Yet 2nd in the East. No one here thought we would be doing this well half way through the season. Sure I want a better record against playoff teams but I also wasn't under the assumption we would be a top level team either. The team is currently exceeding expectations for me at least. They are scoring goals but conceding them too, love the first hate the second. The games this year are better to be at and watch than last years.
Tonight is not good for the Union and they are not even playing. NY beats Montreal 4-0 and pushes us down. SKC is winning and if they win will push us down another place. Ugh. Then again, watching the Houston vs. New England match made me appreciate MacMath.
Totally agree with UBD on this. I like to complain about Hackworth, the tactics, the player selection, the sheer existence of Danny Cruz and all of that. But their position in the standings, as well as their overall performance on the field, is better than I dared to hope for at the end of last season.
Next five games will be crucial to our playoff hopes. Portland, Chicago, DC, Vancouver and the Red Bulls. Really, really, need to get at least ten points to stay in contention.
We are averaging 1.5 points per match so if we maintain that we wil get 7-8 points. The best PPM is RSL at 1.75. So, getting 10 PPM over the next five matches would be great and would trend us as the best in the league. Getting less than seven is unacceptable. Getting more than eight is doing well. Of the next five teams, we are only really competing with NY. So, we really need to get three points from them to get the points and to keep the points away from them.
I threw ten out there because to me this is a prime time to gain some ground. Three bad to mediocre teams sandwiched by two good ones (one which we dismantled not too long ago). I'd like to see a draw vs. Portscum, wins against Chicago and DC, a draw vs. Vancouver and a win against the Cows. That would put us at 11 and make me extremely happy.
The standings are still deceiving since most teams have played 2 games less than us. Also, we stand at 4th now.
I like the MLS (http://www.mlssoccer.com/standings) approach is good since they show Points Per Game. Currently, we would be in fifth based on PPG.
3 teams at 20, 3 at 19, 3 at 18 and 1 at 17. NE is at 18 but 6 behind us, Houston has a game on us and is only 1 pt behind. NY and KC who are ahead of us are also at 20 and MTL is at 18. MTL has not been playing well lately and dropping points. The battle for playoff positioning has right in the middle of it. The top 5/6 teams can bounce up and down through the next half of the season. We are not top of the pack but close to it and there is a log jam there. Any team could take the East and while I do not think we have enough to take it we can still make a run at it and I am hopeful of getting a decent seed and I feel we have a very good chance to make the playoffs.
DC is awful, Chicago is hot, Vancouver is good, NYRB is good, and Portland is great. You're underestimating these teams.
What's your tally of points for these games then? I say 5 points.....we'll probably win vs DC, draw or lose to the Fire( 'cause we're Philly) and maybe get another draw.........anything over 5, I'll take it!
I think we need 8. I could see us getting three each from DC and Vancouver. Chicago and Portland will be ties. That gives us 8. A win against NY would be very nice but given their complete dismantling of Montreal yesterday, I can't see that right now. When the match gets closer, I will see a win.
With as good as the forwards have been, this team should be in first place. It's absolutely unacceptable that Hack has done nothing to address the bleeding in the back. Last game you can say Okugo slipped and the weather was to blame for that, but the fact of the matter is that this team is giving up soft goals almost every game. Okugo's slip and fall, MacMath's ball drop, Gaddis's handball, Williams's repeated failures to track back... these events are the rule, rather than the exception. Lazy, undisciplined defending is a Hackworth coaching feature rather than an anomaly.
Chicago is back down to earth, as I am watching them take a thrashing from Vancouver. They just don't look good at all, defense looks lazy and they are paying the price 3-0 right now
Couldn't keep up with them. Seemed like the caps were just running past em Camilo especially. Makes me nervous for our game against em haha
He was straight up terrible. His foot speed maxes out at about a light jog at best. I don't think I've ever seen a professional player as slow as he is, especially one that is a guaranteed starter for his club. Glad he's gone. Looking forward to seeing Jack beat him in the air when the Union buries him and his club next month.
