I'll understand if Petke gives Alexander another run out, but if he has another stinker that will be 4 games in a row and my patience will have been worn out. I personally wouldn't start him for this one. Everyone else played very well overall yesterday so I guess the bigger question for me is who starts next to Olave. Sekagya had a really good game in Chicago so I'd give him the nod. -----Henry-BWP Steele-Dax-Cahill-Sam Miller-Sekagya-Olave-Eck ----------Robles It's a coinflip for me right now with Dax, Cahill, and/or Peggy as the starters at CM. One one hand Peggy made us look so much more dangerous in attack when he came on vs. Chicago. On the other hand can he be counted on to go 90 minutes if needed? Also, would you rather start a CM duo of Dax and Cahill who are more likely to keep the game close early on and then bring Peggy on late if you need a goal? Leaving Cahill on the bench could be an option. He can play as either a destroyer or as a threat on goal depending on the scenario in the 2nd half. Dax can't really offer that. However, Dax played better last game and I wouldn't want to bench him after 90 minutes where he seemed to turn things around a little bit. Tough decisions this week for Petke.
Honestly, I wouldn't at this point, he's been that ineffective. I'd love to see Petke go back to the lineup and tactics that had the team looking its best at the end of last season, instead of unnecessarily tinkering with ideas like Alexander as a CM, Henry as a CAM in a 4-5-1, or Cahill as a lone target striker... Put Peguy in the midfield, let him constantly exchange positions with Cahill and Sam, and keep Henry close to goal where he belongs. It worked wonders last year, and Petke himself said he regrets switching from that formula in the playoffs... so what the hell is he thinking so far this year?
If I were Petke I'd be thinking "I don't want to hurt the club's long term growth by playing Peggy instead of Alexander. Alexander is likely to be here long term. Peggy isn't." However, I'd still play Peggy right now. And the worst thing that could have happened with Alexander on the field just did. We got a point on the road and looked pretty good doing it. Which means Petke will have an excuse to play him again this weekend...at CM.
That is true, not because Peguy, but because the rest of the players are playing the right place....But: Robles Eckersley...Sekagya...Olave...Miller/Convey MacCarty Cahill......Peguy.....Steele Wright-Phillips....Henry Is the way to go......Not matter what many here say that we have deep, we have not a shit, at least good enough players to make first team substitutes.....
OK, Sam for Cahill, that is what you want.....Sam is a good prospect, but he isn't good enough to play instead of Cahill and CAM he isn't or LF either..... So the only position he can play so, so is RF, but we need some body like Cahill on that area, and the only way to have it, .........Sam have to be out..... Simple as that.....
Could go either way, Petke has to like Armando's aggressive nature but Sekagya was phenomenal against Chicago.
That was the game of the MLS season for me. NYRB ground them down for 60 minutes and then took over. Chivas looked out of gas. Robles deserved an assist at the end for coming into the box and disrupting Kennedy. Great stuff, all around . .
Yes, hoping this is a turning point. I was happy to see that slightly nasty foul from Convey in 1/2 half. I have seen this guy as a dc-united animal, and perhaps he did too. But may be that ugly tackle meant something, and now we might just have another player.
Armando thought he played great. He had to get that yellow because had to pick up slack for convey. Red bulls need a scorer someone that can finish. I saw Wright Phillips miss 3 easy ones.
If you were at game today or watched how Sammy has been playing I think you would reconsider your position on Sam.
What a miserable first half... if there's one thing you'd never think you'd call a Mike Petke team, its unmotivated, but that's the only word to describe the first half. Second half was more like it, unfortunately Henry wasn't having a great game and BWP missed the 1v1. Like @MrCharlie2 mentioned, hopefully that second half is a turning point and we start seeing some actual points. Eckersley and Convey to the bench for now.... Eckersley was supposed to be a guy who can get to the opposing endline and contribute to the attack, but to this point he's offered nothing in that respect and has been a liability defensively. I've never been a fan of Kimura, but his second half performance was way better than anything we've seen from Ecks so far. Convey is like Alexander, invisible until he shows up to make a square or backwards pass... Congrats to Peguy on the goal! Not as strong as of a performance overall as I thought he'd have, but maybe this is the start of his Cahill-esque breakout and he'll put in another 10 this year.
We need a right back if Eckersley doesn't improve. I dont think Kimura is good enough to be the full time starter
Today was a very frustrating, yet ultimately gratifying game. For all the other folks who made the effort to get out to the stadium, it was chilly but fun. I'm glad they were there too. Without that goal at the end, this would have really been a beat down loss, but to see the team battle back the way they did, fighting until the final whistle, it is good to see them get a point for the effort. They need to figure out how to get more goals. Too many passes are of the nice, intricate but not particularly dangerous variety. I'm glad to see that they kept working it though, until the game opened up a little bit. The first half was very sluggish, quick passes but very little advancement towards goal and no real shots other than Cahill's point blank header. I think to get opponents onto that back foot more quickly, they need to find a way of creating more danger, connecting passes that get up field more quickly. It doesn't matter if they can ping the ball around if it doesn't go anywhere. I'm also not crazy about the idea of banging long balls up for Henry to try and win. That's just silly. When the team looked the best, they were keeping the ball on the ground and getting up the field quickly. This team can feast on the flanks and still get the occasional move up the gut. I'd like to see a little more out of center midfield, but Dax's effort was a nice step and Alexander did pick up where he left off. If they can take this never quit attitude into the rest of the season, the wins will come.
It has to be said that the finishing was very poor today. Cahill puts a wide open header right at Kennedy, Henry misses an empty net by heading it over the crossbar, BWP misses his 1v1... even some of the lesser chances like Henry's attempted chip or BWP's other open shot from 20 yards may have gone in on a sharper day.