I'm not sure what people were expecting from Durkin. In his first rodeo with United, I had already peeped out the fact that he was not going to reach any lofty heights. When we found a sucker to take him off our hands, I was over the moon. Upon hearing he was returning, I had zero expectations. As immortal coach Dennis Green (RIP) would say, 'Durkin is who we thought he is' -- but I am aint letting him off the hook.
I will say that I was a bit wrong when I've been saying that pretty much every MLS team doesn't take USOC seriously. In watching the games tonight, most of them are playing quite strong lineups, especially in the MLS v MLS games.
Correct. DC's lineup looks to be by far the weakest that I've seen. Even teams that are going young (e.g. Philly) are at least giving minutes to homegrowns with promise.
The Open Cup is one of those European things that doesn't fit well with American sports culture. In no major American sport, pro or college, are games scheduled in which the teams don't field their best players, at least for a while. Is the Open Cup title less "meaningful" than the MLS Cup? The pleasure of sport is that it's all essentially meaningless in real world terms. If you want meaning follow Ukraine - Russia. We watch sports to get a break from grim reality. But as fans we should expect to see maximum effort and high quality in every match. MLS should require that of it's teams in Open Cup competition. An easy was to assure effort and quality would be to award regular season points to Open Cup matches. That would put some fire in the belly.
Hmmm, the U.S. Open Cup is certainly unique in the American sports landscape but plenty of British and European clubs wrestle with the same dilemmas about how many regular starters to use in national cup competitions. Furthermore, in most European countries their cup tournaments are treated as less important (and often much less) than their leagues. To most American fans, yes, the Open Cup is less important than MLS Cup. To me, the Supporters Shield is also more important (but I do see the Open Cup as an important trophy).
Considering the number of teams in MLS, the USOC provides some less capable teams their most realistic shot at a trophy.
The financial upside to USOC competition is minimal, at best (and maybe even a loss if making the final) while league performance, up to winning MLS Cup, is substantial. So it makes sense not to jeopardize your money maker. And as noted above, few in the US even know what USOC is let alone place any value on it, whereas the Euro generally very much value their domestic cups - even if less than their league cup and international cups.
I wonder what Greg Berhalter thinks of the Open Cup, what with Aaron Long leaving the DCU match after only 15 minutes ("calf tightness") and possibly affecting his readiness for the USMNT, which has already seen several injuries depleting the defense.
Club over country says fuck Aaron Long. Country over club says he was likely to get this injury sooner rather than later. John Brooks and Tim Ream are available. Thx, Jay!
I presume he's thinking next man up like he always does. And he's thinking the next man up is obviously John Brooks.
Clearing space in my phone I found this photo - pretty much all one needs to see to understand just how bad this game was. Worse, a few minutes earlier they were on the opposite side of the field in front of the benches and 19 players were all within a space the size of the center circle. Considering the purported level of these players and teams, I don't understand how BOTH teams could play so compact. Even my kid's U12 team stays more spread out. Reminded me of something my Viet Nam vet dad used to say to the other dad's watching my team when I was 6 - "just one grenade could take them all out."
Who cares about the national team. They don't have a meaningful game until November. Players get muscle injuries.
The team can use all the tune up work it can get before the World Cup. After this window of two friendlies and two Nations League games, there's only one more window before the World Cup. Getting actual game minutes in for the national team is very limited.
Tim Ream was dropped for nearly Fulhams entire Premier League campaign last season. Based on that picture the other 7500 of the announced 8200 people are sitting in the stands beside you? Thx, Jay!
ha ha. there was 4000 in attendance only if counting all of the staff (which could be known as the TSA - thousands standing around). The was from rooftop bar, which was not even 1 deep on the rail...
Yeah and they went right back down. They just extended him, I don't know if that means he'll play a lot but maybe they'll realize their mistake. I like Ream a lot, I won't lie, he's super solid to my eyes.