Gaddis' handball is a bad play but I have seen all-world players do stupid things like that. If he had hair like Maradona then he might have gotten away with it. To blame Hack for that is asinine. To blame hack for MacMath not catching the ball is also asinine. To blame Hack for Okugo slipping in a match every single player was slipping is utterly ridiculous. You pick the wrong horses to bet on with using those as examples because dumb plays happen. You want to talk about poor set piece defending I'll agree with you. Williams has had ups and downs this season and I won't disagree with you on that. They have problems in team defense in particular switching off in transition. They really need someone to be vocal back there and honestly I am a little surprised it isn't Parke (I will add that do to my proximity to TRE I may not be hearing the chatter and Mondy is the only one I was constinatly able to hear with Valdes and even Califf not carrying to me). One thing about Williams is I think he has benefitted since Seba has become entrenched at RM, he still has lapses but not nearly as many or as bad as the early part of the season. He is chipping in a lot of assists to boot. Gaddis is the enigma on the back line, he gets caught out of position a fair amount of time but uses his speed to get back into the play. When he is in position he is actually a tough defender that doesn't get beat easily 1v1. I still contend that his best games this season where when Gabe was at LM and I think it was because Gabe understood what Ray was doing/trying to do so he was able to help. Cruz still does not track back well for the ball but has gotten a little better at it.
Step back for a moment and think about why these things are happening. These events don't occur in a vacuum. They are happening because of the lack of defensive discipline. Can you remember these egregious errors occurring in practically every game in 2011, or even last year? The problem is the coaching. I don't know if it's because they aren't being drilled enough on defense in practice, or if it's because the back five's starting positions are essentially guaranteed, or some other reason. Truth be told, there is no defensive depth (another Hackworth coaching feature), so no one on roster will ever push them for a starting position. Even if there was a player seen as a viable backup - Soumare, for example - Hack has shown zero willingness to do anything other than play his usual back five.
You talk about depth but we added depth at forward this year which we had none last year and there were constraints due to bad contracts so we couldn't revamp the roster completely in one off season. I agree we need more depth particularly at CB as we now have 3 potential LBs and 2 potential RBs. I exclude Albright from the equation because ultimately I would only want him in emergency situations. Wheeler as an emergency CB does not instill confidence outside of friendlies. Also, most teams roll out the same backline game in and game out unless there is an injury or one of the players becomes a complete liability. None of our players has become a complete liability, Ray and Okugo have had some growing pains and Williams was close to the complete liability early on but has returned to better form as of late. This is how are defense currently shapes up LB - Gaddis(s), Fabinho (untested in MLS), Anding (untested in MLS) RB - Williams, Gaddis, Farfan(emergency) CB - Parke, Okugo, Williams, Wheeler (emergency) Albright can be used as a RB/CB but appears to not have much in the tank. Lahoud also has time on the backline but has been out most of the year. We have never really had great depth on the back line and most MLS rosters are in a similar constraint. In most every soccer game world wide the subs are usually strikers first then mids. Rarely is there a defender for defender sub baring injury. Most leagues minute leaders outside of keepers are defenders so seeing a back line rarely getting time off is the norm. Getting players to learn multiple positions now is becoming more popular, you see Klinsman doing it with the Nat team.
MLS rosters are short. I get that. Maybe HackSack should have thought about that before using up both a roster and an international slot for a player that is a de facto goalkeeping coach, but I digress. This organization is incredibly cheap and it was a cute way to reduce Vartughian's work load. It is doing the same with Albright. Also, I disagree with your assessment of Gaddis. He is a liability at LB. He has no left foot. He is repeatedly caught out of position. He offers nothing in the air. He's been beat plenty of times by the better attackers in the league. He's suitable as a bench option to replace Williams at RB and nothing more. The defensive depth is a problem but I don't think it's the biggest problem. The lack of defensive discipline and organization is the reason why this back line concedes so many goals in the run of play. Every player is prone to sloppy mistakes. MacMath's gaffes are a running joke. Gaddis's marking and positioning are terrible. Williams often looks disinterested and lazy. Parke is slow, far too casual in his distribution, and often does not close down his mark quickly enough. Okugo is probably the best out of the four this season (especially considering his goal production), but is also prone to egregious errors. Hack in his press conferences, when pushed on the issue of goals conceded, has said he is not concerned. If this team makes playoffs, the sloppy defending will be its undoing.
Last season we were 7-10-2 at this point in the season..................... this season we are 8-6-6 We are far from perfect, and yes the Defense leaks goals. Chances are, based on the players we have coming back from the Gold Cup and from injury............ the club will easily surpass the club record of 11 wins in one season. They will also likely easily surpass the club record for goals scored in a season, and also have two players with 10 or more goals for the first time. If you were told that prior to the season starting you would have gladly taken it.