No clue where that 5 minutes of stoppage time came from, and a few of those late calls were mystifying (Duka foul in the corner), but this was a winnable game on the road, and we got the 3 pts. 3 good results in a row now after that mini-losing streak have us back in the playoff hunt. That first goal was a fantastic team goal. Pretty much everyone was involved, with Rolfe and Magee each having 2 seperate passes in the lead-up. Nice finish by Nyarko on the half-volley too. Alex is steadily looking better and better to me. His all-around play has been really good lately. Amerikwa brought some good energy to the attack, but he needed to kill off the game on that 1v1 with MacMath. Nyarko MOTM. Book a place in the USOC final on wednesday, beat Montreal (who lost DC tonight) at home over the weekend, and then head to New England with a chance to pass them in the standings. Good couple of weeks ahead of us.
What in the world could he have called the foul in the corner on Duka for around the 86th minute? Bazaar.
I thought there was some serious matchfixing going on until that final penalty shout against Duka that he turned down, despite calling Duka for a foul for shielding the ball as he played it moments earlier*(currently legal in MLS) and then I realized: "Oh. This guy is just a terrible ref, not trying to screw us."
I just finished watching the game. Soumare was notably acceptable tonight. Not good, but aceeptable. He made some good stops, only had one or two bad clearances, and was only in danger of giving a penalty once. Captain Amerikwa and Dilly Duka work really well as super subs. Duka already brings a lot of energy when he starts, so channelling that energy into 25 minutes makes him even tougher to defend. Alex was largely absent from the attack. I'm not certain whether he's just a negative player, or if he feels that he needs to help out in the defense, and can't transition readily between attack and defense. If its the later, then a player like Rios would go a long way.
Quincy scored the equalizer at RSL ... a goal that may have saved Frank for the season (that was the feeling I had at the time) but Frank still didn't dress him for a month preferring Santos and Mackie (which is I one of the reasons why don't think he's a good coach)
I'd say your coaching assessment is no better here than it was when your opinions on player rotation were blasted last week. It seems like people sometimes forget that a professional team isn't a team in FIFA. Players are people, and not simply interchangeable like Legos. I've said it before and I'll say it again, we should compile a list of eligible players per game and assess the starting lineups and substitutions. The information is out there so people making claims can back up their opinions.
Great to have Sean Johnson back, the Union easily could have scored 2 more against a less skilled keeper. SJ is a strikers nightmare.
Whatever dude ... I have my opinions, you have yours. I think that Frank is too slow to integrate younger players into his 18: Alex, Duka, Quincy. Though now crowded & effective midfield, I sincerely doubted as the season started that we're gonna see Victor integrated into the 18 this year, even if we were out of the playoff hunt on Labor Day. Blasted by a few here doesn't mean one thing more or less than just that: being blasted by a few here.
I opt for HD and put on some King Crimson. the vocals are more relevant to the game than anything Dan Kelly says.
Except when he passes a clearance right to them. He played a great game overall, but his distribution was once again terrible. Goal kicks straight out of bounds. Can't he just try to send them all straight up the middle? I can't imagine that would work out worse than aiming for players on the sideline . . . unless he actually is aiming for the middle.
Distribution is by far the most overrated element of a keeper's game. It's so rare for a goal to result from great GK distribution that it's practically negligible. As long as he keeps stealing goals away from the opposition like he does, he can hit every goal kick out of bounds for all I care.