Post-match: Crew vs. Timbers, MLS Cup

3 things I take from this game.

1) Strengthen the spine of this team. Need to upgrade GK, CB and CM.

2) Nordecke could have been better, we got sucker punched in the mouth and it did shut us up. We all know how Timbers Army supports and good on them. They found their way. We have our way and it does need to get better.

2.1) While generally I think the throwing of beer/cans on the field is shitty; If I ever see another opposing player come to the corner to celebrate/taunt I respect the bringing of hell to them. Remember that time when the other team was actually intimidated to come to the corner? I do. Sometimes I think a message needs to be sent, even if it isnt really a good idea. The unfortunate side effect is that the conversation isnt about the players. Its about that action...we will see dozens of articles on how shit was thrown but 0 on the players thinking it was ok to come to taunt. Perception is a bitch.​

3) I hate this game. I love this game. The roller coaster that we all go through as supporters is worse than any relationship (not really but you get the idea); I am glad I am on that ride with you all...but i need to vomit after watching that game.

 

The thing that will stick with me is how agonizingly close we came--and left almost completely empty handed (unless you consider the Eastern trophy worth something). We lost in the final. Kamara finished second in the golden boot. Kamara finished second in the MVP. And second place is no place. As a fan base, no matter how many championships we may win in the future, we will be haunted by this one for life. I still think about Mike Guman getting stopped on 4th down in 1978. Each base has it's own ghosts. This will be ours. Because, unlike other parts of life, there is no guarantee of a second chance.

 

I’m sad the Crew but I’m also horribly disappointed in the way the game was played. I could be wrong it could hurt just as much but I would have at least liked to have seen us go down in a beautifully played game and we got anything but. This city way more excited for a Columbus Crew soccer game than I’ve ever seen it, I could argue any soccer game but I won’t go that far, I did have people say something to me about this game that never even say anything about US/Mexico. Win or lose this was a moment for some that hadn’t been invested to take ownership of this team because they were proud of what they watched. Instead we got keystone cops clown show soccer.

I am very impressed with Berhalter I admittedly didn’t think this team had enough talent to get this far, I give him a huge amount of credit for willing it to the cup. I saw him change strategies and make tactical adjustments I wasn’t sure he was willing or perhaps able to do not just in the playoffs but over the last third of the season. I suspect Berhalter is ready to get back to work, I don’t think this is his finished product, I look forward to watching how he continues to shape this team during the off-season.

 

I guess this is as good a place as any to post this so here it goes.

I am a Crew Union member. I am not active in anything other than buying tickets from them to get access to the Nordeke. My group of friends and our kids go to as many games as we can and enjoy everything about standing with all of the other supporters, the chants, smoke, euphoria after a score, all of it. Last night was no different.

I spoke with a few TA members before and after the game. Nice people, but totally different from what I see in the Nordeke, and that's part of the charm. I get the impression that TA and other supporters groups are more corporate machine than organic support. I like the dysfunction we have. I like the fact that #tifosweat and the countless others that paint, sew, hang and display the tifo and banners, two-sticks, flags and the rest are all volunteers doing it with their own time, dime, and effort. It fits us, from my perspective.

I have seen and heard numerous people getting upset at the perception TA was somehow "better" than we were. If they had been in our situation I don't know if they would have been what they were, down 2 7 minutes in on two crap plays. I don't see how that matters anyway, this isn't a high school band competition.

Although I didn't throw my beer, I sure thought about it. That is a passionate response to the idiocy of MLS officiating in the best way to make it known, in front of all the MLS big shots. I normally don't condone throwing stuff on the field but this is hardly the only sport where it happens under those circumstances. It was in the moment and didn't happen again.

I have been going to games longer than some of you have been alive and I was talking with my friends after the game about how far we have come as a club.

Very proud to be a fan of The Crew and all of you should be, too.

 

Cedrick was a huge improvement over Finlay. I've been a huge Finlay supporter over the course of these couple of seasons but he has seemed very one dimensional in the playoffs. Get the ball, cut it to the left, cut it to the right, and try to beat the defender to the touch line. I will admit I was a bit too intoxicated during the match to give an accurate analysis, so I was planning on re-watching the game when I got home, but I'm not sure I want to relive the disappointment.

