note of. He will score more and create more chances for FCD if he just works hard and fights through stuff closer to the goal, and let the ref make the call if there is a foul, Cooper goes down, there is obstruction, etc. Just fight through it. 40 yards from goal with back to goal, if getting fouled from behind and possibly going to lose possession, go ahead and take the contact, draw the foul, and get the free kick. This is a league that denies entry passes from behind with lots of contact (George John), which disrupts our possession and flow, so why not take the fould and free kick if it is legitimately there. Also, referees may call something 40 yards from goal they will not call 20 yards from goal, especially for someone Kenny's size. The irony is close to goal if he tries to fight through stuff he is more likely to get a call.
We have been more lucky than good this year. Colorado win was a gift from the goalie gods. Chivas loss was bad - giving up a 1 goal lead and losing 3-1. Houston win was lucky win. Lost a 2 goal lead. 2 set piece goals and a late winner. RSL - playing with a depleted squad even if it was our best game. I am glad we have had some luck / breaks for a change. Its been a while. Seitz should be the starter. Solid, reliable and dependable. Fernandez is all over the box. I am happy to wait for Cooper to come into form. Castillo is always a handful. Why sun him out the second he scores? Benitez is a turnover machine. Michel is streaky. This is not a consistent team yet. I hope our luck is consistent.
I'll take lucky for now. Only one team in MLS has more points than us. MLS is a league with incredibly parity. One bobble. One deflection. One misplay.................is all it takes. We need to improve a bunch of things to be a title contender as you guys have described. But hey, we've got time to work on it.
I understand the thinking that the team has some luck on their side but they also have to be given credit for doing some things right. As much as those goals get credited to screw ups, there was still an FCD player putting the ball in the back of the net. I guess I am more of the belief that you make your own luck.
Was Saunders' brain fart fortuitous? Yes. But Jackson needed to be there to take advantage of it, and the fact that he was there was good play on his part. And you know, we might've been lucky there, but we were unfortunate in the first half on a couple of opportunities that should've been put away. This game -- up to the inevitable bunkering in the last 15 minutes -- was the most complete game I've seen FCD play in a while. Yes, RSL was missing a few starters, but so was FCD. And you know, RSL's backups get paid too. In the end, I don't think the scoreline was flattering to FCD, who was clearly the better team on the night.
I am pretty pleased so far. I think Kenny is who he's always been, and it's going to be on our staff to use him in the role his brain makes him play, rather than the one his body suggests he should play. He is a 10-15 goal scorer in MLS with that understanding, and if he were going to do something different, 1860 would have sold him to Bayern by now. I also felt safer with Seitz in goal. I think he our centerbacks did too, though obviously we're not truly privy to that information. Ad finally, as to the callups, I 100% agree about their backups getting paid. Part of roster management in MLS is knowing that we play through periods when people are called up. If RSL wants to have their roster full of CONCACAF internationals, while we get no-names from CONMEBOL, then that's a decision they've made and they know it might cost them points. I don't feel bad, and they will lean on their various nats and try to make up ground when they're back. We still need usable depth in midfield and for our coaches to figure out the best use of the strike force, but maybe butter leather is starting to peek out from the closet. God, supporting this team is an emotional roller coaster.
When you factor in that Jackson got a similar "lucky" goal in the first game, you have to start giving him credit at some point.
I am very happy. For a team that usually starts the year slow and gets on a roll at the end, picking up 9 out of 12 points to start the year is tremendous. Obviously they've gotten a few lucky bounces so far and haven't won their games while looking like Barcelona 2011, but that isn't necessary in MLS. As long as they are picking up points while they integrate new players and toy with formations, you gotta be happy.
Not getting the KCJ hate. He is what he is and we knew that when FCD re-acquired him. He roams too much ... he's slow ... he dribbles the ball away, yeah just like he has always done. I'll admit I'm a bit down on his diving, but he still generates a few quality chances each game and is as good a finisher as we could hope for at this level. And don't forget that he was a Borchers save from scoring his second, which was partly created by his passing.