2023 Season - This is Our Year, Lads!!

Correct, I am probably good for 1 or 2 a year, global pandemics permitting.

A chartered helicopter from Brooklyn to Red Bull Arena would be more impactful. Ticket prices are not an issue, but getting to Harrison via infrequent trains or heavily trafficked expensive toll bridges from here is a pain so normally I tie in a match while staying with friends in NJ.

 

Haha. Welcome to the new reality. 15 games in.

Anyway we were bested by a Sounders team that allowed us to stay closer than we truly warranted.

Had they been more clinical they could’ve won by three or four goals instead of just one.

They seemed intent on managing a 1-0 lead, especially after they went down to 10.

Vanzeir had zero impact on the game before he was replaced at HT. Nice to see Luquinhas get a few minutes. And Morgan on the bench was another welcome sight. Stroud started and seems decent.

 

Just finished watching our trip to Miami. Interesting match on a soggy pitch and you could see it in their legs.

Great win which rockets us up to 11th place. Yoohoo! We should have won by more than 1-0.

We were by far the better side, but they almost picked the pocket of our defense quite a few times.

Sean Nealis had a fantastic 1T. Tolkin also had a very good, consistent match… he was everywhere he needed to be.

And it was so so great to see Luquinhas back in our XI. He completely made our goal, with a solo effort, even though he didn’t quite score it.

Also Morgan came on for the last 20-30’. Those two guys are a sight for sore eyes.

P.s. how long will Beckham persist with his old mate Neville? Plenty of boos at FT along with a large #NevilleOut banner.

 

And Tom Barlow scored a goal!

 

Oh yeah, I alluded to that without mentioning his name. Barlow came on for 2T and quickly scored a goal, that TBF you or I coulda scored. And one other thing I noticed was that around the 90' mark, when most everyone's legs were shot, he bolted up the left wing and left his defender suckin fumes.

p.s. I just felt compelled to give the guy a little love, when I'm convinced we can't go any place significant with him being a regular player, let alone starter.

 

If you haven't already ponied up for MLS Season Pass, I just heard that Apple is offering the remainder of the season for 50% off.

 

Watched the game in bits and pieces because I was at work. As mentioned before, it’s good to see our injured players returning. I feel a positive turnaround happening but not a major blow the competition away type recovery because we still have trouble scoring.
As for Barlow. We all know he’s not a good forward however watching parts of the game a thought suddenly hit me out of nowhere. If we’re all honest we have to admit that the guy always hustles. He’s not lazy. He’s big and tough. What if he was approached and asked to learn to play center back? If he actually learned he would help with CB depth and with his years as a forward, he’d probably be better with the ball at his feet than your average CB.

 

Barlow? Those are interesting ideas and one could say they were a bit generous. Sadly I gave up on the guy a year or so ago. It’s been clear to me that we need to replace him in order to advance.

And a follow on comment to the AppleTV/MLS season pass discussion… for any of you who haven’t bought the season pass already, I just heard that all games are free to watch live this weekend.

 

We need to seriously start asking questions about the competence of this new coach and his player selections

 

Yeah, I forgot to warn you about the score spoilers that are on by default in the Apple GUI. It's completely stupid and has been bitched and moaned about in other threads since March. Depending on what platform you watch on you should be able to disable scores display (I do that on Roku). But for some (also completely stupid) reason, you cannot disable scores if you watch Apple/MLS via your web browser.

p.s. I forgot to watch last Saturday's game, haven't even looked it up yet, but it sounds like maybe I should skip it. The whole shift of NYRB games from TV/DVR to streaming has done that to me. I just am not on top of the schedule, and my DVR's auto-record can't bail me out any more.

 

Just noticed that Edelman came in as a second-half sub for USA versus Uruguay in the U-20 WC quarterfinal. Unfortunately in a losing effort but nice to see him recognized and getting minutes.

 

No idea. Between the deficiencies of Apple TV+ and how crappy* we are at the moment, I'm having a hard time following closely this season.

*Just watched the 6-min recap highlights of our last game vs Orlando (actually it happened over a week ago and I had no idea) and we sure looked hapless. Also they showed Morgan coming off late in tears but zero explanation of why. Presumably a re-injury? And no summary of match on Google, MLS or NYRB websites. I love all these people who say "isn't this new Apple broadcast deal so great?!"... while IMO the broad coverage has gone rather far downhill compared to recent (MSG) years.

p.s. Sean Nealis looked pathetically slow on their fast-break goal. His bro Dylan was no slouch and almost saved it. But man oh man is Sean really that slow in general? That was shocking.

 

OMG!!!!!!!, the Redbulls are playing today and Tom Barlow isn’t starting

 

Somebody should tell RB that the game has started.

 

Boy you weren’t kidding. We completely didn’t show up in first half. Like I can’t remember us doing. Or at least not that badly. It was the proverbial tale of two halves though… we were smoking in 2T.

In the end, a draw is probably a fair result. EXCEPT for the fact that their keeper (Collina?) had the game of his life to save a point.

Ps. Speaking of not showing up, were there even 1000 fans there tonight? The South Ward was as empty as I’ve ever seen.

Pps. So nice of them to assign Charlotte’s announcing crew to a game at RBA, huh? Cangilosi & Messing are both on the payroll, but have we even seen them call one NYRB game together this season??

 

You’re right about their goalie saving a point for Charlotte. Normally, if you’re down 0-2 and you com back for a draw, it feels great. We were so good after the break and the subs that I sat there wondering why didn’t you just start Vanzeir and Edelman from the beginning? It’s not like they haven’t been starters before. I’m not saying we would’ve steamrolled them but I don’t think we would’ve gone down two-zip either. Enough with this USL coach’s wacky personnel choices. Start your best players!!