 

1. Crew - 1 shot on goal. That isn't going to win any games, let alone the final.
2. Corner kicks - 4 all game and not one played into a dangerous position with the best aerial threat in the game. unacceptable.
3. Poor crossing - Kamara is a beast in the air. we airmailed it over him or played it over the goal line too often. Portland nailed theirs as evidenced by the second goal and Borchers near goal.
4. Outcoached - Berhalter's tactics have been the same all playoffs.Why does Findlay start over Cedric? Press Clark on the back pass. Defend the cross, double team the dribbling of Meram and Findlay. Man handle Kamara in the box. Know the referees tendencies. Porter won this one in a landslide.

Portland fans impressed the hell out of me. I loved the twirl of the scarves during the National Anthem and how loud they sang all game long. Gotta give them props for bringing it. Sorry Crew supporters, I was in section 124 and we couldn't hear the Nordecke at all during the game.

 

I don't get this at all. I am reading about how this player isn't good enough, their fans were better, we were out coached.

All of it comes down to three things. All of it

1) Clark mistake in first minut
2) bad (non) call on out of bounds
3) play to the whistle

the atmosphere was burst. The game plans changed. Portland had no incentive other than to sit and defend and waste time. The officials were not good enough

I will concede that, especially from set plays, the team could not bring the crowd back into the game. We needed them but they didn't come through.

And anyone saying meram had a good game is deluded.

 

People mistake Meram's hustle for skill. Sure he can take on a couple of defenders but often he holds the ball too long, gets stripped, and falls down. He has to get rid of the ball sooner.

 

They played better than us. It was 2-1 with 65 mins left to play. We needed one goal. They proceeded to hit the post twice and Clark made 2 goal line saves.

I don't like when anyone makes the national anthem about them.

 

It's more than hustle. His decision-making appears poor, but he has some pretty good natural ability to get the ball and take people on, and to win the ball back quickly.

 

This.

 

I was IN the Nordecke and I could barely hear us all game.

 

On the tee-vee, I heard very little aside from The Hipster Douches.

Of course that could be due to the mild fellatio that ESPN offered all game long, both visually and aurally (they miked the shit out of The Traveling Neckbeards - it was very apparent).

 

Oh my god just stop. The fouls were 12-9 (Portland were called for 12). We pissed the game away. Blaming the referee is petty and pathetic. A goal was scored after Tony quit on an out of bounds ball for at least the second time in his Crew career. Then Afful lost his mark. That goal isn't on the referees, that's on the Crew.

 

Pretty solid terrorist mentality. Throwing stuff at the opposing team is never ever ever ever ok. Ever. It doesn't matter if they celebrate near you. You can't throw stuff. End of discussion. You want them to fear you? Congrats, you're a terrorist.

 

Tony didn't "quit" on anything. He was bringing the ball back to touch to throw it in when the Portland player took it. Everyone watching knew it was a throw. Everyone.

 

This is exactly what happened. It's plain as day when you watch the replays.

 

Referee never signaled for it. You play to the whistle. It was clear as day that the referee wasn't signaling for a throw-in and it isn't the first time Tony has done that.

 

Technically, the goal is on the referees first and foremost for not making the right call when the ball was clearly out of bounds. So how you can say the goal wasn't on the refs is ********ing beyond me. They started the whole sequence of disaster.

 

They missed a call, then Tony showed a complete lack of awareness, then Afful completely lost his mark. If you want to blame the referee, that's fine. Go for it, get riled up about referees missing calls. But you're missing a pretty huge piece of the play that led to the goal.

 

And Portland should have been called for more than 12 fouls, they were practically mugging our players for the ball every time we got near the box.

 

And you are missing my point, that the Refs started it, therefore their failure to do their jobs correctly is directly to blame for the second goal. Do I fault Tchani? Hell yes I do, because this was not the first time he has personally given up a goal. People lose marks, that happens, but the disaster was mostly on the sideline kerfuffle.

 

Actually, it's on the linesman and Tchani.

EVERYONE stopped, at least for a moment.