We lost, would have liked to have seen the game with even-handed referring... How Pelosi can get a yellow and Dallas not get even a foul on the shot to the head on Wondo about three minutes later in front of the same AR who called the Red (deserved) on MPG is ridiculous... Did Dallas even get one yellow card. BTW, the Yellow on Goodson towards the end also totally ridiculous a 50/50 challenge in which Goodson gets all ball... ridiculous... Would either call have changed the outcome, probably not, and I want to see CONSISTENCY from the referees...
Dallas is a good team, and we needed to be our best to stay even with them. As it happens, it didn't matter because the other three teams in contention all did what they needed to do (and ha ha at LA for finishing in fifth), but we didn't do our best. I'm done with MPG, and it's because he needs to be smart in order to earn those DP bucks. Alan Gordon took his shirt off on occasion and got himself a yellow card, but didn't do it when he was already on a yellow to earn an automatic red. There is an art to retaliate against a cheap shot artist. The best choice is to play good soccer and beat the team on the field, but that means your team needs to be, you know, good enough to win. Another option is to wait a while and retaliate when the ref isn't looking. The worst possible option is to retaliate within seconds of getting cheap-shotted, and do so in view of the ref, and get a red card. That's what MPG did today, and it hurts the team. MPG has hurt this team enough. I don't want to see him on our team any more.
It will be interesting to see what happens next season with Innocent and MPG. Imo I think MPG will be allowed to move on to other opportunities. He's talented, but if his lack of discipline puts the team at a disadvantage, you can't count on him. I think today's game was the final straw. With Innocent, I'd rather not gamble that he will be noticeably better than in the limited games we saw him. I'm agree with Jazz, I was completely underwhelmed by his play...at a whopping 1 mil per season. Like a few others have stated, why not cut 3-4 players and bring in 3-4 quality players in the 300-400K range...
I would have liked to see this team meet the Sounders in the playoffs. It would have been the perfect upset.
That was about as obvious of a foul and yellow card as you can ever see. Nobody even argued for a second, except for the FC Dallas players wanting a red. http://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/ma...s-vs-san-jose-earthquakes/details/video/53291 If you look at that and don't think that's a foul, I don't know what sport you think you're watching.
And we were at our best this season with Alashe and Godoy in the middle surrounded by speedsters on the flank. MPGs wants to play ticky tacky build up play with guys who cant do it. Plus, Quincy has shown that he can be the playmaker around the box. Two Argentinian playmakers at the same pay grade went head to head tonight. One scored a goal and the other let his team down.
Exactly. In my view the Quakes outplayed Dallas, the best team in the conference, at their house, and missing one of our best players. The team is not crap. With the addition of Godoy and Amarikwa I think it is a pretty good team. Without them, OK, maybe not so great. I'm not ready to toss MPG. He messed up big time by being a hothead. But that is not really a recurring pattern. The shirt thing, eh, without that goal that is a meaningless game today. Would have liked to have seen TT rather than Cato as the 2nd sub. Cato was ineffective. He works best in a wide open game.
Let's keep in mind that the hot streak in August was mostly or all done WITHOUT MPG! I think he really disrupts the flow of the team. And we don't need his brand of idiocy on the field either - Red cards, shirt off, constant arguments with refs, etc...
10 Lions and 1 Donkey. MPG what a moron! Trying to think rationally about him... we shouldn't ditch him unless we can get a decent price and replace him with someone better. So so so stupid. Very disappointed it was Cato/Nyassi once again over TT... if anything when man down you want TT on so he can draw 3 defenders in tight spaces and then release teammates... not a speedster like cato/nyassi who have terrible touch and decision-making and need space to utilize their speed.
Love MPG's passion. Won't miss him when he's gone. He doesn't fit a "team first" philosophy. You don't do stupid things that hurt your team, even in the heat of the moment. That was as dumb as a Zidane headbutt. Even dumber than taking off his shirt with a yellow card. Sorry, but we need a team first player for that much money....
Like I said at the beginning, he simply went down too easily. Yes, we'd get a free kick out of it, but for the most part that was a worse trade off than if he actually stayed on his feet and tried to make something happen. Broke up the pace of the game way too often, and I also noticed, it was no coincidence we played better with him off the pitch.
Well, season's over. But I'm not happy that Dom used the same tired strategy that failed in the rest of October, i.e., bring in Jahn for the final 5-10 minutes. I really believe Dom is burned out and just phones in a coaching performance that pays the bills in Northern CA. From an MLS Cup-winning coach to a guy whose team hasn't made the playoffs in 3 years now, right? Now if Dom got rid of MPG and Innocent, I might salvage some belief. MPG has proven he lacks brain cells and we don't need this Dollar Store Messi. Innocent is clearly damaged goods.
Innocent will be back next season. Almost guaranteed. A face-saving measure if nothing else, or as we prefer to call it, throwing good money after bad. I expect MPG will get one more season because he added enough assist value not to cut him loose. That said, if they get a good offer for him, I'd take the money and wish him well.
I am afraid that is correct. Look at Andre Luiz. We paid that guy piles of money for a small handful of games over three seasons just to save face for JD...
Houston played in the Eastern Conference finals in 2013, so just two straight non-playoff years for Kinnear. He's good at fostering team spirit and effort. I'm not so impressed with the tactics, substitutions are iffy. Really slow to adapt and show flexibility in his coaching philosophy. Kept forcing the square peg (Jahn, Sherrod) into the round hole for way too long. Really until Amarikwa hit him upside the head. Same with Wondo (and Innocent) out of position. Seems like a .500 coach in the modern MLS. Sneak into the playoffs and try to bludgeon your way through the tournament. Worked better when the league was crappier. I like MPG. No excuses for his stupidity today or against RSL. Watson was able to calm down Lenhart. Maybe Kinnear can do the same for him. With his emotions under control and healthy, MPG would be a top tier MLS player, in contrast to the group of retreads and USL quality guys that permeate too much of this roster. Alashe, Godoy and Pelosi are great additions, who unfortunately are just a little redundant. I guess Pelosi could move out wide and take Salinas' spot. The defense needs a lot of attention. The CB's are good, but too old without apparent understudies. Same with Wynne. Francis is a back up. For whom, that's a big question. Someone noted that Renato and Pierazzi await Kinnear's assessment. We've seen it. He has no room for either on the squad. A healthy Innocent will start, hopefully in his proper position. Might move Amarikwa to the bench or out wide in place of Salinas or MPG (if he leaves). Keep Wondo no further than second to the goal. Better than I expected, just. RSL was worse than I anticipated. Figured SJ in a group with Colorado and Houston. No excuses next year. No playoffs and Kinnear/Doyle, even Kaval should hit the road. Actually, Doyle should have been long gone, but we all know that story..... Oh yeah, I wish more teams played like Dallas. Pretty football with good technical players. Plus a good coach and an excellent academy without breaking the bank.
I think we are all carrying a bit of "Djalo" baggage and applying it to Innocent. I don't think he is "damaged goods" - I hope not anyway. I just don't think he is all that good. Hope he proves me wrong. But based on what I've seen they'd be crazy to bench Quincy in favor of him. He's not a #9 anyway. He plays most similarly to Nyassi. Again, hope he proves me wrong, but he doesn't look like much more than a modest upgrade to Nyassi.
Would you believe I had totally repressed all memories of Djalo. I mean, thanks! Thing about Innocent is that he had one good game and a couple of not-so-memorable ones. Three total, am I close? And, yeah, in what universe are we benching MOTM Quincy?