Another interview with Caleb Porter about Nagbe as a 10. https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020...-fc-cincinnati-had-no-answer-him-caleb-porter Two takeaways from this interview and other pre and post game interviews with Porter. One, is the team’s especially Nagbe’s versatility. The other is how much little respect Porter has for Cincy’s negative game plan and coaching. He is not a Jaap Staam fan
To both--I think the Canadian issue is a big one. I think the league was hoping it would resolve by now. I'm not sure it will from the Canadian side of things--they got what they wanted--hockey--and the rest isn't so important. I might have thought Toronto would try to play in Rochester, given a good field and stadium there, but that's less likely now. I'd not rule out them coming here. Montreal? Hard to say--can't really share with NE due to NFL. Maybe Philly? Vancouver has challenges too. Seattle is NFL and Portland has issues like Rochester right now. I do think they'll want to be relatively close to their home markets, like the Blue Jays did. Perhaps college venues that are not going to be used might work. You have U Washington in Seattle and BU in Boston (Dartmouth too, closer to Montreal).
My guess is that you're right the 3 Canadian teams will have to base themselves in the US for the rest of the year unless the Canadian government changes policy. There might be a vaccine available about when the playoffs start. Maybe the blue turf of Boise for Vancouver? I don't think the riots would keep them out of Seattle and Portland but their rivals may not wish to house them. Rochester or Buffalo would do for TFC. Montreal could go to some small college. They won't be drawing big in the US anyway.
You know the point I'm making. In games vs Minnesota, NYC, and Philly we have two wins and two losses. I want a true measuring stick as to where this team is, and you do too.
It's not a very good conference. 3 - 4 good to very good teams - Columbus, Philly, Toronto, maybe Orlando 1 should be good team - NYCFC 2 maybe not bad teams - New England and Montreal 1 Probably bad team - Atlanta 5 shitty teams - Red Bull, Chicago, Nashville, FCC, Miami and.... 1 ********in DC United.
It was interesting that near the end of the first half Jordan said that the next foul on Nagbe should draw a yellow and less than a minute later Amaya fouled Nagbe and got the yellow for team persistent infringement. He was outraged but it seems to be Amayas whole game: grab, push and hold. Sadly for him he missed the grab on Diaz who smoked his ass for the assist on Santos. But everybody is hacking crap out of Nagbe. New York did the same thing. The refs simply have to be aware of this tactic. Hes gonna get hurt. Everybody tries to take the skill guys out of the game, but you do it with your defensive scheme, not by knocking them down over and over. As for Cincy, its just another example of this supposed defensive genius that Stam has brought: hacking and dirty play is not a skill, Jaaap, you assclown Instead of trying to teach his team hacking and packing, he ought to try getting them to play soccer.
I don’t expect MLS officiating to change after seeing the NYCFC and Cincy matches so expect more of the same to Nagbe and Santos, aka the human rag doll. This negative stuff is product of bad teams with no offenses. Philly wasn’t doing it. The second half showed the way to punish that negative BS. Keep a high line and pounce on the pressure, quickly and relentlessly attack the box, and oh yeah, score first.
You're being nicer than I would be. The only other team in the conference that I would call remotely good is Philadelphia Union. Not because they have a stacked roster, but because, like us, they've found the formula that works for them. Beyond that... I'm not worried. Orlando is on a run of form because they're confident, but they got a huge boost from being the home team in the tournament. Bubbled or not, it's still an advantage. I feel like they're a house of cards that could go south at the first sign of trouble. Toronto has only played Montreal and Vancouver since the re-start, and they just got beat by the Whitecaps. The only other team I'm curious about is New England, and they're hard to read because they've got a lot of ties. After that... yo soy not impressed. Montreal and NYC do nothing for me. Atlanta just sold what was probably their best remaining player. The rest, as you correctly point out, is garbage. Again... I wish we could see what this team would have done in a 34-match schedule against this opposition.
We're tied with the 2010 Galaxy conceding 2 goals in 10 games. The Galaxy extended it to 2 in 11 by shutting out the.... Columbus Crew. They ended up allowing 26 in 30 that year. A shutout in the next match ties us for least goals allowed after 11 games.
The CFO traditionally hasn't wanted to spend their resources on promoting a USSF event. Plus, games are always on weeknights which have lower attendance as it is. What's odd is that they don't seem to do promotions then. Dollar beer/brats would be perfect for USOC.
Oh, I understand that. And I wouldn't expect a lot of casual fans at USOC matches as a result. I'm referring to the hard-core fans. I think I've only missed two home USOC matches (I've it a point to go to these matches, and I wasn't a full-season ticket member until the Pledge of 2018). I've always been surprised and disappointed in the reduced size of the crowd in old section 137 and in Nordecke.
This is a good point and a good idea. I wonder if this is what mL$ has in mind; I guess we'll find out soon. Even if playing in Buffalo or in Seattle, Canadian fans can't travel to the US, right? (And even if they could, there will be limits on crowd sizes). So, why not have the three Canadian teams play in future mL$ cities? this would help stoke interest in these markets, even if fan attendance is limited. The St Louis Rams' old dome stadium is sitting empty right now. In Charlotte, they could use the the Panthers' stadium, Charlotte 49'ers stadium, or WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. Sacramento could host a team in the Sacramento Republic's current home stadium. Win-Win.
BTW, does anyone know what the gold ribbons on the jerseys are for? Appears to be across MLS. There's so many these days that ti is hard to keep track (and yes, I may just be clueless).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awareness_ribbons As mentioned there are literally countless awareness ribbons these days. When you have the need for the color "Jade" to represent both Hepatitis B and Liver Cancer, it's a sure sign things have gone too far and by default have little meaning or effectiveness.
Its a sign of protest against imprisonment of Catalan independence movement leaders during the Catalan crisis. No for reals! - apparently the yellow ribbon had this meaning in 2018.