I wouldn’t mind having Charlie back in the mix. But no Brad is no bad in my book. So far, all the play-by-play guys I’ve seen on Apple have surpassed him.
I think the thing that frustrates me about Jozy isn't that he has been ineffective and carries a high salary. Teams miss on players, it happens (even if fans of the league saw this one coming a mile away). No what frustrates me is the line being bmfed by Bruce and team media that Jozy had a good game against DC, and that Vrioni doesn't fit with what the team wants to do. Tackling them in order, Jozy played 30 minutes and had 7 touches. He had 1 sequence where he held up the ball well and layed it off to a team mate. That 1 good moment does not offset the remaining 29 minutes of low intensity jog walking he was doing. He isn't stretching the field, pressuring defenders, winning us the ball back, creating chances, or scoring goals. Being told he played well feels like gaslighting. Which brings me to Vrioni. The guy hasn't been productive, and if that was the narrative then fine. Players have form, and his hasn't been DP level yet. But to say he doesn't fit, and then be unable to say why is just lazy journalism. Hes a big guy, he has good feet, he works hard, and when he's on the field he actually looks like he wants go be out there. The goals may never come. But between his size, which fits with our still too overly reliant on lobbed crosses attacking style, and his good feet, which fit well with Byes new found love of low crosses and Buck/Blessing actually operating in CM, I dont want to hear how he doesn't fit. The worst part is Vrioni's form can't change if he isn't playing, and the (completely wrong) narratives just get put on replay. Anyway long frustration rant over, I'm not fully committed to being excited 10 point Buck. Bruce won't possibly sit him when McNamara gets healthy.... right?
Random question about Apple TV.... What's unfortunate is that I'm the only true die hard in the house, so usually I concede to watching what the family wants to watch for away games (and I'll watch the game later that night). Well, this must have been the first night that I tried to start AFTER the game was over. Apparently a big mistake. When the game was over APPLE TV would only allow me to watch a "MATCH RECAP" but I couldn't find a way to watch the full game. Is there something I'm missing? I noticed that if you start watching in the 90th minute it will give you an option to "START from beginning or WATCH LIVE" but apparently once the game is over it won't allow you to watch the game. I must be missing something right? If that really is the case is there a "DVR-like feature" where you can record a game for future watching? I'm so upset I missed this game.
All right, if you're covering your eyes, how do you scroll to the bottom of the page and click on something? This is just a gigantic fail by Apple. They don't seem to have realized even the first, most basic thing about streaming. I'm just staggered by the incompetence. I thought Apple was supposed to be good at stuff! And I'm also mad that MLS has been so passive about it. They should really have come down on Apple like a ton of bricks.
I put my hand up so I can only see the bottom of the screen. It took practice, but I managed to do it for the DC game. But you are right, we shouldn't have to do that.
Buck makes the TotM: Team of the Matchday: Columbus, Seattle & St. Louis dominate By Jonathan Sigal Monday, Mar 27, 2023, 01:58 PM
Right there should be a 'no spoilers' option or something. But I see what you mean, to scroll down to the bottom you have to pass captions of 'Buck '88 min goal' and stuff.
Maybe it's me being overly optimistic, but coming into this season I was hoping we saw a similar acclimation process that Buksa went through. After being highly touted Buksa found himself on the bench and eventually earned some minutes. Once he got better chemistry with the team/league, he was able to find his place and ultimately excel.
I saw a post about Charlie taking a gig with a CBS free MLS show, set to begin April 11th. Would like to learn more about that.
Pretty much a dream start. Imagine if anyone had predicted this kind of Feb/March back in preseason? After a few games in, I'm %100 convinced that Bruce's intended audience for these quotes is his own locker room. It appears he isn't concerned at all about baffling us with some of his observations - he's totally focused on delivering messages to his players - mostly encouraging, positive, supportive feedback (Altidore, Omar, Borrero, Bou, ...), but occasionally (like with Vrioni) a gentle kick in the pants. Of course the injury is a company secret , but I think it's fairly serious - I believe I heard his recovery is a matter of months, not weeks. I may have missed it, but I wish there were a way of giving some feedback - and getting informed on what kinks, etc. they are focused on working out. For me, the most frustrating thing is that I feel like a captive consumer with no voice. I can be patient if they need some time to figure it out, roll out more stuff, etc., but how can we know? Lori Lindsay - I felt like she was slightly better than the previous week, but ... long way to go. I hope this isn't becoming our regular crew. I think Buck is doing a good job making that less and less likely. I read an article about Buck having a British passport and how he hopes to use it someday ... and I realized how dramatically my perceptions of him have changed - I came into the season hoping that he would make more contributions to the lineup than last year ... and now I'm hoping that we can hold onto him as long as we possibly can. With his age, size, development curve ... and that passport, he is going to be a very enticing target for Euro clubs that are sniffing around.
The thing about Jozy is that even Stevie Wonder could see that he wasn't going to be the Jozy of 2015 any more. Loaning him to the Mexican club should have been the nail in the coffin, and I was surprised to see him still with the team at the start of the season, much less getting minutes. But the silver lining to all this is that we actually have competition for places in the lineup. A lot of good players are sitting and hopefully they will be itching to show that they deserve to start when they get their shot due to injuries, suspensions, Open Cup, etc.
I feel like sometimes a senior player, who gets few minutes on the field or even the game day 18 can serve a purpose. If they are a positive role model to the younger players, and good locker room guys, then they can serve an actual purpose. As to Jozy, I feel like its unclear if he satisfies any of the above mentioned roles. The bit about him arguing with coaching staff or other players is reason enough to just cut him from the roster and take the financial loss.
I'd have him firmly on the bench right now, unless the team is playing a 4231 with Carles centrally. At that point Nacho is the 2nd winger after Borrero, but I don't like losing 1 of blessing or Buck in midfield. And even with all those words Esmir or Jack are breathing down Nacho's neck right now
I don't think I agree. What I saw from Nacho at the end of last season showed a level of pragmatism that I hadn't seen from our other wings. He went at defenses and attacked with strong runs and made things happen. I think Buck is going to stay on the field, unless his play falls off. Esmir and Panayotou, I think, have shown they should get minutes, but I'm not sure if they're ready for large roles unless we have multiple injuries.
You dont agree that Nacho is only likely to start if we play a 4231, and that between Bruce's preferences and finally having good 8s that its a formation the revs may not spend much time in?
I don't give a whole lot of weight to formations - what I do want is a wide threat on both wings that can get to the end line, go by people and cut into the area. That opens space for Gil and Bou (and, hopefully Vrioni at some point) to do what they do best.